Man-woman relationships -- Fiction; Marriage -- Fiction; Outlaws -- Fiction; Science fiction; Short stories
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QUICKIE
BY MILTON LESSER
_Dr. Kinsey, meet Mr. Grover, the amorous
adventurer. Even in a world of polygamous sexual
relations and legal multiple marriages, here is
the nation's champion philanderer!_
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Worlds of If Science Fiction, October 1954.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
Simon Grover always felt like a goldfish in a coptercab. The plexiglass
bubble afforded full 360 degree vision, but people could also see you
from the crowded traffic lanes above a big city.
"Hurry," said Simon Grover, a small, energetic man with close-set hazel
eyes and a stubborn chin.
"I'm hurrying," the pilot told him with frustrating indifference.
In another few moments he would be safe. He squirmed around and saw
another copter rise above the express lane and close the gap between
them. It had never been this close before. The aquamarine roof of the
Marriage Building loomed ahead, then swelled up at them. The other
copter buzzed closer.
"Don't see any landing space," the pilot said laconically.
Simon squinted down anxiously. The copters were lined up in neat
but crowded rows on the rooftop, with hardly more than walking space
between them.
"Hover," Simon pleaded. "I'll jump."
"I could lose my license."
Simon reached into his pocket and drew out a handful of bills. "This is
important to me," he said.
The pilot pocketed the money, then swooped down toward the roof.
Suspended grotesquely eight feet above the aquamarine surface, blades
whirling, the coptercab hovered. Simon grunted his thanks and slid back
the door. The other copter was fanning air above them and dropping fast
when Simon jumped.
His left leg struck the side of a parked cab and threw him off balance.
He landed on his shoulder, rolled over and scrambled to his feet.
He darted between the rows of copters, thankful for the partial
protection their blades offered him. A parabeam zipped down at the long
shadow he cast in the late afternoon sun, but in another moment he had
reached the roof entrance to the Marriage Building and flung himself
inside.
Breathing hard, he smoothed his rumpled clothing with shaking hands.
That had been entirely too close. They thought he was fleeing because
he did not want to work for a living. Rot. If he were ever captured,
all the romance would go from his life.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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