Schemes of the Unknown Unknown Ch. 15

The only insight into Lindsey's life that Paul gained was an account of her boyfriend whose company he was assured he would enjoy. He was a Neptunian soldier whose main interest was playing and watching sport.

"He's crazy about baseball," said Lindsey. "He really hates how the news of the Interplanetary Championships is two months behind. It's weird that when a 'live' match is broadcast what we see is what happened ages ago."

"Isn't that the case wherever you are in the Solar System?" said Paul. "In Godwin it's almost a day late."

"It's a few hours late in Neptune for a match played in the Inner Solar System," said Lindsey. "But this is something else altogether."

Paul had never been so bored by a conversation before in his life. He'd never had to endure a conversation of such unrelenting superficiality as this on Godwin. It was respect for Beatrice alone that kept Paul sitting passively for hour after hour while topics of conversation that Paul was convinced had already been covered in excruciating detail were revisited and further elaborated. Paul was also amazed at the extent of Beatrice's patience. She seemed captivated by Lindsey's conversation. Despite her apparent superficiality, Beatrice was astonishingly knowledgeable. Now she was behaving exactly like the kind of woman she appeared to be on the surface.

"Isn't Lindsey great company?" said Beatrice when she and Paul eventually left. "We had ever so much to talk about."

"Yes," said Paul. "A lot."

"Would you like to come with me to visit Trisha tomorrow?" asked Beatrice.

"Who's Trisha?"

"She's one of the crew," said Beatrice. "She gives advice on health and cosmetics. She's really very nice. She knows a lot about pedicure. Far more than Lindsey does."

"It's nice of you to invite me," said Paul in conflict between the imperative to be polite and the need to avoid insufferable tedium. "But I think if all you're going to do is talk about nail care, it'd be better if I carried on with my research."

"Yes," said Beatrice sympathetically. "I don't want to distract you from that."