"How's the Kerijen project coming, Clarity, darling? You and Armansire continuing to make progress?"
"We're still modifying fragrances, waiting for a new batch of codes to arrive from Mantis. But it's coming along."
"Fine, fine." A bit of a genuine smile replaced the false one. "We still set for dinner tonight? Fragonard's is doing pinkfish in a sepper reduction, I understand."
She hesitated, favoring him with a pleading look. "Could we put it off for a day or two, Bill? Philip and I have a lot of catching up to do."
"Of course you do, of course!" Behind Ormann's crinkled expression, blood boiled. "Take some time to reminisce. In fact, why don't you take the rest of the day off? I'll see that it's cleared with Personnel."
"Thanks, Bill," she replied gratefully. "That's good of you."
"How long's it been, anyway?" he asked conversationally, his attention alternating between her and Flinx. Across the room, Pip was preparing to unfurl her wings. Flinx shot her a calming glance. She settled down but remained wary and alert.
"Six years," Clarity said.
"That's a long time to be out of touch." Ormann felt a little better about her canceling their dinner. "No wonder you have a lot to talk about. I'd join you," he added paternally, "but I'd just be a third wheel. No reference points for the conversation. You two go ahead and catch up, have a good time." He leaned toward Clarity. "The pinkfish will wait."
A raft of conflicting emotions raced through Flinx as they kissed. It was a polite kiss only, but what else would one expect with a third person present? The shallowness of it did not necessarily translate into a paucity of feeling. Certainly Ormann was deeply in love with Clarity. Nor did it necessarily demand one be an empath to discern the bond. Although he bore William Ormann no ill will, the only thing that mattered was how Clarity felt about the relationship, not him.
"I'll see you later," Ormann told her affectionately. Turning to leave, he smiled amiably down at Flinx. "Where did you say you were from, Philip?"
"Moth," Flinx replied honestly.
The other man frowned. "I don't think I've heard of it. Is it near Eurmet?"
Flinx shook his head. "It's a class five outpost world. Still pretty raw. Circled by gravitationally interrupted rings."
"Oh, now I remember," Ormann said brightly. "The winged planet. I've seen pictures. Raw's the word, I guess. Origins considered, you seem to have turned out well enough."
Flinx smiled back. Across the room, Pip lifted from the table. Drawn by the deep humming noise of her wings, everyone turned to look. Slitted eyes were intent on the company vice president.
"I note the relationship," Ormann commented genially, unaware that he was in imminent danger of being slaughtered. "Perhaps we'll have the chance to talk again, Philip. At more length. But I have work to do, and you two have some ancient history to share." He departed with a last warm smile for Clarity. "See you later, darling."
As he exited he shot a surreptitious glance backward. Her expression as she resumed talking to Lynx was inscrutable. Just a voice from her past, he told himself. Nothing more. As she'd said, an old business acquaintance. Younger than her, too. Also taller, and much too good-looking for Ormann's peace of mind.
He turned up the hallway, heading for his office. Only a field-worker. Surely there could have been nothing between them beyond the kind of professional friendship that inevitably developed between any two people who worked closely together on a distant, undeveloped, uncivilized world. He'd watched with contentment as Clarity had dismissed or dealt with one hopeful office suitor after another before settling on him. She was too clever for them, or her standards were too high.
Not too clever for Bill Ormann, though. He took a certain amount of pardonable pride in their relationship. Though he'd been with his share of women, he'd never met anyone like Clarity Held. Add her compassion and independence into the mix and you had something unique. Someone he fully expected to make, within the year, the third Mrs. William Ormann. His superiors approved, too. And with each passing week, with each pleasant Nurian month, Clarity seemed that much more willing. They got along well together, enjoyed many of the same things.
So an old acquaintance had unexpectedly put in an appearance. From what little he had been able to see, that was all they had in common. Some small, insignificant bit of mutual history. That, and pet Alaspinian minidrags. Hardly a basis for alarm. He lengthened his stride. He hadn't lied to facilitate a graceful exit. He did have work to do.
Let Clarity spend the afternoon with this Philip Lynx. Let her spend a day or two with him. What was the harm? His affable compliance, indeed encouragement, Ormann knew, could only enhance his stature in her eyes.
Yes, he thought as he entered the lift that would take him to the upper floors where the company executives had their nests, he had handled it very well indeed.
CHAPTER SIX
Though they talked all that afternoon and on through dinner, Flinx deliberately kept the conversation casual. Whenever she tried to probe, he diverted the exchange to her history. She was happy enough to chat about herself, though whenever the subject turned to Bill Ormann she was less forthcoming. That suited Flinx fine. He really did not want to talk about Ormann.
The following morning he met her outside her residential complex. At her insistence, he had dressed for light hiking. She was looking forward, she had explained the previous night, to showing him a little of why the inhabitants of New Riviera were envied by their fellow citizens throughout the Commonwealth.
They took public transportation to a central downtown terminal where they boarded a local transport. In half an hour they were speeding silently down a propulsion rail that wound deep into gentle, rolling hills. Other passengers, young couples from the city, spared the tall redhead and his companion nary a glance. In contrast, the two flying snakes inspired frequent comments and wide-eyed glances from children traveling with their parents. One young girl went so far as to shyly ask permission to pet Scrap. Detecting no threat, the minidrag dozed indifferently on Clarity's shoulder as the fascinated child drew her fingers cautiously down the flying snake's spine, pausing once or twice to feel the pleated wings folded tightly against the scaly body. Raising one eyelid halfway, Pip scrutinized the activity and, sensing nothing inimical, promptly dropped back to sleep.
In twos and family groups, people left the liftcar until only two couples were left. When the transport next slowed Clarity rose, hefted one of the two hiking packs she had brought along, handed the other to Flinx, and headed for the exit.
"End of the line," she announced. "From here we walk."
He followed her outside. The last time he had gone for a hike with a backpack it had been on a world called Pyrassis. His surroundings today were a little more accommodating.
Instead of hostile alien desert he found himself walking through a forest of exotic, colorful blossoms. Instead of sprouting from bushes, the profusion of lavender and cerise, pink and turquoise, white and metallic gold blooms sprouted from the branches of pale-boled trees that twisted their way skyward like spiral bouquets. Whereas on Earth and other worlds he had visited, plants spent much of their time and energy fighting for every scrap of sunlight and ground space, here the trees seemed in competition to see which one could put forth the most spectacular blossoms. Overhead, Pip and Scrap circled and hummed gleefully as they played among the branches.
He had never seen so many flowers in one place. The air was saturated with perfume and his mind grew dizzy trying to assign names to all the colors he saw. The climbing, corkscrewing trunks of one grove of takari they hiked past climbed more than thirty meters into the sky. From the lowermost branch to the topmost sprig, every helical limb and twig was heavy with blooms. It was a flourish of natural beauty beyond anything he had previously encountered. When he remarked on it to Clarity, she only laughed.
"Nur is full of valleys like this one. As many as possible have been left in a wild or semiwild state for the public to enjoy." She paused
to point out a miniature carpet of deep blue stem-flowers that hummed whenever they were vibrated by a passing breeze. They were as perfect and delicate as the takari were tall and robust. "This," she informed him, "is why nobody on New Riviera gives flowers to mark an occasion. There's nothing special about them, and anyone who wants some can step outside and pick what they like, even in the middle of a city like Soothal or Nelaxis."
"You flatter them more than they you," he commented.
Her expression turned mischievous. "Now, what book did you pull that out of?" She was not displeased, he believed. That was one thing he had observed about women in the course of his journeys. Where their personal appearance was concerned, there wasn't one who did not prefer to hear a clever artifice as opposed to an unbecoming truth. In this, Clarity was no different.
"It's true," he insisted.
"Bill wouldn't like to hear you say so."
If she was trying to draw him into a reaction by mentioning her paramour, she failed. At least, his expression did not change. He kept his attention focused on the magical landscape, asking the name of this tree and that bush, wanting to know the taxonomy of the variety of small furry things that darted and hopped out of their way whenever they approached. From time to time the pair of flying snakes would dart down to ensure that their respective masters were doing well before resuming their antics in the treetops.
"Where are we going?" He looked over at her. "Do you have some destination in mind or are we just rambling?"
"A little of both," she informed him. "Another hour's walk and we'll be someplace." With one hand, she gestured back the way they had come. "I'd like to get away from the other tourists, wouldn't you?"
Flinx was more than agreeable. The more privacy they had, the better he liked it. If only this sort of thing was as easy for him as it was for her. She could look around and see only forest and flowers, but he could not keep from picking up the nakedly broadcast emotions of every other wilderness hiker within kilometers. It wasn't that he wanted to. He simply had no choice in the matter.
But she was as true as her word. The longer they walked and the farther they were from the transport line terminus, the fewer and fainter were human feelings he was able to perceive. It was not the total emotional silence of free space, but it was mentally much quieter than the emotional pandemonium of a city.
The sun was still rising when they reached the lake. Having tired themselves playing among the blossoms, and somewhat bloated from having tasted more than a few of the sweet-smelling blooms, both minidrags had long since returned to their perches on their masters' shoulders.
Like the forest, the lake and its surroundings appeared so perfect as to have almost been landscaped instead of naturally formed. Set in a depression between rolling hills thickly carpeted with flower trees, the lake was supplied by a pair of small waterfalls rushing downward from opposing gullies.
Clarity pointed northward. "There are three larger lakes off that way. They're closer to the transport terminus and have extensive beaches, so that's where nearly everyone goes." She smiled. "Remembering how you are, I thought you'd prefer privacy to convenience."
"Actually, I like both," he told her. One hand absently stroked the back of Pip's head. "I usually don't find either. Given the choice, though, I do prefer the former."
Predictably, the water was just cool enough to be refreshing. Given the care with which the inhabitants of Nur looked after their environment, he wasn't surprised to find that it was also potable. Lying on his back floating on the surface, he ignored the tiny, questioning touches against his body that were made by curious lake dwellers. None of them were dangerous, Clarity assured him. Pip and Scrap remained on shore, coiled up next to each other in the crook of a blue-boled tree, their forms nearly lost among the blossoms. Minidrags did not much care for swimming.
The sun was just warm enough and the water just cool enough for him to almost relax. He couldn't remember the last time he had done so on the surface of a world. New Riviera was almost obscenely benign. Despite Clarity's assurances, he was convinced it couldn't last. For him, such serenity never did.
Climbing out of the water, they dried themselves and lay down on the compact blankets she had brought along. Though there was no beach, the mosslike ground cover that grew down to the water's edge provided comfortable padding beneath their backs. With the sun warming his face and body, Flinx felt he could fall easily asleep and perhaps even enjoy it.
The subtle sound of branches being pushed aside alerted him to the presence of something larger than the harmless, stingless arthropods who worked tirelessly to keep the flower trees pollinated. Rising on one elbow, he turned to look in the direction of the noise. Next to him, Clarity was staring toward the forest.
"Don't move," she whispered tensely.
He eyed the creature that had emerged from the fragrant brush and was gazing directly toward them. "I thought Nur was a paradise world devoid of dangers."
"Almost." He could feel the apprehension rising in her. "That's a breagar. I'm afraid it falls into the category of almost."
The new arrival was the size of a Terran horse but twice as heavy, with massive shoulders that flowed down into stumpy, thick legs, the front ones longer than the hind pair. Its head was huge, with four long jaws that met like pincers. They were lined with rows of teeth designed to cut, with four much longer interlocking teeth tipping the end of each jaw. The breagar's eyes were small, red, and set far back in the skull that comprised almost a third of the animal's length. In place of ears half a dozen coiled, vibration-sensitive hairs protruded stiffly from the top of the skull. They were in constant motion, sampling the air and occasionally curling downward to touch the ground.
"Carnivore?" he whispered to his companion.
"Omnivore," she told him. "Wholly indiscriminate. A breagar will eat anything. I'm told one was once found with half an air scooter in its stomach. The environment department can use only charge-guarded refuse recyclers in areas where they live because they'll eat the recycler along with the garbage. If we keep still, it may very well go away. Probably it just came down for a quick drink."
Sure enough, the scavenger lumbered past them to the water's edge. Bending its front knees, it began to drink noisily. Lacking any sort of tongue, it suctioned water up through the tip of its nearly closed four jaws. Up in the flower trees, alert to their masters' heightened tension, the two flying snakes were now fully aware of the potential danger. In the absence of panic on the part of either Flinx or Clarity, the minidrags remained on their blossom-bedecked perch. But it was good to know, Flinx thought, that they were watching.
Having drunk its fill, the breagar turned to leave. Water dribbling from its complex snout, it suddenly paused. Maybe it heard something; maybe it smelled something new and different. In any event, it turned and without warning broke into a gallop directly toward Flinx and Clarity. Only a dozen or so meters away, it had very little ground to cover.
The minidrags, unfurling pink and blue wings, launched themselves toward their masters. They had no chance, Flinx saw, of arriving in time. Letting out a shout that was half scream of fear and half warning, Clarity scrambled to rise and head for the lake. A breagar could swim but not half as fast as a human. Flinx saw that she would not make the water in time. Estimating the distance that the mini-drags, Clarity, and the breagar had to travel raced through Flinx's mind in an instant.
That same mind responded.
As Pip and Scrap sped toward them and a frantic Clarity threw herself into the water, he let that portion of himself that was so sensitive to the feelings of others range outward. The past several years had demonstrated that his ability to receive and influence the emotions of other beings was not restricted to the more Byzantine emotions of sentients but extended to any creature evolved enough to feel them.
From the breagar he received hatred and hunger. He responded by projecting the calm that had come over him ever since he had stepped off the transport earlier that morni
ng. Concentrating, focusing, he dimly heard Clarity screaming at him to run for the water. He half closed his eyes, letting the peace of the day flow over him and take complete possession of his inner self.
Of course, if he was wrong, he might end up a mass of broken bone and meat. He would not have tried it if Pip had not been racing to his aid. He was gambling that if his efforts failed, she would arrive in time to stop the breagar. She might not kill it, but a well-placed glob of her highly corrosive venom should be more than sufficient to distract it.
For such a bulky, clumsy-looking creature, the breagar was surprisingly fast. It was almost on top of him when it abruptly slowed, then halted. Shoulder deep in the lake, Clarity stopped yelling and looked on in bewilderment. She shouldn't be bewildered, she knew. This was Philip Lynx. She had seen what he could do. Whatever he had done and might still be doing to the breagar was neither visible nor perceptible.
Slowly, Flinx stood up. The four opposing jaws of the breagar swayed back and forth less than a meter in front of him. The creature was breathing hard from its short, powerful sprint, the immense head turned slightly to allow one red eye to focus on its intended prey. Pip and Scrap hovered anxiously overhead, the loud humming of their wings the only sound.
Reaching out with one hand, Flinx gently and without fear began to stroke the tip of the breagar's long snout.
Arms moving slowly back and forth in the water, hardly daring to breathe for fear of doing something to upset the delicate, unnatural tableau, Clarity stared openmouthed at the scene on shore. Only when the breagar folded its legs beneath its massive torso, lay down, closed its eyes, and went to sleep did she dare emerge slowly from the lake.
Keeping Flinx between her and the snoring omnivore, she picked up a towel and began to dry herself. Lost in contemplation of the breagar, it finally occurred to him that she might have reasons for not speaking, other than inherent non-volubility.
"It's all right," he told her. "It won't bother us now."
"I saw a breagar in a zoo, once. I never expected to get any closer to one than that." Reaching out with a tentative hand, she touched the long snout. The skin felt like warm leather. When the creature let out a contented snort, eyes still shut, she nearly jumped off the blanket.
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