Starship Coda Read Online Free PDF Page A

complications.” He shrugged. “Not many subjects have lasted more than five years.”
    Maddie sat back and exclaimed, “Imagine being so insecure as to take the risk!”
    Kee said, “David, how long has Sally been having the treatment?”
    I thought back to what Antrobus and Sally had said. “I think about five years.”
    Matt grunted, staring into his drink, “The people who have it done must see it as a trade off, I suppose. A few years of youth, born again, as opposed to perhaps as many years of old age…”
    “I’m just glad I’ve learned to live with my wrinkles,” Maddie said, and laughed.
    “What wrinkles?” Matt said. “You’re as beautiful now as when I first clapped eyes on you all those years ago.”
    A while later Hawk and Kee excused themselves. They were due to make a delivery to Earth that night—via the Yall’s golden column—and Hawk had to ready his ship.
    We remained drinking as the Ring of Tharssos sparkled overhead.
    Maddie said, reaching across and touching my hand, “Are you sure you’re okay David?”
    I smiled. “I’m fine. I’m sure tomorrow won’t be as bad as I fear.”
    “If you need any moral support, call us over and we’ll make a party of it,” Matt said, hoisting his beer.
    We turned in around midnight and, despite all the alcohol I’d consumed that evening, sleep was a long time coming.
     
    * * *
     
    The following morning I was edgy until around ten when, oddly, the feeling dissipated. I had confronted my demons in the past, after all, so what had I to fear now? Sally could rake up no further unpleasant memories, no guilty feelings long buried in my subconscious. All
    she could do, at worse, would be to accuse me of cowardice when I’d hesitated before diving into the sea to try to save my daughter, and I’d long since acknowledged that charge.
    Eleven o’clock came and went, and I must admit that I breathed a sigh of relief, despite telling myself that I was not fearing her arrival. Then, just as I was hoping that maybe she had had second thoughts about the visit, I heard the sound of an engine on the approach road and a big white roadster appeared beyond the fence past Matt and Maddie’s dome.
    Gideon Antrobus waved casually from behind the wheel, and Sally hopped from the passenger seat, approached the gate and pushed her way through. The car started up and drove off; at least we would be spared the presence of Antrobus.
    I left Hannah on the balcony and strode down the ramp, meeting Sally on the lawn.
    She stood with her hands on her adolescent hips, staring up at the sleek lines of the starship. “So this is the famous Mantis ,” she said. “I must say that it’s not as impressive as it was in the film.”
    I smiled. “Everything in the film was a fake,” I said.
    She looked at me. “Even the portrayal of yourself?”
    “Especially that.”
    Hannah leaned over the rail. “Would you care for a drink, Sally? A lemonade?” she asked, before she could stop herself.
    “I’ll have a gin and tonic,” Sally said. “A large one, with ice.”
    She turned to me. “Well, David, aren’t you going to give me a guided tour?”
    We entered the Mantis and I showed her around. Hannah appeared with a G&T and a beer for me, then made an excuse and hurried away. I tried to catch her attention and indicate that I’d like her to stay, but I sensed that Sally unnerved her: it wasn’t hard to see
    why.
    The anomaly unsettled me, too, and it had nothing to do with the fact that the mind behind the sweet, tanned face was that of my ex-wife. Had I come across the child in any other situation, I would have sensed the strange aura that surrounded her, the forthright confidence she exuded at odds with my expectations of the demeanour of a little girl.
    I gave her a quick tour and finished up in the lounge, uneasy at Sally’s presence in the Mantis : it was as if she were defiling consecrated ground. I suggested we go outside and sit in the sunlight.
    She nodded.