lumpy."
"Woo. That's solid. How does she feel about men?"
"She broke up with one a couple of months ago and doesn't seem in a hurry to replace him, but she's expressed an interest in doing so eventually."
"Uh, huh. Well, has Miz Toni ever been in a flitter?"
"Probably not."
"Then we'll go for pizza or something after the game. Howzat?"
Selena's tone brightened as she said, “Yeah. Sounds good. Do you remember how to get there? To the arena on campus, I mean?"
"If I don't, someone else does. I could probably find my way as far as Tallahassee without too much trouble, though. See you then, miLady. By the way, if you lose the game, you walk home."
"Ha, ha. You only go to the games because I'm playing. You wouldn't dare make me walk for fear I'd get a ride. How's Tiger?"
"Fine and fuzzy, as ever."
"And Steph and Elkor?"
"Them, too. Hang on a mo if you want me to put one of them on."
"No, no, that's all right. I'll see her on game day and this isn't my phone."
"Toni's phone, is it? Tell her I'll give her the dollar for the call. Or I could call you back, you know."
"No, that's not it, Ed. We're expecting Toni's mom to call soon."
"Okay. If there's nothing else, bye for now, young goddess."
"That's all the news. See you there, Ed. Bye."
I'd no sooner hung up than Stephie asked, “We could pick them up and have everybody in Tallahassee in minutes. Instead, she's going to spend over two hours in a car to get there. That doesn't make sense to me, Ed."
"Maybe it will, someday. She obviously likes Toni and this gives them more time together. Her and my outside interests have kept us from getting too used to each other for almost six years, Steph. Selena had a girlfriend when I met her and she probably always will have one. Sometimes a session in the pool or the tub even leads all of us to the same bed. I've found that to be fairly interesting at times. We all get what we want and have a good time knowing each other as long as it lasts."
"I see. Is this what is known as 'enlightened self-interest' ?"
"Someone crass enough could call it that. I couldn't, of course."
"Oh, of course not. Not you. Never."
"Now I'm becoming all insulted and hurt and stuff like that, Steph."
"Prove it. Try not to grin."
No sooner than I'd become comfortable on the couch, checking email with my pad, than my pad chimed to announce an incoming call from Linda. I tapped the little icon with the ever-flapping red lips and when the caller's face appeared, I said, “Hi, Linda."
"Hi, Ed. How was London?"
"Typical for February. Keeping me under surveillance these days?"
"No more than usual. Someone noticed an emerald-green flitter letting people off at a London restaurant, but I'm calling because someone's been trying to root up info about one Stephanie Montgomery. Care to confirm my suspicions about who this Montgomery person might be and why anyone cares?"
"Sure. Stephie got herself a CW passport yesterday, Linda. She needed some ID to open a bank account when her salvage operations pay off."
"You sound pretty confident that she'll find something. Hmm. Actually, I guess she's got a better chance than most, at that. Why didn't you two come to me? I could have set her up with an ID and a bank account within a couple of hours."
"They'd be agency-issue, Linda, with long strings attached. This one is really hers and it won't expire if a bureaucrat disagrees about the personhood of an Artificial Intelligence entity later."
"You aren't referring to me, I hope."
"No, I'm referring to everyone with the power to yank a US passport. Remember all the months of crap I went through in ‘73 and ‘74 because of one bureaucrat? If you or John had said anything, you'd have been out of a job. What's changed since then?"
She sighed and said, “Yeah. Okay. I just wanted to know what's going on. Any news about Stephanie's treasure hunting?"
"She starts targeted searching on Monday morning."
"Keep an eye on that Harper woman. I looked her up on
"Woo. That's solid. How does she feel about men?"
"She broke up with one a couple of months ago and doesn't seem in a hurry to replace him, but she's expressed an interest in doing so eventually."
"Uh, huh. Well, has Miz Toni ever been in a flitter?"
"Probably not."
"Then we'll go for pizza or something after the game. Howzat?"
Selena's tone brightened as she said, “Yeah. Sounds good. Do you remember how to get there? To the arena on campus, I mean?"
"If I don't, someone else does. I could probably find my way as far as Tallahassee without too much trouble, though. See you then, miLady. By the way, if you lose the game, you walk home."
"Ha, ha. You only go to the games because I'm playing. You wouldn't dare make me walk for fear I'd get a ride. How's Tiger?"
"Fine and fuzzy, as ever."
"And Steph and Elkor?"
"Them, too. Hang on a mo if you want me to put one of them on."
"No, no, that's all right. I'll see her on game day and this isn't my phone."
"Toni's phone, is it? Tell her I'll give her the dollar for the call. Or I could call you back, you know."
"No, that's not it, Ed. We're expecting Toni's mom to call soon."
"Okay. If there's nothing else, bye for now, young goddess."
"That's all the news. See you there, Ed. Bye."
I'd no sooner hung up than Stephie asked, “We could pick them up and have everybody in Tallahassee in minutes. Instead, she's going to spend over two hours in a car to get there. That doesn't make sense to me, Ed."
"Maybe it will, someday. She obviously likes Toni and this gives them more time together. Her and my outside interests have kept us from getting too used to each other for almost six years, Steph. Selena had a girlfriend when I met her and she probably always will have one. Sometimes a session in the pool or the tub even leads all of us to the same bed. I've found that to be fairly interesting at times. We all get what we want and have a good time knowing each other as long as it lasts."
"I see. Is this what is known as 'enlightened self-interest' ?"
"Someone crass enough could call it that. I couldn't, of course."
"Oh, of course not. Not you. Never."
"Now I'm becoming all insulted and hurt and stuff like that, Steph."
"Prove it. Try not to grin."
No sooner than I'd become comfortable on the couch, checking email with my pad, than my pad chimed to announce an incoming call from Linda. I tapped the little icon with the ever-flapping red lips and when the caller's face appeared, I said, “Hi, Linda."
"Hi, Ed. How was London?"
"Typical for February. Keeping me under surveillance these days?"
"No more than usual. Someone noticed an emerald-green flitter letting people off at a London restaurant, but I'm calling because someone's been trying to root up info about one Stephanie Montgomery. Care to confirm my suspicions about who this Montgomery person might be and why anyone cares?"
"Sure. Stephie got herself a CW passport yesterday, Linda. She needed some ID to open a bank account when her salvage operations pay off."
"You sound pretty confident that she'll find something. Hmm. Actually, I guess she's got a better chance than most, at that. Why didn't you two come to me? I could have set her up with an ID and a bank account within a couple of hours."
"They'd be agency-issue, Linda, with long strings attached. This one is really hers and it won't expire if a bureaucrat disagrees about the personhood of an Artificial Intelligence entity later."
"You aren't referring to me, I hope."
"No, I'm referring to everyone with the power to yank a US passport. Remember all the months of crap I went through in ‘73 and ‘74 because of one bureaucrat? If you or John had said anything, you'd have been out of a job. What's changed since then?"
She sighed and said, “Yeah. Okay. I just wanted to know what's going on. Any news about Stephanie's treasure hunting?"
"She starts targeted searching on Monday morning."
"Keep an eye on that Harper woman. I looked her up on
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