Страница 21 из 104
“Oh, phooey. How long will it be before you know for sure the quality of the new stones?”
“Oh, we know that already. The new mine will be every bit as good as the original Yang diamond, possibly even better. As a matter of fact … excuse me for just a moment.”
Da
Twelve hours later, Da
For one thing, she seemed to know every low-life pit stop in the five-kilometer sprawl of tu
On the other hand, with all his questions he was getting nowhere fast. No one had heard of the Bun, under that or any other of his preferred names. It wasn’t until the sixth port of call that Da
“I never heard of your friend.” The speaker was a tall black man with a face almost invisible behind a tangled beard. He was swaying on his feet and within minutes of final collapse. The cloud of secondhand intoxicants diffusing from him was enough to make Da
“The best.”
“Then you ought to go find Fireside Elsie. I heard talk of a fancy data tap with a top gadgeteer involved. It came through Fireside Elsie, but I don’t think it was her game. If it was, you can be sure she didn’t do the work herself.”
“Why?”
“Why? Because she’s a bleeding Salamander, that’s why. No Sally would do gadgeting, it’s beneath them.”
“Can you tell me how to find her?”
“I could, but I’m not going to.” The man sat down suddenly. “I’m going to sit here and pass out. Get your friend Leaping Lizzy to take you. She’ll take you all right! Just look at her.”
Da
The things you did for your friends. I ought to have gone to Europa and let Chan come here . But Da
If you could use the word music for such a cacophony. Da
“Now why would you be interested in a Sally woman?” Alice put her arms around his waist and squeezed him until he couldn’t breathe. “Looking for something hot. Too cool for you, am I?”
“The investor I was telling you about. Fireside Elsie may know him.”
“Phooey. You told me I could keep that diamond.”
“You can.” God, she was strong. It was Da
“Next stop but one you’ll see Fireside Elsie — provided you treat me nice, I’ll show you where. Come on, Jack, let yourself go. Have some fun.”
Her breasts pushed into his chest. Her perfume filled his nostrils. As Da
An hour later that prospect no longer seemed so fanciful.
Da
Da
Alice had dropped him off at a dark and airless cavern with a casual, “Here you are. This is the Fireside. I’ll collect you in half an hour. Will that be enough time?”
“Should be. But what are you going to do?”
“Make sure we have a place to sleep.”
“I already made a reservation at the Crystal Gate.”
“Forget it. That’s for old people.”
Keep this up, and that’ll be me. “But Alice, don’t you think you ought to come in with me? I don’t know anyone in there.”
“Phooey. You’ve got a tongue.” She stuck hers out at Da
And she skipped away.
Da
A woman was approaching out of the shadows. Not a woman, a something. No, he had been right the first time. It was a woman.
“Sallies only in the Fireside,” she said in a husky, musical voice. She was close to naked, wearing nothing but wisps of black cloth across her chest and hips. They emphasized her powerful build and the ribbed muscles of her abdomen, but that was not the thing that puzzled Da
It was her skin. It displayed a granular texture, like a layer of silver paint over a pattern of fine scales. Nobody had skin like that. “Sallies only,” she said again when he did not move or speak. “Out.”
“I don’t want service. My name is Jack Eckart. I’m looking for Fireside Elsie.”
“You found her. This is my place.” She held out a hand. Her grip was strong but the fingers were ice-cold, like the hand of a corpse. She went on, “Who gave you my name?”
“I don’t know. He was a tall black man, back at the Golden Goose. He seemed about ready to pass out.”
“Louie Lucas. Why’d he tell you about me?”
“I’m looking for a friend of mine, Bu
They examined each other closely. Her face had a thin, prominent nose and a near-lipless mouth. Da
At last she said, “Can you pay for information?”