The Lightcap Read Online Free

raised more questions.
    Adam, lost in recollection, did not hear the footsteps in the hall or notice them stopping right outside his apartment.  The abrupt sound of knuckles rapping against his steel door ricocheted like gunfire off the wall behind his head and rudely pulled his attention back to the present.  He tossed the notetab on the couch next to him and shot up, at the same time shouting, “Who’s there?”  It was awfully late for a visitor.
    “Sera Velim.”
    He scrambled, piles of clothes thrown into any available hiding spot, empty carryout containers treated like cardboard basketballs and tossed along suspended arcs into the compacter.  “Just a minute!” came his reply, as he put on a shirt and walked the five steps from his living room to the door.
    There was a rush of air as he opened the heavy steel barricade that sectioned the rest of the world from his haven.  It really was Velim.  For the briefest moment he’d wondered if it might be some kind of joke, or even his mind playing tricks.  Auditory hallucinations weren’t without precedent, but there she stood, seemingly in the flesh and very, very wet.  His eyes widened as he realized she must be freezing.  “Please come in! The InfraDry is over in the corner if you want to dry off.  Would you like some coffee?”
    “Sure.  Thanks,” Velim said, stepping through the door as she took off her jacket.  She laid her jacket on the arm of the couch and moved underneath a red ring, embedded and glowing in the ceiling in the corner of the room.  A gentle, repeating beep increased in speed as the red ring detached and slid downward along invisible guides, slowly rotating as it descended around the circumference of her body.  Adam watched as her hair dried, spots of water vanished from her dome, her torso, and her pants lightened from the color of damp fabric back to their normal hue, until the ring came to rest at her feet.  Adam looked on with amusement as the puddle of water under her shoes evaporated.  It wasn’t often he got to watch the infrared dryer from the outside, since he usually stood in her place.  The red ring quickly lifted back to its idle position, the entire process done in fewer than thirty seconds.
    “Are you going to get me some coffee, or were you only asking to be nice?”
    Adam nodded as a silent answer, then made his way to the kitchen.  He issued a command through his dome for two cups of coffee, rather than using the archaic buttons on his coffeemaker.  It seemed strange to him, anachronistic even, that so many things still had buttons, but he supposed this allowed the products to be marketed to the small percentage of the population who weren’t domers.  “Cream?  Sugar?” he asked.
    “Black is fine.  I don’t have much time anyway,” Sera said.  She took the cup from his hand and placed it on the table next to his couch.  “I need to talk to you about tomorrow’s orientation.  We need to make sure you’re on board for the project.  Roman wanted to come himself, but given the way you looked after today’s orientation I thought it might be best if I came by to try and smooth things over.”
    “Of course I’m on board for the project.  I hand-picked most of the team, and had to go through five rounds of interviews before I was even offered the position.  Also, I don’t know what you mean about how I looked earlier.  I have no problem with Roman and as far as I know he has no problem with me.”
    “Whatever you say, Redmon.  I just—”
    “Please call me Adam.  Only one person refers to me by just my last name, and he’s not around anymore.”
    Sera stared at Adam for several uncomfortable seconds.  Is she trying to make this awkward, or does she not know how to respond? he wondered.  Adam imagined people didn’t correct her often, and when they did it probably wasn’t with the confidence and directness he’d offered.
    “Feisty.  I like that,” Sera said, her dimples flashing, a