Страница 6 из 89
Mary A
Joe glowered, unable to think of an answer, and slunk back toward the ocean.
"Cad?"
It was Sylvia. Cadma
Sylvia was over by the fire. She wore a two-piece swimsuit, something from an Earth designer who had understood what to conceal and what to reveal.
Cadma
"Ah-Cad, did you fix the fence?" Sylvia asked.
A voice too close behind Cadma
"Senora. Go jump in a thorn bush. Here." He tossed his spare beer pouch over his shoulder. "Think fast! Good catch."
A guitar twanged nonsensically, then produced a tune Cadma
Phyllis danced for her own pleasure, for the colonists, and most especially for Hendrick, who watched her with pride and hunger.
Carolyn watched for a few seconds, then humphed and stamped off.
Carlos watched Phyllis for a dozen bars, examining her movement with the eye of a master sculptor inspecting a block of marble. "She is good, that one," he said offhandedly. "She must learn the real flamenco technique."
"And you'll be glad to teach her."
"But of course."
"Go for it. Talk to Hendrick though. She may need a teacher, but he definitely needs a sparring partner."
"Sparring partner? No comprendo."
"Hendrick Sills was Golden Gloves middleweight champ about six years before we left Earth. Bet he'd love to discuss it with you."
"On the other hand..."
Cadma
Spicy meat smells rose from the grill. Much of the food was reconstituted, pouched and freeze-dried and soaked in water or wine-but there were two chickens and a turkey. Cadma
Morale must be worse than I thought if Zack authorized this burnt offering. Lost crops and too much work.
Thornwood logs made excellent coals when hot enough. The oily wood smoldered with a tantalizing hickory scent that blended nicely with the moist breeze from the ocean. Twin moonglades danced in the surf.
Sylvia poked in the grill with a long metal skewer. She glanced to her left where Terry was eating. He wasn't half finished. "Almost done. Cad." She turned the samlon steak. Even this cross section of the creature was queer, unearthly. The meat was pink like salmon, but two big arteries showed alongside its heavy spine-for heavier gravity-and the shape showed its flattened belly and strong bones.
"Big enough for two, Cad. Another minute."
"Sure." He sat beside her. "Hi."
"Hi yourself. I thought you might not come."
"So you sent Terry to fetch me."
"Sure." She speared a samlon. "Just right. Share?"
"Love to."
She hoisted it up and nibbled at it, and sputtered as she burned her mouth. Cadma
"Molten metal, molten metal-you do know the punishment for witches, Esmeralda."
"Sure, they hanged her goat. But Charles Laughton will give me sanctuary. Have some more."
He held up his hands in protest. "No, thanks. My tongue would never forgive me." But the first fragment had cooled, and it tasted fine. Taste of salmon, texture of... what? It wasn't flaky like fish. Beef heart? Striated, no fat...
She jabbed the second portion at him again, and he splashed some sand at it. "Get that poor dead thing away from me before I spank you."
Her eyes sparkled. "You..." Terry was close behind her, close enough that she fell silent, smiled and went back to tending the sizzling barbecue. Terry watched her go, then sat next to her with his cooling plate of ca
Ernst and La Do
Good. Salvage those good genes. La Do
Cadma
"We have them."
"Have-?"
"Juniper berries, silly. I remembered." Mary A
He smiled good-naturedly and buffed her. Her hair was ash-blond, it glowed in the double moonlight, and her skin was baby smooth and clear. Her body was toned and well-rounded. Rubens would have lusted to paint her-or something. Avalon's increased gravity had added six pounds to her weight when she set foot on the ground. All of the colonists showed better muscle tone, and so did Mary A
She giggled and leaned back into him in a clear invitation. Methodically he scrubbed out the wet tips of her hair and worked his way quickly down her body.
She sighed and shuddered slightly. "You have talents I didn't know 'bout, Cad."
"Part of the service. Where's Joe?" He moved his hands under the towel.
Her eyelids fluttered with brief, suppressed pain. "We don't keep track of each other." Her expression tightened. "Ah. I owe you a rub now."
Her skin beneath his hands was cool but growing warm. She's willing, she's nice... nicely shaped... isn't she smart enough? Isn't she Sylvia? He said, "We'll take a rain check on that."
"Coward." Mary A
He winked at her. "I may surprise you yet."
"Hah!" she said, and jiggled off to another bonfire. The men there shouted as she approached.
Cadma
Terry Faulkner said, "She's a dish."
"Yes, I've always liked Sylvia."
Terry's nose wrinkled. "Mary A
Cadma
"That's not what I'm here for, Terry."
"True..." Terry's gaze pa
"Come off it. Sylvia and I are just friends."
"I know." There was a cutting edge to Terry's voice. "You were pretty friendly the first three months you were down, while the rest of us were asleep up in the ship." He made harsh squiggling patterns in the sand with his toe.
"What's your point?"
"I'd just feel a lot better about it if you had a nice healthy interest in one of the other ladies, that's all."
Carlos was loitering nearby, his ear i
"Con gusto, amigo." Carlos walked away whistling.
"Terry, you must know there is nothing between me and your wife. We talk-"