The Mind Pool (22 page)

After a few sessions of coaching by Kubo Flammarion, Tatty had reached the point where she could handle the route instructions provided by the transit computer. She always went cautiously, checking each interchange that she had to make on the way.

Now it was time to introduce Chan to the system. On their first brief visit, before they went to Horus, she had been obliged to lead him everywhere. This time he took one look at the overall plan, listened impatiently to Flammarion’s lecture on route selection strategy, and disappeared as soon as he was free to leave.

He was gone for many hours. When he came back he seemed to have been all over the planetoid, and he knew the internal layout of Ceres in far more detail than either Tatty or Kubo Flammarion. The next morning, as soon as the training session was over, he was off again.

He seemed to be avoiding Tatty. It was a surprise to her when he came wandering into her living-quarters as she was dressing before going off for dinner with Esro Mondrian.

Chan flopped into a seat in the middle of the room. Tatty looked at him warily. On Horus, before the change in Chan, she had been quite casual. She had thought of him as a child, and allowed him to see her in a nightgown and in random stages of partial undress. Now she closed her bedroom door firmly as she went in and locked it behind her.

She was gone for half an hour. Uncharacteristically, Chan stayed. She could hear him pottering about in the kitchen while she was bathing and dressing, and he was still there when she came out.

Tatty walked to the full-length mirror near the door. Chan came to stand behind her, examining her appearance closely. She was wearing a white dress, sleeveless and off the shoulder, with pale mauve accessories. The purple marks of old Paradox shots were slowly fading from her arms, a curiously apt match to the clothes that she wore.

Chan caught her eye in the mirror as she studied the sweep of her hair. “Very—
elegant.
Is that the right word to use?”

“It is. Thank you.”

“You look very beautiful. I thought you would rather go to hell than to dinner with Esro Mondrian.”

“All right, Chan.” She turned to look at him directly. “That does it. What do you want? I’ve got enough on my mind without you adding to my worries.”

He shook his head and said nothing. But shortly before Mondrian was due to arrive, Chan left the apartment.

Tatty continued her careful application of makeup. At one minute to seven she went to the apartment door and opened it. She smiled in satisfaction. As she had expected, Mondrian was in the corridor, walking toward the apartment. Whatever his faults, he was precisely punctual. As though they had planned it together, he was dressed in a formal uniform, a plain black that was trimmed with just the same pale mauve that she was wearing.

She studied his face. He looked better, full of suppressed energy. He bowed formally as he came closer, and kissed her hand.

“You look magnificent. The Godiva Bird will be envious.”

Tatty shook her head. “Godiva is never envious of anyone. She never needs to be.”

She stepped outside quickly and closed the door, to make it clear that she did not propose to invite Mondrian into her living-quarters. He stood for another moment looking at her, then took her arm and led her away along the corridor.

“You seem upset, Princess,” he said softly. “I hope this evening will relax you.”

Tatty did not reply at once. She thought she had caught sight of Chan, dodging away along the walkway in front of them.

“What do you think I am, Esro?” she said at last. “Some sort of Artefact, or an extra royal, that you can put into cold storage when you don’t need, and pull out when it can be useful to you?”

“I don’t like to hear you talk like that, Princess. You know I never think of you that way.”

“I don’t know it at all. Not when you leave me to rot on Horus, and never visit, and never call, and never even send a message. You say this evening will relax me—when I never know what to expect from you. You treat me
worse
than somebody put away in cold storage. At least they are unconscious. They don’t sit there watching their lives tick away, wasting months and months just waiting.”

She tried to shake her arm free. Mondrian would not release his hold.

“Wasted months.” He sighed. “Ah, I know. A week on Horus can seem like a year anywhere else. But do you really think the time was
wasted
? Chan Dalton is a full person now, instead of being a baby. That couldn’t have happened without you.
Was
it time wasted?” He stopped walking. He was still holding her arm, so that she had to swing around to face him. She stared angrily into his calm eyes, and refused to answer. After a few seconds he shook his head.

“Princess, if you think that badly of me, you should never have agreed to come to dinner.”

“I thought I might get an explanation of why you deserted me out there—or at least an apology. You’ve no idea what I had to go through.”

“I know exactly what you were going through. It was terrible. But as I told you at the beginning, I couldn’t do it myself, and I needed somebody that I trusted completely—somebody I could rely on even if I couldn’t be there to keep an eye on things. Do you know why I didn’t come to see you on Horus? Because I couldn’t. I wasn’t off somewhere having fun. I was
busy
—busier than I’ve ever been in my whole life.”

“You found time to go galloping off to Earth. What were you doing there?”

Tatty expected any reply but the one she got. Mondrian merely shook his head.

“I can’t tell you. You’ll have to take my word for it, Princess, it was business, not pleasure. And I didn’t enjoy it one bit.”

She was starting to feel the guilt that only Esro Mondrian could create within her. Was
she
the unreasonable one, the cruel one, the woman who carped and whined at a desperately busy man when he could not find time to call her? She knew how hard he worked. How many times had she awakened in the early morning, to find Mondrian gone from her side? Too many to count. But he was not being unfaithful to her. He had tiptoed away in the dark into the next room. He was pacing up and down there, writing, dictating, making calls, worrying. Her rival was his work. And she had known that for years.

Mondrian reached out to touch her cheek. “Don’t be sad, Princess. I thought tonight could be a really happy occasion—the chance to see Godiva again, just like old times. Can’t we try to enjoy ourselves—just for a few hours?”

Tatty put her hand on his. They turned and began to walk again, side by side. “I’ll try. But Essy, everything is so strange here. It’s not like Earth, and I’m never relaxed. I couldn’t believe it when I heard that Godiva had left Earth to live out here with Brachis.”

Mondrian slipped his arm through hers. “You’re forgetting something—how many times you asked me to take you away from Earth with me. Maybe she did the same. It’s odd, you know, but we put Godiva onto Luther Brachis in the first place. Remember, she was supposed to bring me information?” He laughed. “Not a great idea. After the first few weeks she said she couldn’t tell me any more, and the next thing I knew she was up here with him.” He glanced sideways to Tatty. “Did I misjudge Godiva? I thought it was all money that made her tick. Now, I’m not so sure.”

“She’s a hard person to know.” For the first time, Tatty focused on her own feelings about Godiva. “I met her four years ago, at Winter Solstice. We both attended the Gilravage, the big party down on the lower levels. She gave a performance, and danced as Aphrodite. It was a sensation. After that we ran into each other all the time.”

“Where did she come from?”

“Nowhere special. Somewhere down in the Gallimaufries. I suppose she must be a commoner—at least, I never heard her say a word about her family.”

“You like her, Princess, even if she is a commoner.”

“I didn’t. The first few times we met I hated her. I think most women do, instinctively. We feel as though she can take whatever she wants, or whoever she wants, and we have no defenses. But after a while I did start to like her. She’s really a nice person.”

“The whore with the heart of gold?”

“Close to it. You see, I don’t think Godiva is
bright,
like me or you.” Tatty spoke quite unselfconsciously. “So she just does what she can with what she has. She happened to be born with unusual assets, and she uses them. Sex for money, I can’t see that as a big sin. Anyone who ever went with Godiva seemed to have a wonderful time. She never had a man under false pretenses, and so far as I can tell she never hurt anyone.”

“Not even when she was spying on them?” They were approaching the restaurant, and Mondrian had deliberately slowed his steps. “Her actions might have hurt Luther Brachis.”

“She stopped them before they did. Anyway, that was
your
action, not hers. Even when she was watching him for you, I feel sure she didn’t mean to harm him. She doesn’t think that way.”

“What happened when a man fell in love with her?”

“That’s a funny thing. No one ever did. She handled everything on a commercial basis, and she parted friends with all her men. They recommended her to others. She must have made a fortune, but she never seemed to fall into any permanent relationship. Until she met Luther Brachis.” Tatty turned to look at Mondrian. They had halted, and were standing outside the restaurant door. Over his shoulder she caught another glimpse of a tall figure, ducking back into the shadow at the side of the corridor. Was it Chan, still following?

She took another swift glance in that direction. “Look, if you want to interrogate me about Godiva, do it after dinner. I’m hungry, and all you’ve done is plague me with questions. Why are you so interested in her?”

“Sorry.” Mondrian moved forward, and the frosted glass doors opened before them. “I’m just being nosy. You say you’ve never seen Godiva Lomberd like this before? Well, I’ve never seen Luther Brachis like it either. There’s two mysteries at once. But I promise you: not another question about Godiva.”

“There’s no need for any.” Tatty inclined her head to the left as they entered the foyer. “There she is. You can ask the real thing.”

They were exactly on time, but Luther Brachis and Godiva Lomberd must have arrived a few minutes early. Stepping out of a communication booth and heading back to the table area was a full-figured blond woman. She was in half-profile to Tatty and Esro Mondrian, and they could see that she had a dreamy and absent-minded smile on her face.

“The cat that ate the cream,” said Tatty. “Look at that walk. It shouldn’t be allowed. It’s totally natural, and Godiva never thinks twice about it—but ten billion women would kill to have it.”

Godiva Lomberd was dressed in a gown of palest yellow. It was high-necked, full-length, and full-sleeved. Not an inch of arm, legs, or shoulders was visible, but as she walked the material of the dress undulated with its own rhythm. It was impossible to ignore the exotic body within, the warm and pliant flesh that rippled beneath the decorous clothing.

Mondrian followed that movement, a puzzled look on his face. “You don’t know this, Princess, but a walk like that should be impossible in a quarter-g field. I can’t think how she does it. She moves just the same here as she did down on Earth. And she looks exactly the same, too.”

“She probably always will. She certainly hasn’t aged a day since I first met her. Remember what I told you, before I ever introduced you? It’s true, isn’t it?”

“You said that nobody could watch the Godiva Bird walk, without being aware that she was naked underneath her clothes. I laughed at you. But you were right.”

They had not called out to Godiva, but simply followed her back towards their table. It was located in a dim-lit area at the rear of the restaurant, a quiet quarter reserved for small, intimate parties who wanted discreet service and no public attention. None of the other tables was occupied. Luther Brachis sat alone, examining a menu. As they reached the table he stood up and greeted Tatty with an odd formality.

She had not seen him since they were all on Earth together, and she was astonished by the change in him. He was still in superb physical condition, but his face had lost the severe and brooding look. He was more cheerful and animated, he had lost five to ten kilos, and his eyes glowed with health and physical well-being.

He was studying Tatty just as seriously. “Congratulations, Princess Tatiana. It is an unusually strong person who can ever break the Paradox addiction.”

“You never break the addiction, Commander. You only stop taking the injections.”

“For, let us hope, the rest of your life.” Brachis helped Tatty to her seat. “I am not sure, Princess Tatiana, that I ought to have dinner with you, even though Commander Mondrian particularly requested it. I understand that it is thanks to you that I have lost a wager. I will be handing over a surveillance system to the Commander.” He sat down, and looked across the table at Godiva. “What do you think, my dear? Should I blame the Princess for her success with Chan Dalton?”

Godiva smiled, slow and dreamy. “I could never be annoyed with the Princess, or with Commander Mondrian. They are the people who introduced me to you.”

She gazed lovingly across the table at Brachis. Her mouth was wide and full-lipped, in a pink-cheeked oval face that was slightly too plump, and the wide-set blue eyes wore their usual trusting and contented expression.

An analysis of Godiva’s individual features would suggest no exceptional beauty. Her chin was a fraction too long, her nose slightly bobbed and asymmetrical, her forehead a shade too nigh. But the whole was somehow much greater than the sum of the parts. The totality of Godiva, face and figure, was stunning. She arrested the eye, so that in a crowded room she inevitably became the center of attention.

Brachis turned to Mondrian. “You see my problem. If I express annoyance with Princess Tatiana, Godiva will interpret it as a lack of esteem for her. I can’t afford to have that.” He gestured to the other man to sit down opposite Tatty, but Mondrian remained on his feet.

“In a moment.” He turned to Tatty and Godiva. “I promised everyone that this evening would not be business, and now I am breaking my promise. Could you give us just a few minutes for private security talk? Then I give you my word that will be the last business discussion tonight.”