In some respects, Wye could be quite puritanical¹. (This was true of all the sectors³, though the rigidity⁴ of one sector² might be completely different from the rigidity of another.) Here, the drinks were not alcoholic⁵ but were synthetically⁶ designed to stimulate⁷ in other ways. Raych did not like the taste, finding himself utterly⁸ unused to it, but it meant that he could sip⁹ his drink slowly and look around.
    He caught the eye of a young woman several tables away and had difficulty in looking away. She was attractive and it was clear that Wye's ways were not puritanical in every fashion.
    After a few moments, the young woman smiled slightly and rose. She drifted toward Raych's table, while Raych watched her speculatively¹⁰. He could scarcely (he thought with marked regret) afford a side adventure just now.
    She stopped for a moment when she reached Raych and then let herself slide smoothly¹¹ into an adjacent chair.
    "Hello," she said. "You don't look like a regular here."
    Raych smiled. "I'm not. Do you know all the regulars?"
    "Just about," she said, unembarrassed. "My name is Manella. What's yours?"
    Raych was more regretful than ever. She was quite tall, taller than he himself was without his heels-something he always found attractive-had a

分享到：