Read Jupiter's Reef for Free Online

the ship as it lifted and gripped its forward skidplate.
    “Let me have a minute to get my ... to get dressed and get out of the ship. Can you do that?” Alex was ready to plead, but the man signaled to the others to stop the machine.
    “You’re not supposed to be in here without protective gear anyway. But we have a schedule. Make it quick.”
    Mary had already dressed and checked that everything was secured in the ship. She and Alex left in less than a minute. Alex locked the ship and signaled to the men as he and Mary ran quickly to a waiting airlock tram.
    Though somewhat disoriented, they found a breakfast place and went inside. There were only a few other customers at the Red Sands Dinette, a couple of dock workers and three elderly ladies in dark uniforms.
    Alex noticed that the clock behind the counter said fifteen past five AM and he made a noise like a fish. Mary also saw the wall clock and said, “I didn’t want to tell you what time it was. You’d have gone for the pinger and killed them all. Then we’d really be criminals.”
    “I wouldn’t have killed them all,” said Alex surveying the brightly lit room. “Just the one banging on the hull.”
    A waitress behind a wall of ivy looked out at them and pointed to an empty booth.
    “Siteeye down, es,” said the woman. “Oees beintharansoon,” she said. “Javas ferall in the means?”
    “Dingers,” said Alex. “A bonafide Ganny.” Then, to Mary’s surprise, Alex walked over to the woman instead of the booth. “You a Ganny, Ma’am?” said Alex. “Alex out from Io atcher serves. Nice to see another outlander. Datbe Mary.”
    The woman roared with laughter. “Mosta never knowus. Septa outerrim boys. Yer verbus quaint, yu. Niztu see anothervus.”
    “Prettylady an meyuz doing the b. Is that menu up on the board all there is?”
    “Yuppers,” said the woman.
    “Then make it Baconeggs for the bofus,” said Alex. “I guess we’ll take that booth over there.” He walked back to Mary who still waited near the door.
    “We can sit down. All they have is the usuals.”
    As they slid into a booth, Alex explained that the waitress was from an old settlement on Ganymede, Jupiter’s largest moon. He said they have a funny dialect because they are pretty small and isolated. “Their dialect is traced to a family that settled from somewhere on Earth.”
    “But there’s a steady flow in an out of the colonies,” said Mary.
    “Have you heard of the Gannys?”
    “No.”
    “I rest my case,” said Alex. “They do water, that’s all. And they do it for Io only. The rest have the water they need. A supply run is their only contact.”
    “But it’s a big moon. I heard it had a big government colony.”
    “Now it does,” said Alex. “She’s from the old colony. Other side. People say they don’t talk. It’s a big moon.”
    The waitress brought two breakfasts and only one coffee. “Waddleye bestgirl be drinkin?” she asked, setting the plates down carefully.
    Mary smiled pleasantly at the woman.
    “I’ll have coffee, too,” she said politely. “Alex says you’re from Ganymede? We were both at Ra Patera.”
    “Yessam, Ima ganny. But ... lordeeseven ...” said the waitress, shaking her head in dismay. “... RaPatera ... Oooo I’is sorry so. Oh that RaPatera. Shees trajidees. But bothyuz seem okay. Yez?”
    Alex nodded. We weren’t there at the time. Got back to the base too late.”
    “Wellll ... godenferyou it seems. Yup?”
    “I wanted to save them,” said Alex. “There was nothing ...”
    The woman touched Alex’s shoulder sympathetically. “Ohhhh dear. No messimee. You hava good eats. Iz be teetee’el.” Then she disappeared into the kitchen.
    “What did she just say?” asked Mary.
    Alex smiled. “She said don’t mind me, have a good dinner. Then she said I’ll talk to you later.”
    “How do you know the dialect?”
    “I did a search and rescue run on Ganymede once and we based there. A Ganny shuttle lost in one