be there. The other two were Arnold, the real-estate planner, and Zoe, an administrator who would be joining the logistics staff at the Cyrene base. Jeff was watching with interest from a nearby chair, while other figures who happened to be around at the time looked on. The ship was two days past the H-point, now under Heim drive and simulating normal gravity inside. It was also cut off from the familiar universe as far as anything electromagnetic was concerned. The external imagers showed uniform blackness on the screens. The only information reaching the vessel was communications and navigation data received by special instruments.
Shearer went on, continuing as he spoke, “I put some of these objects in the bowl like so.... Jeff has the watch. When he says ‘Go,’ your aim is to end up with as many as you can. Then, every ten seconds, I want Jeff to tell you to stop so I can count whatever’s left in there. I’ll double the number by replenishing from this box. Everybody okay?”
“Just end up with as many as we can,” Zoe said.
“Right,” Shearer confirmed. “Play whatever strategy you think will best achieve that.”
Roy was flexing his arms and shoulders as if loosening up for a football game. Arnold remained impassive. Jerri’s eyes flickered over them in a curious kind of way as if trying to read something or get their attention, but they failed to notice.
Shearer nodded to Jeff. Jeff consulted his watch, waited few seconds, then ordered, “ Go .”
Roy lifted up the bowl, clearly with the intention of simply emptying the entire content in front of him. It was a good try, but Zoe reacted quickly enough to intercept the bowl in midcourse and dig a hand inside, in the process of which they turned it over to scatter disks and tokens all over the table. As shouts of encouragement and jeers erupted around the room, Arnold dove in smoothly to sweep a heap together with both arms as they fell, leaving Roy and Zoe to scrabble frantically for the remainder. Jerri sat watching them, motionless, making no attempt to join in. The expression on her face was a mixture of exasperation and despair.
“ Stop ,” Jeff announced.
The outcome was foreseeable from the beginning. Shearer made a show of righting the upturned bowl and inspecting it. “Game over,” he said.
“Some game,” a mystified voice said in the background. “That’s it?”
“Arnold wins,” another declared. “Look at all that! Nice move, Arnold.”
“Only because I stopped Roy for him,” Zoe said, sitting back to release her assortment of disks and tokens.
“It takes a planner.” Arnold grinned as he returned his own pile of spoils to Shearer to separate out.
“Damn, and I had it figured out,” Roy muttered peevishly. He braced his arms along the edge of the table and rose. “You just got in lucky,” he told Zoe, then rose and turned away. Amazingly he was irked at losing in even something as trivial as this; but Shearer had seen it before.
“So that’s it, Marc?” the person who had spoken before called again. “What’s it supposed to prove?”
“Tell you tomorrow,” Shearer answered. “Let’s just say, something to think about.”
“What was the matter with you, Jerri?” someone else asked.
Arnold got up and moved around from the bench seat by the wall, looking distinctly underwhelmed. “I’ll wait to hear about it then,” he said to Shearer. “Right now, I think I might go and check what they’ve got in the canteen. I haven’t had anything since lunch. Want to come along?”
“Thanks, I ate earlier. It was meat loaf, chicken, or fried fish.”
“Hey, can I come along?” Zoe asked Arnold. “I could use something too.”
“Sure.”
She got up to join him. “See you people later.” They left.
Jerri stayed to help Shearer sort out the items according to the various games they had been borrowed from. Jeff began picking out the boxes and passing them over, while all around, the chatter picked up
Shearer went on, continuing as he spoke, “I put some of these objects in the bowl like so.... Jeff has the watch. When he says ‘Go,’ your aim is to end up with as many as you can. Then, every ten seconds, I want Jeff to tell you to stop so I can count whatever’s left in there. I’ll double the number by replenishing from this box. Everybody okay?”
“Just end up with as many as we can,” Zoe said.
“Right,” Shearer confirmed. “Play whatever strategy you think will best achieve that.”
Roy was flexing his arms and shoulders as if loosening up for a football game. Arnold remained impassive. Jerri’s eyes flickered over them in a curious kind of way as if trying to read something or get their attention, but they failed to notice.
Shearer nodded to Jeff. Jeff consulted his watch, waited few seconds, then ordered, “ Go .”
Roy lifted up the bowl, clearly with the intention of simply emptying the entire content in front of him. It was a good try, but Zoe reacted quickly enough to intercept the bowl in midcourse and dig a hand inside, in the process of which they turned it over to scatter disks and tokens all over the table. As shouts of encouragement and jeers erupted around the room, Arnold dove in smoothly to sweep a heap together with both arms as they fell, leaving Roy and Zoe to scrabble frantically for the remainder. Jerri sat watching them, motionless, making no attempt to join in. The expression on her face was a mixture of exasperation and despair.
“ Stop ,” Jeff announced.
The outcome was foreseeable from the beginning. Shearer made a show of righting the upturned bowl and inspecting it. “Game over,” he said.
“Some game,” a mystified voice said in the background. “That’s it?”
“Arnold wins,” another declared. “Look at all that! Nice move, Arnold.”
“Only because I stopped Roy for him,” Zoe said, sitting back to release her assortment of disks and tokens.
“It takes a planner.” Arnold grinned as he returned his own pile of spoils to Shearer to separate out.
“Damn, and I had it figured out,” Roy muttered peevishly. He braced his arms along the edge of the table and rose. “You just got in lucky,” he told Zoe, then rose and turned away. Amazingly he was irked at losing in even something as trivial as this; but Shearer had seen it before.
“So that’s it, Marc?” the person who had spoken before called again. “What’s it supposed to prove?”
“Tell you tomorrow,” Shearer answered. “Let’s just say, something to think about.”
“What was the matter with you, Jerri?” someone else asked.
Arnold got up and moved around from the bench seat by the wall, looking distinctly underwhelmed. “I’ll wait to hear about it then,” he said to Shearer. “Right now, I think I might go and check what they’ve got in the canteen. I haven’t had anything since lunch. Want to come along?”
“Thanks, I ate earlier. It was meat loaf, chicken, or fried fish.”
“Hey, can I come along?” Zoe asked Arnold. “I could use something too.”
“Sure.”
She got up to join him. “See you people later.” They left.
Jerri stayed to help Shearer sort out the items according to the various games they had been borrowed from. Jeff began picking out the boxes and passing them over, while all around, the chatter picked up
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