Chapter One

Reprieve

Palla Stavo
Gamier
Beta Mar

The pounding on my door frightened, the mini-eye image of suDaltha matched. I pulled on a robe, unlocked, and she blubbered about 'Toe-knee'.

I went along the corridor to Tony's Condo. There he was, sprawled out, naked and unconscious. I grabbed his arm, shook him, no response.  I tossed the nearest body suit at suDaltha.

"Dress him, I'll return. He needs to go to the hospital."

She made the sound of mice in danger.

I returned to my flat,I stripped, got a moisture spray, pulled on a thin blue figola, part of a flowsuit, fixing the satina collar. Over that came a stark white tunic. I slipped my feet into matching kicky boots, put my cache into a hurry case, gave my hair a quick fix, my face a fast paint. I returned to Tony's room in under ten minutes.

"Carry him to the roof." I demand.

She lifted him as if he weighed two kilos and we went up to my flyer. Once she got him in I ordered her back; "I'll call you, stay in his condo," and set course to Gestan General.

Now aloft, I sent an emergency beep to Gestan, tapping in the number 3, Substance Abuse. As I landed, a team took Tony.

I filled out the admittance form calling him 'Terry Sign', identifying him as my husband, though only the bot was fooled.

Tony Johnson was the most famous man on the planet. I, since my "Oscar" night, a contender for most famous woman.

Completing bureaucratic necessities I went to the waiting room, then to the loo to finesse my make-up and hairstyle.
I phoned suDaltha, told her I'd call in an hour, then returned to waiting. I was alone in the V.I.P. room. I viewed the holo, skimmed mags, unable to focus.

I didn't think Tony had tried to kill himself or had overdosed in a conscious definition. He'd been chancing for sometime. It had become more frequent the closer one moved from then to now.

He'd never been conservative and had grabbed the perqs of Fame and Adulation and Wealth as a starveling gorges.
I'd desired him to mellow into long prestige, as those who lived with F.A.W. and were no longer controlled by it.

My early years, the pressure to be serviceable, my Space Intelligence training and disastrous marriage to Nem, had made fear more practical; I remained nonplussed by F.A.W. The death of my 'forever' marriage in just three years, taught me that nothing is forever, so nothing is to control me.

It was not a pleasant lesson, not a notch one would want on their souls, but a beacon which prevents one from believing the hype, from warping into specious security and crashing on the rocks of humiliation.

Tony, imbued with what he thought was power and significance, wrapped in his F.A.W., was conquered by it. No expense was bypassed. He had to taste all fruits, touch all icons, experiment and divert. The rot began before our encounter and though I might have dammed destruction, it had been fugitive.

He'd not been faithful to me, physically nor mentally, nor saw our relationship as meaningful. Different, perhaps with random import, worth retaining, but not essential.

After uPaychel's restructuring of Tony's perceptions, he'd crawled into our association as a child hiding from a storm.
During those days together I gave him of my strength and he returned to profligacy with renewed impulse. I had not commented; I did not own the authority to approve or disprove and would not steal it. I shored myself, , not revealing my desires or opinions beyond the general.

Love was a disease I had experienced. I knew the antidote. Take each flaw and enlarge. Teach your eyes to see faults not virtues, teach your ears to hear lies, teach your heart to contract.  Eventually Tony morphed from a man I loved, to someone I used to love, and now, merely an acquaintance.

I assumed he spent much of the recent past in Shandel where perversion was standard.  Shandel had, I understood, been created as a 'pleasure package' two hundred years ago. One bought a 'ticket', entered, enjoyed what one chose, then exited. Nothing was taken from Shandel. Not relationships, gossip, nor guilt.

I had never visited it, tourists and observers were not permitted.

I'd seen illegal videos; if I was apprehended it would be a substantial fine, for Shandel guaranteed privacy; the breach charged to the culprit. This had caused the bankruptcy of gossip rags, the destruction of careers.

Tony was a regular visitor, if not resident; as well as a charter consumer of com pals; his bar had every previously 'illegal' substance known. What he consumed last night; anyone's guess. Hopefully, it would not cause permanent brain damage or physical impediment.

As I sat in the waiting room I honoured myself for learning to unlove Tony. Looking about, I noted an hour had passed.  I called

Impressum

Verlag: BookRix GmbH & Co. KG

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 26.03.2022
ISBN: 978-3-7554-1021-8

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