Of Love, Free Will, And Gray Squirrels On A Summer Evening
This first appeared in Vertex, August 1974.
This is a story about… well, about love… and about free will… and about squirrels. At first glance, you might think the squirrels are the easiest to explain.
Perhaps I’ve grown less cynical as I’ve grown older. Or not.
He first saw her at a party at her house. It was quite obviously an important affair; everyone in attendance was there in person, rather than sending projections of themselves. The fact that they were willing to travel physically to the asteroid showed the regard in which the Pistarchos family was held.
The assemblage was exotic. Heads of state mingled with entertainers, business magnates with culture heroes. Humans of all races, from nearly every settled planet. And t
