Page 181 - Where the Dream Ends ebook

Ships in the Night

“The video game,” she said, pointing over her shoulder.

“Hey Cathy, come on will you!” one of the men shouted
out.

“Hold on a minute,” she said, irritated.

“No, I never have,” Eddie lied.

“You should try it some time. It’s fun. Listen, I gotta go.
Thanks a lot.” She ran off leaving Eddie tongue-tied.
“I… I will. I’ll try it some time,” he called after her, but
in the din of the bar his voice didn’t carry past the next ta-
ble, where a middle-aged couple eating dinner eyed him sus-
piciously.

Eddie went back to nursing his beer. Amid the clamor of
the bar his corner table was an oasis of quiet. It reminded him
of a day some weeks earlier when he had stopped here for
lunch and sat at this very table. He was alone then, too. He had
ordered a hamburger and a beer, and while he was waiting, he
sauntered over to the video machine, trying to look as cool as
possible. He stood in front of the terminal and watched as a
demonstration of how to play the game was underway. Eddie
had marveled at the machine’s ability to play by itself. As he
stood in front of the video game, a voice spoke to him:

“YOU… CANNOT… DESTROY… ME!”

“Welcome to the future,” Eddie had thought. The voice
was like that of a robot in a Grade B 1950s science fiction
movie. Eddie dropped two quarters into the slot. The screen
exploded with a burst of white light. Even before he could ac-
custom himself to the controls, hordes of alien space ships fired

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