Norton, Andre - Anthology by Catfantastic IV (v1.0) Page A

nuclear
physicist. She and her husband live in an ordinary (except for her disorganized
study) house with a cat who makes sure they don't sleep in unhealthily late in
the morning.
     
                 The circus is coming!
The message flashed through the news and personal nets. Download
circus.schedule. red.
                 The circus owners
knew the value of publicity. All kinds of teasers could be downloaded off the
net. Colorful holoposters and holobillboards appeared on major
    ground routes and on public buildings in the cities. Commercial channels
carried paid ads, and even the blasé news'porters smiled as they interviewed
advancefolk on
    the newest acts added to the circus.
                 The five ships that
brought the circus left colored contrails (thanks to additions of harmless
chemicals to the final exhaust) over every populated region of the planet.
                 News channels covered
the landing and unloading of the wagons and then simulcast it all around the
planet.
                   The wagons were all designed on the same plan.
The bottom section, including the wheels, were opaque vehicles, concealing
living quarters, equipment, whatever. The top was a display platform, with
transparent roof and sides (that could be taken off and stored in good weather,
or in cities with domes in bad).
                   Once the circus folk loaded all the wagons,
their journey to the first site was also broadcast.
     
                   Loi Mandela-Takahuri, aged seven, was watching
the parade on the big screen in the main room. "Daddy, are you going to take
me to the circus when it comes here?" she called over the intercom.
                   Her father, working over his computer in his
study, groaned to himself. "Can't your mother?" The large white
angora cat purring at his feet stirred slightly.
                   "Oh, DAD-dy." Loi pouted. "You
know she'll have an operation or something scheduled."
                   Boris Mandela-Andrews frowned to himself. She
would. Either that or a class she couldn't trade off. Odd how he always seemed
to get stuck with the one-off chores involving Loi or the house, especially
since his wife had won the coveted teaching channel slot for "Advanced
Micro Neural Splicing Techniques." Not that her course hadn't been
oversubscribed ever since, but . ..
                   "Ohhhh!" Loi was watching a screen
showing a wagon with its sides up, full of pacing animals. "Lions and
tigers, oh my!"
                   Boris, hearing her because she'd forgotten to
turn off the intercom, smiled. Lions and tigers indeed. The smile broadened as
he remembered circuses when he was young. Maybe this was one "chore"
he'd make durn sure he got "stuck" with. te
                   "Ohhhh!" Loi's voice was filled with
awe.
                   Boris glared at his own screen, with the all
important work on the upgrade of the planetary satellite system, hit Save, and
flicked over to a repeat of what Loi was seeing. A platform with three clowns
chasing a fourth rolled under the camera relaying the parade. The clown in
front, all floppy orange shoes and billowing purple clothes, suddenly tripped
over something, and rolled across the platform. Suddenly, purple-and-orange was
in back of the three pursuers. They stopped, making exaggerated gestures of dismay,
tumbling over each other, clouds of colored smoke appearing from their clothes.
Boris chuckled, and heard a startled Pur-rup from the floor.
                   Yes, he'd take this chore! He gave a little
gasp as several kilos of cat thumped into his lap. He leaned down to pet the
circling animal. The screen now showed a collection of exotics, non-Terran
animals, each (he assumed) in its own sealed-off area. He whistled. Whew.
                   "Look at that. Oberon," he said.
"Look at those big boy relatives of