Antagonist - Childe Cycle 11 (96 page)

"You
know
I
do,
brother."

CHAPTER
31

There
was
silence
in
the
car
for
several
minutes,
until
finally
Dahno indicated
a
modern
office
building
that
fronted
on
a
tree-lined
mall; and,
three
minutes
later,
another,
similar
building
whose
ground floor
held
the
offices
of
a
broadcast
media
organization.
Then
he took
them
to
a
restaurant,
leaving
the
vehicle
running
where
he
had stopped
it
in
the
street
and
leading
Bleys
inside
without
looking back.

Bleys,
thinking
he
knew
his
brother's
tastes,
expected
to
be taken
to
an
private
upstairs
dining
room;
instead
Dahno
led
him straight
through
the
restaurant
and
out
a
narrow,
too-low
back
door that
opened
on
an
interior
courtyard.
Eight
metal-wire
tables
were widely
spaced
about
the
courtyard,
standing
on
pebble-surfaced concrete
islands
in
a
sea
of
vegetation.
The
season
was
early
enough that
the
grass
was
dried
and
pale;
the
tiny,
pale
green
leaves
on
the branches
of
the
bushes
and
trees
seemed
inadequate
to
their
future task
of
growth
and
display.

Unthinkingly,
Bleys
had
expected
Old
Earth
to
be
in
a
perpetual
summer,
but
the
earliness
of
the
season
was
clear
here
in
this courtyard.
He
regretted
it;
Europe's
colorful
gardens
were
known throughout
all
the
Younger
Worlds,
and
he
would
have
liked
to
enjoy
them.
There
was
a
single
variety
of
flower
here,
that
he
could
see, blooming
in
tidy
rows
against
the
wall
of
the
building,
where
they got
the
sunlight.
They
had
produced
large,
cup-shaped
blossoms
in a
variety
of
colors,
that
opened
to
the
sky
from
the
tops
of
thin
tubular
stems.

Now
that
they
were
out
of
the
vehicle,
Bleys
observed
that
his brother
seemed
to
have
gained
some
weight.

Dahno
led
Bleys
to
a
table
in
the
far
corner
of
the
courtyard,
that

was
tucked
behind
trees
and
bushes,
bare
though
they
were.
Two very
large
chairs
awaited
them
there,
the
harshness
of
the
metal-wire
shapes
softened
by
wine-red
cushioning.

A
black-haired
woman
in
a
patterned
green-and-gold
dress,
which Bleys
believed
to
be
a
modern
version
of
an
ancient
oriental
style, was
already
there,
seated
in
one
of
the
chairs.
She
stood
up
as
they neared
and
took
off
her
sunglasses.
Her
eyes
were
violet
in
color, he
noted,
and
they
had
an
epicanthic
fold
although
her
skin
was pale.

Dahno
did
not
introduce
them.

"It's
safe,"
she
said
to
Dahno;
as
she
continued
speaking
to
him, her
eyes
turned
to
Bleys.

"All
the
anti-surveillance
gear
is
working,
there's
a
vapor
barrier over
the
top
of
the
wall
to
inhibit
pressure-sensing
devices
and
blur out
optical
systems—and
all
the
people
at
these
tables
are
ours."

"And
the
staff?"
Dahno
said.
She
turned
her
attention
back
to him.

"They
won't
get
close
to
you,"
she
said.

At
Dahno's
nod,
she
turned
and
walked
away,
gathering
up
the occupants
of
the
other
tables
as
she
went. "And
is
^//Bleys
said
softly.

"Yes,"
said
Dahno.
"She's
one
of
the
Others
I
brought
with
me. You
don't
know
her
because
she
went
through
training
before
you did."

"Then
why
don't
I
recognize
her
from
our
files?"
Bleys
asked. Dahno
grinned.

"She's
had
her
appearance
edited,"
he
said.

"All
right,"
Bleys
said;
and
before
his
brother
could
act,
he
took the
chair
that
allowed
him
to
sit
with
his
back
to
the
courtyard
wall, allowing
him
to
peer
through
the
branches
at
the
door
to
the
restaurant.

Dahno
grinned
again,
and
reached
for
the
second
chair,
pulling
it around
the
table
so
that
he,
too,
could
sit
with
his
back
to
the
wall.

Are
we
just
squabbling
over
seats?
Bleys
wondered.
Or
is
it
more
than that?

It
did
not
escape
his
notice
that
by
making
them
sit
side
by
side,
his
brother
had
made
it
harder
for
either
of
them
to
look,
into
the other's
face.

"I've
already
ordered
for
both
of
us,"
Dahno
said.
"I
didn't
think you'd
mind,
since
this
is
work,
after
all,
rather
than
a
dining
experience."

"Knowing
you,
it'll
be
a
fine
meal
in
any
case,"
Bleys
said.
"Did you
order
juice
for
me?"

"Several
varieties,"
Dahno
said.
"You
know
it
won't
taste
the same,
here
on
Earth.
I'd
have
gotten
you
Association
orange
juice, but
I
don't
think
anyone
here
imports
it."
He
laughed.

"I
also
ordered
several
wines,"
he
went
on.
"You
can
try
them
or not,
as
you
choose.
I
know
you
don't
care
for
alcoholic
beverages much,
but
you
might
want
to
taste
some
of
these—this
is
Earth,
after
all,
where
wine
was
born."

"I've
tasted
Old
Earth
wines,"
Bleys
reminded
his
brother.
"I've been
on
this
planet
before,
remember."

"Right,"
Dahno
said.
"That
was
our
meeting
in—"
He
paused. "—you
remember.
But
that
was
half
the
world
away
and
years
ago."

"Oh,
I'll
try
some,"
Bleys
said,
relenting.
"In
fact,
I
look
for
you to
give
me
a
recommendation
or
two."

"Count
on
it,"
Dahno
said.
"I've
learned
a
lot
in
my
year
here."

As
he
spoke
a
serving
cart
holding
a
series
of
shiny
metal
coverings
was
pushed
through
the
restaurant
door,
to
be
immediately
intercepted
by
the
woman
who
had
just
left
them.
She
took
its
control from
the
server
who
had
brought
it
out
and
began
to
push
it,
floating
above
the
grass,
toward
Bleys
and
Dahno.
She
was
now
wearing a
costume
nearly
identical
to
that
worn
by
the
server
she
had replaced—black
trousers
and
a
frilly
white
shirt
set
off
by
a
small black
cravat
held
in
place
by
a
pearl
stickpin.

By
unspoken
agreement,
Bleys
and
Dahno
suspended
meaningful
conversation
as
the
woman
approached
and
began
serving
them, elegantly
lifting
the
shiny
covers
to
reveal
two
large
china
plates filled
with
a
breaded
meat
that
had
been
topped
with
a
brown sauce,
along
with
carrots,
broccoli
and
a
white
substance
that
looked almost,
but
not
quite,
like
mashed
potatoes.