Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 57268 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57268 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
“Fine, be that way,” she heard him mutter. Then he stomped out of the suite, slamming the door behind him.
Kara hurried to lock the door and then gave a whew! of relief. For a moment she’d been absolutely sure he was going to attack her! Maybe she should ask for a different attendant. But hadn’t Father Gobash said he was going on vacation? Who would she talk to?
With a sigh, she decided if she saw anyone in charge she would mention that she’d like to change attendants, but for now she was going to enjoy her vacation.
After a hot shower and a delicious breakfast of Eggs Benedict courtesy of the Thought-cooker, she decided to put on her swimsuit and find the pool herself, since Feex had never told her where it was. Wrapping a towel around herself, she headed out of the suite.
She ran into a few other women with their attendants but no one seemed to be in charge so she said nothing about Feex. Eventually she found the pool—it was outside the main building, though still within the tall pink walls of the resort.
Kara felt a happy thrill of excitement tingle through her as she surveyed the pool. It was a beautiful rectangle of pale, clear purple water surrounded by tall white pillars and ringed by cushioned reclining beach chairs. The perfect place to spend the afternoon—if she could find some sunblock.
She chose a recliner and put her towel down. Then she walked around to the self-service area which consisted of five different Thought-cookers all lined up on a marble bar. There was a single monk attendant in a green robe but he was staring idly into the distance.
“Excuse me?” Kara said to him. “Uh, do you have any sunblock here?” She knew she couldn’t stay out under the sun as she wanted to without some protection.
“Sun block?” The attendant frowned stupidly. It occurred to Kara that so far all the attendants she’d seen were either extremely inexperienced and naive like Brother Nono, or sullen like Feex, or not too bright like this one. What in the world were the hiring practices like here?
Of course, maybe she was being too hard on this particular attendant. The Paradisians had shiny golden skin—probably they just reflected the sunlight back and didn’t absorb any of it to cause sunburns.
“It’s a kind of lotion that has chemicals in it to protect your skin from sunlight,” she explained. The Paradise Prime sun was beaming down even as she spoke.
“Anything like that from your home world that we don’t have here, just use the Thought-maker,” the attendant told her. He nodded at the last machine on the marble bar and Kara saw that it was, in fact, slightly different from the other four, which were presumably Thought-cookers. This one was black instead of white and quite a bit larger than the others.
“Does it work like a Thought-cooker?” she asked the attendant.
He nodded.
“Yeah, but it makes non-food items. Anything you want—just picture it.”
Kara wasn’t sure if she could get a decent sunblock lotion that way or not. After all, she didn’t know the chemical composition of sunscreen—she could only picture what it felt and smelled and looked like. Still, it was better than swimming with no sun protection at all.
She pressed the suction cup to her temple and concentrated on the silky feel and the tropical scent as well as the creamy white consistency of the sunblock lotion she usually used back home when she went swimming or visited the beach. When the machine dinged she opened it up and was amazed to see a bottle that looked exactly like something she would buy back on Earth. It even had the right label on it!
“Thanks,” she said to the attendant.
He shrugged and nodded.
“You want something to drink while you’re up here? I can make you any kind of Paradisian delicacy or you can make your own from the Thought-cooker,” he said.
“Actually, that sounds nice. Make me something frosty and sweet, if you have anything like that,” she said.
“Sure.” Shrugging, he pressed the suction cup of one of the Thought-cookers to his temple. After a moment, it dinged and he opened the door to reveal a long-stemmed crystal glass filled with what looked like a frozen daiquiri. Kara saw bright green, neon pink, and vivid blue swirled together. There were also several slices of exotic alien fruits on the sugared rim of the glass.
“Oh, that looks nice! Thank you,” Kara said. She decided that she had definitely been too hard on him. He was certainly nicer than Feex and he seemed to know what he was doing.
Taking her bottle of sunblock and her mixed drink with her, Kara went back to her seat. She tried a sip of the drink first and found it was tart and sweet and refreshing with a flavor like some kind of berry mixed with kiwi and pineapple and some other flavor she couldn’t quite name. It had a slightly spicy aftertaste that wasn’t unpleasant, though it was unexpected. Kara took another sip before setting it carefully on the small round table beside her beach chair.