New Frontiers Read Online Free PDF Page B

you?”
    Puzzled by his question, I answered, “Hardly any.”
    â€œThat’s okay. I can tell you everything you need to know.”
    â€œNeed to know for what?”
    Sam looked surprised. “To manage the golf course, naturally.”
    â€œManage it?” My voice squeaked two octaves higher than normal.
    â€œSure, what else? I’ll be too busy to do it myself.”
    Mai gripped my arm. “That’s wonderful!”
    â€œAnd you, oh beauteous one, will be our pro, of course.” Sam announced, chuckling at his little pun.
    â€œMe?”
    Nodding, Sam replied, “Sure, you. This way the two of you can stay together. Sort of a wedding present.” Then he fixed me with a stern gaze. “You do intend to marry the lady, don’t you?”
    I blurted, “If she’ll have me!”
    Mai squeezed my hand so hard I thought bones would break. I hadn’t realized how strong playing golf had made her.
    â€œOkay, that’s it,” Sam said happily. “You’ll manage the course, Charlie, and Mai, you’ll be the pro.”
    â€œAnd what will you do, Sam?” Mai asked.
    â€œMe? I’ve got to set up the company that’ll manufacture and sell nanosuits. Kris Cardenas is going to be my partner.”
    I felt my jaw drop open. “You mean this whole tournament was just a way of advertising the nanosuits?”
    With a laugh, Sam answered, “Got a lot of publicity for the suits, didn’t it? I’m already getting queries from the rock rats, out in the Asteroid Belt. And the university consortium that’s running the Mars exploration team.”
    I shook my head in admiration for the man. Sam just sat there grinning down at us. The little devil had opened up a new sport for lunar residents and tourists, solved my legal problem, created a career for me, and found a way for Mai and me to marry. Plus, he was starting a new industry that would revolutionize the spacesuit business.
    Before I could find words to thank Sam, Mai asked him, “Will you answer a question for me?”
    â€œSure,” he said breezily. “Fire away.”
    â€œHow did you learn to putt like that, Sam? Some of your putts were nothing short of miraculous.”
    Sam pursed his lips, looked up at the ceiling, swiveled back and forth on his chair.
    â€œCome on, Sam,” Mai insisted. “The truth. It won’t go farther than these four walls.”
    With a crooked, crafty grin, Sam replied, “You’d be surprised at how much electronics you can pack into a golf ball.”
    â€œElectronics?” I gasped.
    â€œA transmitter in the cups and a receiver in the ball,” Mai said. “Your putts were guided into the cups.”
    â€œSort of,” Sam admitted.
    â€œThat’s cheating!” I exclaimed.
    â€œThere’s nothing in the rules against it.”
    That’s Sam. As far as he’s concerned, rules are made to bend into pretzels. And looking up at his grinning, freckled face, I just knew he was already thinking about some new scheme. That’s Sam Gunn. Unlimited.

 
    INTRODUCTION TO
    â€œA COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN”
    Â 
    You know you’re getting old when you start receiving lifetime achievement awards. That’s been happening to me with increasing frequency lately, so I know something of how Alexander Alexandrovich Ignatiev feels.
    Heading for a new frontier, six light-years from Earth, Ignatiev is an old man in the midst of youngsters. “Old” and “young” are relative terms here, for in this tale biomedical advancements have lengthened the human lifespan considerably.
    Still, Ignatiev feels old, useless, bitterly unhappy with his one-way trip to a distant star. He has a different frontier to explore, his own inner strength and determination, his own inner desire to feel useful, admired, even loved.

 
    A COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
    Â 

    1
    â€œIT’S OBVIOUS!” SAID Vartan