Revolution World by Katy Stauber

sudden insane desire to move out to this... well, this little place. So I was sent to keep an eye on them until they return to their senses and go home."
    She turned a disapproving eye on Seth who was now so close to Clio their shoulders were gently touching. Gloria reached over to smooth a flyaway strand of Seth's hair. The contact startled Seth into moving away from Clio.
    Clio took an instant dislike to this exotic woman. She reacted like a true Southern girl. Her smile got wider and she became even more charming. "Well I hope our little town will grow on you since you'll be here for quite some time, won't you?" she said sweetly, scooting closer to Seth just to make Gloria angry.
    "Come. We must dance," declared Max, spilling beer as he stood up. "I have been watching those young men near the stage twitch about like epileptic zombies and I am convinced I can look more foolish than they do." He grabbed Gloria and dragged her across the field. Kalliope cheerfully joined them. Following in Kalliope's wake was the gaggle of adoring farmers that always seemed to surround her.
    *****
    Seth and Clio remained seated and continued to eat as they watched the dancing. They talked enthusiastically about nothing much at all.
    Some large, beefy men came over to talk to Clio about their next session of Revolution World gaming. It seems she was part of a group that met every Wednesday night. Seth listened and idly wondered if every man in this town was six feet tall and built like a refrigerator.
    "You hear that Mr. Dennard was taken?" one of the men said to Clio.
    "And his wife is sick," the other man interjected with outrage.
    She glanced at Seth, but he couldn't read her face. "Government or terrorists?" she asked in a low voice.
    "Government of course," the man replied, his mouth set in a hard line. Clio cursed fluidly and pulled the two away for a quick conversation.
    Seth looked around and it was large beefy men as far as the eye could see. He was six feet tall himself. He knew he was skinny, but he'd never felt so scrawny before. He could easily pick out Max's lithe form in the crowd, dancing like a possessed hillbilly with Clio's mother just now. Near him, Gloria looked bored as a large farmer whirled her about in an expert manner. Seth was really impressed by the dancing skills these rough men possessed.
    "Hey, I'd like to play Revolution World like the locals. Can I join you on Wednesday night, maybe?" Seth asked after the men had gone and Clio sat back down.
    Clio flushed and looked flustered. "Oh no. I mean I'm sure it wouldn't really interest you," she stammered. "The game is really only fun for Texas nuts like us."
    Seth was taken aback. He'd really just wanted some way to spend more time with her.
    "I'm sorry. That came out rude," she said quickly, putting a hand on his arm. "I just meant that those Wednesday meetings are for a bunch of us who are pretty hardcore into the game. Maybe we could play together on a different night until you decide whether or not you like it enough to keep playing?"
    The feeling that she was trying to blow him off evaporated under the heat of her hand. "That would be great," he said quietly. She took her hand back and they finished eating, occasionally looking up to smile at each other.
    "This corn is good," said Seth, just to have something to say after conversation petered out.
    "I'm glad you like it. One of my early projects actually," Clio laughed. "Mom let me start splicing as soon as I was old enough to pull things off her lab bench. This one is adapted to the high heat and low rainfall, but see?" She cupped her hands over the corn. He could see that it glowed a repulsive green color in the dark.
    "I spliced in a fluorescence tag so I could tell if the graft took, but then couldn't get it out without messing up the new genes." She shrugged. "We sold it cheap to the local farmers."
    They got up and began strolling around the field when Seth heard gunfire. He was about to hit the deck when he