He was mildly surprised therefore, when while spelling Spero at the controls during the sleep period, he became suddenly aware of someone standing at his elbow. She was wearing a robins-egg-blue dressing robe, loose-fitting except around the curve of her breasts. She sat down in the co-pilot's seat next to him.
"Mind if I keep you company awhile? I can't seem to get to sleep."
"A pleasure," Carl said with genuine enthusiasm.... He stopped awkwardly, wondering what to say.... Impulsively, he ran his open hand across the width of the blister glass. "Want a hunk of space, baby. Say where to cut and I'll slice it for you."
She smiled a little. "You sound a little like Ferguson when you talk that way."
Carl pretended to check the dials.
"Carl?"
On his forearm he could feel Diane's fingers. He turned.
"What makes a man like that?"
He moved his shoulders. "I don't know, unless it's because he's always been able to buy anything he's ever wanted. As far as I know, there's only been one thing he hasn't been able to buy, and he's working on that."
"You mean immortality?"