The 97th Step (6 page)

One did not trifle with a goddess, intent on some Olympian task.

Ferret sighed, and could not help but return her smile as she approached him. Naked, she stood for a heartbeat in front of him. She did not speak, but leaned forward slightly and kissed him, gently, as a child kisses, save for a small flick of her tongue between his lips. Then she leaned back, turned, and returned to the stage. The music followed her moves now, rather than she the sound.

On the stage, she did a final twirl and spiraled gently down, to lie on her side. She closed her eyes, and the lights in the pub went to black. Seconds later, when the lights returned, she was gone.

There was stunned silence. The audience had come expecting to see a strip, and they certainly had, but none of them had ever experienced a dancer of such talent. It had to be seen to be believed, and even then, there was no explanation for it. Some kind of hypnosis. An optical illusion, maybe. A magic spell.

Ferret felt the gazes of nearly everyone in the pub weighing upon him. He met none of the looks, but turned back to the pubtender. The little brown man flashed his augmented grin, and Ferret shook his head. "I wish she wouldn't do that," he said.

"Count your blessings, Sahib. Count your blessings."

He had to smile at that. Oh, yes. Shar was something to be thankful for, no doubt about it.

Ferret slid from the stool, leaving a ten-stad coin on the bar as he moved. "See you later," he said.

"Much later, I would wager," the little man said. Platinum butterflies shined from his mouth as he laughed softly.

Six

FERRET LAY ON his back in Shar's bed, head propped on a thick pillow. He looked down the length of his naked body, but his view was impeded at his lean waist. Shar's unbound hair pooled over his loins, waving gently as she moved her hot mouth on him, one of her tawny arms over his belly, the other under his right thigh.

He groaned with pleasure. She moved faster, using her hands now, too. He felt the pressure build, build… crest… and hold.

He sighed, and reached down to stroke her head. "Hey," he said, "why don't you come up here?"

She raised her head, releasing him from the warmth of her mouth, and smiled at him. "Aw, you don't like it?"

"Up, woman. You. Up here." He pointed at her face, then at his own.

She laughed at him, and did an exaggerated climb up his form, as if she were scaling a tree. When she reached his face, she kissed him, and sprawled on top of him limply. She faked a sob and then said in a whine, "I work
so
hard, and you don't like it. What's wrong with me? I should have stayed in the hinterlands!"

"It's not you," he said, his voice serious.

She dropped the whine. "I know. It's okay, love. Really. Here, let's try this." She reached down and touched him with her hand, guiding him to her. He found the portal, thrust slightly, and became joined to her, a timeless journey that took only a second. Oh, yes!

She began to rock, crooning deep in her throat, and the pressure in his groin grew, until he thought he would explode. He waited for her, listening to the wordless tune grow more frantic, hearing her breathing turn ragged, feeling her tension increase. When she started to chant, "oh, oh, oh, oh—" he relaxed his control.

She began to shudder, her tight and silken muscles clamping and releasing rhythmically, stroking him in waves, calling to his very being.

He sought her depths, yearning to touch the core of her. His groan was contrapuntal to her chant, until she smothered his lips under hers, thrusting her tongue deeply into his mouth, a small balance for his body within hers. They drove into each other, seeking oneness. Then, for the briefest of moments, they found it.

One.

They continued to throb together for another four heartbeats, and then she went limp again, laying her cheek against his lips. He cupped her buttocks, holding her against him, reluctant to allow any space in their connection. The scent of their musk covered them, as did the sweat of their exertions, and both mingled with her perfume, something based on spice, sharp and sweet. The combination smelted to Ferret of more than sex; it was the pungent fragrance of love.

Later, she rolled over and pulled the silk sheet up to cover them. She nestled under his arm, kissing him on the nipple. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming to the Singularity?"

"I wasn't sure I was going until the last minute."

"Sheeit," she said. She leaned over quickly and jerked one of his chest hairs out with her teeth.

"Hey, ow!"

"You deserve it for lying to me."

"Well, okay. I wanted to see you dance, but I didn't want you to see me. You always do the same thing when you see me. It—it—"

"—embarrasses you," she finished.

"No—" he began. She leaned over and grabbed a mouthful of his chest hair in her teeth.

"All right, yes, it embarrasses me!"

She let go of his hair and snuggled closer to him. "I love it! Ferret the smuggler, the diamond-hard thief, shy about being kissed in public! You blush every time, it's so cute! You're blushing right now! It makes you appealing, you know."

He growled at her, a mock carnivore rumble, and she squealed and hid her face in his armpit. After a moment, she pulled back and propped herself up on one elbow to look at him. She traced the line of his nose, then his lips with one finger. "Most of the men I have been with would make love to me on the court of a crowded poisonball stadium, and in view of the entire Confed broadcast net without a second thought. They want me that bad. You want me too, but you are so reserved, so proper. Even when we're alone. I find it absolutely charming."

He managed a chuckle. "All my women say that."

She sat up, crosslegged, and glared at him. "What women? You'd better not have any other women!"

"Hey, this is supposed to be an open relationship. You have other men when I'm gone, don't you?"

"Sometimes. But that doesn't count! I don't love them!"

"So, who says I love my other women?"

"I'm going to hit you, Mwili Ferret Rat Turd!" She snatched up the pillow and raised it threateningly over her head.

He laughed. "All right, all right! There aren't any other women!"

"You promise?" She lowered the pillow slightly.

"I promise."

"Any men?"

He shook his head, suddenly serious. "Not for a long time. I have a… bad association with that."

She dropped the pillow, immediately contrite, and practically leaped on him, hugging him tightly. "I know.

I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said it."

It was Ferret's turn to prop himself away from her. "How do you know? I've never said anything about male lovers I might have had."

"That's how I know."

He shook his head. "Ah, Jesu, you and Stoll, you must get together and compare tapes. He knows things I don't say, too." He paused for a second, remembering.

"Well. There have been a few. Not pleasant memories, most of them."

She reached out to lay one hand on his tight shoulder. She stroked the muscle softly. "You don't have to talk about it," she said.

He opened his eyes and looked at her. She was talented, beautiful, and she loved him. As he did her.

Counting Stoll, she made two, the only two real friends he'd ever had. No, that wasn't quite true. There had once been another, met during the years of lane running, but that was down the exhaust a long time ago. If he couldn't trust Shar by now, he never would. They had been lovers for years. He still did not understand what she saw in him.

"It's not that pretty a story," he said. "But I'll tell you, if you want."

"More than anything," she said.

He looked at her perfect face, and he believed her.

"It began when I left Cibule," he said. "On a freighter bound for Krishna…"

Seven

SEX HAD BEEN a major shock to Mwili.

Sex was not something spoken of on the farm. He had viewed the instruction tapes for his schooling, of course, though they had been rather limited. There had been an illicit info ball passed around among some of the boys his age, and it had described, but not shown, certain practices common between men and women, men and men, and even two women. But seeing a slack-faced man lecture via holoproj was a light-year from the actual experience. The fat First Officer, Benjo, had been as gentle as he could, but it had not been pleasant for Mwili. More than the pain was the shame. He was tainted forever;
kjere
, and damned by God. Much, if not all, of the crew was also damned. Aside from normal male and female relations, men paired with men, women with women, there were
groups*
, and casual fornication was the rule rather than the exception. It seemed that nearly everyone on the ship was either
doing
it, bragging about just having done it, or talking about preparing to do it.

Mwili did not doubt that his father would have nodded grimly and knowingly, had he been aware of his son's companions. And, in truth, the boy began to wonder if perhaps his father wasn't right.

It was all so disgusting.

He was ashamed and disgusted, and his first thought was to jump ship at Kalk. To be away from the perversions he had to endure. But he didn't. He stayed on the ship until it reached Krishna. He did not know why, then.

In her bed, Shar laid a gentle hand on Ferret's shoulder. He looked at her, and his smile was less than happy, but more than bitter.

"You understand why I didn't leave?"

Softly, she said, "I think so."

He nodded. "It took me years to learn why. I couldn't begin to see it at the time, and I didn't want to admit it to myself later when it finally became clear."

She said it for him. "You were excited by it."

He nodded again. "Oh, yes. Backplanet boy that I was, knowing I was going to burn for eternity because of it, even so, yes, I was caught up in it. It was heady. And Benjo was the first person, save for my mother, who had ever demonstrated any real affection for me. Even a perverse love was better than no love at all. He wasn't an evil man, he was even tender with me, in his own way."

"I understand. Go on."

He took a deep breath, remembering the far away time and place. "I grew up fast. There was no choice."

There was an underground of sorts in the space lanes, a network of people and mues who traveled constantly the galactic wastes back and forth between the few habitable planets, moons and wheelworlds. People who fell into the Confed's cracks, faceless, worldless, people who lived on the fringe. The lanes were harsh places, danger could come from the Confed or other laners, because the law did not have a place for such folk. If the cools caught you, it was locktime; if you were hit and hurt by another laner, there was no one to take the complaint—you watched your own ass, first and last, because nobody else would.

It took Ferret awhile to plug into it, to find his way into a lifestyle that was less than luxurious, but more than survival. There were some who did it legally, rich people who were gypsies, never staying in one place for more than a few days, those with enough stads to bribe their way. But mostly, the laners existed by working illegal trades. Many were whores; some were smugglers; there were scam artists, ticket forgers, stowaways and rebels against the Confed.

And, of course, there were thieves.

One of the first things Ferret learned was the need for proper identification. Benjo had a forged ID cube he gave the boy, one that would allow him basic Confederation passage onto and off of Krishna. But each world was different, aside from the hard and ubiquitous Confederation rules. There were a lot of things he needed to know, things he would have to pay to learn.

Reluctantly, for the First Officer had come to enjoy his company, Benjo put Ferret in touch with a laner he knew on Krishna. The man took his payment from the boy in the same manner as the fat First Officer had done.

Within a month, Ferret was much wiser in the ways of the galaxy than any boy his age on Cibule. Much wiser.

The laner called himself Wall Eye, for a weak muscle that allowed his right eye to drift somewhat when he was tired. He was maybe forty T.S. years old, thin and sharp-featured, with gray hair worn plastered flat to his head in a style popular on Baszel a decade past. His clothes were cheap, but clean, synlin coveralls and fast-track athletic shoes. He always smelled of roses, and Ferret never knew why. He taught Ferret things.

"Y'see that machine, boy?'

Ferret nodded. They were in the main spaceport in the city of Rama, the largest city on Krishna. The machine was a robotic ticket dispenser. A customer inserted his stad cube, punched up his destination, and the proper amount was deducted from his bank balance, while the "ticket" was credited to his cube.

Every spaceport had dozens of such devices.

"Watch as Old Hairy takes it for a ride."

Old Hairy was a laner Ferret had met briefly. He was as bald as an egg on top, though he was supposed to be layered with a thick mat of fur like hair everywhere his clothes covered. Ferret didn't know, and didn't want to find out.

The man approached the machine and inserted a cube. Then, before the machine could do more than acknowledge the insertion, Old Hairy punched the retrieve key, removed the cube, and quickly inserted another cube. The small holoproj screen started to clear.

"Lookit his hand."

Ferret looked. "I don't see—"

Old Hairy removed the second cube just as quickly, then shoved a third cube into the machine. As he did so. Ferret caught sight of at least two or three more cubes clutched and mostly hidden in his left hand.

The machine's screen flowed with numbers, but it was not getting to finish a transaction before Old Hairy started working it again. He moved precisely, no wasted movements, and Ferret was reminded of a magician he had seen once on Cibule.

Within a minute, the laner had inserted and removed at least five cubes into and from the machine. The screen pulsed once, flashing an amber light.

"Here he goes," Wall Eye said.

Old Hairy began tapping at the keyboard, his fingers flashing like a champion word processor. The ticket machine emitted a sharp
bleat!
but the man kept typing. After a moment, he stopped, sighed deeply, and smiled at the machine. Without being obvious, Old Hairy looked around. He spotted Wall Eye and Ferret, and nodded once, acknowledging them. Wall Eye smiled and nodded back.