Free [Wildcards 10] - Double Solitaire by George R. R. Martin

fingers briefly around his. "No, Mark, no. Assigning blame at this late date is quite useless, and anyway, the original sin is mine. I brought Blaise into my world in a spray of bullets and blood."
    "He never knew you killed his guardian," Tom said.
    "Some things, maybe, are sensed by the soul."
    Tom set aside his beer and, propping his elbows on his knees, regarded her over the top of steepled fingers. "Are you planning to ask for some help?"
    Stiffly she said, "I would not so impose. Besides, I can handle matters myself."
    "Damn stiff-necked Takisian. You'd put your head in a noose just to prove it's a pretty necklace."
    "The point?" she gritted, eyeing him down the length of her upturned nose.
    "From what you've told me, you're going back to a pretty Byzantine and poisonous environment. You're going to need bodyguards."
    "Tommy, I could not ask it of you."
    "You're not. I'm offering."
    "Oh, man." Tachyon had never seen it outside of a movie screen, but Mark actually slapped his forehead. "I'm so dense. Now I remember you. You're the Turtle!"
    "Yeah, I'm the Turtle. An embarrassed and red-faced Turtle. I should have been the one to break her out of Governor's Island."
    "No, man, you're, like, a hero . You don't break the laws. Me" -- he shrugged -- "I'm already a fugitive from federal justice. What's another count on the rap sheet?"
    Tom's face clouded at the memory of the last time he'd faced off with Mark Meadows -- or rather one of Mark's "friends." J. J. Flash, Esquire, had firmly and comprehensively kicked Turtle's armored behind. Mark remembered at precisely the same moment and sucked in air in a quick little hiccuping gasp.
    "An... uh, I'm real sorry about Flash, but I had to get my kid."
    "Forget it." Tommy waved him off.
    Tachyon reasserted control over the conversation. "Gentlemen, I thank you for your most generous offers, but this --"
    "Makes perfect sense. Me and my 'friends' would be happy to go. Give Turtle here some backup."
    Tach nibbled at a forefinger, studied them from beneath her lashes. Two middle-aged men, and a more incongruous pair could not be imagined. Mutt and Jeff. And, Ideal, she loved them both so much... and could use them so much.
    Slowly she said, "Aces would do more than provide me with protection. If I was to return with you two in tow, it would improve my standing immeasurably." She smiled humorlessly. "On Takis reality is often shaped more by appearances than by objective fact."
    Tom suddenly stood and took a turn about the living room. His plump cheeks had gone pink, and his brown eyes were shining.
    "Another planet. Shit, I've hardly been to another state except New York. My whole life I've been waiting for this. When I was a kid, I'd stand at my bedroom window and watch the ships passing down the Kill. Just shadows and lights in the dark, going someplace wonderful. I wanted to be on those ships so bad."
    Tach held out a hand to him. "Now you will be."
     
    They were seated in a diner in Bayonne. Since Jube had traveled via Ackroyd's finger, it was another charming establishment worthy of Jay's low-class tastes. Jube's colorful shirt flared like an abstract painting against the tattered red plastic booth.
    "It's been set. White Sands in three days' time."
    Her mouth suddenly gone dry, Tach took a quick gulp of her vanilla shake. "How... how ironic," she said, and remembered her arrival forty-seven years before at those same White Sands. "The area is much more heavily guarded than it was in 1946. Are you sure this is wise?"
    "This is a Network ship. Nothing can detect it."
    "A slight exaggeration. You've been trying to run the Takisian sensor net, and failing -- spectacularly, I might add."
    Jube brought his broad three-fingered hand down hard on the table. Glasses, salt and pepper shakers, and Tach, all jumped. " I haven't been doing squat about invading or infiltrating, or infecting Takis. I've been settled on Earth studying a most admirable group of aliens who have been royally