Descending Road - EARS AT THE TABLE by Dana W. Paxson

EARS AT THE TABLE

2380 CE

“Look,” Gene said, “This whole project is for finding habitable planets in other star systems. You knew that, right?”

Wen Xi and Li Xiao looked at each other, then they turned and nodded at Gene. Li Xiao said, “It makes sense. What are we supposed to do together?”

Time to take a gamble and let it out. Gene knocked back a good swallow of the horsehair gin he was drinking. “Here is what I came to do. I’ve run the Stellar Planetary Survey for years, but I’ve never gotten the money or the range to do it the way I’d like to. Now the United States has handed me a bag of money and told me to come to you for help with the range problem. The Oort Cloud is a long way out, about a light-year, too far for my money and knowledge.” Gene started gesturing. “You can get us there. I can specify the telescopes, make liaison between the Sinese government and my own, take care of the intellectual-property issues. I’m also looking for someone who can design and build the telescopes I specify. I tracked down the experts in Oort-baseline interferometry, so we can process all the telescope signals into one coherent picture. Is all this making sense?”

Nobody said anything, but Gene‘s friends all nodded. Li Xiao said, “We were told to help you with this. It is no secret, except we need to meet at our offices for the detailed information.” She glanced around. Too many ears out here.

Li’s tired eyes scanned the room behind Gene, stopped momentarily, then went on until she closed them and rubbed her forehead. As if at a signal, Pico turned up. “You ready for a main course now? I’ve got roast duck with fakon.” Fakon was a bacterially-grown bacon replacement, actually better-tasting than the meat it replaced; ‘fakon’ was the popular and unapproved name for it.

“Nah, we gotta go, Pico. Great stuff, as always.” Wen Xi levered himself up. “Time to get Gene over to our place, stick him in bed. Come on, yobos.” They filed out through a maze of tables, all occupied, with servers scuttling back and forth crazily. As Gene reached the door, he turned for one more look back at Pico; she was bent over their table, and her arm seemed to be underneath the tabletop.

Probably her own microphone, Gene thought idly, and then followed the others to a waiting tram. But why would she…?

Story List	SURPRISE ME	Author Page
USER SURVEY	PUZZLE ME	MAKE ELM MARK

HOVER Lucida Bright BARE	HOVER Lucida Bright FULL	HOVER Palatino Linotype BARE
HOVER Palatino Linotype FULL	HOVER Times New Roman BARE	HOVER Times New Roman FULL
PAD Arial BARE	PAD Arial FULL	PAD Lucida Bright BARE
PAD Lucida Bright FULL	PAD Times New Roman BARE	PAD Times New Roman FULL


	EARS AT THE TABLE 2380 CE “Look,” Gene said, “This whole project is for finding habitable planets in other star systems. You knew that, right?” Wen Xi and Li Xiao looked at each other, then they turned and nodded at Gene. Li Xiao said, “It makes sense. What are we supposed to do together?” Time to take a gamble and let it out. Gene knocked back a good swallow of the horsehair gin he was drinking. “Here is what I came to do. I’ve run the Stellar Planetary Survey for years, but I’ve never gotten the money or the range to do it the way I’d like to. Now the United States has handed me a bag of money and told me to come to you for help with the range problem. The Oort Cloud is a long way out, about a light-year, too far for my money and knowledge.” Gene started gesturing. “You can get us there. I can specify the telescopes, make liaison between the Sinese government and my own, take care of the intellectual-property issues. I’m also looking for someone who can design and build the telescopes I specify. I tracked down the experts in Oort-baseline interferometry, so we can process all the telescope signals into one coherent picture. Is all this making sense?” Nobody said anything, but Gene‘s friends all nodded. Li Xiao said, “We were told to help you with this. It is no secret, except we need to meet at our offices for the detailed information.” She glanced around. Too many ears out here. Li’s tired eyes scanned the room behind Gene, stopped momentarily, then went on until she closed them and rubbed her forehead. As if at a signal, Pico turned up. “You ready for a main course now? I’ve got roast duck with fakon.” Fakon was a bacterially-grown bacon replacement, actually better-tasting than the meat it replaced; ‘fakon’ was the popular and unapproved name for it. “Nah, we gotta go, Pico. Great stuff, as always.” Wen Xi levered himself up. “Time to get Gene over to our place, stick him in bed. Come on, yobos.” They filed out through a maze of tables, all occupied, with servers scuttling back and forth crazily. As Gene reached the door, he turned for one more look back at Pico; she was bent over their table, and her arm seemed to be underneath the tabletop. Probably her own microphone, Gene thought idly, and then followed the others to a waiting tram. But why would she…?