“Objection!” Tan cried. “The exact time can not be specified. Any of the suspects could have done it.”
“Sustained.”
“The time the poisoning was believed to have occurred,” Purple said. “The reason the two women did not perfectly alibi each other was that they did not want to admit openly what they had been doing. So they allowed themselves to be considered suspects. But it seems likely that they had no care for poisoning, on that night.”
“But women don’t—” Tan said. Then he looked at Brown, and knew that his Hectare’s case was lost. The only truly viable remaining suspect was the fiancé.
The Hectare spoke, through the translator. “I yield the contest. No fault of my second.” Then it departed.
Tan stared at Brown, scowling. Then he shrugged, realizing that it was better to leave well enough alone. The Hectare knew that Tan had tried his best, but their team had been outplayed. He would suffer no consequence if he kept his mouth shut. He followed the Hectare out.
Brown felt weak with relief. Tan wasn’t going to blow the whistle on her! He knew that there was nothing to be gained by it, as she was already cooperating, however reluctantly.
“Well, you came through,” Purple said. “I’m off the hook, and so are you. I don’t think we need that talk. I’ll take you back to your hideout now.”
Brown looked around. “But Tsetse—she got bored and went out. I can’t leave her here.”
Purple was magnanimous in the flush of victory. “She’ll be at the commons, relaxing. I’ll authorize passes out for you and her, and you can have a golem carry you back when you find her.” He raised his voice, addressing the command net. “By order of Purple: release Brown and Tsetse on their request, this day.” Then to her. “Okay?”
She nodded. “Thank you.”
“I don’t like you, you don’t like me. But you treated us fairly when you were on top, and I’m treating you fairly now. Just you honor our deal, and maybe we’ll never meet again.”
She nodded again. He left the room, which had reverted to the contemporary type.
“It was a very nice set,” she said aloud.
“Thank you,” the Game Computer replied.
“I wish this were Crete.”
“So do I.”
She left the chamber, wondering about that. The Game Computer was acting more and more like a living thing. It was of course a self-willed machine, but highly programmed; self-will did not mean freedom. Did it now have consciousness and personal desire? What was it trying to do, with its subversion of the normal game grid that had served so well for so long? She hesitated to guess.
She walked to the commons, looking for Tsetse. She had hoped the figure would be back by the time the game concluded, and had been relieved when Purple had not concerned himself with the matter. Now she just wanted to find the figure and get it home before the real Tsetse returned. If she did not, they could all be in a great deal of trouble. If Purple caught on that she had used him to gain admittance for an enemy of the Hectare…
Chapter 10
Seed
Lysander had suffered a whirlwind change of situation, at the time of the invasion and again when he had fled the city with Echo, the cyborg woman whose other self was a harpy. He had quit Alyc when she turned out to be a Hectare agent, and gone with Jod’e, until the Tan Adept had used his Evil Eye to make her his love slave. Lysander was a Hectare agent himself, but his necessary association with the natives enabled him to relate to their concerns. Alyc’s identity as an agent had been a distressing surprise, and he had reacted as any loyal native would, dumping her. Jod’e’s conversion had been an uglier shock; he had really come to appreciate her qualities, physical and intellectual, in their brief association. But Echo—Echo was beautiful, with her slender body and brown fluff of hair. But her body was of inanimate substance; only her brain was human. Alyc had been full human, and Jod’e android, so Echo seemed to be one more step away. But on this planet few things were quite what they seemed, and he found he could accept the emulation of life Echo represented, knowing that her loyalty to the old order was absolute. Alyc had been fully alive in body, but a traitor in mind; Echo was true in mind. He had less interest in her harpy form, except that that was the root of her loyalty to Phaze.
She had taken him to a serf boy walking the halls. “Who is this?” he had demanded.
“Who do you think, unbeliever?” the boy had responded. Then Lysander had known it was the weird child Nepe/Flach.
Three serfs walking ahead of them had assumed the likenesses of Lysander, Echo, and the boy, for the hall monitors to track. Lysander had ducked into a side passage with Echo, and abruptly had found himself standing here under the trees where he had first encountered the harpy Oche, and handled Echo’s legs.
“We’re out of the city!” he exclaimed, amazed.
“Yes, the Unicorn Adept conjured us free,” she said.
“Where do we go from here?”
“Nowhere.”
“But I hardly know how to forage, and I have no place to sleep. I can’t be much use to anyone, here!”
The harpy appeared, perched on a low branch. “Willst share my nest w’ me?” she screeched.
Lysander tried to mask his dismay. “No affront to you, but I’m not sure I care for the elevation, even if my weight doesn’t tear your nest out of the tree.”
Echo reappeared, her nakedness glorious in comparison. One hand was on the branch, and he realized that she had made a smooth translation because she had contact with it, and could guide herself during the change. “I also have a nether bower you may find more comfortable.”
“I’m sure I would,” he agreed quickly.
She put her hand to the trunk of the tree, and pulled on the bark. The bark swung out, becoming a panel or door. Now there was a hole in the tree, just about big enough for a man to crawl through. “After you, then,” she said, gesturing to it.
“But that’s just a cavity!” he protested. “There can’t possibly be room inside it for me! The trunk is only a meter thick.”
She merely waited, her gesture in place.
Lysander shrugged. He walked to the opening, and discovered that it was the entrance to a chute leading down. Oh. He lifted a leg and put a foot in, then worked the rest of his body through, until only his head was outside. His feet now dangled in the darkness; he had no idea how deep the hole was. “Drop,” Echo said. “You will not be hurt.” Could this be some trap to put him away? But why would they bother to transport him here for that? He had to trust them, because he wanted to achieve their trust. Only when he had it could he learn the most secret details of their plan for resistance—and betray it.
He let go. He fell down—and landed in a moment in a bed of feathers. There was a sliver of light from above, that soon shut off.
Echo was coming down after him. Hastily he rolled to the side so she wouldn’t land on top of him.
He was not quite fast enough. She whomped down beside him, knocking him flat in the darkness.
“Well, now,” she said. “This is the way I like my men: laid out.” She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed close.
“But we’ve only met!” he said.
“We met months ago. Now hang on while I take your measure.”
“Measure?”
“I need to ascertain whether you are truly with us,” she said. “Jod’e was supposed to do that, but Tan took her out. I doubt you’re ready to love me on such short notice, but we only have a few days, so it will have to be the crash course.”
“I don’t think I understand.”
“The prophecy says—”
“Oh, that! But how can you be sure that refers to me?”
“We can’t. But if it does, we want you with us. We think you will be more likely to be with us if you love one of us. That’s why Jod’e had to take you from that spy.”
“You know about that?”
“The Adepts did. So they sent Jod’e to—”
&nb
sp; “She did! But then Tan—”
“Yes. That really messed us up. They had to scratch at the last moment for another girl, and so I was recruited, because at least we’d met before. I don’t know anything about the plan to free Phaze, except that you may be vital to it, so I must bind you to it. That I shall do.”
“Now, wait! Do you think you can just pass me from woman to woman, and I’ll love any I’m near?”
“Yes. Now kiss me.”
It seemed she wasn’t joking. “Forget it! I liked Alyc, until I learned what she was. I was getting to like Jod’e a lot; if I had any time to reflect, I’d be grieving for her. But you—you’re a harpy!”
“And a cyborg. A nice match for your android body with a living brain. You know as well as I do that it is the mind that determines the person. I can make this body do anything your body desires; you won’t care that the body isn’t alive. So we’ll get started.”
“We shall not get—”
But she cut him off with her kiss. She was expert, and her body was warm and sleek and pulsing with the seemingness of vitality. Indeed it was easy to ignore the mechanics of it; in the dark she was all woman.
Then there was light, expanding from what looked like balls of cotton set against the walls. He saw her—and she was still all woman.
“Look,” he said as the kiss broke. “I did like Jod’e. I know that’s over. Tan raped her emotion and made her his. But I knew her before that, and I grieve for her loss. I would have stayed with her, perhaps married her in time; we related well. But this business of simply assuming that any woman can take me just by being assigned—doesn’t that turn the stomach of even a harpy, a little? Didn’t you have other plans for your life, before Jod’e got taken out? How can you go along with this nonsense?”
She gazed at him, her eyes spots of midnight. “Actually, I did like you, Lysander. I enjoyed flirting with you, though I never expected anything to come of it. I was between males. But that’s not the point. Our world is at stake, and any personal plans I might have had are vacant. I must love you, and you me, and hope that you are the one who will save Phaze.”
“Just like that,” he said with irony. “Phaze needs me, so you and I must fall in love. Then I’ll decide in favor of your planet, because I’ll want to stay with you the rest of my life, even though you are made of plastic.”
“You’ve got it. Meanwhile, we might as well enjoy ourselves. Let’s kiss and talk for a while, before we start on the sex.”
“I am at a loss to comprehend why you think any of this will occur. I may be of alien origin, but everything I’ve learned of your culture indicates that this isn’t the way love normally occurs.”
“There are three reasons. Are you sure you want them recited?”
“Yes.” He was intrigued. If he had to pretend to love her in order to get close to the source of the resistance, he would do that. But the role he was playing required that he offer natural resistance to such bread-and-butter romance.
“First, your body is handsome and virile and responds normally to stimuli. I am in this form an attractive woman, similarly responsive. Propinquity will normally cause us to merge, in the absence of counterindications.”
“Granted. But there are counter—”
“Second, this chamber is sealed. For the next several days, I will be your only companion, and I will be most attentive and obliging to your interests. You will find me very good company indeed—and I trust I will find you the same. Only when the love is firm will we be released.”
“So it is a trap!”
“A love trap,” she agreed. “But a willing one, for me, and I think not just because I love my planet.”
She evidently believed in this! “And the third reason?”
“This chamber is suffused with love elixir. It will take perhaps three days to be completely effective, and we have that amount of time available, perhaps more.”
“You really think that—” But he broke off, remembering how Tan had changed Jod’e. Magic was operative here, and surely their love potions were effective, though slower than Adept enchantment.
“So you see, we may try to resist it, or we can go along with it. The outcome will be the same, but it will be more pleasant to go along.”
“Suppose I just break out now, before any of this can take effect?”
“I hope you don’t do that!” she said, alarmed.
“Why not? I prefer to make my own choice whom I may love.” This, again, was consistent with his established personality.
“Because if you emerge without me, my sister harpies will tear you apart. Literally. They are guarding this retreat. Please accept my word, they are mean customers, and fully capable of the act. Even if your android body is resistant to the poison of their claws, it can not withstand their massed attack. They intend to keep you in here for the full three days, and to prevent any possible rescue. Since no one else knows where you are—”
“Point made. I think I’m stuck for it.”
She sat up. “I can understand your anger, Lysander. But it will pass. I just thought that since our love is inevitable, and thereafter we may be separated, it would be nice to make the most of it in this time we have. It would be a shame to squander the interim by quarreling.”
He had one more objection. “But you are a cyborg! The love potion should not affect you.”
“I am also a harpy, and my brain is living. The potion will affect these. It is not purely chemical; it is a magical ambience that can affect even a metal robot. Indeed, I am already feeling it; that is why I am pleading for detente between us.”
Lysander shrugged. “Whether I will love you I can’t say. But your arguments are persuasive. I want to save your planet too; I just didn’t care to be cynically coerced into it.” That was a half-truth, but it would do. “My anger is fading; let’s give love a try.” That was true; it seemed that the potion was already having its effect.
“I’m glad.” She leaned into him and kissed him. “We are not always free to choose our destinies or our emotions. I think we can make a good couple, and perhaps save the planet. Then neither of us will be sorry that it wasn’t natural.”
“But how can you be sure I don’t just tell you I love you, so that you won’t sick the harpies on me?”
“Unless you are immune to magic, there is no chance of that. Jod’e would have brought you to a similar chamber.”
“Jod’e would not have needed to.”
“When the fate of our world is at stake, the Adepts do not gamble. They chose her for you, and when she was lost, they chose me. I am not as good a choice, but will have to do; there was no one else convenient. Of course Jod’e will betray you to the Hectare, and they will know about the prophecy and the love, and probably that it is me you love. But we shall try to keep you out of their tentacles, until the prophecy is fulfilled.” She paused, gazing at him. “Now you may have the pleasure of using a woman you do not yet love, if you wish, or you may wait until you do. I am amenable to your preference. I have told you all that I know about this matter.”
She was certainly being candid! “What is your own preference?”
“Oh, I was hot for you when I first met you. Harpies are lusty creatures, being chronically male-starved. I loved it when you handled my legs! But you seemed destined for other things, so I resigned myself. I’d like to discover how many times and in how many ways it can be done in three days, with one man.”
“One man?”
“The limitation is male. If I had ten men here—”
“Oh.” He considered. He appreciated both her candor and her cynicism; it relieved him of confusion and conscience. He remembered how feminine even the complete robot Sheen had seemed; Echo was interesting despite what he knew of her. “Then let’s find out.”
She addressed him with a hunger that seemed even more intense than what Alyc had shown, and in a moment they were in the throes of sex, and in another moment beyond them. Her harpy aspect must indeed be hungry for male
interaction! She was evidently ready to continue, but his interest faded, so they talked instead. Her attentions to him continued during the dialogue, restoring his interest more rapidly than would otherwise have been the case.
They continued with both sex and history, in stages and bouts and alternations and mixtures, and time passed both rapidly and slowly, simultaneously. It hardly mattered what Echo said; Lysander was increasingly interested merely in listening to her, and in having her listen to him. Their sexmaking became lovemaking, the passion less, the satisfaction more. Being with her was sheer pleasure, of a sort he had not experienced before.
“It is true,” he said at last. “I have not loved before, but I do love you.”
“And I love you,” she said. “It is magical in origin, but I think I could have loved you anyway, had you had any natural interest in me. Soon we can emerge, but let’s not hurry.”
Lysander was enjoying himself, but something was bothering him increasingly. He did not want there to be a lie between the two of them. He wanted their love to be perfect, and feared it could not be.
“There is something I must tell you,” he said.
“That you now believe in love potions? I know it, Lysander.”
“That I love you too much to deceive you,” he said grimly. “I must tell you the truth, though it destroy your love for me.”
“Too late for that. Three days have passed, and I am lost. You can only hurt me, you can not destroy my love.”
The gravity of his situation suddenly tormented him. “I can lie to you only if you ask me to. I would prefer to do that, so as not to hurt you.”