Party Night on Union Station (EarthCent Ambassador Book 10) Read Online Free Page B

recovery.

Three
     
    Kelly’s mother picked up the McAllisters at the spaceport in a floating sedan with three rows of seats. The vehicle drew envious looks from everybody waiting at the platform.
    “Is this your floater or a rental, Marge?” Joe asked as soon as they were underway.
    “Mine. Didn’t I tell you? The company gave it to me for free in return for making a commercial.”
    “You were in a commercial, Mom?” Kelly asked.
    “I keep a copy in the onboard entertainment system,” Marge replied, and then spoke directly at the dashboard. “Floater. Play my commercial.”
    A display panel slid up out of the chassis, blocking their forward vision. Kelly grabbed the dashboard and shrieked, causing her mother to look over in concern. “Floater. Pause commercial. Kelly. What’s wrong?”
    “You can’t see where you’re driving!”
    “I’m not driving, dear. My reaction time is hardly good enough to run a floater at several hundred miles an hour, and that’s if I could even see far enough ahead to make a difference. This sedan is equipped with full autopilot. Didn’t you hear me say, ‘Floater. Let’s go,’ when you got in?”
    “I thought you were just telling us that it was a floater, in case we didn’t know or something.”
    “Really, Kelly. Sometimes I think you just aren’t paying attention. Floater. Resume commercial.”
    The screen lit up with a scene of a luxury floater, apparently the exact model in which they were riding, zipping along above the broken roads of a rough-looking section of urban sprawl. A monster loomed out of the wreckage of a large building and made a grab at the speeding conveyance, but the floater causally went through a series of smooth evasive maneuvers, dodging the tentacles and claws. The camera zoomed in on Marge, who was sitting sideways on the front bench seat, reading a book. She looked up and smiled.
    “Hi, I’m Marge Frank, Ambassador Kelly McAllister’s mom. When I take a trip, I always travel in my Chiangan Floater. It’s based on Dollnick engineering and assembled by humans right here on Earth. I was so impressed that I bought ten shares in the company. Best of all, a small portion of the proceeds from every sale go to support the EarthCent diplomatic service. Take it from the mother of an ambassador. If Prince Drume approves, it’s got to be good.”
    The cameras zoomed back out as the floater crossed a river, flying along next to a decrepit suspension bridge with dangling cables and gaps in the roadbed. As the floater passed, debris fell from the bridge, and an old car occupied by screaming passengers plunged into the river. The airbags inflated when it hit the water.
    “You told everybody that I endorse Chiangan Floaters?” Kelly asked in dismay. “How could you?”
    “I told everybody that Prince Drume endorses Chiangan Floaters. I know it for a fact because that nice Chiangan mayor who came to Earth to set up the factory, Bob was his name, arranged for me to meet the prince when I visited to pick out the color scheme for the upholstery. Do you like it?”
    “I like it, Grandma,” Samuel offered from the third row of seats which he had taken over for himself. “Can we watch the commercial again?”
    “No, we cannot watch the commercial again,” Kelly said. “Floater. Lower the screen. Floater!” She thumped the dashboard in frustration. “It doesn’t listen to me.”
    “Floater. Imprint Kelly McAllister. Say something, Kelly.”
    “I’m not happy about this,” Kelly grumbled.
    “Operator Kelly McAllister registered,” the floater announced in a female voice that sounded suspiciously like Libby when she was answering the pings for InstaSitter.
    “Floater. Imprint Joe McAllister,” Marge continued.
    “Hi, Floater,” Joe said.
    “Operator Joe McAllister registered.”
    “Floater. Lower screen,” Kelly instructed.
    The screen slid back down into the chassis, and the ambassador saw that they had left the spaceport behind and were