Free Trade Secret (eARC) by Steve Miller, Sharon Lee Page B

know--who it is shared with. Do not be concerned of food or drink, for I shall provide a meal and delicacies for us. Arrive on time and I shall be but a few moments behind you."
    *
    Be bold for joy , his mother had told him. Be bold indeed! Who expected mysterious travel instructions on one's own ship, in halls he'd thought well known to him? Who expected that the woman he'd been faunching after for many days would offer to be I'gaina Prenada --his body mentor?
    He passed other crew members, wondering if his face was yet as flushed as he'd felt it before leaving his room, for the excitement was in him now, anticipation. He recalled the blouse Gaenor was wearing the last time he'd seen her, and hurried up the 'tween deck-ladder rather than waiting for a lift.
    He carried in one hand the flimsy swipe-key and his brief letter that had enclosed it--as found at the mail drop, the Master Trader having been more informed than prescient, was his guess. The letter had inspired his research, as well as his shower, his careful inspection to be sure that his mustache and beard were yet under control, Liadens being odd about face hair, he knew.
    The directions, he realized, were part of the game of this, and they reflected Gaenor's quiet idea of fun. She enjoyed puzzles and enlivened their walking language lessons with word games and trivia; at times she gave him jokes that were double or triple deep--well worth the time of a trader. But the fun she was promising this time . . . He hurried, knowing that no spot in the ship should be very far from any other, and that certainly ten minutes would be more than he'd need, but if the goal was to tease and excite, her instructions were managing that.
    *
    Jethri stood in the back corridor on Elthoria 's second level. In his mind he traced the ship's plan as far as he knew it and saw that he was in the section occupied largely by pilots and technical crew--but in the long corridor with a short jogging turn giving good access to the onboard trade deck and conference rooms and perhaps, but yes, the guest suites; ahead was a corner, giving way to a short connecting corridor to an access walk to the outer rim. There was a suite entrance there, too, he knew, but the numbers escaped him momentarily.
    Coincidentally the room was next to one of the combined lift and stair shafts, an excellent location for quick and quiet access.
    And there, GS 3A it was--he recognized it now--for like the three other guest suites there was a multitoned occupancy marker as well as the key swipe at the door. It seemed a silly thing to do on a ship that otherwise read his hands or eyes for admittance anywhere, but he swiped the key and entered, curiosity not the only thing behind the advanced beating of his heart, for if Gaenor waited . . .
    The suite opened almost silently, and he entered, to discover a room like none other he'd seen on Elthoria , hearing the door seal behind him. While the low lighting might be simple energy conservation the rest of the room was rich-looking; there was a small couch of fine leather, and a meal table of carved wood, and a bunk--well, no, a bed!
    The bed was triple or more the size of a bunk, he thought, with pillows piled high and piled about, and both headboard and footboard of wood that matched the table and--well, the whole room. There were low-lit alcoves, and viewing screens on several sides of the bed, and a well-equipped work area with multiple chairs and a desk and work screens.
    The walls were covered in a finely decorated cloth, and there were vents, and more vents, shades of a workroom, high and low--his time with stinks runs on the Market left him no doubt that he could dump a half tub of beer and not one bit of the odor would go beyond the room, unless he spilled it on himself.
    The colors of the room were hard to define since the lighting varied from spot to spot, with some areas shading green and some blue, though it was clear that the bed itself was more lit than the couch or