The Iron Maiden (36 page)

Their party went on to Planet Earth, which was now the Nation of India. Forta became Dorian Gray, Hope's mistress during his captivity aboard the submarine. She was dead, but lived again in this fashion, and Hope was evidently satisfied. Spirit marveled anew at Forta's versatility. She was enabling Hope to relive much of his life. Spirit was also intrigued to see what Dorian Gray had been like, get to know her, as it were. She discovered that she rather liked her, though it might simply have been Forta's rendition that made Dorian Gray palatable. Still, it seemed that she had been a lovely young woman caught in a situation, who had done what she had to do. Spirit understood that sort of thing all too well.

They met with the Prime Minister of Earth, who was a woman as tough and politically realistic as the one they had encountered on Phobos. There are not many women in power in the System, but those few were as competent as any man. She wore a colorful toga, looking native, but she addressed them in English, so that Forta did not have to translate. The formal meeting was physical--without holo--and private, with only the two of them. But Hope relayed the essence as soon as he was alone with Spirit and Forta.

“She says Jupiter has not been the same since we departed. She advised me that, though Jupiter's government remains nominally democratic, the predators have moved in. Bad things are happening there.”

“Who is really in charge now?” Spirit asked.

“Tocsin.”

Spirit shook her head. “So the poison weed grows back.”

“She gave me to understand that Earth would not find it amiss if the Tyrancy were to be returned to Jupiter. When Jupiter sneezes, the entire System shudders. She says I was always practical and fair.”

“That was the effort,” Spirit agreed.

“I reminded her that I represent Saturn now. She firmly reminded me that I represent humanity now, and that the project cannot succeed without the participation of Jupiter, and the present powers there will never accede to it. She urged me to reconsider my position.”

“Perhaps we were naive to turn our backs on our planet,” Spirit said. “We had not reckoned with the sharks.”

He shook his head. “The Tyrancy is over. Once all the other planets are part of the Dream, Jupiter will join, as a matter of expediency.”

Spirit didn't argue, but she found this news deeply disquieting. Hope continued, advising her of the deal that would be made with Earth: it would provide a hundred thousand qualified test subjects for the new light drive, in return for participation in the Dream.

They also got to tour Earth, the origin planet of mankind. That was a special experience. Here there were actual open-air cities instead of bubbles, mirroring the cultures of the Solar System. And there was yet another attempt to assassinate Hope.

Here, too, they received a most significant caller. “Visitor,” Spirit said as she recognized him. “From Jupiter.”

“Jupiter isn't speaking to me,” Hope reminded her. “Make sure it isn't an assassin.”

“No assassin,” she said with a smile. Then, to the screen: “Send him in.”

Hope was in pajamas, ready for bed, and Dorian Gray was in a flimsy nightie that fairly radiated sex appeal. She jumped up, about to scurry into her room to change clothing and identities.

“As you were,” Spirit said. “Robert won't tell.”

Their visitor arrived. “My, how you've grown!” Spirit said, stepping out to embrace the visitor. He was a solid, muscular youth in his teens, Hispanic, smiling somewhat foolishly. “Hi, Dad,” he said over her shoulder.

“Robertico!”

Dorian Gray dissolved into astonishment and dismay. She sought again to leave, but Hope grabbed her wrist.

Robertico had been eleven; now he was fifteen, and that seemed to have added most of a foot to his height and fifty pounds to his mass. Hope had never formally adopted him, but he had become part of the family. Hopie had been first his babysitter, then his older sister, taking excellent care of him. Of course he was a welcome visitor!

“I come with a message,” Robertico said. Then he faltered, staring at Dorian Gray.

Hope smiled. “Dorian Gray, meet my ward Robertico. Robertico, meet your mother.”

For he had been the infant son of that woman. Now Dorian Gray had returned, in the only way she could. Of course she was young, in this incarnation, only a few years older than Robertico himself. But that seemed not to matter. She stared at him, knowing what this meant, and he stared at her, seeing his mother for the first time. Then he stepped forward, and she stood, and they flung themselves into each other's arms and wept together.

Spirit felt a tear of her own. Perhaps others would see this as a ludicrous scene, but Dorian Gray was as close to the original as it was possible to be, and Robertico was of her flesh. If ever a man could go back in time and meet his mother as a young woman, this was the occasion.

In due course they got to Robertico's message. “It is this,” he said. “'Stay clear of Jupiter.' They do not want you there, and they will execute you if you violate your exile.”

They all laughed. This was no news at all.

“Hopie sent me,” he continued. “And they let me go, because they knew you would see me. It isn't the same there, now. They mean it; you can't go there.”

“But the Triton Project needs the support of Jupiter,” Hope said. “It is for the benefit of all mankind.”

“They don't care about that. They just don't want you back.”

“I wonder why?” Hope asked, as if ignorant.

“My sister told me,” Robertico said. “It's because the people would support you. Things were better when you were Tyrant.”

“Things always seem better in the past.”

“No, Dad, it's true!” he insisted. “There are shortages all the time now, and a lot of police, and anybody who criticizes the government gets arrested and maybe disappears. It's bad!”

“Freedoms are being denied? What does the press have to say about this?”

“The news media are being shut down. They don't dare say anything.”

“What about Thorley? Nobody could shut him up.”

“He was arrested last year.”

“What?” This time both Hope and Spirit were shocked. Indeed they had not been paying attention!

“Well, first it was just house arrest, but when he wouldn't shut up, they came and took him away last month. My sister said you'd want to know about that, even if he did criticize you a lot. She's really upset.”

Spirit exchanged a glance with Hope.

They kept it polite, as though they hadn't really reacted to the message. Robertico was there on a limited visa, and had to return promptly. “Tell them I got the message,” Hope said as he left.

“Yeah,” he agreed darkly. “I'm sorry you can't stop by there. Hopie really wanted to see you.”

“Tell her I'll do what I have to do, as I always have.”

“And take care of yourself, dear,” Dorian Gray said to him, exactly like a mother.

He left. Dorian Gray retired immediately to her room. Spirit knew she had been shaken by the turn her impersonation had taken. She had, for a moment, been a mother, and that was no light thing.

Hope turned to Spirit. “Now I am satisfied. You know what to do.”

She nodded grimly. “You prepare Forta.” Then she went to her own room. Forta wasn't the only one who could do emulations.

She was ready within the hour. She was now in male clothing, and looked like a man. “Give me ten minutes,” she said.

Hope nodded. He summoned the hotel staff, and managed to distract the man while Spirit slipped quietly out in the guise of a hotel servitor, escaping undetected. Thus suddenly she was on her way, and no one would know she was gone. Forta would have to cover for her, emulating her as necessary, while Hope's party went on to Planet Venus and planet Mercury, enlisting the governments of North and South Africa.

It would surely be a considerable challenge for them to manage without Spirit, but they would rise to it.

The need, after all, was dire.

Affair

Spirit, in the guise of Sancho, caught a landbound cab. “Government office,” she said tersely.

She arrived at the nearest sub-branch office of the planetary government, and entered the building. “I must speak with the representative.”

The clerk questioned her briefly, checked her planetary visitor's pass, then sent her to the local representative's office. “Please, señor, what I have to say is most private,” she said.

The man was evidently used to complaints. He touched a button on his desk, and the shimmer of privacy surrounded them. “How may I help you, citizen?”

“May I rely on your discretion?”

“If your need is legitimate.”

“I am Spirit Hubris, sister of the erstwhile Tyrant. I must depart this planet secretly.”

He did not flinch. “You have identification?”

She opened her shirt, showing her bound breasts so that he could see she was female, and from an inner pocket produced her ID card. She had kept herself fit; she had good breasts, and did not want to argue about gender. “I'm traveling incognito.”

His mouth quirked as he ran the ID. “You are sixty two? I took you for forty--and male.”

“Thank you.”

“The Prime Minister will see you now. Please enter the holo chamber.”

She concealed her surprise at this efficiency. “Thank you,” she repeated, and entered the chamber.

The wall became a window to the Prime Minister's office. “Hello, Spirit Hubris,” she said. “I had supposed your brother had elected not to act at this time.”

“He changed his mind.”

“You wish assistance returning to Jupiter?”

“I do, thank you.”

“We trade with Jupiter and with Saturn. We can put you aboard a merchant vessel of either power.”

Spirit considered. “We serve Saturn now. I think I had better consult privately with Chairman Khukov.”

“Alone? Physically? Without your brother?”

“This is hardly public business! Hope will continue to travel, and I will seem to be with him. My absence must not be known.”

“A Saturn vessel,” the prime Minister agreed, understanding. “A car will come for you.”

“Thank you.”

As Spirit rode in the car, she mused about one trifling aspect of her dialogue with the Prime Minister. The woman had seemed surprised that Spirit should wish to meet with Chairman Khukov alone. Why?

Khukov was their employer and most certain ally.

In due course she arrived at Saturn, still traveling as Sancho. A courier ship met her at Scow, and conveyed her to an anonymous residential bubble.

Mikhail Khukov was there, alone. “Spirit Hubris! You have come to me at last.”

“We have met before,” she said, uncertain of his meaning.

“And you do not know,” he said. “I apologize.”

“I know that Jupiter is in trouble. I think my brother must take back the Tyrancy. But this can't happen without your support. If you do not wish him to resume power--”

“I would like nothing better. I will do what I can. But meanwhile I must say to you what you may not like.”

“There is a price,” she said. There was always a price.

“If you wish it.”

“I don't understand. We have a choice?”

He faced her squarely. “You understand that my ability is similar to your brother's. That is why I trust him, and he trusts me. We have read each other. We have similar aspirations.”

“You share the Dream,” she agreed, knowing that this was not his thrust.

“More. I, too, am a man for the women. The more remarkable the woman, the greater my desire.”

“Yes, you understand his ways. You provided Hope with a remarkable mistress in Amber.”

“You are the most remarkable woman I know.”

Suddenly his meaning came clear. “Chairman, I am an old matron!”

“A handsome woman. Even your scars have personality.”

“You surely have your choice of fresh young women. You hardly need to bother with--”

“I desired you before we ever met. You were your brother's backbone throughout his military service, and throughout the Tyrancy. Without you, he would never have prospered.”

He was on target, to a degree. “But without him, I would never have prospered either. He has the magic.”

“And your loyalty becomes you too. If you were mine, you would never betray me.”

“I am yours to the extent my brother is. That is why I came to check with you before--”

“I desire you as a mistress.”

She paused. “This is the price of your support?”

“If you wish.”

There was that oblique response again. “I wish to have your support.”

“I wish to have you without buying you. But others would not understand, so if you wish, I will say I bought you.”

“You know my pirate and Navy experience. Sex is the least of the price I would pay to support my brother.”

“Your love is out of reach. But perhaps not your respect.”

She contemplated him. “How long?”

“While we associate. As in the Navy: term commitment. Romance not necessary. Not to interfere with your departure when the Tyrancy resumes. Not to be secret, once your brother's purpose is accomplished.”

He wanted to be able to say he had the tyrant's sister, and have her agreement. But he would keep the secret of her identity while it counted. Spirit had kept a rein on her personal feeling. Now she let it flow.

She was flattered that this remarkable man should desire her sexually despite her age, and desire also to have his passion publicly known. She had been long without a man. This one would do; she was attracted to especially talented men, and Khukov was one. It would not be onerous duty. “Then take me, Navy man.”

He smiled. “Not in your present guise.”

She laughed, and stripped off her masculine clothing and the binding around her chest. She stepped into him and embraced him. She kissed him. “From Jupiter: surplus Navy tail,” she said.

“You understand: I support your brother regardless, for he serves my larger purpose. It is not essential that you do this.”

“That does make it easier. But it is not difficult, regardless.”

“Thank you.”

Then they proceeded to an act of passion that would have done a younger couple credit. Khukov's desire was plainly genuine, and he was indeed the kind of man she preferred: intelligent, powerful, ethical, with a special ability, and, as it turned out, caring.

After the first bout, they cleaned up, and Khukov began giving directives to the Saturn Navy. It would slowly deploy toward Jupiter, but in a manner that did not betray its target. One courier ship would rendezvous with a Jupiter Navy courier for the transfer of liaison personnel, one of which would be an anonymous Hispanic male: Spirit. Then they had another siege of sex. Then they had a good meal. Then more sex, somewhat more drawn out.

“How long since you did it three times in one day?” she asked, impressed.

“Decades. As long as I have been without you.”

It really was flattering, and it was no chore to participate. She realized that she had missed the regular sex of the Navy. “Had I known of your interest, I might have made myself available sooner.”

“You were married, then committed. I was married. We were at different planets. It was not feasible.”

He had desired her when she was with Gerald? He had kept his eye on Hope and his sister a long time!

They spent the night naked in the same bed. She knew this would mean rather constant attention, if not full sex, but she intended to saturate his desire. Indeed, he clasped her as she slept, and in the night she woke to feel him stroking her breast. She let him proceed, lapsing back into sleep. In the morning he slept later than she did; she considered, then stroked him and kissed him, waking him to her interest.

“It is a calculated thing you do,” he murmured. “I appreciate that calculation.”

“Let it never be said that you found the Iron Maiden insufficient.”

“It shall never be said.”

They were together a week. Khukov's passion was almost indefatigable, though he was not able to consummate it as often as at first. It seemed not to matter; he was satisfied with her closeness and amenability. Between-times they played chess and pool, and discussed works of literature. There was no pretense of love, merely of mutual interest. His passion for her was clearly greater than hers for him, but that was natural to their genders, and it would not have been possible to fool him anyway. Overall, she enjoyed the experience, and made no effort to conceal her pleasure. She felt two decades younger.

“To have the attention of a independent woman whose interest can not be purchased--this is a thing I have long lacked,” he said. “You could be ugly, and it would have appeal. But you are lovely.”

“I can endure this kind of criticism.”

They laughed and continued. Spirit found it pleasant also that he trusted her, though she knew it was because she was trustworthy. She was not catering to him for his power, but because they had made a mutually beneficial deal.

Then it was time for her to catch the shuttle. “It has been nice,” she said.

“It has been paradise.”

“Can the shuttle rendezvous again, in a week?”

He looked at her, surprised. “Oh Iron Maiden, I could love you if I allowed it.”

She smiled and kissed him once more. “Do not allow it. Just hone your passion, lest I waste my time.”

She boarded the shuttle as Sancho. In due course it rendezvoused with the Jupiter shuttle, and that conveyed her to a Jupiter cruiser.

A buxom civilian woman met her at the port. “You will serve my interest, laborer,” she said curtly.

Spirit masked her reaction and followed the woman to her cabin. Then, alone, they flung themselves into each other's arms, kissing. “Roulette!” “Spirit!”

“How did you know?”

“Juana told me.”

“How did she know? This is supposed to be secret.”

“Not from Emerald. She has been in touch with Saturn throughout, and when news of your presence came, she gathered the other women. She's on duty elsewhere at the moment, but can see you in two weeks.”

“Two weeks is perfect.” Then, at leisure, she explained about Khukov.

“Maybe I could substitute for you,” Rue said teasingly. “I'm sure he'd find me more interesting.”

“He might indeed! But I'm the one he wants, amazingly.”

“Then you will have to give me your brother. He's the one I want.”

“Hope has another woman now.”

“He always has another woman! But I'm a widow, and I want one more crack at him before he dies.”

“Before--?”

“Come on, Spirit. If the assassins don't get him, the kidneys will. There's not all that much time.”

Spirit shook her head. “Can't any secrets be kept?”

“Not from wives and lovers. No outsiders know.”

“All right. If the chance comes, you get him for a while. Now we need to organize.”

“His current woman. I have seen her on holo. She's ugly. What's her secret?”

“She's a mime. She uses masks and signals to emulate other women. She is very good.”

“She couldn't fool him.”

“She comes close enough to satisfy him. She emulated Juana at age seventeen, and she can do others.”

“Juana at seventeen.” Rue pondered that a moment. “Sexually too?”

“Yes.”

Rue was intrigued. “Could she do me?”

“I'm sure she could--and will, in due course.”

“As I am now?”

“Why not? You remain a sight to stir the male passion.”

Rue glanced down at her full figure. “We'll see.”

“I presume Emerald retains real Navy power?”

“Potential power. With her husband dead, the edge is gone, but he taught her much. But any use of it could alert Tocsin's men, and they are not incompetent.”

“Understood. The strike must be properly timed, and it must be effective. There will be no second chance.”

“Meanwhile, we can organize. Do we have a code name?”

Spirit pondered momentarily. “The Affair.”

“Mine, yours, and ours.” Roulette smiled. “I must return to the Belt so as not to rouse suspicion. But Juana will take over.”

“Juana is here?”

“Unofficially. Jupe retirees have staff privileges.”

“Staff privileges,” Spirit repeated, thinking of Shelia.

Juana was indeed grandmotherly, half again as solid as she had been in youth, smiling and pleasant. “He's coming back?” she asked.

“Yes. With things as they are on Jupiter, we have to act.”

“What about Megan?”

That made Spirit pause. “You're right. If she doesn't acquiesce, Hope won't do it. Can we reach her privately?”

“I can, when I return to Jupiter.”

"That will do. She regards you as Hope's second wife, and herself as the fifth. She will talk with you.

Meanwhile, do you still know the people who know the people?"

“Enough of them. But the wider this gets, the harder it will be to keep it secret.”

“Emerald will have to decide who is notified when.”

“She can't be here personally yet.”

“I know. In a week I must return for Saturn liaison. Then--”

“You have a Saturn man!” Juana exclaimed.

“You want details?”

“I never really liked doing it, but I love hearing about it. Is he a known figure?”

“Chairman Khukov. He's a widower now.”

Juana whistled. “You started at the top! How did you ever land him?”

“He desired me. I had not realized. I found it flattering.”

“He's like Hope, isn't he?”

Spirit paused. “How do you mean that?”

Juana blushed. “Not that way! I mean, he has the talent to read people. To move them.”

Their dialogue continued, as Spirit shared the details of her affair. But now she wondered: Khukov's interest in her was understandable, in retrospect, because she was the sister of a man like himself and had kept herself in physical shape. But she had returned his interest, and truly enjoyed their ardently sexual week. She had thought it was because she respected him, and was flattered by the intense desire of so prominent a man, and she did miss the lost regularity of sex. Could it be, at least in part, because he was a surrogate for her brother? She had never forgotten her lone liaison with Hope, when she was twelve, and she still dreamed of it on occasion. She still loved him in more than a sisterly way. If there were some heaven where a woman could marry any man she chose, she would marry him. That was her abiding secret, even from herself, much of the time. She had been the first girl to fall into his orbit, and not one of them had ever fallen out of it.