“Here, let me. I—” But before Hunt could do anything, she stood up and disappeared back toward the bar with her glass. Hunt watched as she threaded between the late-nighters, thinking it odd because he remembered her tasting it earlier. His puzzlement grew when she slipped onto an empty stool, and he saw Nick gesture down at her drink and ask her something; she nodded to indicate that everything was fine. Then she raised the glass and took a sip from it. Then, after a few seconds, her eyes wandered across to look back at Hunt.
Slow, slow, slow, he told himself, and looked at the rest of the group again. Danchekker was expostulating on inheritance mechanisms, and all of the others were engrossed except Nixie, who was looking at Hunt in a knowing kind of way with a smile on her lips. She winked at him and nodded, indicating the others with a toss of her head in a way that said she would take care of it. Hunt rose and sauntered over to join Gina at the bar.
She waited, looking at him curiously. There wasn’t much need for spelling things out.
“I’d hate to tear you away from VISAR . . . I mean, seeing as you had such an interesting time on the way out,” he said, looking at his drink and swirling it around in the glass.
“Oh, that was just a Disney World attraction,” she said. “I think I’ve had about enough of that for a long time.”
Hunt lifted the glass and emptied it. “Was I really in that fantasy you mentioned once?” he asked.
“I told you, you’d have to tell me yours for me to tell you mine,” she answered.
They looked at each other questioningly. Her eyes were laughing. He set down the glass and took hers from her fingers. She stood up, and they began walking toward the door.
“You know, it’s a pity Sandy isn’t on board,” Hunt said lightly. “Then we could really have found out, couldn’t we?”
Gina slapped him playfully on the arm. “Are all the English that romantic?”
“Oh no,” he assured her. “One has to work at it.”
They laughed, entwined their fingers together, and left the lounge, heading for the corridor that led to the cabin suites.
By that time, the Vishnu had passed beyond the orbit of Athena’s outermost planet and was approaching the i-space entry port being projected from Thurien. After transfer, it would emerge back into normal space somewhere beyond Pluto, twenty hours’ flight time from Earth.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
JAMES P. HOGAN was born in London in 1941 and educated at the Cardinal Vaughan Grammar School, Kensington. He studied general engineering at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Earn-borough, subsequently specializing in electronics and digital systems. In mid-1977, he moved from England to the United States to become a Senior Sales Training Consultant, concentrating on the applications of minicomputers in science and research for DEC. At the end of 1979, Hogan opted to write full time, and he now lives in Ireland.