Howard
February 2244
Epsilon Eridani
“Honey, I’m ho!”
Bridget turned to as I closed the apartnt door. “And that never gets old.”
“Nope. Never will.” I grinned and gave her a hug and a kiss. “Where’s my martini?”
“It’s in the liquor bottles. So assembly required. Make one, too.” She smiled at and turned back to the computer’s Canvas.
I sighed with contentnt and went over to put together so actual drinks. Sadly, in real life, you couldn’t just materialize a martini. On the other hand, no matter how much I tweaked the VR, they still tasted better in Real than in Virt.
I handed Bridget her drink. She barely looked up from the Canvas but grunted thanks. I peeked over her shoulder. It looked like a species tree for so segnt of native life on Quilt. Sothing with wings and a stinger. Which, so to think of it, didn’t narrow it down much.
The diagram took up the entire Canvas, except for the inset in the corner showing a picture of Howie, Angeline, and their three children. Bridget was a grandmother, and her complaints about how old it made her feel didn’t fool anyone. We visited regularly, using the Vulcan androids, and nana was a huge favorite.
I wandered over to the picture window and looked down on the city of Tantor. Yes, that’s right. Tantor. So twit wanted a literary reference when naming the city and left out a letter. So now we lived in an elephant. Amateurs.
I snorted in derision and turned away. Bridget said, “Are you grousing about the city’s na again?”
“You read minds now?”
“There’s a tone in your snort that says morons. You were looking out the window. It’s not much of a stretch.”
I laughed and raised my glass in salute. We’d grown together over the years, and we knew each other as well as any married couple with decades under their belt. Bridget spared a mont to smile at , then went back to grumbling and poking at the Canvas in the air before her.
In the distance, the city do separated us from the atmosphere of Big Top. KKP had finally gotten officially changed to Quilt, but the Jovian primary had kept its original moniker. No one seed to mind.
Blimps, or the local equivalent, floated past outside the do, with the inevitable retinue of predators. We were beginning to realize that life on gas giants was as ubiquitous, plentiful, and thematically consistent as that on terrestrial planets. There was a mounting chorus of demands that we check out other types of environnts as well. Good ti to be a biologist.
Tantor’s population—I gritted my teeth as I had the thought—was up around a million, now. We’d expected so reluctance from the population of Quilt when we started building cities in the clouds of Big Top; but it turned out most people were quite happy to leave behind the overwhelming ecological maelstrom of the planet.
I sidled around to get in Bridget’s peripheral vision. “Any new nasties?”
“Hah!” She turned to . “Honestly, Howard, I think the planet actually evolves new species as fast as we get rid of the old ones. Humans are an unexploited niche, I guess. I’m sure so of these beasties didn’t exist at all ten years ago.”
I grunted. So far, nothing had evolved a taste for android, so I was good.
I raised my martini to my lips, and Bridget said, “Howard, have you ever considered adopting?”
* * *
Alcohol is surprisingly difficult to get out of clothing and carpets. You’d think it would evaporate quickly, but the odor remains. It took several minutes of cleaning before discussion could continue. řа𐌽𝐨ΒЕŞ
“What?” Not my best response ever.
“There was that shuttle disaster a while ago. A lot of children left parentless. Things happen. People die. More so than in a truly settled, tad society, in fact. There are similar issues on Vulcan, Romulus, and the other colonies. Adults have risky jobs. Governnts are actually having to create departnts to deal with it.”
“Bridget, we’re, uh, well, to put it indelicately, we’re machines.”
“This from the man who lectures regularly about how I’m Original ? Who once spent a half hour going on about Chinese Rooms? Grrrr. We’re officially citizens. We have friends. We belong to clubs. Hell, Howard, we pay taxes.”
I stared at her for several monts. “I actually do not have a coherent objection. Which is weird, because my imdiate reaction is oh, hell, no.”
Bridget cocked her head and smiled. “You don’t have to decide right away. We have forever, right?”
I knew Bridget. This could have only one outco. I was going to be a daddy.
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