Hearsay Horizons

 "Hey, are you okay?"          Beatrice lifted a hand and tried to continue on past the car into the diner.          "I'm fine! The limp's built-in."          "Why'd you do that?"         That stopped her short, and Beatrice frowned at the redheaded woman.           "What do you mean, why? I was born this way." Concern on the woman's face turned into panic.          "Oh! Oh, I'm sorry, I misunderstood. I'm sorry!" Beatrice stepped closer as the car started to move, and she stopped before she ran over Beatrice's feet.         "No, I'm sorry. I need to know why you thought anybody  chose  to be disabled." The girl grimaced. She twisted in her seat to look at the diner.          "Treat you to lunch?"           Lunch was a mistake. The food sat ...

“The Edien emperor was so fond of, of new clothes that he spent most of the planet’s money on being well-dressed. He reviewed his troops, indulged in culture, and traveled the world, but only as an excuse to show off his clothes. Instead of saying, ‘The king’s in council,’ Ediens said ‘The emperor’s in his dressing room.’”           “Are you telling us a fairytale ?” The pink-skinned woman sitting beside me frowns; I can see the arch in her hairless eyebrows, even in this screen-lit gloom. I want to sigh.           “It tells most easily that way.           “The emperor summoned his seamstress. He heard the talk; he wanted a new coat for every day. He wanted such fine clothing people would talk about it off-world , checking his choice of the moment like they would their own weather.  ‘My dear king,’ the seamstress said, ‘Your plan is wonderful, but I am only one woman and I only have two hand...