"It's like I've loved broove all my life, even though I'm pretty sure I've never tasted it before," Gramps said.

     "A zip with every sip," Anne said.

     Abby, Alison and Cathy all nodded as they took their own sips.

     "Where's Skip?" Abby asked.

     "He's dancing," Claudia replied. "Like to see?"

     "Sure."

​     A hologram appeared over the table.

     "He's dancing, all right," Abby said.

     Skip made the same moves as the Azurians, only his moves were just the slightest bit off and a lot more erratic. No one around him seemed to care, even though he almost elbowed a couple of them, and Skip, himself, seemed to be having a wonderful time.

     The Galateas helped with that.

     They swirled around Skip like living, loving mists, grazing against him here, touching him there, hugging him everywhere. Abby had never seen her son with a bigger grin on his face.

    "I could go for a little of that," Chuck said.

     "Beautiful women throwing themselves all over you, no questions asked?" Cathy replied. "You are a man. Of course, you'd like that." 

​     "You know what?" Gramps said. "That even sounds fun to me, and that strikes me as odd. It's been decades since...There has got to be some sort of aphrodisiac in this."

     "We haven't already established that?" Abby asked.

     "Yet we all keep drinking," Ward said.

     "It'd be nice if we knew what it was," Gramps said. "That's all I'm saying."

     "Under no circumstances would Francis Forwarder bring us here to poison us,"

Anne said.

     "I'm suggesting caution."

​     Fuck caution, at least half the people around the table thought.

     "I'm with you, old timer," Cole said. "I'm not touching a drop."

     "Please don't call me that."

     "And you," Gramps said to the man at Alison's side. Winston. "It stuns me in a good way to see you so healthy again. What is your take on all of this?"

​     Winston smiled as he sipped broove.

​     "I know that I love my wife," he replied. "I know that I am grateful beyond words for the precious time we're having right now, but precisely because I know our time together is transitory, I'm choosing not to give anything too much thought."

     "Of course."

CONTINUE