Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 144277 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 721(@200wpm)___ 577(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144277 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 721(@200wpm)___ 577(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
We step forward, and I’m just about to announce who we are and explain that we’ve got a reservation, when the master of the house beats me to it.
“Mr. Finn, Miss Jasina. Your table is right this way.”
He has a strange accent. Nice. Interesting. But new to my ears. We follow another man deeper into the space, which is intimate, dimly lit, with soft pools of golden light falling over tables set for two. No crowded banquet halls, no swirling gowns brushing past in a rush of movement. Private and peaceful.
Almost too peaceful for the number of people here, because every table we pass is full.
Glancing over at Jasina, I study her. She takes it all in the same way that she does everything new—sharp-eyed and curious, already weighing it against what she knows. She doesn’t cling to me, doesn’t hesitate, but there’s a flicker of surprise in her eyes as she watches a pair glide across the small dance floor off to the left. Their steps are slow, predictable, almost too easy.
And then the waiter stops in front of a table right up against the floor-to-ceiling windows.
“Holy crap,” Jasina whispers.
And holy crap is right. Even though we were just looking at this view—at least, something like it—that was during the sunset, and now it’s dark. Not only that, but we must be facing the other side of the city, because all those towers and buildings we saw a few minutes ago, have disappeared.
In their place is the desert.
Nothing but miles and miles of desert lit up by a soft glow from a full moon hanging low at the edge of the horizon. Shadows and silhouettes of cactus and palm trees contrast against the almost white sand. Most of the area is flat, but there are great dunes off in the distance. Dunes big enough to be mountains.
“Your table, sir. Madam.” The waiter bows, panning a hand to the table, then straightens up and pulls out Jasina’s chair for her.
We settle in our seats. I order us each a glass of wine out of habit, and I’m just about to ask Jasina if she likes wine—this was Clara’s drink, after all—when she sighs. “So that’s what that whole self-driving car trip was about.” She nods to the desert. “I might want to take that trip.”
“We should definitely take that trip. We’ve seen the desert from the wall of Tau City, but this is something else.”
“When did you see the desert from the wall?”
“What?”
“I’ve never been up on the wall.”
“Yeah, you have. Everyone goes in school. Fourth year? You have to run the whole perimeter. Ten miles. Everyone does it, it’s required.”
“Hmm. You forget, we didn’t grow up in the same neighborhood, Finn. Down-city kids don’t take field trips to the wall so they can run atop it for a day.”
“Oh. I forgot. Well,” I brighten, so that she will brighten. “That means, we for sure have to take that trip. We need to see everything, Jasina. Even other cities.”
She reaches across the table to pat my hand. “You’re getting ahead of yourself. I have a feeling this is just a one-time thing. We don’t really belong here, Finn. We’re going back tomorrow.”
The disappointment in her voice is so present, it hurts me. “Maybe. But maybe not.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, surely I could ask.”
Her eyebrow hikes up. “Ask what?”
“Ask Xi if… you know, we could live here.”
“Live here?”
“Come on. You haven’t thought about it? It hasn’t even crossed your mind?”
“Well…” She blushes a little. “It has. But it’s not possible. So why dream about it?”
“Hmmm. I don’t like that answer.” I pull the PPD out of my pocket and speak the name, “Cormac”. I’m not sure what I expected to happen, but it sure wasn’t his face popping up in the place where the map just was.
“Mr. Finn, how may I be of assistance?”
“Wow. That was weird.”
“Yes,” he agrees. “All travelers from the lower dimension often say the same thing. Now what can I do for you?”
But I don’t answer right away, because he just said all travelers from the lower dimension… there are more of us?
I’m just about to ask about that when he speaks again. “Don’t be shy, Finn. I already know what you want to ask. I’ve also cleared it with Xi.”
“Cleared what, with Xi?” I reply.
“If the two of you can stay in RhoXi during the course of your procedure, should you choose to accept Xi’s offer, that is. Miss Jasina should plan on sleeping in tomorrow. No need to rush to get out of the room, which you can find by simply asking your PPD where it is! But you, on the other hand, I’ll be knocking on your door at six AM sharp for your meeting with Xi at seven-thirty. Any more questions?”
The face on the hand-held screen smiles. Waiting.