"You know, Alicia, that's a great idea! But I see practical difficulties. I don't dare go back to Dur ..."
"I didn't mean it, stupid! But I admit I'd rather have half a Fergus than none at all. Where did you learn your dancing? I never heard of a school at Novo."
"You know Kristina Brunius, now Fru Lund?"
"Sure," she said.
"Before she left Terra, she'd been an assistant in a dance studio. So I hired her to teach me. I've been working at it for a year."
"Is that all Kristina taught you?"
"You mean, did I have an affair with her?"
"Well, yes. Not that it's any of my business."
Reith smiled. "Would it bother you if I had?"
"No—well, yes—just a little bit."
"Is that the proprietary component in the human sexual drive, about which you write so learnedly?"
"I suppose so. Some primitive, atavistic urge."
"I'm flattered that you should be jealous of my post-marital amours, real or imaginary. But in a word, no. I think I could have—she takes a pretty casual attitude, from all I hear—but I was too busy trying to get over you."
"You poor thing! I wish I could make it up to you."
"Just try not to make life harder than it has to be, for the next moon at least. And remember that I have my proprietary component, too."
The music stopped. Amid loud applause from the Krishnans, Fergus led Alicia back to the table. They had barely sat down when two Osirians walked with clicking claws across the dance floor and approached them. Startled, Reith looked up and rose.
One Osirian said something unintelligible; it seemed to be trying to speak Portuguese, the language of the Viagens Interplanetarias, but not getting very far with it. At last the other reptilian alien said:
"Too you speak Inkwish?"
Remembering that the hissing Osirian language had no voiced consonants, Reith finally understood that the first Osirian had been trying to say: "Dá-nos o prazer desta dança?" or "May we have this dance?"
"Who wants to dance with whom?" asked Reith.
"I tance with you, pecause I am femay. He tance with your woman because he iss may. We have pait music to pway another tanko, so you can teach us."
Reith could see no physical difference between the two Osirians, but he surmised that they recognized the opposite sex in their own species. The incongruity of their offer almost made him laugh, but he forbore for fear of hurting their dignity. He said:
"We'll try. Do you know the steps?"
He explained the tango beat, demonstrating with Alicia. Then he signaled the orchestra and went into the slinking glide of the dance with the female Osirian.
The little dinosaurs caught on fast. By the end of the first circuit, Reith was enjoying himself. The Osirian, while nothing like so good a dancer as Alicia, was better than some of the oversized women tourists whom, in line of duty, he had been compelled to pull and push around the dance floor, like a tug berthing a liner in a high wind.
The dance ended to thunderous applause and cheers. Angur approached, saying: "Master Reit', an ye need gainful employ, feel free to offer your services here. Could I put on the spectacle of you, your lady, and yon aliens dancing the tango, I'd fill the house every night of the year."
Soon after, Marot, pleading fatigue, retired. But Alicia insisted on dancing every dance until, after midnight, the musicians went home. By that time Reith, too, was suppressing yawns.
In the double room, Reith again unfastened the buttons on the back of Alicia's dress. Soon she was looking up from the pillow, smiling and holding out welcoming arms. She said:
"Thank you, thank you, for a marvelous evening, you dear wonderful man!"
Reith wasted no time in accepting the implied invitation.
Afterwards, Alicia said: "The dancing was a delightful surprise; but I've been looking forward to this ever since Kubyab."
"I endeavor to give satisfaction, Doctor Dyckman."
"Fergus Reith, don't you dare be formal with me! I love you."
"And I love you, too."
She looked expectantly at him; this was the first time since their reunion at the Zora ranch that he had used the word "love." But he remained silent. At last she asked in a small voice: "Am I forgiven?"
"For what? My bath in the Zigros?"
"Yes. I'm terribly sorry about that."
"Forget it, Lish. I still love you, even if I'll always be careful not to get between you and the rail of a ship. Kindness to animals is fine, but feeding me to an 'avval is carrying the idea to absurdity."
"Oh, Fergus, you're mean! When I realized what I'd done, I wept for an hour. You know I hate to cry, and most of all I hate for anyone to see me crying. I hid in the woods—me, Alicia the Superwoman, who always gets what she goes after and never sheds a tear! That's why I was late getting back to the boat, because I was still determined to interview the locals."
"You didn't act very contrite when you came back aboard."
"I was angry again, this time at my last interviewee. He was a rude, arrogant fellow who, instead of giving me straight answers, kept making propositions and crude anatomical remarks. I had to play up to him and be oh-so-sweet to get what I was after; but by the time I finished, I'd have happily boiled him in Lazdai's Kettle. He wouldn't have dared if you'd been along."
"You should have let me go with you when I offered."
"I know; I was just too angry at the time to think clearly. And then later I took my anger out on you and Aristide, which was vile of me. Why do I go through life making these horrible mistakes?"
"I don't know," said Reith. He gathered her into his arms, where she wept softly against his chest. "What I know of psychiatry you could put in your eye without discomfort."
"Damn!" she said, wiping tears with the bedding. "Every time I think I'm living up to my own standards, you come along and spoil my self-image by making me cry." She gave him a playful poke in the ribs. "You're the only one in the galaxy who can do that to me. I can't decide whether I ought to love you or hate you for it."
"Let's settle for love," said Reith. "It's more fun."
The next morning, over breakfast, Reith said: "Aristide, you'd better come with me to the office of Sainian's agent. Wear your sword. Then we'll go straight to the railroad station."
"Oh, good!" said Alicia. "I'm coming, too. When we get our money, we can do some shopping."
Reith said sternly: "No you don't, darling! The shops in Majbur are far better than here, and the prices are lower. Once there, we shall have unlimited credit, and you can wear your feet off running the shops. You'd better stay here, behind a locked door."
"I won't! I'm tired of being cooped up—"
"We'll discuss it in our room, please."
When they were alone in the large bedroom, Reith found Alicia emitting sparks. "Fergus Reith!" she said in a deadly tone. "If you think you're going to keep me caged up here ...I don't know this town very well, and I want to explore it and ask the people questions. If you don't want me with you, I'll wander around on my own."
"With a gang of kidnappers in the pay of the Bákhites looking for us? Are you crazy?"
"Don't worry about me. They're looking for you and Aristide, not me; and anyway I'll take my chances. I'm going right now, and if you try to stop me ..." She picked the pitcher off the washstand and hefted it menacingly.
With a herculean effort, Reith controlled his temper. "Darling, will you just listen for a moment?"
"Well?" She poised the pitcher.
"Do you really want to see me boiled in Lazdai's Kettle?"
"No; but what's that got to do with it? If they grab me, that doesn't hurt you."