"The bitch!" Sardia dug her teeth into a crusted ball of inner sweetness. "Does she work at it or does it come to her naturally?"
"A game." Tuvey set aside his fruit. "I've watched it for years. Each time I visit Ath they are at daggers drawn. Not just those two but all the Choud. The product of boredom-if they had to sweat they would not hive time for minor feuds."
"Years, Captain?" Dumarest selected a pair of hard-shelled nuts and crushed them together in his palm. "You have been visiting here for so long?"
"Years." Tuvey fell silent and stared blankly at the center decoration. Then, "Years," he said again. "I make it a regular run. The guesting alone is worth it."
"The guesting and the rest." Renzi sank back into his chair. "Tell them of the rest, Captain. The true joy of Ath." His smile was that of a clown. "Tell them of the tekoa."
"Watch your tongue!"
"Why? What is the secret? His women will tell him if we do not. She will tell him and show him, too, if I read her correctly. And I know how to read a woman, Captain. I can read one as I can read a spectrum gauge or a digital output. Ursula is in love with our late passenger and a woman in love will give a man her world."
As she had promised when, locked in his arms, they had both surrendered to passion lapped by the steaming water of the bath. Scented vapors had accentuated their desire and the water, far from cooling, had added fuel to her ardor. But the world she had promised was not the world he sought and still she had not told him how to find Earth.
"Earl?" Sardia touched his hand. "Don't let him upset you."
She had misread his introspection and her eyes were anxious. They cleared as he smiled and shook his head.
"I was just thinking. What news as to the Sivas, Captain?"
"Little and all bad." Tuvey rose. "I should be there now, helping Shartan. We should both be there." He glanced at the navigator, who shrugged.
"The obligations of a guest, Captain. And what do a few hours matter?" He, too, rose. "Let us join the rest Sardia?"
"Later."
"When your host arrives?" Renzi winked. "Or did you exhaust him this afternoon? Cornelius seems far from strong."
She said with cold ferocity, 'Talk that way to me again and I'll rip out your eyes. I'm no cheap harlot to take the filth from your sick mind. Wash out your mouth, man, before someone fills it with broken teeth."
"You?" He backed as she rose and lifted one foot to send it against the hand he lifted, the fruit it contained. A kick which turned it into a messy pulp. "I'd forgotten, a dancer knows how to use her feet."
"Her nails, too-you wouldn't be the first I've taught to behave." She looked at Dumarest as the navigator left with the captain. "That should have been Ursula. I'd have ruined her pretty face."
"And paid for it."
"Perhaps. Cornelius-"
"Is weak and you know it."
She said patiently, "I wasn't going to say he would protect me. But we have been talking and he told me a lot about the Choud. They settled here from some other planet. Three ships forming a convoy which reached the Rift. One was destroyed when it ventured into an energy vortex. The Choudhury landed here on Ath. The other, the Khawaja, became separated and they lost contact."
"Three ships?"
"Two, Earl. One was lost in the vortex." She added, "He talked while he worked. I was posing for him."
"And?"
"We just talked, Earl, not that it's any of your damned business. You let me know exactly where I stand with you. It's Ursula first and all the time, isn't it? You're lovers, aren't you?"
Dumarest said, "What else did he tell you?"
"Cornelius? Not much. He said you were with the Ohrm today."
"How did he know? Did you tell him?"
"How could I?" She stared into his eyes. "I didn't know where the hell you'd gone after we'd parted. I- well, I had to bathe my eyes. Dust, I guess. Then I went to see Cornelius and he asked me to pose and so I did."
"Any visitors? No?" Dumarest frowned. "Then how did he know where I was? When he told you, how did he look?" He nodded as she answered. "A little vague as if he were listening to something. Have you noticed it before?"
"Not that I remember Why did you visit the Ohrm?"
"To learn what I could."
"About what?" Sardia caught at his arm. "We're partners, Earl, remember? Leaving everything else aside, we have an agreement of mutual help. Is there anything I should know?"
"He said bluntly, "The Sivas was sabotaged."
"The explosion? That was an accident."
"Maybe, but I wasn't talking about that. On the face of it Tuvey's pet chewed its way into the radio and destroyed both itself and the installation. Couple that with the damaged generator and we're in a bind."
"How?" She frowned at her own stupidity. "Of course! Unless the engineer can repair the engine we'll be stuck. Tuvey can't radio out now for another ship to bring him replacements. But why should anyone do a thing like that?"
"You tell me."
"Renzi? He likes it here but would he sabotage the ship to stay? Tuvey? He's the captain and can remain as long as he likes. The handler? No, he's dead. The steward? Doubtful, he hasn't the guts or the brains. The engineer? Why?" Shrugging, she ended, "Hell, it's anyone's guess. There's no one else."
"There's you."
"Me?" Her laughter was genuine. "Earl, have you gone out of your mind? The quicker I get those paintings back to real civilization the better. I've Cornelius eating out of my hand and every hour spent here now is an hour longer to wait for a fortune. But you?" Her eyes narrowed with speculation. "Maybe you don't want the ship to radio out. The woman? A need to hide? Afraid Tuvey might send a message to be relayed back to Juba that the man they were looking for is to be found here on Ath? Was that it, Earl? Did you wreck; the radio?"
"No."
"You could have. There isn't much you couldn't manage once you put your mind to it." Her hand dropped to his own and she stared at him, abruptly serious. "Earl, I'm jealous and I'll admit it, but I'm not a young girl and I know that certain things happen." She remembered Cornelius and her own manipulations. "Sometimes they have to happen-all living is a matter of compromise. But if you're in trouble and I can, help?"
"Thank you."
"I mean it, Earl. Just ask and it's yours. Anything. I owe you that."
He said firmly, "You owe me nothing. All debts have been paid."
"Some debts can never be paid." The fingers of the hand resting on his tightened with a warm intimacy which diminished the importance of mere physical association. Then, conscious of the stinging in her eyes, she said, "We're business partners and shouldn't be getting sentimental. There's no profit in sentiment. Earl, I need cheering up. Isn't there anything interesting you think I should know?"
"Only one thing," said Dumarest dryly. "We're sitting in the middle of a revolution."
"The Ohrm? Rebelling? Impossible!" Casavet threw back his head and laughed. He was a big man who had helped himself plentifully to wine and was a stranger to Dumarest. "My friend, you must surely be joking." He wiped his eyes with a scrap of lace-like fabric. "A revolution! Here on Ath!"
Tuvey said, "Are you sure, Earl? If you're not, it was a damned stupid thing to have said."
"I'm sure."
"How? You read it in the stars? Listened to a message carried on the wind? " The captain's scowl left no doubt as to his disbelief. "You've been on this world just over a single day and you think to know more than those who live here? Who rule!"