Juxtaposition Part 23

Stile decided. "Have your friends look into the matter. It's a far shot, but if there were any way to restore my other self to some semblance of life, I owe him that. If he died to save Phaze, it is right that he be restored to it."

"If you have any female souls floating around looking for a host, send one to me."

Stile took her hand. Her fingers were as soft and warm as those of any living person. "I regard the soul as the essence of self. If you hosted someone else's soul, you would become that person. I prefer you as you are."

"But you can't love me as I am."

"I can't love anyone other than the Lady Blue. When this business is done, I will accord to you whatever emotion I am capable of feeling for any woman, flesh or metal. You deserve better than this, I know."

"Half love is better than none," she said. "And if you restore your other self in Phaze, will he love the Lady Blue?"

"He's her husband!" Stile exclaimed. "Of course he loves her!"

"Then why did he give her up to you?"

"To save Phaze. It was an act of supreme sacrifice."

"I am a machine. I don't appreciate the delicate nuances of human conscience and pa.s.sion as a human being can. To me it seems more likely that he found himself in an untenable situation, as do you with me, and simply opted out."

"That's an appalling notion!" But it also carried an insidious conviction. Suppose the Blue Adept, aware of the approaching crisis, knowing he had to make way for an other, and perhaps no longer in love with his wife- "I wish I could meet your other self," Sheen said.

"You are a creature of science, he of magic," Stile said. "Such meetings are difficult, even when both parties are alive. You are stuck with me."

She smiled, letting it go. "And we do have more serious business than such idle conjecturing." She put the holo on receive, and a call was waiting.

It was from Citizen Merle. "Ah, so you're back, Stile! Let me show you me in serf-guise. Private line, please."

"Merle, I'm with Sheen-"

"She knows that," Sheen said, setting up the nonintercept coding.

Merle stripped away her clothing with elegant motions.

She had an excellent body. "Stile, beware," she murmured. "There are plots afoot to slay you."

Stile was startled by the contrast between her actions and her words. "I thought you had seduction in mind, Merle."

"I do, I do! I can't seduce you if you're dead, however."

There was that. "Merle, I don't want to deceive you. I'm not interested in-"

"I understand you have business with the Game Computer."

How much did she know? "Do you intend to blackmail me?"

"By no means. You happen to be unblackmailable. But I might help you, if you caused me to be amenable."

"If I were amenable to your design. Merle, my fiancee here might get difficult."

"I suspect she would rather have you alive, well, and victorious. You see, some Citizens have the notion that you represent a threat to their welfare, so they have inst.i.tuted a push to have your Citizenship revoked."

"Revoked! Is that possible?" Stile felt his underpinnings loosening. He had a.s.sumed his Citizenship was irrevocable.

"Anything is possible, by a majority vote of the kilos attending the evening business meeting. You will be on tonight's agenda. You will need whatever help you can get."

Stile glanced at Sheen. "This is news to you?"

"I knew something was developing, sir, but not that it had progressed to this extent."

"Citizens have avenues of communication not available to machines," Merle said. "I a.s.sure you the threat is genuine, and the vote may well go against you. Citizens, unfortunately, have very narrow definitions of self-interest." She smiled, turning her now-naked body suggestively. She had an excellent talent for display. "I will encourage my a.s.sociates to support you, if you come to me. This could shift the balance. It is little enough I ask. Are you quite sure you can't be tempted?"

Sheen, meanwhile, had been busy on another private line. Now she glanced up. "It is true, sir," she said. "My friends verify that in the past hour a general disquiet has formed into a pattern of opposition. The moment news flashed that you had reappeared in Proton, momentum gathered. The projected vote is marginally against you. Merle's support could save you."

"Listen to her. Stile," Merle said. "The scales are finely balanced at the moment, but the full thrust of your opposition has not yet manifested. Sheen has more riding on this than her own possible Citizenship. If your Citizenship is revoked, your tenure will end and you will have to leave Proton. The prospect for her friends would decline drastically, perhaps fatally, incongruous as the term may be in that application."

"How much do you know. Merle?" Stile asked tightly.

"Stile, I research what intrigues me. I have learned much about you in the past few hours. This enhances my respect for you. It is a thing of mine to take a piece of those I respect. This is a harmless foible, and I always give fair return. Come to me and I will help you." She had him in a difficult spot. If she knew about the self-willed machines and possibly about Stile's mission to restore parallelism in the separating frames, she could certainly cause him much mischief.

"Sir, I think you should go to her," Sheen said. Stile found himself athwart a dilemma. He had told Mellon to arrange a private bet, to the limit of his available finances, that he would not be seduced by Merle. He did not care to lose that bet, for such a loss would wipe him out. But if her support was all that guaranteed his continuing Citizenship, he could lose everything despite winning the bet. He was between Scylla and Charybdis, the devil and the deep sea, the rock and the hard place. "I am frankly surprised you do not heed your metal fiancee," Merle said. "She does seem to know what's best for you."

Stile's flash of rage was stifled by Sheen's imploring look. He decided to meet with Merle and try to explain. Maybe he could win through. "Give me your address." She gave the code, and Sheen changed course. The book of magic would have to wait a little.

There was another call. This one was for Sheen, from Mellon. "We have a delivery for you," he said. "Cosmetics for our employer."

"I don't need-" Stile started to protest. But he was cut off by a glance from the serf.

"Thank you," Sheen said. "I'll pick them up at the nearest delivery tube when we leave the capsule." She gave him Merle's code, and the connection broke. "Do I look that haggard?" Stile asked plaintively. "I had a good night's rest."

"Mellon is not concerned about your appearance. Obviously something is afoot. Maybe the Lady Citizen has placed an order for an intoxicating or s.e.xually compelling drug, and this is the counteragent."

"Maybe," Stile agreed morosely. "Sheen, Merle is pretty enough in her rejuvenated state, and I'm sure she has a good mind and lots of experience. But I'm simply not interested in the sort of liaison she desires. How do I get out of this one without imperiling my Citizenship?"

"What you are interested in is not very important," she said. "Merle does not want any romance; she merely wants an act of s.e.x to add to her collection. The practical thing is for you to give it to her."

"And lose my bet," Stile said.

Sheen looked startled. "Oh, my-I'm starting to think like a person! I forgot all about that! Of course you can't oblige her." She seemed relieved.

"If I oblige anyone in that way, it will be you."

"Anytime."

"After we're decently married."

"It's not a decent marriage."

The capsule arrived, sparing him further comment. They got out at a small private terminal. From here there was access to three small domes, one of which was Merle's. Sheen went to the delivery chute and punched the coding for Mellon's package. A small vial fell into her hand. Her brow furrowed as she brought the item back. "This is no cosmetic, sir. It's-" She broke off. "Let's move quickly, sir."

Suddenly gas hissed into the room from barred vents.

Sheen launched herself at the entrance to Merle's dome.

It was locked closed.

"I don't have the facility to a.n.a.lyze this gas," she cried. "But I'll bet it's not cleaning fog. Breathe this, sir." She opened the vial, holding it under his nose. Vapor puffed out. Stile took the vial, sniffing it as the first waft of the other gas reached him. The vial's vapor was sweet and pleasant; the other gas was sour and stinging.

Sheen returned to the locked door. She opened her front cabinet, the left breast swinging out on hinges to reveal an array of small tools. Even in this crisis. Stile marveled at the completely womanish texture of that breast, when in fact it was a mere facade. Robotry was quite sophisticated. In a moment Sheen had burned through the lock with a tiny laser unit and had the pa.s.sage open. Stile hurried through. Sheen shut the door behind them, blocking off the gas, and closed up her breast cabinet. She was whole and normal and soft again.

Stile felt woozy and sick. The antidote in the vial had helped, but that poison gas was nasty stuff. Someone had tried to exterminate him! Merle appeared. She was wearing a translucent negligee that did wonders for a body that hardly needed them. Stile noticed but hardly cared. He suffered himself to be led inside the Citizen's dome.

"I knew they were going to try something," Merle said. "I thought it would be at the Game Annex. I tried to get you here to safety, but they were too quick. I couldn't say anything on the holo; even a private line is only as private as the technology behind it."

"Our staff forwarded the antidote, sir," Sheen told her. Stile sat in the comfortable chair where they had placed him, lacking initiative to do more than listen. "My staff has found a better neutralizer," Merle said. She brought a breathing mask. "Use this. Stile." She fitted it over his face.

Immediately his head began to clear and his stricken body recovered.

"The official indication is a malfunction in the cleaning apparatus," Merle continued. "It's not supposed to fog when anyone is there, and this time the wrong chemicals were used. We won't be able to trace it, but I know the cause. There are activist Citizens who want you out of the way. Stile; I fear this is but the first attempt. You should be safe here, however."

Stile removed the breathing mask and smiled weakly. "I thought you had another notion. Merle."

"Oh, I do, I do. We have been through this before. But I do like you personally. Stile, and wish you well. You're the most refreshing thing to appear on the scene in some time. Fortunately the two notions are not incompatible."

"I fear they are. Merle. You have helped me get into a difficult situation." Stile's head had cleared, but his body remained weak; it was easier to talk than to act. He believed he could trust this woman.

"Do tell me!" she urged. "I love challenges."

"Are we private here?"

"Of course. I am neither as young nor as naive as I try to appear."

"Will you keep my confidence?"

"About the liaison? Of course not! That must be known, or it doesn't count."

"About whatever I may tell you of my situation."

"I can't guarantee that. Stile. I know something about your situation already."

"Maybe you should tell me what you know, then."

"You are known as the Blue Adept in the other frame. Oh, yes, I have been to Phaze; my other self lacked rejuvenation and modem medicine and died a few years back of natural complications, freeing me. But magic is not for me; I remained there only a few hours and retreated to the safety of my dome here. The germs there are something fierce! I do, however, have a fold of the curtain pa.s.sing through my property. I pay a harpy well to update me periodically on Phaze developments. This is how I learned more of you, once my interest in you was roused. You have been honeymooning with your lovely Phaze wife, but Adepts have been laying snares for you, until recently you disappeared into the demesnes of the goblins. My informant thought you dead, though she reports a dragon and a hawk emerged safely and flew rapidly south east, eluding pursuit by Adept sendings. Evidently you survived by crossing the curtain. You seem to be a figure of some importance in Phaze-and perhaps in Proton too, judging by this a.s.sa.s.sination attempt."

"What could you pay a harpy to serve you?" Stile asked, intrigued by this detail.

"She loves blood-soaked raw meat, but is too old and frail to catch it herself."

"The others of her flock would provide," Stile said, thinking of the harpy attack Clef had weathered upon his entry into Phaze. How important that entry had turned out to be!

"This one is a loner. No flock helps her."

"Is she by chance your other self?"

Merle stiffened, then relaxed. "Oh, you have a sharp tongue. Stile! No, it doesn't work that way, or I couldn't cross. My other self was exactly like me, only she seemed older. She did befriend the harpy, and when she died I a.s.sumed the burden of that friendship. It is not easy to get along with a harpy! Now will you tell me what I do not know about yourself?"

"Will you accept that information in lieu of the s.e.xual liaison?"

"Na, of course not. Stile. I accept it in exchange for the protection I am offering you here, and for the information I am giving you about the Citizen plot against you." She would not be swayed from her objective! She wanted another notch for her garter. He would have to give her the full story and hope it would persuade her to help him without insisting on the liaison. She might be displeased to learn about his bet in that connection, but at least it was no affront to her pride.

There was a chime and glimmer of light in the air. "That's my holo," Merle said. "Call for you. Stile, blocked by my privacy intercept."

"Better let it through," he said. "The enemy Citizens know I'm here anyway."

The picture formed. It was the Brown Adept. "The creatures don't believe me. Blue," she said tearfully. "They think I'm with the bad Adepts, trying to fool them. They are attacking my golems."

Stile sighed. He should have known. "What would it take to convince them?"

"Only thee thyself. Blue. Or maybe one of thy close friends, or the Lady Blue-"

"No! The Lady Blue must remain guarded by the unicorns. The Adepts will be watching her."

"Maybe Neysa. She's friends with everybody."

"The Herd Stallion won't let her go." Stile hardly objected to the care provided for Neysa in her gravid state. Then he had an idea. "Thy demesnes are near to the range of the werewolves, are they not? Kurrelgyre's Pack?"

She brightened. "Sure, Blue. They come here all the time, hunting. But they don't believe me either."

"But if Kurrelgyre believed, his Pack would help. The other animals would believe him."

"I guess so," she agreed dubiously. "But thou wouldst have to tell him thyself."

"I will," Stile said. "Give me half an hour."

Brown's smile was like moonlight. "Oh, thank thee, Blue!"

"Nay, thank thee. Brown. It is an important service thou dost here."

"Gee." The happy image faded.

"So that's the Brown Adept," Sheen said. "A child. A cute child."

"She's a full sorceress, though," Stile said. "Her golems are tough creatures." He remembered his encounter with the golem shaped in his own image. He was glad to have those wooden men on his side, this time! He turned to Merle. "Now I have to explain to you my reason for not wishing to have this liaison, then hurry across your section of the curtain to straighten things out in Phaze."

"No need to explain," Merle said. "I can see you are busy, with people depending on you. I'll chalk this one up to experience."

"I do need your help," Stile said. "So I want you to understand-"

"You shall have my help. Stile. If that sweet child believes in you, so must I. I'm sure she is not asking any quid pro quo."