“So these are my vows from this day forward. I will be at your side, not only because I wish to take care of you, but because I also wish to take care of me. I will strive to make myself happy, because my happiness is inextricably linked to yours. There cannot be one without the other. I will love you, not only because you need me, but because I also need you. And this need I have for you is elemental. I cannot exist without you.” He pulled my hands to his chest. “I will desire you above all others. I will desire your mind, because it stimulates mine. I will desire your body, because it satisfies mine. I will be your best friend—with benefits.”
A twitter of laughter came from the crowd around us.
He went on. “If we live to be a thousand—which now seems entirely possible—I will be at your side for the entire journey. Rose, as you reflect back on the years as my wife, do you now wish to reaffirm the vows you took sixty-three years ago?”
I disengaged one of my hands and wiped both my cheeks. “I do, Peter.”
“Then I will love, honor, and cherish you forever.”
Peter fished a small box out of his pocket, held it in front of me, and opened it. I saw the contents and inhaled sharply. It must have cost a fortune. In the box were two lumps of Lamoteloplast—at least six grams total. Unlike the substance roobots generate to assist their owners, which can only be modified in limited ways by the roobots themselves, Lamoteloplast is completely responsive to the very specific thought patterns of a person—one specific person only. Gingerly, Peter pulled one of the gray masses from the box. He took my left hand and removed the ring he had given me in this same location exactly fifty years ago. He then molded the clay-like Lamoteloplast around my ring finger.
I looked at him questioningly.
“Go ahead,” he said. “That one’s linked to you. Remember when we both went to the Lamo-interface lab in Brisbane to be wave-patterned?”
Of course I did, because my memory was now perfect. “This is why you wanted me to do that?”
He smirked. “Surprise!”
I gazed at the clay around my finger for a moment and then visualized in my mind what I wanted. The substance shifted its shape into a thin gold band with a large lavender-tinted diamond. I frowned. This ring was just a more imposing version of my other one. It wasn’t right for the occasion.
“You can change it any time you want to,” Peter said.
But I wanted it to be perfect at that moment, on that day. I formed another vision. The ring’s band widened, and the diamond receded into the band, broke apart, and formed an elegant inlay depicting a long, wispy feather. I held it out for Peter to see.
“A feather?”
“A cassowary feather,” I said. “It’s a feather from Blue Arrow.”
He smiled and pressed his portion of Lamoteloplast to his finger. A moment later it looked just like mine.
Did you enjoy BLUE ARROW? You can make a big difference.
Reviews are by far the best way to help out authors like myself. They really help to get attention for my books.
If you've enjoyed Blue Arrow, I would be extremely grateful if you could take a few minutes to leave an honest review (even a short review would be wonderful) on the book's page on Amazon and/or Goodreads. You could post a review for this entire box set, or you could post a review for the individual Blue Arrow book.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Acknowledgments
I am not capable of creating a book such as this on my own. I have the following people, among others, to thank for their assistance.
When it comes to editing, my son Micheal Smith is extremely talented, and his tireless and meticulous suggestions are invaluable. If you find a sentence or detail in the book that doesn’t seem right, it is likely because I failed to implement one of his suggestions.
My wife Trish is always the first to read my work, and therefore she has the burden of seeing my stories in their roughest form. Thankfully, she kindly points out where things are a mess. Her suggestions are what get the editing process started. She also helps with various promotional efforts. And finally, she not only tolerates my obsession with writing, she actually encourages it.
About the Author
Stan Smith has lived most of his life in the Midwest United States and currently resides in Warrensburg, Missouri. He writes adventure novels and short stories that have a generous sprinkling of science fiction. His novels and stories are about regular people who find themselves caught up in highly unusual situations. They are designed to stimulate your sense of wonder, get your heart pounding, and keep you reading late into the night, with minimal risk of exposure to spelling and punctuation errors. His books are for anyone who loves adventure, discovery, and mind-bending surprises.
Stan’s Author Website
http://www.stancsmith.com
Feel free to email Stan at: [email protected]
He loves hearing from readers and will answer every email.
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Wait, there’s more!
If you enjoyed the Diffusion series, I know you’re going to love the BRIDGERS series. Here’s a brief description of Bridgers 1: The Lure of Infinity:
Some worlds are better left alone.
Infinity Fowler has been fighting all her life. As a child, she had to fight for survival. Then she fought professionally. But when humans obtained the technology to bridge to alternate versions of Earth, she saw a chance for a new life. She signed up to become a bridger—an elite fighter and survival expert who protects tourists bridging to alternate worlds.
Desmond Weaver is a tourist making a last-ditch effort to complete his PhD in evolutionary biology. He has booked the excursion of a lifetime, a data collection mission to a vastly different version of Earth. If he fails, his career will be over.
Infinity is Desmond’s assigned trainer and bridger. She is one of the best, willing to die protecting tourists. And also willing to kill. When it’s time to bridge, Desmond and his two college roommates feel well prepared.
But they aren’t. Naked and weaponless, on an extraordinary world teeming with lethal predators, the team becomes entangled in a life-and-death struggle more terrifying than anything they could ever have imagined.
Also by Stan C. Smith
The DIFFUSION series
Diffusion
Infusion
Profusion
Savage
Blue Arrow
The BRIDGERS series
Bridgers 1: The Lure of Infinity
Bridgers 2: The Cost of Survival
Bridgers 3: The Voice of Reason
Bridgers 4: The Mind of Many
Stand-alone Stories
Parthenium’s Year
Diffusion Box Set Page 107