Free Aliena by Piers Anthony Page A

Then he froze, afraid that he had said the wrong thing, blundering again.
    Aliena looked at Martha. Her shirt had managed to fall open to his view, and her skirt had ridden up on her thigh. Neither could have been by accident; she hardly ever had clothing malfunctions any more.“Is sex permissible once pregnancy is established?”
    “It is,” Martha reassured her. “Provided it is gentle. But watch it in sea water.”
    “Beds only,” she agreed with seeming regret.
    Aliena took Brom’s hand and led him to the bedroom chamber. He accompanied her gladly. She had forgiven him.
    Later, back with the others, Aliena was thoughtful. “This child—she will need a family. It is the human way.”
    “She will have us,” Brom said.
    “Grandparents also. I have not asked about your parents. We must contact them.”
    “We can’t,” Brom said. Then, seeing that she wanted more, he explained. “They got religion when I was in college. They joined a minor Christian sect called the Holy Order of Vision, went to Uganda as missionaries, and disappeared.” He paused, then forced himself to continue. “It was a repressive regime hostile to any suggestion of reform. I think they didn’t trust do-gooders from America, and quietly disappeared them.”
    Aliena looked perplexed.
    “Secret arrest and execution,” Sam said. “Used by rogue governments to get rid of troublemakers.”
    “Oh. But this is merely supposition.”
    “Efforts to track them met with resistance,” Brom concluded. “That is the way of such things. Such governments never admit what they do. I fear they are dead.”
    “This is painful for you?”
    “Oh, yes.”
    “Then I apologize to you for reminding you. I did not mean to bring you pain.”
    “Not your fault,” he said quickly. “You didn’t know. I would have had to tell you sometime.”
    “Then I must approach the other side,” she decided. “The parents of this body.”
    “That’s not wise,” Martha said. “The body is a donated host, as you know. The parents do not want to be reminded.”
    “They will reconsider if I explain to them.”
    “The record forbids us from contacting them. We don’t even know who they are, officially.”
    “Then we must find them,” Aliena said firmly. “How may this be accomplished?”
    “Well, there’s the Internet,” Sam said. “The big search engines can locate almost anything, if properly used.”
    She eyed him cannily. “You know how to use them.”
    “It’s my business. But it would be an abuse of my position to use them for this purpose.”
    “But not of mine.”
    “Technically, no.”
    “Teach me how to use them.”
    Sam glanced at Martha, “Is this legitimate?”
    Martha laughed. “Have you tried telling Aliena no recently?”
    Now Sam glanced at Aliena. She was leaning forward, shirt loose, eyes focused on him. He shrugged. “Less cleavage. More eye. I’m your bodyguard, not a boyfriend or credulous bystander. Look eager for knowledge.”
    She quickly adapted, resembling a pleading puppy.
    “I will show you how to make an Internet search, purely as a skill you may need to use some day. I am not inquiring what you might wish to search for. That is not my business.”
    “Do not inquire,” she agreed.
    They went to a computer terminal at the rear of the car, leaving Brom with Martha. “And I thought she was shy and innocent,” Brom remarked.
    “She was, until her week with you. You transformed her. You taught her emotions, and the real world, and unleashed her phenomenal potential. All we can do now is support and protect her, and maybe enjoy the ride.”
    “I love the ride.”
    They completed the train trip, and resumed their honeymoon travels, returning home two weeks after starting. But Aliena was not about to relax. “The grandparents,” she said.
    “Who?”
    “This body is the child of two people who surely care about her welfare. I must meet with them.”
    He had forgotten for the moment. He tried, suspecting it was