Al Past [Distant Cousin 01] Distant Cousin (pdf)

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around the woodstove, three pairs of eyes shut in contentment.
C H A P T E R 15
Darcy liked Yvonne Yardley. She was as professional and efficient as Jennings,
Chen, and Slinger, but she also treated her like a real person, even telling her how
she did on some of the tests. Dr. Jennings was perhaps a little too hale and hearty,
artificially so, and Chen and Slinger acted as if Darcy was hardly more than a
freak subject to be analyzed. Yardley, slim and blonde, was light-hearted with a
warm smile that denoted genuine interest.
At one point, as Darcy was performing some task they had set her to, Yvonne s
head poked up over the partition that set them apart. Darcy looked up.
What?
Oh, nothing. I just want to watch you when you do that. Get ready. Here we
go again.
Darcy looked down at the row of colored lights and buttons. One turned
green and she slapped the button on the table next to it. A few seconds later
another turned red and, as instructed, she did nothing. A third turned yellow,
and she slapped the button twice.
That s amazing! said Yvonne.
How so?
Your reaction time is two or three times faster than any I ve ever measured
before. I can t even see your hand move!
I m going to slow down from hunger pretty soon. What time is lunch?
Oh! Let s see& we ll be done with this in about fifteen minutes. Would you
be my guest in the cafeteria after that?
I d love to. But while we re there, please don t call me your friend from
another planet. Call me Ana, from Miami.
- 262 -
Al Past
263
Great! Let s finish this up. Her head dropped below the partition. Are you
ready? Watch the lights.
They were the only passengers in the elevator to the ground floor. Yardley
smiled at Darcy.
I owe you an apology. When Dr. Chen told us who we would be testing, I
didn t know what to think. I feel bad for thinking otherwise, but you really are a
normal person, most ways& except for your reflexes.
Thanks, I guess. I knew that all along. But I suppose others have to learn it.
I mean, I ve been wondering. Did you have boy friends back home? And
stuff like that? Was your life pretty ordinary?
It seemed ordinary to me. But it s hard to tell what that means to someone
else, you know? I had some boy friends. Nothing serious.
The elevator door opened and they headed outside. Not wanting to discuss
her pre-earth days where others might hear, she turned the conversation to her
companion.
What about you? Are you married? Or do you have boy friends?
Not married. I have several boy friends, too many, probably.
Too many?
Yeah, well, three, really. One is handsome and sexy and I m crazy about
him& but lots of girls think that about him, and I m not sure he s that crazy
about me. Another is really fun to be around, but I never know what he ll do
from day to day. And the last one is serious and responsible, but so boring that
sometimes I can t stand him. One wants to move to Alaska and live in the woods,
another wants to become a doctor and get rich and join a country club and buy a
yacht, and the other just wants to sit around and smoke pot and watch basketball.
I guess that s why I m still single.
Wow.
Yeah, wow. What about you? Have you met any interesting ear& uh, local,
men?
I have, actually. I don t know why, but they tend to be academic types& .
As they walked into the student center, Darcy provided her a slightly adjusted
description of Matt, Dr. Sledd, John McLauphin, and Charles Hodge, leaving
out names and ages. She was older than any of them, after all, but it gave her
something to talk about. Up ahead, she could see people lined up to select food.
A student walked by with a plate full of pizza. When they got closer to the serving
line, she d ask Yvonne to recommend what was good. She dearly hoped it would
be pizza.
Al Past
264
The afternoon session was begun by Dr. Chen, seated behind the desk in the
big room.
It has gone very well thus far, Ms. Darcy. We have only the scans left to do,
and a series of X-rays, and then, if you wish, we can give you a preliminary idea of
our findings, probably late this afternoon.
That s fine, she said. The sooner we start, the sooner we ll finish. I m
ready.
Chen looked at Dr. Jennings, who took the cue.
Excellent! We are ready! If you will follow me down the hall, we ll start scan-
ning you six ways from Sunday. Eight by tens will be on sale in the lobby later!
Seeing Darcy s expression, he added, But I jest. This way, if you please,
ma am.
It seemed to Darcy that she spent half the afternoon lying on sliding tables
inside narrow tubes, listening to things clank and whir around her. Every time
she was rolled out and saw the bearded face of Dr. Jennings, the image of Dr.
Frankenstein came to mind. But except for the one time they asked her to think
of certain words, she had her thoughts to herself.
Yvonne Yardley was a pleasant, desirable young woman, or so Darcy thought
males would have found her. She, Darcy, had none of Yvonne s boy friend prob-
lems with Matt. So what was her hang-up? Was it that she dared not commit
without her relatives permission? No, clearly not. She didn t expect to ever see
any of them again. She had become a resident of a different place and adopted a
different tribe, more or less. She was on her own, which was fine with her.
Besides, even at home she had had the same reluctance.
So it must be her. Was she too independent? Or too scared? Or too selfish?
Too reluctant to open her heart to someone else? Was it that she couldn t make
decisions? Well, not really. She made the decision to come to earth quickly
enough. She decided to risk appearing in the Olympics. She decided she needed
to make this trip, and even planned it for days. She could make decisions. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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