ROMULUS (The Innerworld Affairs Series, Book 1) (12 page)

Cherry's apartment was on the ground floor. "I'll come see you when Perd's done showing me around."

Oona led Aster to a waist-high crystal column with vertical silver striations on each of its six sides. "Stand behind the podium and say 'forty-two'. You might want to hold onto it for balance."

Aster did as she was told and was immediately glad for the warning. The second she spoke her apartment number, the entire section of stone beneath them rose straight up in the air, made a smooth left turn and abruptly stopped in front of a balcony on the fourth level. A section of the latticework slid aside and Oona guided Aster through the opening. Instantly, the lift returned to its original location. So, Aster thought with a shake of her head, the place did have a bit of alien world to it after all.

"This button on your gate will call it back up when you need it," Oona advised.

"I think I'd better go back down and get my stomach." Seeing Oona's blank expression, Aster waved her comment away. "Never mind. It was supposed to be a joke."

"I am programmed with an understanding of humor but not the ability to interpret it. Please place your right palm over this sensor then state your name and the words bumblebee, fascinating, house, nowhere, permanent, quick and zoology."

Aster did so and felt a tiny shock.

"Your handprint, voice sample and DNA have now been registered as belonging to the resident of this apartment. From now on, yours is the only hand or voice to which this unit and its facilities manager will respond."

Like the courtyard of the complex, the efficiency-style apartment felt familiar to Aster. The one room was furnished with a dark green sofa and chair, a light wood coffee table and a small dinette set. A Murphy-style bed was concealed in one wall with closet space on each side. A cream-colored carpet covered the floor and soft light emanated from the walls.

Opposite the bed wall were the reflective chrome panels of the supply station and a small desk and chair with a monitor in the wall behind it.

It took Oona very little time to fill Aster in on the capabilities of the facilities manager, as she had received a fair introduction the previous night. The residence came equipped with a full set of manuals anyway, in case she preferred a hard copy.

A soft bell chimed from the desk. "Your vidcom," Oona said, pointing to the monitor. "Touch the screen to accept the call."

Aster smiled when she saw the name
Cherry Cochran
on the monitor and actually chuckled when the instant she touched the screen she saw Cherry's face. "Hey, you. Miss me already?"

"Wait. I hear you but I can't see you. You need to allow the video transmission. Slide your hand down the right side of the monitor to get a menu. Once you do that it's pretty much like the computers we're used to. I think it's just a matter of learning the terminology. Then we can just talk to it instead of choosing from menus."

Aster thought she had no problem figuring it out until Cherry shrieked.

"Whoa! This is definitely too cool! Tell me what you did so I can do it too."

"I chose the full image option. But I don't know what you're so excited about. We've Skyped before."

"Step back a couple feet and you'll see."

Aster did as requested then let out a startled gasp when a three-dimensional image of her friend popped in front of her.

Cherry laughed out loud. "You should see your face. It's a hologram, like we saw in the meeting yesterday. I'm on my way up. Bye!"

A few minutes later Aster opened her door and Cherry burst into the apartment. "Wow! Don't you love that crazy excuse for an elevator! My apartment looks like yours, except it's done in burgundy and grays. I'm hungry. How do you turn on your magic maker?"

"Hello, Josephine," Aster prompted.

"Hello, Aster," the lifelike computer voice replied.

Cherry frowned. "You are so disgustingly predictable. You named your facilities manager after your housekeeper? Oh, well, order me something with a lot of calories and some of that fake wine. Even if they don't allow alcohol, I can pretend."

Before Aster could reply, Oona interrupted. "Excuse me, Miss Mackenzie, now that you have company, I will return to my post in the lobby. But I have one more thing to show you." Oona picked up a box next to the vidcom and handed it to her.

Inside, Aster found what looked like a cross between a watch and an ID bracelet.

"It is your portable vidcom. You can wear it on your wrist or simply attach the bar without the band to your clothing. It is automatically synchronized with your primary vidcom and your facilities manager. I can demonstrate it after your company departs."

Cherry waved a hand at her. "It's okay, Oona. I got this."

"Very well. Miss Mackenzie, just call if you require something." She bowed her head and left them alone.

"Did I hear her say she has a
post
in the lobby?" Aster repeated.

"Yeah. Rom may have said they don't believe anyone means us any harm but they also aren't leaving us unguarded."

"I can't help but wonder if they're protecting us or protecting others from us."

"Ooh, what a spooky thought. Let's talk about Rom instead."

Aster made a face and ordered lasagna and salad for lunch. Throughout their meal, Aster flitted from one topic to another without Cherry interrupting. By the time they were cleaning up, Cherry had had enough.

"C'mon, kid. Lower the shields and talk to me."

Aster sighed. "I left so much undone. I keep thinking about the Greener Oceans research project. We were finally starting to get some sizable donations. These people could probably save us years of research just by advising us of how to do what needs to be done. We have a golden opportunity to make some real progress out there.

"But that's not the worst of it. If I'm declared dead, the whole Foundation is in jeopardy. I need to get back. I've decided that Romulus seems very rational. I'm going to have to convince him how important my work is. I've faced tough audiences before."

"And had them eating out of your hand in an hour. So what's the problem?"

"I'm confused. He makes me so damned nervous. He touched my hand and I practically fell apart."

"Well, hell. Your hormones finally woke up, that's all. And what a man it took! You want him to help you. From what I saw today, you've got something he wants too. Why not just go with it? Don't tell me you're still being loyal to a dead man."

Aster sat in silence, hugging her knees close to her body. "It's not because of Dennis. Well, not exactly. I just don't have what it takes to seduce a man into giving me something I want."

Cherry stared pointedly at Aster's full breasts. "
Au contraire
from where I'm sitting, sweetie."

Aster sighed and shook her head. "There's something I've never told you, but now, well, maybe it'll help you understand. There's something very wrong with me. As a woman. It's the reason I never wanted you fixing me up with men." She took a slow, ragged breath. "I'm frigid."

Cherry burst out laughing.

"It's not funny." Aster's eyes teared up and Cherry quieted. "I'm a pitiful lover. Dennis always said it didn't matter. He was gentle and didn't force me to do it every time we were together, but I still felt nothing but revulsion when he touched me. I tried to fake a response to please him, but I couldn't even do that right."

"Why would you get engaged to someone so repulsive?" Nothing Aster said about Dennis would alter Cherry's opinion of him. She had always thought he was a phony and he had known it.

"You don't understand. He made me feel more loved than anyone ever had. As far as sex goes, I felt the same way about every man who came near me since I was fourteen."

"You never told me that whole story."

Aster now saw no reason to continue keeping it a secret. "My next-door neighbor was nineteen and had just come home from college. I always had a little crush on him. One afternoon, we were alone in my grandmother's house. When he teased me into a kiss, I liked it. I was more than willing to kiss some more.

"Then he started groping at me. I tried to push him away but he slapped me and told me to lay still or he'd hit me again." Her voice remained flat, unfeeling. "He called me a tease. Said I'd been begging for it. He raped me. Twice. It hurt so much afterward I could hardly walk."

"Did you tell your grandmother?"

Aster grimaced. "She would only have said what she did every time I behaved improperly—'like mother, like daughter'. She would have thrown me out and I had nowhere to go. Anyway, for a long time after that I would get physically ill if anyone touched me at all. To this day, I still have a problem if someone comes too close to me without warning or happens to be wearing the cologne he wore that day. I dated after that but I never let anyone get beyond a good-night kiss, so they didn't stick around long."

"So now you feel it was your fault Dennis couldn't turn you on. I'm sorry about what happened to you, kid, but you're wrong. Your reaction to Romulus proves it."

"It doesn't prove anything except that he's outrageously attractive. I don't want to lead another man on only to have him find out I'm ice cold inside. This time there's more at stake than my shame."

Cherry realized what Aster needed was to be shown, not told, she was wrong. "Listen to me, kid,
doing it
is not the same as making love. There've even been a few men who couldn't get my fire started!" She wiggled her eyebrows. "Will you make me a promise?"

Aster gave a noncommittal shrug.

"The next time you're with Romulus and your body starts acting weird, I mean weird for you, stop thinking and let your gut take over instead. Then tell me all about it!" With that, she gave Aster a playful punch on the arm.

"I wish I could be more like you. Doesn't any of what's happened to us upset you? You have family out there."

"I haven't seen any of them since I left Georgia. You know that. It's too late to think about it now." She had hitchhiked to California the day after graduation and never looked back. Home had been a dirt farm where she slept in the same room with nine sisters and brothers, a place where nobody ever laughed or played or listened to music for fear the devil would possess them. She abruptly changed the subject. "Hey, Josephine, what's the Indulgence Center?"

When there was no response, Aster instructed the manager to respond to Cherry whenever she was in the apartment.

"It is a private enterprise catering to human pleasures."

"Like what?" Cherry prompted.

"I will run the directory of services for your perusal."

The beginning of the list consisted of items any full-service beauty salon and spa would offer, plus cosmetic facial and body alterations. The next section listed restaurants, shops, a variety of entertainments including some they had never heard of and theaters.

The third area, called Fantasy World, had a slogan—
If it's allowed by law and the price is right, any wish can be granted for a day or a night.
Both women groaned at the awful rhyme. Any wish, indeed! That was unbelievable but not as incredible as the services offered in Fantasy World.

"Oh my," Aster whispered.

"No kidding. Coupling, human or android, one-to-one or group. Look at that crazy list of
standard
fantasy enactments. Romulus was right. I'm going to have to check that place out!"

"Cherry!"

"You're such a prude. I didn't mean
everything
. Although it would be different."

"Different? Obviously their morals are a lot different than ours. I could never adjust that much."

"But just imagine pretending to be anybody or anything you ever dreamed of. Wow. Hmmm, I wonder. Josephine, is there any way we could find out if Chief Romulus visits the Indulgence Center?"

"Cherry!" Aster shook her arm.

"Scanning. Chief Romulus has a regular appointment on the first Thursday of each month for hair-trimming and one half-hour coupling with a single female."

Cherry ignored Aster's gasp. "Well, there you go, kid, a real sex fiend. You better watch out for him. He's due to have his clock cleaned in another week."

"I cannot believe you did that. Anyway he's probably married or keeps company with a nonprofessional."

"Okay, Josephine, is Chief Romulus married?"

"That is an Outerworld term. The closest Noronian term would be joining. It is not equivalent."

"All right, then is the chief joined with anyone."

"No."

Aster tried to stop Cherry. "That's enough."

"Look, he's the one who said they have nothing to hide. I'm only reviewing public information."

"It seems pretty private to me."

"Oh, be quiet. I've only got one more question and then I'll stop. Josephine, would you have any way of knowing if Chief Romulus visits the home of any female or vice-versa?"

"I am able to scan the log of his message center and cross-check with addresses of females. Please define area and time frame."

Aster tried to cover Cherry's mouth but failed. "How about the city of Car-Tem One in the last two months?"