Free The Abulon Dance by Caro Soles Page B

room.”
    “You took some getting used to.”
    “You took the trouble to try, Von. I’ll never forget how you came to my rescue that time at the Academy when those Lanserian thugs were beating me to a pulp. You looked out for me after that.”
    “Ben, please. That’s ancient history.”
    “Maybe. I just want you to know it’s not forgotten.”
    “Understood.” Thar-von sipped thoughtfully at his drink. “I apologize for what I said about you and Eulio. I had no right to say any of that.”
    “That’s all right, Von. I shouldn’t have mentioned your celibacy vow, either.”
    Thar-von nodded. “I’m beginning to think I no longer support the concept of purity of the race,” he said quietly.
    “I never understood it but I thought it was a basic Serpian tenet.”
    “It is. There are historical reasons for it—so many cases of monstrous birth defects in the past—but nevertheless….”
    “What’s changed your mind?”
    “Abulonian women.” He paused and Beny could feel the sigh. “Even the female androids in this place arouse me. Perhaps I am losing my mind. Could it be as simple as that?”
    “I thought Serpians don’t do that sort of thing.”
    “We don’t, as a rule. The strain is telling on me, I guess.”
    Beny nodded, his head on Thar-von’s chest. He was listening to the peculiar double thumps of the Serpian’s heart and wondered if there was any Abulonian woman in particular whom his friend found attractive. He knew better than to ask, however. He could sense that Thar-von’s unusual excursion into the personal was at an end, for now.
    “What do you think of the Chief, Von?”
    “The Am Quarr is a ruthless man. He does not trust us, but I think he is acting in good faith, as he understands it.”
    “I guess so. What about the First Minister?”
    “The difference between the two, as I see it, is that the First Minister thinks he has a sense of humor,” Thar-von remarked dryly.
    Beny smiled. “Maybe we just don’t understand Abulonian jokes.” He paused. “Sort of like Merculians with Serpian proverbs,” he added.
    “‘The beasts do not change their shape when the light seeps out of the forest’,” Thar-von said, his voice dropping into the sing-song pattern he used when quoting.
    “Exactly,” Beny said, with a smile. “You just proved my point.”

SEVEN
    “Let’s hit the high spots, baby, if there are any in this wilderness.” Triani flung his arm over Cham’s shoulders. Together they strolled around to the back of the flat-topped pyramid-shaped complex where they lived and stopped to look around. The narrow walkways that led off in several directions were damp from a recent shower. In the shadow of a clump of spiky bushes, a small boy was watching them.
    “Which way do we go?” asked Cham, looking down first one lane and then another as they twisted out of sight among the jumble of wooden buildings.
    “You want some action?” The boy had sidled up to them and was looking up at Triani with hopeful, dark eyes.
    “You got it, kid. Just lead the way.”
    The boy turned to his left and started confidently down the cobbled walkway. Every few steps he glanced back over his shoulder, shading his eyes in the bright sunlight to make sure they were following. His narrow brown face looked older than the rest of him. “On the way, baby, pretend I’m blind and make me see what you see.” Cham looked up at him questioningly. “An artist must be very observant. You have to know how a person holds his head while talking or listening, how they move, the way they sit on a chair or sip a glass of wine. You must know the subtle differences between the sexes. All of them. You never know what role will come your way. Open your eyes, lover.”
    “I’ll try.” Cham sounded doubtful but he looked about him intently as he started to talk. “We’re on a winding street, swept clean by squads of shiny-headed androids. Some of them are just finishing now. They never raise their copper