"You and I were talking rather."You and I were talking rather... comfortably yesterday, and I'd like to ask if you'd consider sharing my room." I snorted a soft laugh at my own reluctance. "My bed." K'meh didn't even blink at the invitation. "I thought you had the invitation of Dr. Stoneman." I smiled, checked the clock, and placed my hand over hers. "Dr. Stoneman and I have every intention of having dinner together. If something else develops out of that, which I doubt, well... Let me be honest, K'meh... I don't like to sleep alone." She laughed freely, tossing her head back. "So," she said loudly, recovering, "Am I a roommate, or backup?" I blushed, embarrassed. "Maybe a little bit of both." She pulled her hand free from under mine, and then laid it atop mine reassuringly. "I need a roommate, and I can't think of anyone I'd rather have." Before I could answer, there was a curious lurch, but it felt as if it were coming from inside my skull, rather than against the harness, which seemed to move not at all. K'meh was suddenly busy. "Kanga Two, Kanga Two." "This is Kanga Two," the radio announced cleanly. "That you at the helm, K'meh?" "Affirmative, Segio. How's your compliment?" "We're fine. Nice scheduling; we came out clean." "Nice to drive with you, Seg. See you on Terra." "Right. Stay in touch." "Will do. Out." She turned her attention to the navigation computer. "We're an hour out from Luna Insertion Orbit, and it looks like we'll be coming along the right path so we should be landing at Tycho in slightly under two hours." I nodded. "Sorry about the stop at Luna." She smiled and pointed around herself towards the back. "The scientists wanted a Luna conference. Besides, everyone wants a past they can touch," she finished mysteriously. I settled back into the chair and looked at her curiously, but decided not to continue the conversation. Instead, I summoned up the collection of short stories by Edgar Allan Poe that I'd been reading earlier. Eventually, I leaned back in my chair and napped. "Vatare'," the voice said, someone shaking my shoulder. "I'm going to need the co-pilot's position for landing." "Eh?" I said, waking quickly. "Oh," I said, smiling, "sure." I creaked against out of my comfortable seat, handing it back to flight specialist Shtamed. |