The Swords of Zinjaban
- Автор: Де Камп Лайон Спрэг
- Серия: Viagens Interplanetarias #8
- Год: 1991
- Язык: английский
- Год: Baen
- ISBN: 0-671-72039-2
- Жанр: Научная фантастика
Электронная книга - «The Swords of Zinjaban». Краткое содержание книги:
"You just—but wait a minute. What would Alister say? Minyev said the boy is absolutely opposed."
"Minyev was lying." Reith pulled out the folded note from his son. "As you can see for yourself, he's a hundred percent for it."
Alicia glanced at the note and smiled. "Well, that's a relief! I didn't want to take on the role of a wicked stepmother."
"What made you believe Minyev, without asking me?"
"I—I thought you were just being polite to me, and I'd better end the whole thing."
"Whatever gave you that idea?"
"Oh, various things, like seeing how Sári adores you."
Reith grinned. "And I thought you weren't serious about me because you seemed so indifferent to my affair with Sari."
"I was jealous as all Hishkak," said Alicia with a spark of her old fire, "but I wasn't going to let you know."
"Good; so let's get back to basics. Will you marry me?"
"You just bet! The sooner the better; I don't want you wriggling off the hook. On the trip back to Krishna, I kept telling myself: When you see Fergus, be friendly but businesslike. Don't daydream of a romantic reconciliation, because he probably won't be available. When I found that you were free and still seemed to like me, it was hard to remember my good resolutions."
"Just as well I didn't know," said Reith. "By the time we reached Zinjaban, I was in love again—or still, after all those years."
"I never stopped loving you," murmured Alicia. "When I got that final decree from a messenger in Katai-Jhogorai, I knew I'd made the ghastliest mistake of my life. But I never could figure how to unmake it. I have been dropping hints; but you were never very sharp about picking them up."
"Oh, I got the message all right! I just wanted to make sure there was water in the pool before I dove in." He gave her a squeeze. "Let's forget all that. At Zinjaban, I was prepared to go to the mat with you—"
"Don't you mean the mattress?"
"Of course, I—" Both burst into laughter, hugging each other until the merriment subsided. Reith continued. "It would have been the mattress, if Cyril hadn't stuck his fat face out and given me a nasty, knowing grin."
As Alicia laid her golden head on his shoulder, Reith asked himself: Would her new gentleness prove lasting? Or might her violent temper surface again? Well, the die was cast; he would have to take his chances, as lovers have done for ages.
Reith smothered a yawn. He did not ask to spend the night with her, nor did she invite him. They simply began casually, like an old married couple, to undress. She took off her shirt and turned her back, saying, "Fergus, will you unhook my bra? This one always gives me trouble."
Reith complied. "Lish, have you a spare toothbrush, to save me from a trip down the hall?"
Later, passion spent, they lay close and relaxed. Reaching out to turn down the bedside lamp, Alicia gave a long sigh. "I don't mean to give you a swelled head, darling; but I've been dreaming of a night like this ever since you saw me off on the Juruá."
"I've thought a lot about it, too," he said sleepily. "We should have started that first night at the ranch. Everybody thinks we've been at it all along."
To Reith's surprise, Alicia sat up. "Oh! I almost forgot." She slipped out of bed, dug into her baggage, and extracted her notebook. Among the pages she found a loose sheet of paper, which she handed over with a cryptic smile. Reith looked at it, puzzled, then realized that it was the missing dedication page from Pirates, Priests, and Potentates. He read: "To my one true love, Fergus MacDonald Reith."
Alicia said: "I almost dedicated the book to 'My Once and Future Husband.' "
"Why didn't you? Then I'd have had to make an honest woman of you."
"What if I'd arrived to find you dead, or happily married? Then wouldn't I have looked silly!"
"I don't know. If I'd been dead, you could say we planned to meet in Heaven."
"And suppose Elizabeth had been smart enough to hang on to you? I wouldn't steal another woman's husband, even if you were stealable—and you're too conscientious for such monkeyshines."
"Darling, forget Elizabeth. You've won fair and square. Come back to bed and I'll prove it!" Laughing, he pulled her down beside him.
"You mean—again, after all you've been through?"
"Absolutely. My strength is as the strength of ten, if not for Sir Galahad's reason."
"Good heavens, that's one part of you that hasn't aged a bit!"
At dawn, an unshaven Reith opened the door of Alicia's room a crack, then strode out in his riding clothes. As he did so, Jacob White emerged from another doorway, halted at the sight of Reith, and said: "Oh, hell! I lost it again!"
Reith turned on him. "You lost what, Jack?"
After an uncomfortable pause, White replied. "Fallon organized a pool, betting how long it would take the pair of you—" (he glanced at Alicia's door)"—to—uh—get together. We've been watching, and I guess Cyril wins. Say, Kostis wants to see you at breakfast!"
"What about?"
"About Attila. It's urgent."
"How is he?" asked Reith.
"In bed with a severe concussion and a broken finger. Doc Hamid says he'll keep him there for at least a few days. They had to hide his clothes to prevent him from going hunting for you, Fergus."
As they walked down the hall towards the mess, Reith asked: "What happened last night after Alicia and I left?"
"We pulled Attila up on a chair, and Fallon tried to get the game going again. I suppose he figured that, being sober, he'd clean up; but nobody had the heart for cards. We had another round of drinks, and then Gashigi asked to speak to me privately in one of the bedrooms.
"When we were alone, she explained that I was to service her in Cyril's place. Good God!"
"Well, how did you make out?"
"I just couldn't. Boy, was she disappointed!"
"Hm," said Reith. "What was your trouble?"
White paused to think. "I guess you'd call it mental—or maybe I should say, moral. You see, I've never had intercourse with anyone except my wife—my former wife, that is."
"How come, 'former'?"
"Because of the gambling."
"They can cure that nowadays," said Reith. "My Alicia had one of those personality lifts back on Terra. It seems to work."
"I know," said White. "She told me about it. But I don't want to be cured! Gambling's my one great pleasure in life."
"I find shepherding Terran tourists through half-civilized countries quite enough of a gamble," mused Reith.
White ignored the comment. "Alicia would have argued some more, but when I said: 'Doctor Dyckman, don't be a yenta!' she shut up."
Thoughtfully, Reith said, "The Moritzian treatment must have worked wonders on Alicia. In the old days, she'd have gone after you hammer and tongs, until you either reformed or fled the country."
"I'm just not cut out for screwing around," said White with a touch of pathos. "My father's a Conservative rabbi, and I was brought up strict. Whether Gashigi's human or not, it's a sin either way. If she's human—a land of super-shiksa—it's fornication. Jf not, it says in Exodus that, 'Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death.' I guess I'm not sorry I foiled, though it's hard on the ego."
"What else went on—I mean, in the living room?"
"I don't know; by the time I gave up with Gashigi, the others were gone. I suppose that when Attila came to, he borrowed the general's spare sword and went looking for you. What are you and Alicia going to do, Fergus?"
Reith smiled. "Lish and I mean to make it official, that's all."
"You mean ..."
"Yep, we're engaged, betrothed, plighted, and affianced."
"Congratulations! When two forceful people like you team up, nothing short of murder can stop you!"