Read Online The Ripple in Space-Time: Free City Book 1 (The Free City Series) by S F Chapman - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: S F Chapman
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take a bit. ”
Keira had frowned disapprovingly, “ None for me. ”
Katchah was one of dozens of illegal and mildly hallucinogenic
herbs that filtered into the counter culture of Free City from the lawless
domains of the Warlords. Years ago, Keira ’ s own antiestablishment parents
had been nabbed when they imported several kilos of the banned substance. They
had paid a substantial fine for the transgression and nearly lost their coveted
Importer ’ s License.
Keira winced; even now her parents
continued to sneak the profitable contraband across the border despite her
repeated admonishments.
Desiree produced a thin and
elaborately decorated pouch from her bikini bottom. Her stubby fingers
retrieved a sticky hunk of shredded brown leaves and she held it temptingly in
front of Lev.
He eagerly snapped up the offering
and kissed Desiree ’ s cheek in thanks. She pressed a small lump into her own
mouth.
The drug seemed to cause her table
partners to fixate on each other. As the evening wore on, they spoke less and
less to her and more and more to each other in progressively more
incomprehensible and slurred sentences.
Finally when her queasiness had
subsided, Keira left them chortling gleefully at their own terrible jokes.
She ’ d whimpered
gloomily in the nearly empty transport back to her apartment building.
Why had she been attracted to Lev
in the first place?
He was self-indulgent and often
maddeningly unfocused, not unlike her parents, Keira realized with a start. He
seemed far more interested in immediate gratification than long-term
fulfillment. Perhaps that was why he had apparently selected Desiree ’ s offer of quick thrills to her own possibilities of eventual stability
and perhaps even love.
In the dark and quiet apartment
bed, Keira pressed her eyes tightly closed; he was completely wrong for her and
she should just get on with other more promising matters.
But still, she sighed heavily,
there was just something special about Lev.
16. A lamentable lack of mirth Jana floated aimlessly in her dark
and miserable cell.
She drew her attention back to the
matter at hand, “ Or, if there were a sympathy in choice, War, death, or
sickness did lay siege to it, Making it momentany as a sound. ”
This was the sixth recital of A
Midsummer Night's Dream that she ’ d forced herself to endure since
she ’ d been taken hostage. Three and a half decades earlier it
had been her favorite work of Shakespeare, now she would have done almost
anything to enjoy Much Ado About Nothing or Macbeth instead.
Where was she?
Jana chortled at the irony of the
question; she was lost in the Solar System and lost in A Midsummer Night's
Dream.
A midsummer night in the Solar
System....
Jana stiffened in dread; she was
losing her mind.
OK, keep going.
She took a deep breath, “ Swift as a shadow, short as any dream, Brief as the lightning in the
collied night. ”
Jana cackled hoarsely; she
remembered a naive girl in the back row of her Ancient English Lit class asking
the Professor if a ‘ collied night ’ had something to do with
sheepdogs shepherding in the evening.
Regrettably her tenuous focus was
waning; she would have to come back to Shakespeare later.
She tapped her fingertips to her
thumb and tallied up weeks. It was late June or perhaps early July. Far off on
the hospitable blue Earth, someone was surely enjoying a genuine midsummer ’ s night.
Hopefully Lev had adjusted to her
disappearance. She dearly missed the long distance daily chit-chat that they
had shared; she describing the intricacies and intrigue of her classified
research and he chronicling his gregarious social interactions and his newfound
pursuit of fun.
Jana ’ s shoulders
slumped in despair; she had lost everything and everyone with no prospect of
regaining either.
He had been gifted from the
beginning, she reminisced. As a two-year-old, Lev would toddle around their
townhouse in Free City and methodically describe everything that he
Keira had frowned disapprovingly, “ None for me. ”
Katchah was one of dozens of illegal and mildly hallucinogenic
herbs that filtered into the counter culture of Free City from the lawless
domains of the Warlords. Years ago, Keira ’ s own antiestablishment parents
had been nabbed when they imported several kilos of the banned substance. They
had paid a substantial fine for the transgression and nearly lost their coveted
Importer ’ s License.
Keira winced; even now her parents
continued to sneak the profitable contraband across the border despite her
repeated admonishments.
Desiree produced a thin and
elaborately decorated pouch from her bikini bottom. Her stubby fingers
retrieved a sticky hunk of shredded brown leaves and she held it temptingly in
front of Lev.
He eagerly snapped up the offering
and kissed Desiree ’ s cheek in thanks. She pressed a small lump into her own
mouth.
The drug seemed to cause her table
partners to fixate on each other. As the evening wore on, they spoke less and
less to her and more and more to each other in progressively more
incomprehensible and slurred sentences.
Finally when her queasiness had
subsided, Keira left them chortling gleefully at their own terrible jokes.
She ’ d whimpered
gloomily in the nearly empty transport back to her apartment building.
Why had she been attracted to Lev
in the first place?
He was self-indulgent and often
maddeningly unfocused, not unlike her parents, Keira realized with a start. He
seemed far more interested in immediate gratification than long-term
fulfillment. Perhaps that was why he had apparently selected Desiree ’ s offer of quick thrills to her own possibilities of eventual stability
and perhaps even love.
In the dark and quiet apartment
bed, Keira pressed her eyes tightly closed; he was completely wrong for her and
she should just get on with other more promising matters.
But still, she sighed heavily,
there was just something special about Lev.
16. A lamentable lack of mirth Jana floated aimlessly in her dark
and miserable cell.
She drew her attention back to the
matter at hand, “ Or, if there were a sympathy in choice, War, death, or
sickness did lay siege to it, Making it momentany as a sound. ”
This was the sixth recital of A
Midsummer Night's Dream that she ’ d forced herself to endure since
she ’ d been taken hostage. Three and a half decades earlier it
had been her favorite work of Shakespeare, now she would have done almost
anything to enjoy Much Ado About Nothing or Macbeth instead.
Where was she?
Jana chortled at the irony of the
question; she was lost in the Solar System and lost in A Midsummer Night's
Dream.
A midsummer night in the Solar
System....
Jana stiffened in dread; she was
losing her mind.
OK, keep going.
She took a deep breath, “ Swift as a shadow, short as any dream, Brief as the lightning in the
collied night. ”
Jana cackled hoarsely; she
remembered a naive girl in the back row of her Ancient English Lit class asking
the Professor if a ‘ collied night ’ had something to do with
sheepdogs shepherding in the evening.
Regrettably her tenuous focus was
waning; she would have to come back to Shakespeare later.
She tapped her fingertips to her
thumb and tallied up weeks. It was late June or perhaps early July. Far off on
the hospitable blue Earth, someone was surely enjoying a genuine midsummer ’ s night.
Hopefully Lev had adjusted to her
disappearance. She dearly missed the long distance daily chit-chat that they
had shared; she describing the intricacies and intrigue of her classified
research and he chronicling his gregarious social interactions and his newfound
pursuit of fun.
Jana ’ s shoulders
slumped in despair; she had lost everything and everyone with no prospect of
regaining either.
He had been gifted from the
beginning, she reminisced. As a two-year-old, Lev would toddle around their
townhouse in Free City and methodically describe everything that he
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