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serviteur and will show you how to move about the ship. The public areas have
been programmed to accept you. The room rippled around Aleytys; an instant
later she was gone.
Lylunda brushed her hand across her eyes.  That is
. weird!
 Come on, our slide flat is disguised as that throwrug over there. It s Lee s
ship, so she doesn t need one, but Tigatri doesn t sublimn to us like she does
to her, so we ride the slides. Actually, it s rather fun.
Like a magic carpet in its sly way.
Shadith watched Lylunda s eyes widen as she looked around the cabin
and widen again as the mobile Belle rippled into existence beside the
communications com-plex set into a desk of dark rich wood.
Belle was another of the elfin serviteurs. Her face was triangular, her smile
three-cornered, freckles were dotted across her nose and the tops of rosy
cheeks. Like the rest of
Tigates mobiles, her substance was more energy than matter; despite that she
was a warm, friendly presence. Her voice was a deep contralto, ab-surdly big
for one so tiny.  Anything you want, Lylunda Elang, if I can get it for you, I
will.
Lylunda glanced at Shadith, caught her nod, said,  Well, first thing, call me
Luna.
 Of course, Luna. Whatever you wish.
 Do you have anything like a shipsuit available? She smoothed her hand along
her sleeve.  This is lovely, but I don t feel comfortable lounging around in
something worth a couple months of ship fuel.
 We can do that, Luna. Belle s green eyes glazed for an instant, then
brightened again.  It will be here in a few moments.
Shadith leaned against the wall, thumbs hooked over the belt to her robe.  You
needn t worry about cost, Luna. Lee has connections and gets the stuff
straight from the loom.
 Even so, Shadow, I d rather play in cutoffs or something like that. Um,
Belle. Do you have a drum around? Or could you make one to my specifications?
 One could be made simply enough. Metal or wood?
 Wood, if possible.
 Would you indicate dimensions and shape? If you could give us a plan....
Belle waved a hand at the communications complex.  There s a light stylo you
could use.
Shadith watched as Lylunda sketched the drum, the program turning
the crude drawing into a professional plot; Lylunda made a few final
adjustments, then turned to the mobile.  Belle, how long?
 We can have it for you by tomorrow, mid diurne. Enough to let you
try it and see if it needs adjustment.
Belle flickered out. When she returned an instant later with three
shipsuits draped over her arm, Shadith stepped onto the slideboard.  Luna,
you ll want food, a bath, and some time to recover. When you re ready, have
Belle bring you to the garden. You ll like that, 1 promise you.
 Do all Vryyh ships have places like this? Lylunda settled herself on
Aleytys boulder and gazed at the stream flowing past her feet, disbelief
written in every line of her face.
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 Lee tells me each ship is different. I ve only seen this one so I wouldn t
know. It s not quite as odd as you think because the garden looks bigger than
it is. If you wandered around off the paths, you d hit walls rather quickly,
but what s the point of that? Might as well enjoy the illusion. You willing to
talk about the Taalav?
Lylunda shrugged.  Why not, seeing I ve sold them out already.
 What s his name, your friend the xenobi, and how did he get them on your
ship?
 Prangarris. No friend of mine. I did the job for three Taalav crystals, not
for any fondness I had for him. I d done transport for him before.
Pharmaceuti-cals. He pays prompt and doesn t argue. Not a nice
man. For all that he was a political and not on Pillory for mass murder or the
like, he was a first-order zorrit and probably ought to be squashed. As to how
he got the two arrays on board, I was too busy watching screen and holding
camou fields in place to pay atten-tion to anything but the time it took.
 Who chose that planet?
 He did. And got out a list of things he wanted me to provide. Food
supplements for the Taalav, a year s food supply for him, a split corn, a
flikit adapted to heavy world flying, a spare exo and a survival pod with an
argrav field powered by rechargeable light cells. The pod was the hardest to
get hold of. I
picked it up through Marrat s. Took a hefty prepayment before the broker would
even look at my offer.
What gripes me most about this is seeing the Kliu win.
 Way it goes, Luna. If you want them off your back, this is what ll do it. Hm.
Something to cheer you. When I decided to skip from Hutsarte without Grinder
noticing, I hot-wired your ship and took off in it. Lee s got it in tow now, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]