Чужак в чужой стране

           "Didn’tDawntellyou?OrJill?"

           "Uh?Idon’tthinkso."

           "Thentheydidn’t.Hmm,maybeishouldletMikeexplainit.No,noneedto;peoplewillbementioningittoyoualldaylong.Sharingwateryougrok,ofcourse;you’reoneoftheFirstCalled."

           "‘FirstCalled?’Dawnusedthatexpression."

           "ThathandfulofuswhobecameMike’swaterbrotherswithoutlearningMartian.TheothersordinarilydonotsharewaterandgrowcloseruntiltheypassfromtheSeventhCircletotheEighth?andbythattimetheyarebeginningtothinkinMartian.Heck,someofthemknowmoreMartianbythatstagethanIdonow,sinceI’ma‘FirstCalled’myselfandstartedmystudiesafterIwasalreadyintheNest.Oh,it’snotactuallyforbiddentosharewaterwithsomeonewhoisn’treadyforEighthCircle.Hell,ifIwantedto,Icouldpickupababeinabar,sharewaterwithher,thentakehertobed–andthentakehertotheTempleandstartheronherapprenticeship.ButIwouldn’twantto.That’sthepoint;Iwouldn’tevenwantto.AttheverymostImightdecidethatitwasworthwhiletobringheraroundtoanouterserviceandletMikelookheroverandfindoutwhetheranyofitclickedwithher.Ben,I’llmakeaflat-footedprediction.You’vebeenaroundalot–I’msureyou’vebeeninsomefancybedswithsomefancybabes."

           "Uh?some,"

           "Iknowdamn’wellyouhave.Butyouwillneveragaininyourlifecrawlinwithonewhoisnotyourwaterbrother."

           "Hmm."

           "You’llsee.