[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

they find hard to swallow. You can't expect-"
"Maybe not." Zelde stood. "But they're stuck with me for now-and sure's hell
they're going to do their work. Thanks."
"Any old time. I'll help where I can."
"Yeah, I know. I \isaid,\i thanks."
And later, over dinner, Torra told her much the same, "Though with me, since I
moved in here, it's more what they don't say than what they do. You see?"
"Sure." Zelde touched the other's cheek. "Hey-you mind, we just sleep
tonight?" Seeing Terra's look, she added, "It's just-my thinking won't go that
good way, right now."
Likely the grapevine helped-after Dargan, nobody bothered her any, straight
out. In the next weeks the work improved, and the ship even felt more cheerful
to her. Part of it, she guessed, was the sulkers hanging together to gripe at
her-it gave them something to talk on.
Hell with it-she had her job; they could damn well do theirs!
She looked through Parnell's notes on Fair Ball. Not much there-star type,
bigger and whiter than
Earth's sun. The planet, farther out than Earth, had a longer year. Tilted
orbit-all right, she got that-and more eccentric. Off-center, yeah. Not much
axial tilt; moving in and out made the seasons.
Page 171
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Small planet, heavy for its size-gravity about like Earth's. Only one main
settlement, far as Terranova knew-and how many years out of date was \ithat\i
report? At least twenty, Parnell had guessed-by the time the ship could get
there.
Which-by ship's clocks-wouldn't be long, now.
\r 267
\rThe day they spotted Fair Ball's sun-ninety percent definite and two weeks
out, was the guess-Zelde called quarters and told Torra. "Ten hours 'til your
watch. Let's celebrate!"
"I'm in favor of that. When will you be down?"
Zelde looked at the main clock. "About an hour. All right?"
"Fine. I have to check some things with Dopples, from my last night's watch.
It shouldn't take long."
But Zelde found their quarters empty. Putting a bottle of jash to cool, then
having a shower, she didn't notice the time. After that, though, Torra didn't
show up for another hour.
She looked flustered, and her hair was mussed. Zelde said, "Anything wrong?"
Torra pushed at the hair, getting it off her forehead. Longer now-uncut since
she joined the ship-it tended to flop around. "I-I'm not sure. It depends on
you."
Zelde frowned. She'd started to pick up the bottle; now she nestled it back
into the ice again. "What does?"
Torra started to smile, but didn't make it stay. "I told you I had things to
check with Dopples. I didn't expect to end up in bed with him."
Zelde's thought, then, almost made her laugh. "All of you?"
file:///G|/eMule/Incoming/Busby,%20F.%20M%20-%20L...0Long%20View%2003%20-%20Ze
lde%20M'Tana%20v1.0.txt (165 of 196)15-7-2004 1:30:15
file:///G|/eMule/Incoming/Busby,%20F.%20M%20-%20Long%20View%....%20M%20-%20Lon
g%20View%2003%20-%20Zelde%20M'Tana%20v1.0.txt
"What-oh, you mean Hilde and Helga. No-he threw them out. That's what-"
If this was going to take time, Zelde was thirsty. Now she opened the jash,
and poured. "Sit down, Torra, and have some. And start from scratch, will
you?"
Well. Torra had found Dopples in process of clearing the two blondes out of
his quarters. "Clothes all over the place-Dopples pacing back and forth,
kicking them across the floor." And the women, half dressed, making little
shrieks when Dopples slapped whatever part he could reach. "They each had red
marks-but no real bruises, that I saw."
Torra swallowed some jash; Zelde sipped hers. Did this business bother her
any? No-not unless it churned Torra a lot. "Anybody say what started it?"
Dopples hadn't minded the women playing around while he was out of action-he
had sense enough to expect that.
268
"But they were too public about it-they didn't save face for him at all. And
since he's back they've kept it up, on the side. Finally he had too much,
that's all, and he was giving them the heave-ho."
"You already said that. Where's \iyour\i part come in?"
From under lowered brows Torra looked at her, then nodded. "When they were out
the door. Dopples found a blouse on the deck and went to throw it after them.
I saw something else, before he shut the door, and handed it to him. And he
threw that, too, and then made the slam. He came back-I had my report in one
hand-and he was laughing. Then he was crying, and fell against me, and the
report is what hit the deck next."
"And you two, the bed? Just like that?"
Headshake. Maybe in another month or two the hair would be long enough to comb
good. "No. He had to talk." Zelde's brows raised. "Oh, about everything,
nearly. That Parnell's dead, and Dopples would have died for him. How it still
hurts that he'll never see Earth again-he had some family there, the last he
Page 172
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
knew. How he regrets being hard on \iyou\i earlier." Her forehead wrinkled.
"Something odd about that-
he started to say more, and then didn't. But the last straw, I guess, was
those two dumb mattress-
bouncers. First, being unable to keep them in line-and then the two of them
thinking they were \ifooling
\i him."
She paused. "Can you understand that?"
Zelde nodded. "Sure. Parnell-" Wait-would this be disloyal? She decided not.
"He was a long time getting sicker-and sometimes he could and sometimes he
couldn't. It bothered him." She shook her head.
"His pride-I sure tried to be easy on it. And I never had somebody else,
either." She thought about it.
"Parnell would of agreed, if I'd wanted. But there wasn't anybody. Not until
you."
For seconds, Terra's lips clamped tight. "It was when Dopples said he felt
betrayed-that all he'd needed was a little time and patience, but now it was
too late. I told him it wasn't, either, too late."
Now she raised her head. "And then I showed him."
She waited, and Zelde said, "Have some more jash; let's drink to that. And
then, like I said earlier, let's celebrate."
"You mean, you don't mind?"
"Dopples? That man took a \iknife\i for me."
\r 269
\rSo they celebrated. After that, sometimes Torra stayed over with Dopples.
She always asked Zelde first, and Zelde always said yes, and that she didn't
\ihave\i to ask. But she did ask, anyway.
file:///G|/eMule/Incoming/Busby,%20F.%20M%20-%20L...0Long%20View%2003%20-%20Ze
lde%20M'Tana%20v1.0.txt (166 of 196)15-7-2004 1:30:15
file:///G|/eMule/Incoming/Busby,%20F.%20M%20-%20Long%20View%....%20M%20-%20Lon
g%20View%2003%20-%20Zelde%20M'Tana%20v1.0.txt
Coming in toward Fair Ball-crawling now, compared to light-\iKilimanjaro\i was
hailed. Zelde went to
Control. The signal was a loop tape; before answering, Zelde heard it through
twice, to make sure she had everything straight. For one thing, the voice said
nothing about Fair Ball being a Hidden World.
Going by the words, it could have been a colony-except that unless the Uties
had found and taken it, it wasn't.
All right-play it straight. She spoke her own tape, heard it once and then [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]