Page 6 of Escape Velocity

“Why did you choose it?”

He didn’t mention his sister but instead chose the other meaning. “She’s a singer who was popular on the vids when I was growing up. You look a little like her.”

“What is a vid?”

“A moving picture.”

“A what?”

He reached toward the console, flicked a switch and turned on a zero-gravity wrestling match he’d been watching.

Her eyes bugged out as she took it in. “How do you do that?”

“It’s recorded.”

“What does that mean?

“I can explain later,” he answered, realizing there were going to be a lot of things a Naxion slave didn’t know about.

“Okay,” She cleared her throat. “The singer, she is not popular now?”

“There was a ton of pressure on her to stay at the top,” he answered, wishing she hadn’t asked. “She took a lot of drugs and died of an overdose.”

He wasn’t sure if she really understood, but she looked sad as though contemplating the fate of a woman she had never known. Then she brightened and said, “I can sing. I haven’t been allowed to sing in years.”

“Not allowed?”

“I told you, slaves are deprived of pleasure.”

“Sagan’s balls. Why?”

“To punish us, I think.”

“For what?”

“For failing to develop in the proper way.”

“For failing to grow ugly,” he growled. “I think your people know they are deformed. They punish you for not catching the disease.”

“I don’t know.”

“It makes a weird kind of sense. If you want to sing, go ahead.”

He could see from her face that the idea of trying it again excited her. Yet she also looked nervous.

“What if I cannot?”

“Try it.”

“I am embarrassed.”

“It’s only me.”

“That’s the embarrassing part.”

He spread his hands. “I don’t even know what Naxion music is supposed to sound like.”

She lifted her head and trilled out a series of notes that could have come from someone trained for the vids. Then she sang the words of a song with a heartfelt mixture of joy and sadness.

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