Barbary by Vonda N. McIntyre Read Free Book Online Page A

admit she had reacted as she
would have back on earth. Nobody would try to steal anything out here. For one
thing — where would they go?
    “You surprised me,” Barbary said. “I just I like to carry my
own stuff, okay?”
    “Sure. You are Barbary, aren’t you? Dumb question,
you have to be. I’m Heather. We’re practically sisters.” Heather sounded far
less fragile than she looked.
    Maybe people who are born on space stations are just
naturally littler, Barbary thought.
    “Hi,” she said. She had meant to begin well here. She hoped
she had not already started to make a mess of everything.
    “Aren’t you hot in that jacket? You don’t need it here on
Atlantis.” Heather wore shorts and a tank top.
    “Atlantis?” Barbary tried to divert the conversation so
Heather would not get suspicious about her jacket. And, besides — Atlantis?
    Heather grinned. “That isn’t the official name, I know, but
that’s what we all call it. Atlantis was a mythical continent. Its people were
supposed to have a high-tech civilization when all the other human beings were
still wrapping themselves up in animal skins.”
    “Yeah,” Barbary said, “but Atlantis sank.”
    “That’s a good point,” Heather said. “I hadn’t thought of
that. I guess nobody else did, either. Do you know how to sly yet?”
    “Huh?”
    “Sly. That’s ‘swim’ and ‘fly’ — it’s how you get around in zero
g.”
    “A little, I guess,” Barbary said. “But I can’t do it very
well.”
    “Okay, I’ll tow you. It’s a lot faster than getting you a
chair, and they’re pretty silly anyway. People only use them who are too
chicken to try slying.” Heather took Barbary’s hand. “Come on, let’s go find
Yoshi. He’s looking for you, too.”
    Barbary untangled herself and her duffel bag from the web
strap. Heather pushed off. Barbary relaxed and let herself be towed. She kept a
tight hold on her bag. If it got loose and banged against something, it might
come untied. It would be ridiculous if she smuggled Mickey on board but got
caught because the cat food spilled all over. Afraid of the drug’s effect on
Mick, she both hoped and feared to feel him move. She would notlook
toward him. If she pretended nothing was unusual, nothing was wrong, she would
not see a white-tipped tabby paw push through the front of her coat, opening
the way for a pink nose and white whiskers…
    Heather got all the way to the other side of the
doughnut-shaped room without running into a single dignitary. Considering the
crowd and the confusion, that was quite a feat.
    “Here’s Yoshi!” Heather said. “Yoshi! I found her!”
    Yoshi rotated as Heather swooped toward him. He caught them
both and swung them around and to a stop. Heather laughed. Barbary swallowed
hard and clutched the duffel bag.
    “Where’s Thea?” Heather asked.
    “I don’t know,” Yoshi said. “She said she’d come, but I
guess she forgot.”
    Yoshi, Heather’s father and Barbary’s mother’s best friend
from college, was of medium height, compact and athletic. Barbary liked his
smile. He had none of Heather’s frailty, but she had his good looks and dark
hair and eyes.
    Yoshi gave Barbary a hug. “Barbary, I’m very glad you’re
here.” He held her away to look at her, and hugged her again. In the air above
them, Heather did free somersaults, turning fast twice, her knees hugged to her
chest, then stretching out her arms and legs to spin once slowly. She caught a
strap and stopped.
    Barbary suddenly felt quite shy. She did not know what to
say to Yoshi, or how to thank him for all he had done, without sounding silly
and sentimental.
    “I’m glad I’m here, too,” she said. “I didn’t think they’d
ever let me come.”
    “It should never have taken so long,” Yoshi said. “And after
all that, to have to fight with every diplomat on earth just for a shuttle
ticket —” He shook his head, then smiled again. “You look a lot like your
mother.”
    Barbary