25 Short Stories and Novellas - LightNovelsOnl.com
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He seemed so desperate that Carlotta gave in. She and Uncle James went
into a roped-off area just below and to the left of the platform.
Uncle James didn't seem to mind. He sat quietly, lost in dreams of G.o.d
knows what moment of antique heroism, while Carlotta, standing behind
his chair, kept one eye on his systems reports and took in the sights of
downtown San Francisco with the other, the huge tapering buildings, the
radiant blue sky, the unusual trees, the s.h.i.+ning bridge stretching off to
the east.
Uncle James said suddenly, "What are all these foreigners doing here?"
"Foreigners? What foreigners?"
"Look around you, girl."
She thought at first that he meant people from the neighboring republics
and kingdoms: San Jose, Santa Cruz, Monterey, Mendocino. It wouldn't be
surprising that they'd be here, considering that this was a celebration
intended to commemorate the signing of the Armistice that had ended the
war of everybody against everybody and guaranteed the independence of
all the various Northern California nations. But how could Uncle James
tell a Santa Cruzian or a Montereyan from a San Franciscan? They didn't
look any different down there. They didn't dress any different.
Then she realized that he meant visitors from the countries beyond the
seas. And indeed there were plenty of them all around the plaza, a lot of
exotic people carrying cameras and such, j.a.panese, Indians, Latin
Americans, Africans. They were wearing exotic clothing, most of them. Many
had exotic faces. The old man was staring at them as though he had
never seen tourists before.
"San Francisco is always full of visitors from far away, Uncle. There's
nothing new about that."
"So many of them. Gawking at us like that. They dress like gooks,
girl. Didn't we fight that war to keep San Francisco for the San
Franciscans? A pure nation of pure people. Look at them all. Look at
them!"
"It's the most beautiful city in the world," Carlotta said. "People
have been coming from all over to see it for hundreds of years. You know
that. There's nothing wrong with-"
