Worlds Apart (ThreeCon)

by Carmen Webster Buxton

  “Would you like to go home now, Mistress?” Tinibu said.

  Rishi nodded, appreciating his tact. She followed him wordlessly as he led the way back to the front of the jewelry store. Praxiteles walked behind her, still looking worried.

  Rurhahn waited in front of the store. He handed a stun gun to Tinibu and gave Rishi a stern look. “That was very foolish, Mistress.”

  “I’m not in the mood for a lecture, thank you.” Rishi glared as she delivered the rebuke, but as she followed the Miloran back to Trahn headquarters, she reflected that her mood didn’t matter in the least. She was going to get a lecture whether she wanted one or not.

  ONCE they were back at the estate, Rishi went straight to her room, glad that it was late enough that Lidiya had gone home, and she could wait for Hari’s retribution alone.

  She didn’t have long to wait. It was only about ten minutes before Hari’s three special notes chimed.

  He didn’t bother waiting for her to ask him in. The door opened just as the last note sounded.

  Rishi stood up, preferring not to have him towering over her.

  Hari strode in, wearing dress clothes and looking as angry as she had ever seen him. “Well?” he roared. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

  Rishi’s own temper flared in response. “Nothing! Why should I have to explain myself to you? I’m an adult.”

  Her ire only set him off. He launched into a tirade on her irresponsible behavior that covered not only the ways she was compromising her security, but the fact that she could have gotten her guards into trouble.

  Finally, Rishi had had enough. “All right, Hari. That’s it. Why don’t you just lock me in my room and get it over with?”

  Hari stopped shouting. “Sometimes I’d like to. How could you do it, Rishi? You promised me last time you’d never do it again.”

  “Only because you wouldn’t talk to me until I did,” she said hotly. “Besides, I didn’t go anywhere this time. They caught me before I even got to the cab.”

  Hari started to retort, and then he got a peculiar look on his face. “How did Prax know?”

  “What?” Rishi asked, totally confused. “What does Praxiteles have to do with this?”

  “Rurhahn said that Prax told him you were trying to pull a fast one. That’s how they knew to go after you so soon. After Prax told Rurhahn you weren’t calling anyone, he asked the manager if there was a back door to the office.”

  Rishi frowned. “How could Praxiteles know that?”

  “He’s from a sleeper world.”

  The comment struck Rishi as a non sequitur. “So?”

  “Think, girl,” Hari chided. “What do sleeper worlds have that no other worlds have?”

  Rishi considered this question for a second. There could be only one answer. “You think Praxiteles has psy talent?”

  “It’s possible. Remember, he said his grandmother was empathic. Anyway, I intend to find out.”

  He went over to the com set on Rishi’s nightstand and called Rurhahn. When the Miloran answered, Hari asked him to find Praxiteles and send him to Rishi’s room. After he cut the connection, Hari turned back to Rishi.

  “This doesn’t change anything, girl,” he said. “You’re still in hot water with me. You did something stupid and irresponsible. I thought you were old enough to know better.”

  “I’m old enough not to need a babysitter,” Rishi snapped, her anger returning. She had to repress the urge to pace the room. “And I don’t need you to follow me around and lecture me when I want to go out and have a good time, either.”

  “So that’s it?” Hari sounded incredulous. “All this elaborate plotting was just a way for you to hit a few bars and warm up the sheets with some likely-looking stranger?”

  Rishi flushed. “Why do you always have to make it sound so terrible?”

  “It’s pretty hard to make it sound like a church outing.” He frowned. “It’s only been a week since the last time.”

  Rishi bit her lip. “And now you’re keeping track? Do you have me on a quota or something?”

  Hari opened his mouth but then shut it again. He twisted his lips and then said, “All right. If you feel the need, I’ll take you out tonight.”

  “No, thank you.” Rishi put as much sarcasm into her voice as she could manage. “I’m not really in the mood for it anymore. Getting dragged back here and listening to you yell at me has given me a massive headache.”

  Before he could answer, the door chimed.

  “Come,” Hari called, before Rishi could do it.

  Praxiteles walked in and stopped abruptly. He had rather an apprehensive look on his face.

  “Come in, Prax,” Hari said. “Sit down.”

  Praxiteles looked at Rishi, who was still standing. After she sank into a chair herself, he took a seat and sat with his hands on the edges of the seat, as if he were ready to jump up at any moment.

  Hari smiled affably. “How did you know that Rishi was going to leave that office by another exit, Prax?” he said, as if it were a casual question.

  Praxiteles raised his eyebrows at this interrogation. “What?”

  Hari repeated his question.

  Praxiteles hesitated. “I didn’t know she was leaving,” he said at last.

  “You told Rurhahn something was wrong. How did you know Rishi was trying to give you the slip?”

  Rishi flushed at Hari’s choice of words.

  Praxiteles shrugged and stared at his feet. “I couldn’t think of a good reason for her to pretend she was calling someone.”

  Hari’s eyes crinkled into a smile. “Pretend? You mean she was lying? You could tell she was lying?”

  Praxiteles nodded.

  “How?” Hari asked. “How could you tell she was lying?”

  Praxiteles looked up, his face blank, as if he had been asked to explain how he remembered to breathe. “I could tell,” he repeated. “It was obvious.”

  “Not to Rurhahn and Tinibu,” Hari said. “How was it obvious? Did she stumble over what she said or look furtive in any way?”

  “No.”

  “Then how?”

  “The same way I can always tell.”

  “Can you tell what someone is thinking?”

  “Of course not.”

  “But you can tell if they’re telling the truth or not?”

  “Yes.”

  Hari appeared to ponder this for a moment. “Prax,” he said abruptly, “I want you to go back to the common room and wait for me there.”

  Praxiteles stood up, but he hesitated.

  “What’s wrong?” Hari asked. “Why aren’t you going?”

  “But you don’t really want me to go,” Praxiteles protested. “Why did you say it, then?”

  Rishi stared at him. He did have psy talent, at least in a limited form. She would have to be careful how she spoke around him. If she gave herself away, it could put Praxiteles in a position where he would offer himself out of gratitude again.

  Hari’s eyes gleamed. “I was just testing you. This is fascinating. Can you tell with everyone?”

  Praxiteles nodded. “I think so.”

  “Non-Terrans, too?”

  Praxiteles looked less certain. “I don’t know about all non-Terrans. I could tell with Qualhuan when we were playing poker.”

  “You could tell when he was bluffing?”

  “Yes. Why is this important? Many people can tell when someone is lying.”

  “Maybe on Celadon,” Hari said. “The rest of us have to use external clues—watching someone’s eyes, listening to their voices.”

  “Oh,” Praxiteles said, looking thoughtful. “Then does Mistress Trahn not know that the man she spoke to earlier today was lying?”

  “Whom do you mean, Praxiteles?” Rishi said, suddenly interested. “Who lied t
o me?”

  “The man you saw right before we left, lady,” Praxiteles said. “He had reddish hair, and Merschachh called him Citizen Van something.”

  “Van der Keller?” Rishi asked.

  Praxiteles nodded.

  “He was lying to me?”

  Praxiteles nodded again. “Yes, lady. I didn’t understand what he said, but the lie was very strong. He almost smelled of it.”

  “I knew his deal sounded too good to be true.” Rishi looked at Praxiteles in a speculative way. She hadn’t considered this new talent in the light of its business aspects. “You know, Hari, he could be very useful.”

  “Yes,” Hari said. “Especially since there’s no foolproof way to tell if someone is lying, short of administering truth drugs. We’ll have to explore it more fully.” He nodded at the Elliniká. “That’s all for now, Prax. Don’t mention this to anyone else, please.”

  Praxiteles said goodnight politely and left the room.

  Hari watched him go and then he turned back to Rishi. “Look, if you want to cruise, I’ll take you anytime. No lectures, no recriminations, I promise. Just don’t sneak out on me.”

  Rishi gave him a level stare. She was still in the mood, in spite of her headache, and a headache was easily cured. She needed to scratch this itch, or she would embarrass herself with Praxiteles. “Any place I say, whether you’ve been there before or not?”

  He sighed. “All right, yes. Any place.”

  She stood up. “I’ll change, and we’ll go right now.”

  She went into her dressing room and the door shut behind her.

  WHEN Prax returned to the common room, a poker game had started. Everyone looked up at his arrival, and then Tinibu grinned at Qualhuan and held out his hand. “Pay up,” he said.

  The Miloran groaned and put a short stack of his chips into Tinibu’s hand.

  “What’s going on?” Prax asked, confused.

  Tinibu didn’t look up as he counted the chips. “We heard you got summoned to Mistress Trahn’s room. Qualhuan bet me that you’d stay the night. I said no, and I won.”

  Prax felt a surge of anger. They were laying bets on his behavior, and on his intimate thoughts. He remembered when he had gotten the summons to go to Rishi’s room and admitted to himself that part of him had been sorry that the reason for the summons was so prosaic. Prax got up and left the common room without a word. He went out the security entrance and walked a little way into the soft darkness of the night. One of Subidar’s moons was up; it was still nearly full, so there was enough light to see some of the nearby scenery. Prax stood in the shadows of the trees and listened to the night’s sounds. Small animals made cooing noises, and the insects that lived in the tree branches hummed in chorus. A little while later, footsteps sounded on the path and Prax heard Tinibu’s voice.

  “Prax?”

  Prax debated about answering. Finally, he stepped into the moonlight. “Here.”

  Tinibu walked closer. “There you are.”

  “What do you want?”

  “Don’t be so prickly. I just wanted to explain.”

  “Explain what?”

  “I wanted to explain that it’s nothing personal.” Tinibu held out his arms as if to encompass the whole of the estate. “This is how security people are. We live in our employers’ pockets. They can’t keep secrets from us, not when they pay us to keep an eye on them. So we tend to be real casual about people’s private lives. Our own as much as theirs. Everyone knew about Beecher and Nakamura as soon as it happened. Everyone felt free to talk about it. That’s just the way it is.”

  “Even making bets?”

  “Sure,” Tinibu said. “There’s a bet on right now about who Nakamura will get in bed with next. She’s not one to wait around, you know. Beecher wasn’t the first, and she hasn’t even worked here very long.”

  “So who are they betting on?” Prax was curious even while he was appalled at their lack of manners.

  “Chio still thinks it’ll be you.” Tinibu grinned. “I don’t think so. She sounded pretty annoyed with you.”

  “It won’t be me,” Prax said with conviction.

  “I hope not. I put my money on myself.”

  Prax was astonished. “You bet on yourself?”

  “Why not? No rule against it. Besides, she’s been giving me some warm glances lately. Personally, I like a woman who can take care of herself. I’m hoping she’s one of those women who like a man to be big enough to pick them up and carry them to bed. And unlike Beecher, I won’t be dumb enough to think she’s going to devote herself exclusively to me.”

  Prax looked away. He didn’t know if he could ever be comfortable with this set of rules, if they could be called rules.

  There was the sound of a flyter lifting off. Prax saw it rise from behind the house. It looked like Rishi’s private flyter.

  “Looks like she got her night out after all,” Tinibu said.

  “What do you mean?” Prax asked.

  Tinibu kept his eyes on the flyter while he spoke. “Sometimes the chief takes Mistress Trahn out at night so she can blow off a little steam. That must be why she tried to sneak off earlier. Funny, it’s only been a week since the last trip. Usually she goes a month or so between trips.”

  “You mean she goes to the city to meet a man?” Prax said, surprised that it made him so uneasy to know this. More than uneasy. “Who is it?”

  “I doubt if she knows yet.”

  Appalled, Prax reminded himself that it wasn’t that different from what he had done in Pireaus and Agnios. He might not have gone to those cities looking for sex, but he had found it, nonetheless.

  Tinibu clucked his tongue against his teeth disapprovingly. “Don’t look so shocked. Lots of people do it that way.” He turned to watch the flyter as it slipped out of sight. “We thought at first she had a thing going with the chief, but that didn’t seem likely. They could just as soon have had their fun right here for one thing. For another, the chief never looked happy about it. Finally, someone who used to work here saw her in a bar and clued us in on what was going on. The chief goes with her to follow her and make sure she’s safe.”

  Prax watched the place in the sky where the flyter had disappeared. He looked away and sighed. “This is a very strange world.”

  Tinibu laughed heartily. He put one arm around Prax’s neck and tugged him along as they walked, much like Apollo used to do to do him after they had had a fight.

  “Come back inside, Prax,” Tinibu said. “We’re still on call. Besides, you might as well get used to it. When winter comes, it’ll be too cold to hang around out here, and you’ll have to stay inside.”

  Prax allowed himself to be led back to the common room. He sat for a while and listened to their banter. Qualhuan was giving Tinibu a bad time for betting on himself in what he called the Nakamura sweepstakes.

  “Some people think they’re Hrujah’s gift to women,” Qualhuan said. “They think no woman can resist them. It’s kind of sad, in a way.”

  Tinibu just smiled and shuffled the cards.

  The conversation shifted to other things. The poker game resumed. Nothing much happened. Wolly wandered in, saw the poker game going on, and wandered out again.

  No one mentioned the bet until Nakamura came into the room. She walked straight to where Tinibu sat.

  “Tinibu,” she said, giving him an inviting smile, “have you got a minute? I need help with my closet door. It seems to be stuck.”

  Tinibu stood up and threw down his cards. “Sure thing. Might as well take care of it now. I’m out, guys.”

  There was silence until they left, and then the room erupted in a buzz of conversation.

  Chio leaned across the table to twit Qualhuan. “So, Tinibu didn’t have a chance, did he? He’s doing pretty damned well for someone with no chance.”

  “Oh, shut
up, Chio,” the Miloran said. “At least I didn’t bet on Prax.”

  Prax felt his face grow hot again, but no one was paying the slightest attention to him. They were all speculating on whether Tinibu would collect his winnings later that night or wait until the morning.

  Tinibu collected his bet the next morning at breakfast. Nakamura didn’t even look up when Chio handed over the money. Prax was more bemused than ever.

  PRAX made a point to avoid Beecher over the next few weeks. It wasn’t difficult, as Beecher seemed to be sulking. He stayed in his room a lot of the time, and on his days off, he headed straight into town, always by himself.

  Tinibu, Chio, and Qualhuan, on the other hand, seemed to feel that their job included taking Prax under their collective wing. After several weeks, when Prax had saved up some money, Chio and Tinibu took him into town to buy clothes. They explained that Elliniká clothes were different enough to attract attention, and they insisted he go with them to a shop in Shembor. Prax was bewildered by the variety of styles and colors and left his choices up to Tinibu and Chio, who argued over what to buy. They compromised on several pairs of plain trousers and some almost equally plain shirts.

  Several days later, Prax was playing his bouzouki in his room when the door chimed. “Come.”

  Qualhuan and Tinibu stood in the doorway.

  “Come on, Prax,” Qualhuan said. “Let’s go.”

  “Go where?” Prax asked.

  “Into town,” Tinibu said. “We’re stuck here when we have to work. Now that we’re all off, let’s do something instead of sitting around here. Chio’s getting us a flyter and we’re going into Shembor.”

  Prax shook his head. “Thanks, anyway.”

  Tinibu grinned. “Going to sit here and mope and feel sorry for yourself?”

  “Go away and leave me alone,” Prax said crossly.

  “Sorry,” the big Terran said. “Can’t do it. We’re going to wait here until you come with us.”

  “Too bad,” said Prax. “You’ll waste your time off.” He reached over and pressed the button on the room control console that closed and locked the door. A few seconds later, the door chimes sounded. They sounded again and again. After a few minutes of constant chiming, Prax gave up. He put down his bouzouki and opened the door. “All right. I’ll go. I just have to leave a message that I’ll miss dinner.”