[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
them.
Ophion was blue-green, wider and swifter than the Clio. It swept Titanic into
its center, and after a time of alertness and soundings with their poles, the
travelers decided it would be safe to stay there. In size and speed, Ophion
reminded Bill and Cirocco of the Mississippi, but with more vegetation and
tall trees along the banks. The land was still jungle, but Ophion was wide and
deep.
Cirocco was far more concerned with the non-event--- the one she had waited
for as the days ticked by on Calvin's watch. She had been regular as the tides
for twenty-two years, and it was disturbing to miss a period.
"Did you know it's been thirty days now?" Cirocco asked Gaby that evening."
"Has it? I hadn't thought about it." She frowned.
"Yeah. And I'm more than late. I've always been twenty-nine days; sometimes
early by a day, never late."
"You know, I'm late, too." "I thought you were."
"Christ, that just doesn't make sense at all."
"I was wondering what sort of protection you used on Ring- master. Could you
have forgotten about it back then?"
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"Not bloody likely. Calvin gave me monthlies."
Cirocco sighed. "I was afraid it'd be something as infallible as that. Me, I
can't take pills;
they make me swell up. I used one of those wear-ever diaphragms. I had it in
when we went under. I
didn't really think to look for it until ... well, after we joined up with
Bill and August and it might already have been too late." She was hesitant to
discuss that part with Gaby. It was no secret that she and Bill had made love,
and also no secret that there had been no time or place or privacy for it on
Titanic with Gaby always around.
"Anyhow, it's gone. I presume it was eaten by the same thing that ate our
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hair. Which makes my skin crawl, by the way,"
Gaby shivered.
"But I thought it could be Bill. Now I don't really think so." She got up and
went over to Bill, who was sleeping on the ground. She woke him, and waited
until he looked alert.
"Bill, we're both pregnant."
Bill was not as awake as she had thought. He blinked in surprise, then his
brow furrowed.
"Well don't look at me. Not even for yours. The last time with Gaby was not
long after we left
Earth. Besides, I've got a valve."
"I wasn't saying anything like that," she soothed. With Gaby, hub? she
thought. She hadn't known about that, and she thought she had been aware of
everything that occurred on Ring- master. "That just makes it more certain
that something very strange is going on. Somebody or something is playing a
big joke on us, but I'm not laughing."
Calvin was as good as his word. Two days after Cirocco hailed a passing blimp,
Whistlestop hovered overhead and a blue flower blossomed with their wandering
surgeon dangling beneath it. August was close behind him. They hit the water
just off shore.
Cirocco had to admit that Calvin looked good. He was smiling, and there was a
bounce in his step.
He greeted everyone and didn't seem to mind having been summoned. He wanted to
talk about his travels, but Cirocco was too anxious to hear what he thought of
the new situation. He turned very serious long before they had finished
telling him about it.
"Have you had a period since we got here?" he asked August. "No, I haven't."
"It's been thirty days," Cirocco said. ',is that unusual for you?" From the
way August's eyes widened, Cirocco assumed it was. "When was the last time you
had intercourse with a man?"
"I've never."
"I was afraid you'd say that."
Calvin was quiet for a while, considering it. Then he frowned more deeply.
"What can I say? You all know it's possible for a woman to skip a period for
other reasons.
Athletes sometimes skip a whole lot of them, and we're not sure why. Stress
can do it, emotional or physical. But I think the chances of it happening to
all three of you at the same time are slim."
"I would tend to agree," Cirocco said.
"It could be dietary. There's no way to know. I can tell you that the three of
you, and ... uh, April, were undergoing some convergence."
"What's that?" Gaby asked.
"It sometimes happens to women who live together, like on a spaceship where
they're in close quarters. Some hormonal signal tends to synchronize their
menstruation. April and August have been in rhythm with each other for a long
time, and Cirocco was only a few days off their cycle. Two early periods and
she was in step. Gaby, you were getting erratic, if you recall.,, "I never
paid much attention to it," she said.
"Well, you were. But I can't see what that would have to do with what we have
here. I only brought it up to point out that strange things happen. It's
possible that you all just skipped one."
"It's also possible that we're all knocked up, and I shudder to think who the
father is," sirocco said, sourly. .
"That's just flat impossible," Calvin said. "If you're saying that the thing
that ate us did it to you all ... I can't buy that. There isn't another animal [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl rafalstec.xlx.pl
them.
Ophion was blue-green, wider and swifter than the Clio. It swept Titanic into
its center, and after a time of alertness and soundings with their poles, the
travelers decided it would be safe to stay there. In size and speed, Ophion
reminded Bill and Cirocco of the Mississippi, but with more vegetation and
tall trees along the banks. The land was still jungle, but Ophion was wide and
deep.
Cirocco was far more concerned with the non-event--- the one she had waited
for as the days ticked by on Calvin's watch. She had been regular as the tides
for twenty-two years, and it was disturbing to miss a period.
"Did you know it's been thirty days now?" Cirocco asked Gaby that evening."
"Has it? I hadn't thought about it." She frowned.
"Yeah. And I'm more than late. I've always been twenty-nine days; sometimes
early by a day, never late."
"You know, I'm late, too." "I thought you were."
"Christ, that just doesn't make sense at all."
"I was wondering what sort of protection you used on Ring- master. Could you
have forgotten about it back then?"
file:///F|/rah/John%20Varley/Varley,%20John%20-%20Titan.txt (43 of 118)
[1/15/03 7:27:02 PM]
file:///F|/rah/John%20Varley/Varley,%20John%20-%20Titan.txt
"Not bloody likely. Calvin gave me monthlies."
Cirocco sighed. "I was afraid it'd be something as infallible as that. Me, I
can't take pills;
they make me swell up. I used one of those wear-ever diaphragms. I had it in
when we went under. I
didn't really think to look for it until ... well, after we joined up with
Bill and August and it might already have been too late." She was hesitant to
discuss that part with Gaby. It was no secret that she and Bill had made love,
and also no secret that there had been no time or place or privacy for it on
Titanic with Gaby always around.
"Anyhow, it's gone. I presume it was eaten by the same thing that ate our
Page 56
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
hair. Which makes my skin crawl, by the way,"
Gaby shivered.
"But I thought it could be Bill. Now I don't really think so." She got up and
went over to Bill, who was sleeping on the ground. She woke him, and waited
until he looked alert.
"Bill, we're both pregnant."
Bill was not as awake as she had thought. He blinked in surprise, then his
brow furrowed.
"Well don't look at me. Not even for yours. The last time with Gaby was not
long after we left
Earth. Besides, I've got a valve."
"I wasn't saying anything like that," she soothed. With Gaby, hub? she
thought. She hadn't known about that, and she thought she had been aware of
everything that occurred on Ring- master. "That just makes it more certain
that something very strange is going on. Somebody or something is playing a
big joke on us, but I'm not laughing."
Calvin was as good as his word. Two days after Cirocco hailed a passing blimp,
Whistlestop hovered overhead and a blue flower blossomed with their wandering
surgeon dangling beneath it. August was close behind him. They hit the water
just off shore.
Cirocco had to admit that Calvin looked good. He was smiling, and there was a
bounce in his step.
He greeted everyone and didn't seem to mind having been summoned. He wanted to
talk about his travels, but Cirocco was too anxious to hear what he thought of
the new situation. He turned very serious long before they had finished
telling him about it.
"Have you had a period since we got here?" he asked August. "No, I haven't."
"It's been thirty days," Cirocco said. ',is that unusual for you?" From the
way August's eyes widened, Cirocco assumed it was. "When was the last time you
had intercourse with a man?"
"I've never."
"I was afraid you'd say that."
Calvin was quiet for a while, considering it. Then he frowned more deeply.
"What can I say? You all know it's possible for a woman to skip a period for
other reasons.
Athletes sometimes skip a whole lot of them, and we're not sure why. Stress
can do it, emotional or physical. But I think the chances of it happening to
all three of you at the same time are slim."
"I would tend to agree," Cirocco said.
"It could be dietary. There's no way to know. I can tell you that the three of
you, and ... uh, April, were undergoing some convergence."
"What's that?" Gaby asked.
"It sometimes happens to women who live together, like on a spaceship where
they're in close quarters. Some hormonal signal tends to synchronize their
menstruation. April and August have been in rhythm with each other for a long
time, and Cirocco was only a few days off their cycle. Two early periods and
she was in step. Gaby, you were getting erratic, if you recall.,, "I never
paid much attention to it," she said.
"Well, you were. But I can't see what that would have to do with what we have
here. I only brought it up to point out that strange things happen. It's
possible that you all just skipped one."
"It's also possible that we're all knocked up, and I shudder to think who the
father is," sirocco said, sourly. .
"That's just flat impossible," Calvin said. "If you're saying that the thing
that ate us did it to you all ... I can't buy that. There isn't another animal [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]