The Gate Read Free

their co-workers, knowing what they were saying
because Arapaho was one of the few languages that hadn’t been added
to the computer data bank.
    It had seemed like a slight to the
Native Americans that it was one of the few languages excluded
because most of the languages of Earth had been added—all but those
considered ‘dying’ languages because there were only small segments
of the population that could and did still speak them. So even
though she hadn’t particularly wanted to learn the language and had
felt a little silly about it besides because it almost seemed like
some sort of childish rebellion—learning a ‘secret’ code--she’d
felt uncomfortable with the idea of turning down the offer to learn
Brenda’s native language.
    She was glad now that she’d learned the
smidgen she had—only enough, really, to let Brenda know when she
had something to talk about that she didn’t want ‘overheard’ by the
system. She’d been uneasy about it, afraid she might make the
‘list’, the list everybody somehow knew about that supposedly
didn’t exist of people under watch because the government suspected
they might be plotting insurrection.
    That was absolutely absurd of
course!
    No one of intelligence wanted
anarchy!
    Unless they were also insane and it was
highly unlikely that anyone with ‘a bolt loose’ could get through
the regular psyche evaluations!
    She was no rebel! She just didn’t
appreciate not having any privacy. She knew the system had been
designed for the greater good and it worked. There was very little
crime like there had been in the less civilized days before, very
little true hunger—occasional outbreaks of diseases or
illnesses—but those were quickly dealt with and the danger of a
pandemic like the one that had killed millions only a quarter of a
century earlier had vanished.
    There were rumors that people
occasionally simply ‘vanished’ but she knew that was just the human
need to add a little excitement to their lives.
    Because there wasn’t a lot of that
either, she thought with a touch of resentment.
    Brenda greeted her when she reached the
mechanical room that was their ‘secret’ place by rushing to grab
the tray Carly had used to carry their food and beverages. “What is
it you need to talk about?”
    There was a thread of alarm in Brenda’s
voice that discomfited Carly considering her reason for calling the
‘meeting’. She felt herself blushing.
    “Nothing Earth shattering,” she
muttered uncomfortably, hastening to reassure her friend. “I just …
well, it’s private/personal and I think Trude suspects I’m a little
unstable.”
    Something flickered in Brenda’s eyes.
“Oh?”
    Carly felt her face heating even more.
She settled beside Brenda on the floor with their tray of food
between them. It wasn’t the most comfortable way to share a meal
and yet Carly had discovered that she enjoyed it far more than
sitting in the cafeteria surrounded by so many other people. “It’s
about my sex-sim, Daniel.”
    Brenda blinked at her but to Carly’s
surprise and relief, she didn’t laugh. “What about him?”
    Carly squirmed but over the past months
she’d developed a bond with Brenda that had made it far easier to
share intimate details about her life with Brenda even than talking
to her assigned therapist. “I’ve … well, I’ve sort of gotten
attached to him. I don’t know how to explain it, but I feel like
he’s real.”
    Brenda grimaced. “Because he
is?”
    Carly felt her heart jerk reflexively.
“I mean really real.”
    Brenda digested that in silence while
she looked over her food, flipped the top half of her sandwich off
and began to select what she wanted on it and what she didn’t.
Carly watched with a touch of disapproval as she discarded the
onions and pickles and replaced the bread. “You mean you think he’s
a specific someone?” she responded finally.
    Carly stared at her own sandwich for a
moment and finally took a bite. She