Since Marianne leaves for Beta Hydri on Christmas morning, here’s a little something in tune with the season:

            The big
underground mall in Des Moines was packed with Christmas shoppers. Marianne sat
at a table in a fast food restaurant, picking at a salad while her childhood
friend Susan wolfed down a bacon double cheeseburger.

            “So,” Susan
said. “Are you coming to the Christmas Eve party Tuesday?”

            Marianne
waffled. “Do you know how early I have to get up Wednesday morning?”

            “Come on,
you’ll have eighteen hours to sleep on the way to Tau Ceti.”

            “Sixteen.”

            Susan
rolled her eyes. “Are you coming?”

            “Who’s
going to be there?”

            “The usual.
Yes, there will be flirting men. You’ll deal with it, you always do.”

            Marianne
tapped the fingers of one hand on the table and shoved lettuce around her plate
with her fork. “All right, I’ll come. But if anybody asks, I’ll tell them you
threatened to blow up my goldfish if I didn’t.”

            “Great! I’ll
tell Brenda.”