April 6: And What Goes Around Read Online Free PDF Page B

sure who the
boards were talking about.
    April was sure at
least one of the more pleasant social sites was written by a very young girl by
the sort of slang she used and limited subjects. There were a couple boards and
newsletters dealing with business. One about onboard manufacturing and one
about ship building and construction, with only a little overlap between them.
    There was a recent
and anonymous board that dealt with adult social issues, much classier than the
gossip boards. That's what April was looking at tonight. You could subscribe to
just article titles if you wished. April thought she knew who the writer was
but had no desire to out her. She'd seen her eat at the nightclub in which
April owned a small interest and then a day later there would be a review of
that same dish she'd had in the newsletter. There were so few restaurants to
review on Home she was going through the menus dish by dish.
    President Wiggen
had been through enough with the coup in North America and fleeing to Home. She
didn't need the nasty comments April was sure she'd get on the gossip boards just
because of who she was, even if she avoided local politics, which so far
she had. Not even commenting on less sensitive Earth news that didn't involve
North America or Home. April was pretty sure the board was Wiggen's.
    The title banner to
this site simply said "What's Happening" and April noticed there
wasn't even a reference to Home on the first page. You had to know something
about Home, or recognize some of the names, to even know it wasn't about a
small town in North America most of the time. April was surprised one day to
see a lengthy obituary. Wiggen posted local announcements free and took small
ads for Home businesses and even other habs. Occasionally there was a small
banner for Cheesy's, a burger place outside spin on ISSII that April favored.
    April had no idea
before reading about them that there was a bridge club, an Elks club, and
several veterans associations. There were three groups holding regular
religious services, a group offering charity and services to those ill or
underemployed. Home was expensive. Some new arrivals had spent most of their
funds to get to Home and underestimated how much it would cost to live.
Fortunately there was a labor shortage and most didn't stay broke. There were
just a few who couldn't make a go of it and were forced to return to Earth. For
one person a local charity fund bought a ticket home and for another two the
Head of Security, Jon Davis, considered the price of a return ticket from his
budget a bargain to be rid of them.
    There were several
announcements of marriages and births, although Mr. Muños always appended those
to the minutes of the Assembly, but that could be a wait. The one that caught
her eye was, "Benjamin Patsitsas and Martha Wiggen wish to announce to the
community that they have wed and are making a life together." Well, that
was interesting. Hardly surprising since she hadn't seen one without the other
for months. She needed to send some sort of gift. Perhaps one of Lindsey's
prints.
    April checked her messages looking for something from Barak. His
expedition would be starting back from near Jupiter soon with an ice ball. That
was the longer part of the trip. This was the second investment group seeking
to bring volatiles back. They couldn't talk real-time with the long speed of
light lag, but he left messages every three or four days. She missed him more
than she expected. He had just been Heather's kid brother for so long and then
after he got big enough to be interesting and part of her life on his own –
zoom – he took off on this long trip. She hoped he was doing OK.

Chapter 3
    The lighting was
dim, the disc of the sun noticeably smaller but still too bright to stare at
directly. It was sufficient illumination to work once your eyes adjusted. If
they had been back at Home the glare off the ice would have required him to
drop the polarizing filter and gold coated