Free The Abulon Dance by Caro Soles

night. They could do guard duty and crowd control. Mine goes running with me early in the morning. Now I will feel doubly secure.”
    “I’m happy for you,” said Beny sarcastically. He clamped down on his feelings of anger, suspecting it was because the Serpian had no reason to be upset or embarrassed as they had. He looked at him consideringly. “Where do you keep your animal?”
    “It sleeps at the foot of my bed.”
    Beny thought he spotted a flash of amusement in the navy blue eyes. “You smug, self satisfied bastard,” he muttered.
    “Would you care to repeat that, Ambassador?”
    “No!” Beny looked about helplessly for a moment, wondering what had happened to their old, easygoing relationship.
    “If I may be frank, Orosin, I understand perfectly why you are so upset about this invasion of privacy. You are worrying about aliens watching your undoubtedly bizarre love-making rituals.”
    Beny’s face grew red with fury. “That remark is uncalled for! Just because you Serpians are forced to take a vow of celibacy—”
    “That is irrelevant. Tell me, if the dog had not been in your bedchamber last night watching you and Eulio disporting yourselves, would you be this upset? Would you not simply have waited until morning and written a letter of gentle, diplomatic complaint?”
    “Damn you, Von!” Beny stared at the Serpian. Thar-von had never talked to him like this. When he thought he could trust his voice again, he went on. “It’s more than that. We have diplomatic immunity. Our apartments are supposed to be a little piece of Merculian in the wasteland of Abulon. It is our laws that should apply here. That’s what makes what they have done so serious.”
    “Please remember that these people are not used to dealing with I.P.A. member states. They do not know the ins and outs of intergalactic law. They are simply trying to protect important visitors from harm.”
    Beny ran his fingers through his thick curls and looked at the ceiling. His hands were shaking. Thar-von studied him. After a minute’s silence, he got up and came over to sit beside him. “Are you on stimulants?”
    Beny nodded numbly.
    “Can I get you something to drink? I know you always get thirsty when you’re on those things.”
    “You’re not my servant, Thar-von. I can get whatever I need myself.” He sniffed miserably. “What do you suggest we do?”
    “I don’t think we should make a major issue of this.”
    Beny wiped his eyes. “We have to make an official complaint of some sort, Von. But I agree. No big commotion. What about a letter to the Chief explaining that we appreciate the good points of the system but would have preferred to have been informed.”
    “That sounds good. But no mention of the bedroom aspect, I think.”
    Beny nodded. “All right. And tell him we’re disconnecting the video transmitters.”
    Thar-von rose to his feet. “I will draw up the document and bring it in for your approval and signature in the morning.” He bowed and withdrew. Beny sat staring at the door after he had gone. His whole body was vibrating with tension. It was bad enough to discover they had been spied on by aliens without feeling he had been judged and found guilty by a friend for some crime he was unaware he had committed. He twisted the material of his tunic around in his hands. This was the kind of situation that could explode into major danger. He knew that. Just as he had sensed the danger in the apparently innocent meeting of Cham and that girl in the dining hall. Look where that had led! Here he was, deserted by the one person he had counted on to be there for him on this project, the only male he had ever trusted entirely.
    When he couldn’t stand it any longer, he steeled himself to face the shadowed corridor and knocked on Thar-von’s door. “I’m coming in,” he shouted.
    Thar-von sat beside the darkened window drinking siva , the fiery orange Serpian liquor. He had relaxed enough to undo the top three