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August 8, 2007
Wednesday
Today's theme: Secrets.
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Stacy: Secrets
She always sat alone, in as near to a corner as anyone could find in a room carved out of the interior of an asteroid by a ball borer.
The bartenders knew to keep ‘em coming until last call, when they drew straws to see who would lift her back to her boat.
It was finally Pinky’s turn one Saturday night. He had a powerful curiosity about her, was actually looking forward to the duty, despite her godawful stench. Well, that is until he saw the inside of her boat.
We had to ship Pinky back Mars-side in a box
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Tanya: Peach
She pulled the small bottle from the receiving end of the still, and replaced it with another. Peach this week. The supply ship wouldn’t be around for another eight months, so they were left to provide for themselves.
Peach was the terraboy Jake’s favorite, and she’d made it just for him. He’d had a bad week, accidentally jacking the air off from shift commander Sharpton’s work suit, three days before. He’d been legally cleared, but was still utterly despondent.
She remembered how Sharpton had dishonored her baby sister, corked the two bottles, and hitched to the bar, to comfort the Earthy.
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Dave: Four Words
"Can you keep a secret? Even from the cops?"
"Depends." Roger shrugged. "Depends on the money involved, the risk, and whether I think the world would be better off with the cops knowing about it. That last doesn't happen often, but it sometimes does."
The man in the rumpled suit bit his lower lip, then nodded. He leaned over the desk toward Roger. His breath was old. He whispered four words.
Roger wasn't sure when he'd stood up, let alone when he'd fired his gun.
The man looked up at him from the floor and smiled. "Now -- it's yours to keep."
Roger shot him again.
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David: Necessary Evil
Clark slunk through the back door of the seedy bar. The man heh he was there to meet was waiting at a table in the corner, away from the prying eyes and ears of the dive’s few other patrons.
“Does she suspect?”
Clark nodded. “Exactly what you want her to.”
A strong, perfectly manicured hand slid an envelope across the table. Clark picked it up and shook it. The rattle of gemstones satisfied him.
“Don’t you feel bad about lying to her?” Clark asked.
“We’re not lying. Whatever conclusions Lois arrives at are her business.”
“See you next month, Kal.”
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Ted: Hiding in Plain Sight
Asteroid 253, "Mathilde" according to Johanna Palisa, is actually blacker than coal, darker than the space it floats through. So when James realized he had to leave Mars, Mathilde was the perfect destination.
James Ralston (only his sister ever got away with calling him Jimmy) had plenty of reasons to stay in-system. But the one reason he had to leave was enough to make him sell his opal mine Earthside, rig out a freighter, and give the finger to society at large.
When Sara caught up to him four months later, she already knew his secret. She wanted to help.
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Jeff R.: I'm Kilroy!
Is something really secret if everybody knows it?
I mean, even the students- even the third-graders knew Mister Griffin was getting busy with the principal's Secretary. So it's not like it was news to anybody at all, when the lights went down and the blacklights came on and everybody in the assembly at the gym could read the writing in UV-sensitive paint. And yet we still had the full-blown inquisition to find out who could possibly have known and wrote what everybody'd been gossiping about for months.
There aren't any real secrets here. Just things people pretend they don't know.
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