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"Do what you can," Channa advised, "and play the rest by ear."
"And don't forget," Simeon told him, "all you have to do is ask and I'll try
to help. Channa, why don't you give him that contact button now?"
"Yes." From a desk drawer, she took a small box, which she presented to Amos.
"We should probably give one to both Joat and
Seld," Simeon suggested.
Channa nodded.
Amos took out the small button curiously.
"That gadget will let me see what you see, hear what you hear, and respond in
relative privacy," Simeon told him.
"It is so small," Amos said, examining the tiny device.
"But so effective," Simeon answered through the button.
Startled, Amos dropped it.
"I can see that it could be very useful," he said, laughing as he retrieved
it. "Thank you, Simeon."
Channa hesitated. "See you in the morning."
"Yes, altogether too briefly," he replied, giving her a rueful bow.
Channa yawned hugely and looked up at the time display. Evening again already!
Almost time for dinner.
Hopefully it would be more cheerful than breakfast, which had been subdued in
the extreme. "Gods, another day gone? Where is everyone?"
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"Amos is on his way back home and should be here any second," Simeon said.
"Joat is committing illegalities in the engineering lab, chortling madly with
Seld, when I can pick them up at all Siie'll be back here to eat, or so I
believe her plan to be." ^
Channa stretched. "I need a break." She flopped into an easy chair and said,
"Woul$ you put on the
'Hebrides Suite/ please?"
He listened to it for a moment and said, "This is nice.
One of my favorites. My great-grandmother once told me that this music held
the soul of Earth's oceans in its phrases. I've loved it ever since."
"Your great-grandmother was from Earth, Channa?"
"No, but she'd been there. Oh, this is my favorite partNa litde louder, Sim."
She raised her hand, palm up to show that he should raise the volume again,
and again. The door opened on Amos, who stepped backward as though the mag-
nificent swell of sound had washed him out on a wave of music.
Channa laughed at his startled expression and sig-
naled Simeon to lower the sound. "Sorry," she called.
Amos poked his head incautiously, "Whew!" he said.
"Channa, it is dangerous to play music at such volume.
Your hearing will be impaired."
She made a face at him. "Don't be a priss, Simeon-
Amos. No one ever lost their hearing on classical music."
"Beethoven?" Simeon suggested.
"Hah!" she said. "You men all stick together," and stumbled to the galley for
coffee. When she had doc-
tored it with cream liqueur and whipped Jersey floating on the surface, she
took an appreciative sip.
"Ah! That's good!" Although when I learned where Jersey originally came from,
Inearly lost -my lunch, she added to herself Simeon had picked up on her
tastes quickly.
THE Crry WHO FOUGHT
277
"Now, that is something I feel I've missed out on,"
Simeon said.
"Mmmh?"
"Coffee, food, everyone who sits down to dinner at
#the Perimeter says, 'Wow! That smells good!' closely
foDowed by 'MnimfThft is delicious!' and I haven't got an analogue for either
of those sensations. Smell and taste N you'd think they could have given me
one of
'em. Oh, 1 can taste when something's offin the chemo-
synthesis plants, and I can smell an ion-trail, but it's not the same'thing.
Sometimes the people at Medic Central are downright inhumanly utilitarian."
"Why don't you put Joat on it?" Channa suggested.
"Put me on what?" Joat asked, arriving at that point.
"I was just saying that I've missed out on tasting coffee, or smelling it
even, everyone says it smells so good. I don't even know what that means. I
just can't get my mind around the concept. I don't like the feeling that I'm
being denied one of life's greatest pleasures. However, the thought of anyone
poking about with my neural interfaces is enough to keep the thought merely
wistful."
Channa and Amos locked eyes a moment, then flick-
ed away. Not before Simeon had caught the look. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]