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alone."
"Mmm," he said. "Tell them I'll go take a real shower, and they can bathe as
long as they like."
He edged himself out of the bunk carefully, lifting Mirina's head from his
shoulder onto the pillow. He left the coverlet tucked around her where his arm
had been. She let out a small sigh.
"Probably hasn't felt this safe in ages," Keff said quietly to Carialle. He
walked silently toward his bathroom. Carialle must condone his sympathy for
Mirina. She was perfectly capable of making the humidity or temperature
controls in his private quarters go squiffy out of pettiness, but the air was
warm on his naked skin, and even the floor had been heated to a comfortable 18
degrees C.
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JODY LYNN NYE - [The Ship Who Sang Series - 06] The Ship Errant
Keff passed up the sonic cleaner for the shower fixture. He fitted the
standards into the depressions in the deck, snapped the extendable envelope
out into a rectangular booth two meters high and a meter square, and twisted
the water spigots on to full. Jets of water shot out of the metal disk at the
top, hammering at the booth floor and sides. An answering rush of water across
the corridor told him the Cridi had heard his cue. As soon as the water warmed
up to a comfortable temperature, he climbed into the booth and sealed it
around him. He stood under the shower for a good twenty-five minutes, until
his fingers turned into pale prunes.
"Are they finished, Cari?" Keff asked, as loudly as he dared. His voice
sounded curiously dead in the heavy plastic tent.
They are," Carialle chuckled. "Narrow Leg said they ( wouldn't have had to do
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this in stages if you hadn't / put their swimming pool in the storeroom."
With a thankful sigh, Keff spun the controls off. He shouldered into his
toweling robe and walked back into the sleeping room, rubbing his hair dry
with a clean cloth.
Mirina stirred and opened her eyes at the small sound. Her eyes crinkled as
she grinned at him, embarrassed. She sat up, clasping the coverlet to her
body.
"Sony. Have I slept too long?" she asked.
"Not at all," Keff said. "I've just finished. The bath is yours."
She stretched out her arms, throwing her head back with abandon. "Mmm! I
haven't had a refreshing sleep like this in ages. Thank you. And, thank you
for last evening."
The wickedly coy look, through the eyelashes, returned just for a moment. "I
was supposed to come and win concessions from you, but I think I gave up as
much as I
got."
"My pleasure," Keff said, with a twinkle.
"Thank you. I ought to watch my liquor consumption," Mirina said, seriously.
"I
shouldn't have talked so much."
"Not at all," Keff said. "I understand. Truly, I do." Mirina gave him a
skeptical, almost pitying look. He wished again he could tell her the truth,
but Carialle was right. He must not blow their cover too soon, even for a
fellow brawn in need.
He extended a hand to help Mirina off the bunk, but she smiled a polite
refusal, and dropped lightly onto the soles of her feet. She did accept his
spare robe, and trailed off
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JODY LYNN NYE - [The Ship Who Sang Series - 06] The Ship Errant into the
steamy, tiled bathroom with an easy, spacers stride. Keff dressed, listening
to her hum happily in the shower.
Once they emerged into the main cabin, there were no signs of the Cridi at
all, except that the indicator on the food synthesizer was a little lower than
it had been the night before. Mirina didn't notice the discrepancy, but then,
she'd had the lion's share of brandy and wine, Keff programmed her a nice
breakfast, and poured himself a health shake with extra calcium and vitamin E
to help chase away the dregs of a headache that loomed behind his eyes. For
all her shamed protest, Mirina looked as if she was rather less worse for the
wear than he was.
"Mmm, what's that?" Mirina asked, putting down her coffee cup. She pointed at
a light blinking on Carialle's imaginary console.
"Communications," Carialle said in his ear.
"Communications," Keff echoed, springing up. "The Lady!" He went to one of the
real control boards, and punched a button. That one normally activated the
lights in the cargo bay, but Minna wouldn't know that. One of the screens
blanked, then filled with the image of Carialle's Lady Fair. Keff blinked. She
wore an up-to-date coiffure, and tunic set of gauzy blue fabric with flowing
sleeves, plus plenty of sparkling jewelry. She looked expensive, impatient,
and very efficient.
"Keff? Is that you?" Carialle's voice asked impatiently.
"Yes, ma'am," Keff said, speaking with his mouth close to the audio pickup
just for effect.
"My ship is in range of this planet, ETA two hours. I want a full report.
What's this meeting supposed to be about?" Her eyes flicked past Keff to
Mirina. "Who is that woman?"
"She's, uh, she's a representative of the other group," Keff said. "The
Melange. Mirina
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Don, er, Carialle."
"Madam," Mirina said.
"Greetings." The eyes returned to Keff. "I'll expect a full briefing in an
hour. The meeting will commence when I make orbit. Do you understand?"
"I do, ma'am," Keff said, humbly. The screen blanked. He turned to Mirina. She
looked pleased.
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JODY LYNN NYE - [The Ship Who Sang Series - 06] The Ship Errant
"I'll go tell Bisman," she said.
Carialle had her suit-clad image smile at Bisman and his cronies as they
stalked into the central cabin. The half-dozen human raiders shed oily,
yellow-brown mud from their boots everywhere. She cast her eyes upward in
disgust, and enjoyed the scowl on the leader's face as he slung himself into
one of the crash couches.
"Upscale meets bargain basement," she said to Keff over the aural link.
"You'll have to tidy that after the meeting's over," she added out loud.
"Yes, ma'am," Keff said, standing obsequiously beside the holographic chair in
which her image seated itself. Carialle had set almost all her protective
cameras over the end of the room where her painting apparatus usually stood.
The rack, and all of her personal paintings, were stowed hastily in the small
storeroom behind Keffs cabin. It left her image plenty of room to roam.
"I am Carialle," she said, with a nod of her head. "Greetings, gentlemen, and
madam."
Carialle nodded to Minna, clad in a similar shipsuit to the one she'd had on
the night before. The ex-brawn seated herself beside her brother at the dining
table clear across the cabin. The younger Don was a dark-haired, lanky young
man who didn't seem to know what to do with his long arms and legs. Bisman
wore a knee-length coat over an open-necked shirt and trousers tucked into his
muddy boots. The garments were clean but worn, adding to the impression Mirina
had given them of an organization too big for its budget. The only non-human
was the young Thelerie, Sunset. "You are all welcome."
"Say, wait a minute," Bisman said, turning his head to the right. He'd made
himself comfortable, but something caught his eye. He propelled himself
forward to wave a hand through Carialle's midsection. "She's a hologram!" he
exclaimed, turning on
Keff. "I thought we were meeting with the real thing!"
"You're hearing my real voice," Carialle said, with a trace of haughty
annoyance.
"And seeing my face. I'm not about to make myself vulnerable to strangers. I'm
sure you understand."
"Not being vulnerable, yeah," Bisman said, sitting down again, but not so far
back in the couch. He held up one hand and showed them a small commlink on his
wrist. "I
don't like tricks, either. I want you to know I'm in radio contact with my [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]