BooksBarbecue
Back Excession
Chapters (108)
  1. About the Author
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Dedication
  5. 1 - Outside Context Problem
  6. I
  7. II
  8. III
  9. IV
  10. V
  11. VI
  12. 2 - Not Invented Here
  13. I
  14. II
  15. III
  16. 3 - Uninvited Guests
  17. I
  18. II
  19. III
  20. IV
  21. 4 - Dependency Principle
  22. I
  23. II
  24. III
  25. IV
  26. V
  27. 5 - Kiss The Blade
  28. I
  29. II
  30. III
  31. IV
  32. V
  33. VI
  34. 6 - Pittance
  35. I
  36. II
  37. III
  38. IV
  39. V
  40. VI
  41. 7 - Tier
  42. I
  43. II
  44. III
  45. IV
  46. 8 - Killing Time
  47. I
  48. II
  49. III
  50. IV
  51. V
  52. VI
  53. VII
  54. VIII
  55. 9 - Unacceptable Behaviour
  56. I
  57. II
  58. III
  59. IV
  60. V
  61. VI
  62. VII
  63. VIII
  64. IX
  65. X
  66. XI
  67. XII
  68. XIII
  69. XIV
  70. 10 - Heavy Messing
  71. I
  72. II
  73. III
  74. IV
  75. V
  76. VI
  77. VII
  78. VIII
  79. IX
  80. X
  81. XI
  82. XII
  83. XIII
  84. XIV
  85. XV
  86. 11 - Regarding Gravious
  87. I
  88. II
  89. III
  90. IV
  91. V
  92. VI
  93. VII
  94. VIII
  95. IX
  96. X
  97. XI
  98. XII
  99. XIII
  100. XIV
  101. 12 - Faring Well
  102. I
  103. II
  104. III
  105. IV
  106. V
  107. VI
  108. Epilogue

‘Good; I have given up emoter-keyed foods and drinks for the duration of the Festival and would only be jealous.’ He shook his head. ‘I thought primitives were supposed to have more fun, but everything I could think of changing the better to partake in the Festival’s spirit seemed to make life less fun,’ he said, then made a tutting noise at something on the race course.

Leffid looked to see one of the ysner-mistretl pairs failing to make a jump, hitting the ramp just behind and falling down to another level. They picked themselves up and ran on, but they’d need to be very lucky to win now. Lellius shook his head and used the flat end of a stylo to smooth a number off the wood-bordered wax tablet he held in his broad red hand.

‘You winning?’ Leffid asked him.

Lellius shook his head and looked sad.

Leffid smiled, then made a show of inspecting the race track and the contending ysner-mistretl pairs. ‘They don’t look very festive to me,’ he said. ‘I expected something more . . . well, festive,’ he concluded, lamely.

‘I believe the race authorities regard the Festival with the same misanthropic dubiety as I,’ Lellius said. ‘The festival is - what? - two days old?’

Leffid nodded.

‘And already I am tired of it,’ Lellius said, scratching behind one of his three ears with the wax tablet stylo. ‘I thought of taking a holiday while it was occurring, but I am expected to be here, of course. A month of challenging, ground-breaking art and ruthlessly enforced fun.’ Lellius shook his head heavily. ‘What a prospect.’

Leffid put his chin in his cupped hand. ‘You’ve never really been a natural for the AhForgetIt Tendency, have you, Lellius?’

‘I joined hoping it would make me more . . .’ Lellius looked up contemplatively at the broad spread of the tree sculpture hanging above them. ‘. . . cavort-prone,’ he said, and nodded. ‘I wished to be more prone to cavorting and so I joined the Tendency hoping that the natural hedonism of people like your good self would somehow infect my own more deliberate, phlegmatic soul.’ He sighed. ‘I still live in hope.’

Leffid laughed lightly, then looked slowly around. ‘You here alone, Lellius?’

Lellius looked thoughtful. ‘My incomparably efficient Clerical Assistant Number Three visits the latrines, I believe,’ he wheezed. ‘My wastrel son is probably trying to invent new ways of embarrassing me, my mate is half a galaxy away - very nearly enough - and my current darling stays at home, indisposed. Or rather, disposed not to come to what she terms a boring bird-and-monkey race.’ He nodded slowly. ‘I could reasonably be said to be alone, I suppose. Why do you ask?’

Leffid sat a little closer, arms on the carousel’s small table. ‘Saw something strange last night,’ he said.