by Leslie Chase
"You're very persistent, I'll grant," he said, turning back to face Lilly. To her surprise, he was smiling. "And I'm half-convinced that you will work it out, somehow. But the answer is no."
She started to protest, but he held up a hand. "Don't argue, my mind is made up. This isn't just my secret to keep or give away. I will speak to my colleagues and come to a decision."
"And I'm just going to be your prisoner until then, I suppose?"
"No." Jaranak shook his head and stepped aside, giving her a clear line to the door. "You were right about one thing, I can't keep you here long. You're free to go, Miss Hardridge, on one condition."
"What condition do you think you can hold me to?" As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Lilly regretted them. A promise made under duress like this wouldn't be binding anyway — she could have simply agreed and then walked away.
But Jaranak smiled. "That you will meet me for dinner tomorrow evening so that we can continue this discussion when you're no longer my captive. Perhaps then I will have an answer for you, and we may both have more questions to ask."
Lilly blinked. She'd expected something a lot more prosaic. A promise to keep out of his affairs, perhaps. Not a dinner date. To her surprise she felt her cheeks heating at the thought of dining with him. How long had it been since a man had taken her out for a meal?
This isn't a date, she told herself fiercely. It's... I don't know what it is, but it's not that. He's asking me there for information, not romance.
But she nodded anyway, and couldn't stop herself from smiling. "Okay. Fine. Tomorrow evening, then. You'll have to let me know where."
Before he could change his mind, she collected herself and walked to the door. As she passed by Jaranak she felt the warmth of his body and shivered slightly, but he made no move to stop her leaving.
Lilly wondered at the slight disappointment she felt at that.
"What happened? You were gone for hours!" Margaret practically pounced on Lilly as she descended the stairs, and it was all that Lilly could do to keep her balance. Clinging to the rail, she shook off Margaret's attention and grinned.
"I'm not sure," she said. "But I think I have a date."
That shut Margaret up. The poor woman went white, then red, her eyes wide with shock. Lilly couldn't help it, she burst out laughing. It wasn't fair, but it was just so funny, and after the day she'd had so far she needed the humor.
"Don't make fun of me," Margaret warned, taking her by the arm and helping her down the rest of the stairs. "Okay, I'll admit you got me a good one there, but this isn't the time or the place for jokes."
"I'm only joking a little bit," Lilly said as she tried to recover. Her laughter turned into painful coughing and she clutched at her friend until it passed. "Anyway, you should have seen your face. It was absolutely worth it."
Margaret's annoyed glare softened as she dug out Lilly’s medicine bottle and helped her take a swallow.
"See, there's God punishing you for laughing at your friend," Margaret said as she stoppered the bottle again, trying to make light of it. "Perhaps if you won't listen to me, you'll listen to Him?"
Lilly laughed again, keeping it under control so that she didn't make the coughing worse. "I am sorry," she said, hugging her friend. "A little bit at least. Forgive me? I've got a lot to tell you about."
"Of course I forgive you, silly," Margaret said. "Now let's get you out of sight and into your normal clothes. We don't want to spoil your hilarious adventure with you getting caught impersonating a maid here."
"Or worse, being given a job," Lilly said, remembering how poorly-cleaned the room had been. "They really need the extra help."
As she changed back into her street clothes, she related the strange goings on in Jaranak's room. Part of her wondered if this counted as being indiscreet as far as the prince was concerned. Probably he'd say it did, but then he was trying to cover his trail. From her point of view, she was much safer if someone else knew the secret — especially if she was going to be spending time alone with Jaranak.
That provided a convenient excuse for telling her friend, but if she was honest with herself it didn't change things. She'd have told Margaret anyway, the two of them hadn't kept secrets from each other since they were children.
"I wonder what on Earth his story is?" Margaret said as she finished the story and they made their way back home. "I mean, the story he's going to tell you. I wouldn't mind knowing the truth, either, but it doesn't seem likely that he'll tell you that."
"Honestly, I've got no idea," Lilly admitted. "I wonder if he does, yet, or if he's going to spend all afternoon coming up with a clever lie?"
"Or maybe he does just want your company for the evening, and doesn't have a story to tell at all."
"If so, he's misjudging me," Lilly said primly, though she felt her cheeks flush at the idea.
"Quite right," Margaret replied with an impish smile. "He won't get a kiss until your curiosity's satisfied."
Lilly's eyes went wide and her blush spread across her face. "Margaret!"
Her friend only laughed, and after a moment she joined in, shaking her head. "Okay, I deserved that. But seriously, this is a business meeting, not a date. There will be no kissing."
She said that firmly, putting her foot down. It was as much for her own imagination's sake as Margaret's. Lilly couldn't quite shake the image of Jaranak bending over her, his full firm lips parting as he brought them to hers. What would his kisses taste of, she wondered? How would that deep blue skin feel to the touch?
I don't know, and I have no intention of finding out, she insisted as Margaret hailed a cab for them. This is a business date, and nothing more.
She couldn't quite get rid of the hope that she was wrong.
The journey back to her apartment was uneventful, and they spent it in silence. It seemed unwise to discuss the break-in where the driver might be able to hear, and that was all that was on their minds. As soon as they'd arrived back in Lilly's home and taken off their coats, Margaret was back in scheming mode.
"Should I come too?" she asked. "I could get a table nearby, in case you need help?"
"And so that you can spy on me," Lilly said with a smile. "No, I don't think that will work. For a start, I've no idea where we'll be going. How would we get you a reservation? And he might recognize you, in which case he'd know I've told you all of this. No, you stay away — but I'll be sure to tell you where I'm going so that you can tell the police if I'm missing."
Margaret nodded slowly. It might not be easy for her to accept, but Lilly knew she would; beneath her excitable exterior there beat a practical heart. This was the best way for Margaret to help, and so this was what she'd do.
"Fine, but in that case, I need to have a good record of everything that's happened," Margaret said after a pause. "In writing, I mean. If I have to tell the police about this, I want some proof that I'm not making it all up."
"It does sound a little unlikely, doesn't it?" Lilly admitted. "Very well, I'll write it all up in my diary. That way you'll have evidence that I told you this story, at least. They might still think it's my invention, but there's nothing we can do about that."
It was a good habit anyway. Opening up her desk she began to record the day's events, as honestly as she could. It wasn't easy, especially now that she knew it might be in the hands of a policeman within a day. That fact kept her from writing down how she'd felt as she was caught by Jaranak.
But going over the events meant that she had to confront those feelings, and that was awkward enough even without someone else seeing it. The embarrassing longing for his touch was still there whenever she thought about him, and the moment he'd grabbed her ankles and dragged her from under his bed had been terrifying but also somehow exhilarating. The memory of his powerful grip closing on her ankles made her squirm a little.
Stop that, she tried to tell herself. What's next, pining for a boy who pulls my hair? But that was a mistake, now she couldn't help imagining Jaran
ak's hands running through her hair and holding her. Pulling her closer to him.
Shaking herself out of the reverie, she threw down her pen. She'd written as much as she could, anyway. The details were between her and her overactive imagination, and if she was going to meet Jaranak for a meal she wanted to get a good night's rest first.
It might be difficult to get any sleep with the confusing feelings that filled her mind, but Lilly was determined to try.
11
Jaranak
"You let her go?" Karnan's anger was something to behold. "How could you be so stupid?"
The others had all returned after Lilly's departure, empty-handed. Karnan reported finding nothing suspicious around the hotel. That didn't mean much — whoever had been in here could be hiding in another room, out of sight, and they'd have no way to know. And while Orshar and Parvak had run down the lookout, he'd had little to say. Someone had hired him to keep watch for blue-skinned men and whistle if he saw them; he neither knew the man who'd paid him nor cared much who he was.
That was one of the downsides of having such a distinctive appearance, Jaranak thought. But at least he had a lead, and he was going to follow it up in his own way. The three others stared at him, appalled, but he met Karnan's gaze calmly.
"What are you afraid she's going to do? Keep looking into our affairs? She was going to do that anyway, no matter what. This way at least we have some control over it."
"We could have kept her here," his friend said, pacing back and forth, gesticulating wildly. "Held her until we leave, even. Then there won't be anything for her to find."
"There are four of us," Jaranak pointed out. "How many would it take to watch her? Every one of us is more valuable working on getting the Far Hunter spaceworthy again and finding the Skystorm. Nothing matters if we can't do that."
"But still, she's already made a mess of our day," Karnan said, calming himself with a visible effort. "Wasted our time running back here and investigating. You're right, we can't afford to waste any more time, but that means that meeting her for dinner is just as bad an idea."
"If it wasn't for her, we wouldn't know that someone's been at our sensors. And that has to be connected to the Skystorm — who else could know how to access the technology? Either one of Hrail's crew was here, or a human who's learned from them. We have to find out who it was. I'll pick a place to meet her close to the dock, so that I'll be available if there's any trouble."
Karnan fell silent at that, conflicting emotions playing across his face. The thought of being able to find Hrail was enough to give his cautious nature pause. In the end, it was Orshar who broke the silence.
"Then you should have kept her here," he said, his voice cold and hard. "We could have torn the information from her easily enough. If you're squeamish about that kind of thing you can leave it to me. We don't have to worry about leaving evidence behind, I can take care of that too."
Jaranak looked around, meeting Orshar's gaze. The cold look in his crewmate's eye wasn't pleasant — Orshar was a great hunter, but not always a good man. There was a cruel streak in him which Jaranak didn't like or trust, and there were unpleasant depths to him. The casual way he spoke about torturing information out of Lilly implied that he had experience with that kind of thing.
There were hunters who delighted in that kind of behavior. Not many, but enough that everyone heard the stories about them. Going to fresh worlds, encountering strange new species of sapient life, and hurting them as much as they could get away with. Sometimes they'd even set themselves up as kings amongst the primitives, using their technological advantage to create a rule of terror. Jaranak despised that kind of behavior and worked to stop it as much as he could. But now, it seemed, he'd let one of the sadists onto his own crew.
Can't do anything about that now, he told himself. Short of killing Orshar there wasn't any way to control him, and the man was a part of his team. They couldn't afford a fight amongst themselves, not when they were in so much trouble already.
"We will not force information from her," he said firmly. "That's unacceptable. We are visitors here, and she is not our enemy. Whatever you're suggesting you'd do, forget it."
Orshar looked around the room, and Karnan and Parvak moved to stand beside Jaranak. Seeing that he was alone, Orshar nodded reluctantly.
"You're the boss, Jaranak," he said softly. "If you say she's off limits, then that's that. But this human has information that we need — why protect a primitive at the cost of our own safety?"
"Because we aren't monsters," Jaranak snapped. Regretting his tone, he tried again. "We can't just kill someone because it would be convenient. I will not allow that, do you understand?"
Especially not her, he added silently. There was something about the human female that drew him to her, that kept him off balance in a way he didn't want to stop. Perhaps his judgment wasn't at its best where she was concerned, but he didn't care. Nothing would hurt her if he had a say in it.
"I understand perfectly," Orshar said, holding up his hands. The cold, calculating look in his eyes didn't fade. "If that's your decision, boss, that's good enough for me. What are you going to tell her about us?"
Jaranak could see that the conversation was on hold, not finished. But there was no way to push the issue now. Hopefully they'd be off the planet in a few days, and then he could drop off Orshar somewhere and never have to deal with the man again.
"I'm not sure. I think, perhaps, the truth." The other three looked at him in shock and he grinned. "Think about it; without proof, she won't be believed. And she's too smart for us to fool, we simply don't know enough about her planet to come up with a believable lie. I'm not even sure she'll believe me, but it's something that I can offer in exchange for the information we need."
Karnan nodded dubiously. Jaranak knew that he could count on his support; apart from his personal loyalty, a chance to rescue Hrail would get him to agree to most things. Orshar and Parvak, though, both looked mutinous at the idea.
"I won't say anything until I'm sure she's going to be discrete," he said. "And I'm confident that she will be. She's not investigating out of some need for money or working for someone else — this is a hunt for her, she needs to know what we are up to for herself."
They didn't look convinced, but with Karnan backing Jaranak, Parvak would follow the winning side. Orshar saw which way the tide was turning and shook his head.
"You'll regret this," he predicted, throwing up his hands. "But I don't suppose that this trip can go much more wrong than it has. Have it your way, boss."
With that, he pulled out a knife and picked up his wooden mask. Whatever Jaranak might think of the man's ethics, he was an artist with his blade, and since they'd started their deception he'd been working on his mask. It was, Jaranak had to admit, beautiful.
He just wished that Orshar would stick to that, rather than threatening the locals.
12
Lilly
When the taxi rolled up to the front of the apartment building it was almost silent. Lilly was surprised to see that Jaranak had sent a battery-powered car. Lilly liked them better than most cars — no noise, no exhaust, they seemed very civilized. Not that they were much good otherwise, from what she'd heard, compared to gas-powered cars. It was a pity that the noisier alternative seemed to be driving the electric cars out of the market, and she was glad to see that Jaranak was giving them some business.
The man himself was nowhere to be seen. Descending the steps with Margaret at her side, Lilly looked up at the driver curiously.
"Taxi for Miss Hardridge," the driver said deferentially.
"That's me," Lilly told him. "Where are we going?"
That confused the man for a moment, not being the kind of thing a taxi driver would often be asked by his fare. But he rallied quickly. "I'm to take you to Delmonico's, ma'am."
Delmonico's? That shocked Lilly. The restaurant was a fixture of fine dining and far too expensive a place for her to eat at. Given where he was
staying, she wasn't convinced it was within Jaranak's means either, but there was only one way to find out. She was unlikely to get another chance to eat there, so she might as well make the most of it.
Margaret grinned at her, her eyes lighting up. Lilly knew her friend well enough to see the tiny flash of jealousy in Margaret's eyes, but this news made it impossible for Margaret to come with her. There was no way they could justify the cost of the meal, even if they could get her inside on such short notice.
"I'll be fine," Lilly assured her. "There's no way he could dream of doing anything untoward in a place as public as that."
"You're right, but you're going to have to tell me everything," Margaret replied. "I don't know if I'm afraid for you or envious."
"You could try both?" Lilly laughed, a little unsteadily. No matter how safe she thought she must be, it felt like walking into the lion's den. All of her rational reasons that Jaranak couldn't mean to harm her suddenly seemed like flimsy excuses, despite the fact that he'd let her go once already. If I've misjudged this and it is my last meal, I may as well enjoy it, she resolved. At least he's enough of a gentleman to make it a fancy dinner and not some five-cent meal.
It wasn't as though staying away would help, not when he knew where she lived. Squaring her shoulders, she stepped into the cab and sat down, waving to Margaret. With a quiet whine from its electric motor, the car pulled away from the curb and they were off.
The ride was practically silent, and all she had to do on the journey was worry. It was easy to do — yes, rationally, Jaranak wasn't going to do anything to her in one of New York's most fashionable restaurants. But she was talking about a man who painted himself blue from head to toe: was that the action of a rational man? By the time the cab pulled up at the Beaver Street restaurant, Lilly had worked herself into a small frenzy of worry and almost didn't notice that they'd arrived.
