[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
ing to lose you, Clarity. Especially not to some overtall, under-
mature emotional basket case. I ve got too much invested in our
relationship.
She reached up but was unable to dislodge his fingers. Her voice
was tight and controlled. She knew he knew he was hurting her, but
she wasn t about to plead with him. Let go of me, Bill. Now.
And if I don t? His face was suddenly much closer, split by an
unpleasant, humorless grin.
She didn t have to reply. The deep humming in his ears was
enough to make him release her. Scrap was hovering behind him,
less than a meter from his head. Though Ormann s knowledge of the
minidrag s capabilities extended no further than what Clarity had
told him, he had no reason to doubt her. The slitted eyes were staring
unblinkingly back into his own, the scaly mouth was parted, and
somewhere within lay the means to render him dead as a doornail in
fewer minutes than he had fingers on one hand.
Very slowly, he rose from the arm of the chair. One hand went to
the table to pick up the travel pouch that lay there. It contained,
among other personal items, a powerful shocker. New Riviera might
be the most livable world in the Commonwealth, but it was not de-
void of crime. Where there was so much money to be had, there
were always those hoping to acquire it without having to work for it.
I ve got personal protection with me. Carefully, making no
% %
1 1 9
ALAN DEAN FOSTER
sudden moves, he clipped the pouch back onto his waist. One burst
would paralyze your damn flying snake for hours, if the charge didn t
kill it outright.
She pursed her lips and eyed him pityingly. You d never get
off a shot. Unless you re better at controlling your emotions than
anyone I ve met, Scrap would sense your intent before you could get
a finger on the firing mechanism. You d be on the floor, dying and
with your eyes melting in their sockets.
His hand cradled the pouch, caressing it slowly. I ve only your
word for that, Clarity. I never liked snakes, anyhow winged or
otherwise, terrestrial or alien.
She shrugged diffidently. I don t want to see you dead, Bill.
Well, that s something, anyway. His voice dripped sarcasm.
If you don t believe me about Scrap, you know how to find out
for yourself.
Silence filled the room. Then he let his hand slide away from the
pouch. In response not to the gesture but to the emotions Ormann
was projecting, the minidrag backed off another couple of meters.
But Scrap remained airborne with his gaze fixed on the man.
Ormann headed for the front door. Don t make any rash deci-
sions, Clarity. That s all I m asking. This kid shows up unannounced
after six years he s likely to disappear again the same way. But I ll
still be here when he s gone.
I know, Bill. I m keeping that in mind.
It wasn t much to leave with, but it was something, and he
clutched at it. The evening hadn t gone at all the way he d hoped. He
was leaving unsatisfied and irate, but at least he hadn t been thrown
out. She still cared for him. Genuine affection, he wondered, or
hedging her emotional bets?
% %
1 2 0
FLINX S FOLLY
I ll see you at the office, he told her by way of good night. She
responded pleasantly, if without any great enthusiasm.
He d made a mistake, he told himself grimly as he took the lift
down to the transport level. He d underestimated everything: this
strange guy s appeal, the depth of the relationship he d had with Clar-
ity, the strength of their lingering attachment, and, yes, even the extent
of his own relationship with the beautiful and desirable gengineer.
A few solid whacks might have knocked some sense into her, he
mused as he climbed back into his luxury personal transport and ac-
tivated the autohome. Rising from its charger in the garage, it piv-
oted and accelerated gently, heading for the exit. But if she was to be
believed, any attempt to strike her with anything more edifying than
words would result in the intervention of that slimy, leather-winged
pet of hers. He needed to do some research, he told himself firmly.
Find out how much of what she had told him about the minidrag was
the truth and how much embellishment. If things continued to pro-
ceed the way they were going, he might need to know.
Meanwhile, he reflected as the transport turned up the guideway,
accelerating on automatic, he had no intention of standing politely
aside any longer and playing the confident, condescending by-
stander. Thanks to the arrival of this peculiar specter from her past,
his relationship with Clarity was in jeopardy. He would not sit back
and watch it be destroyed by some soft-spoken competitor. The kid
wasn t even a Nurian, for O Morion s sake!
There were several things he could do. Some of them would
require time and research. At least one he could set in motion imme-
diately. Its outcome would be instructive at the least, highly gratify-
ing at best. Activating the transport s communicator, he spoke a
name that would have surprised his superiors as much as it would
% %
1 2 1
ALAN DEAN FOSTER
Clarity. Not everyone he had engaged in business with was an ex-
ecutive or scientist.
Even on a world as civilized as New Riviera, it was sometimes
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]