People with disabilities -- Fiction; Science fiction
Their environment had changed. Life on the asteroid had undergone a
not so subtle transformation now that there were no longer any normals
around to be compared with, to make the disastrous self-comparison to.
They could begin to behave healthily and sensibly. It was nice that
Jeriann had kissed him and liked it. It was the first installment of
freedom.
The second installment was going to be harder--to keep that freedom at
a level that meant something. He frowned heavily as he thought of what
had to be done.
He was late. Except for Anti, who was absent and always would be,
everyone he knew was there. In addition there were many others who
hardly ever attended. It was a good sign that they were coming out and
mingling; before they had seldom left their houses. Docchi spotted
Jeriann but there wasn't a vacant seat near her. He sat down toward the
rear.
Jordan rapped for silence. "Are there any questions?"
At the front a man stood up. Docchi remembered him from months ago, a
Jack or Jed Webber. Jed it was, a quiet fellow with pale blue eyes and
almost colorless blond hair. Docchi had never heard him say anything
but he was speaking now, emerging from his self-imposed shell. "Yes,"
said Webber. "I want to know where we're going."
Jordan rapped again. "Out of order. Not on the subject. Anyway the
question's not important."
"I think it is," said the man, shuffling his body awkwardly. He was
not exact in his movements because he'd been sliced very nearly down
the middle. Except for his head he was half man and half machine.
Unlike others who'd been injured past regeneration, he could use his
composite body with some degree of skill because there was one arm
and one leg to which the motion of his mechanical limbs could be
coordinated. His skill wasn't as great as it could have been because he
hadn't practiced. The spectre of the ideal human body had hindered him
greatly--in the past. "You don't know where we're going," insisted the
man in a high voice. "We're just moving but you don't know where."
Docchi got up. "I can answer that question. It should be answered.
We're going to Centauri, either Alpha or Proxima, whichever is most
suitable. Is there some place else you wanted to go?"
The reply was drowned for a few seconds by an appreciative rumble but
Webber was stubborn and waited until the noise died down. He swayed on
his feet and pointed at Nona. "I suppose you asked her," he said. Nona
smiled dreamily as attention turned to her.
"No. It would be a joke if we did and we're not interested in playing
tricks on ourselves. You've forgotten one thing, that we do have a
telescope."
"A small one, built as a hobby," Webber said. His voice was uncertain,
as wobbly as his body was.
"True, but it's better than Gallileo had." He hoped Webber wouldn't
point out that Gallileo hadn't tried to plot a voyage across space with
his instrument.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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