Page 23 of Terminal Voyage

She thought about it for a second. "That's an interesting question. I'm so glad you asked.”

Kate never answered. She was in her own world for a moment.

She was kind of strange and aloof.

"How long have you been aboard?"

She gave me another annoyed look. "Are you going to continue to ask me stupid questions, or are you going to ask me something of substance?"

10

Stunned, I didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry,” I stammered. “I didn't mean to offend you."

I climbed off the barstool and thanked Jimmy.

"I'm sorry," Kate said. "Don't go. That was rude of me. We barely know each other. I just happen to be a little irritated at the moment, and I took it out on you. Sit back down. Drink with me.”

Something was bothering her. She was clearly upset and had lashed out.

I hesitated a moment before returning to my seat at the bar. “Want to talk about it?”

Kate thought for a moment. “I guess I wouldn’t have sat down at the bar next to you if I didn’t. Maybe it was a subconscious choice. As I said, maybe we don’t have as much control over our lives as we like to think.”

“I like to think I’m in full control. That my choices are my own. That my destiny is mine to shape.”

She looked at me and smirked. “That’s cute. I like your spirit.”

Kate took another sip of her martini, but she didn't stop there. She guzzled it down in a gulp. "Hit me again, Jimmy."

He did.

Kate looked at me. "Keep up. You’re gonna make me look bad."

I shook my head. "I've had plenty already.”

"Then maybe I need to catch up to you."

She offered me a cigarette, but I declined.

“Smart girl.” Kate took another drag.

We sat there for a moment in silence.

“You need to ask the right questions,” Kate said. “I can’t help you if you don’t ask the right questions.”

My brow knitted with confusion. “Help me?”

She shrugged and looked at me like she knew something I didn’t.

“What are the right questions?”

“I don’t make the rules.”

“Rules?”

Maybe I’d had a lot to drink, but I wasn’t following her train of thought. Maybe this wasn’t her first martini of the day.

“The Universe,“ she said, gesturing to the vast expanse, her gold bracelet sparkling. “It makes the rules. In the end, we’re all just stardust.”