The Bones of Zora

VIII - THE TEMPLE

Reith and his companions stood at the rail as the sprawled-out city of Jazmurian hove in sight. From the waterfront, its houses seemed to consist mainly of slum dwellings and grog shops; although on higher ground, away from the river, could be seen a hint of costlier edifices, and the sun-sparkle of brass and glass on the temple spires. Downstream, where the Zigros opened out into the Sadabao Sea, appeared the masts and yards of seagoing ships, looking in the distance like a tangle of toothpicks.

"Fergus," said Alicia, "where can we stay until we get our finances in order?"

On the last two days of the voyage, she and Reith, while not unfriendly, had treated each other with a certain formal reserve. Reith felt he must soon decide about their joint future; and, being a methodical man, he meant to consider and weigh all possibilities. While having Alicia as his amorex was great fun, he doubted that, in the long run, this would prove a viable relationship. Besides, he liked clear-cut, definite agreements; ambiguities made him uneasy.

He was sure that Alicia would be delighted to marry him again. His emotions said: She's the one true love of your life; grab her! But his reason told him that there was no point in remarriage if it was sure to lead to another blowup. The qualities in Alicia that had sundered them before were still, alas, very much in evidence.

He replied to her question: "I brought my last batch of tourists to Angur's Inn. No Ritz, but it beats most of these fleabags."

"I know," she said, scratching at a bite from a Krishnan arthropod. "Jazmurian looks like a dismal place, like Jeshang on a larger scale. Has it any amusements, in case we have to wait over?"

"The ground floor of Angur's is one big night club. They have dancing and entertainers, if you don't mind inept imitations of Terran show biz."

"Dancing?" she said. "Oh, Fergus, I'm looking forward to this!"

Reith suppressed a smile. He had a surprise in store.

"Who rules this city?" asked Marot.

"It's under the Republic of Qirib, which occupies the peninsula in the Sadabao. Until a few years ago, Qirib had a matriarchate. Females were the ruling sex. They had a quaint custom: the queen took a consort; then at the end of each year they chopped off his head, cut him up, and served him at a ceremonial banquet. After that they chose another royal mate."

"Did they get volunteers?"

Reith grinned. "Oh, no; the victims were drafted."

"I should think," said Marot, "that anticipation of this untimely doom would render it difficult to perform one's generative duty."

Reith shrugged. "They assured the people that every egg laid by the queen was of legitimate origin. But Alvandi's daughter turned out to be a Terran girl, whom the queen had obtained as an infant and passed off as her own. The kid was brought up to wear false antennae and all the rest."

"What happened to the matriarchate?" asked Marot.

"It was overthrown by a revolution, led by a Terran named Barnevelt, whose war-cry was 'Equal Rights for Men!' They adopted a republican constitution of Terran style, with an ex-saddler and ex-pirate as president."

Marot gestured towards the house of Jazmurian. "Is this the capital?"

"No. That's Ghulindé, out on the peninsula. Jazmurian's the main seaport of the republic, and scorned by the other Qiribuma as a polyglot, decadent home of crime and corruption. 'Not the real Qirib,' they'll assure you."

Alicia put in: "I've been to Ghulindé. I never saw the first President, Gizil the Saddler; but I knew his successor, Vizman er-Qorf. If we stopped off there, I'm sure he'd entertain us."

"Not likely," said Reith. "We're taking the first northbound train we can rustle up the fare for."

Marot asked: "Did this formation of a republic effect a marked improvement in the lives of the people?"

"Hard to say," said Reith. "From what I hear, some Qiribuma, especially the men, say they're better off. But others yearn for the days of that old she-yeki, Queen Alvandi."

"No governmental system ever comes up to expectations," murmured Marot. "At least, such has been Terran experience."

The Morkerád approached an opening on one of the piers. Reith knew better than to plague the captain while he was engrossed in warping his boat into its dock. Only when the little ship brought up against the bumpers, and the lines were made fast, did Reith say:

"Captain, when shall we get together with your cousin's agent, to straighten out our obligations?"

Sarf grinned. "Not tonight, I ween! Unloading will swallow the rest of the daylight, and then I'm off to see my wife."

"Your other ..."

"Hist, not a word, an ye'd thank me for hiding you! Where will ye put up for the night?"

"Angur knows me, so I'm sure he'll take us in even though we're arzuless."

The crew finished wrestling the gangboard into place. With the approach of the ship, a scattering of the usual waterfront populace began to converge on its landing place: longshoremen, porters, sedan-chair bearers, touts, pimps, and peddlers.

Four Krishnans of a different aspect pushed through the crowd and stamped aboard. One was a male in good civilian dress; the other three wore uniforms with crested brass helmets and brazen cuirasses, which flashed in the afternoon sun. This armor was worn over scarlet tunics and pleated kilts, and each soldier bore a short sword suspended from a baldric. Two soldiers were male, but the third, evidently an officer, was a female, whose cuirass was molded to fit her feminine shape. Reith told his companions:

"All the soldiers used to be female, and most of the higher ranks still are. But the ratio is changing, as more males enlist."

While Captain Sarf and the civilian conferred over the ship's manifest, the three in scarlet and brass advanced upon Reith and Marot. The female said:

"Ohé! Terrans wearing swords? Ertsuma are not exempt from the laws of Qirib! Hold still, ye twain, whilst we render your hangers harmless."

One uniformed male belayed the swords of Reith and Marot into their scabbards by iron wire, wound around the guard and through the suspension rings. Then the other soldier fastened the ends of the wire together with a clamp that confined them within a leaden seal.

"Now," said the female, "if ye be caught with your peace wires unfastened, ye'd better have ponderous excuses ready, as that ye were set upon by robbers. Otherwise 'twill go hard with you."

"I understand, Officer," said Reith. "I've been here before."

The officials went ashore, and longshoremen lined up to file aboard. Sarf said to Reith:

" 'Tis a long walk to Angur's. Will ye hire a carriage or a set of chairs?"

"I doubt the ordinary carriage driver would extend credit on the strength of my little plaque. Most of them cannot read."

"Let it fret you not. I'll stake you to your carriage ride. In for an arzu, in for a kard, as they say in Qirib."

Sarf rounded up a carriage, the prospect of seeing his other wife having put him in a high good humor. He loaded his Terrans aboard and paid the driver. Qa'di departed afoot, clutching her incubator in one hand and a sheet of paper bearing the address of an attorney in the other.

Angur's Inn stood in the upper town across a spacious square, facing the end of the railroad platform. A train was being made up at this station, which consisted of a shed between two stub-end tracks of qong-wood, and beyond, a small station building. Several little four-wheeled cars had been rolled into place, and more were being added by a tame bishtar, which pushed with its head at the command of its mahout.

The second story of Angur's three-story inn, upheld by a row of arches, extended out over the sidewalk. Reith led his companions in the front door on the ground floor. Angur, whose exceptionally long antennae gave him somewhat the look of a beetle, sat behind a desk in the small lobby, beyond which could be seen the tables and dance floor of the cabaret, occupying most of the ground floor.

Angur rose to greet the newcomers. "Hail, Master Reit'! 'Tis a small touristic party ye bring this time; but they shall enjoy all the luxe my elegant establishment affords. What accommodations will ye have? Business hath been a smitch slow of late, so I can offer a wide range of choice."

"Have you one double and one single room?"

"Aye. I'll give you Numbers Twelve and Thirteen." Angur took keys from a rack and shouted: "Haftid! Hither!"

An adolescent Krishnan picked up the small bundles of personal gear. The youth would also have picked up Marot's bag of fossils—now shrunken by Marot's expert chipping and prying to little more than half its original weight—had not the Frenchman forestalled him.

"What's in that?" said Angur. 'Treasure?"

"Mineral specimens," said Reith. "Doctor Marot is wise in such matters. Show them a sample, Aristide."

Marot raised his eyebrows, but he untied the sack and dug out a couple of fossiliferous stones. Curiosity satisfied, Angur led the trio upstairs to the second deck and unlocked two doors. Reith glanced into the rooms, then took Alicia's bundle and his own from the youth and carried them into the large room. He set them down, saying:

"Here you are, Alicia!"

She hesitated in the doorway, and their eyes met. Then a smile of pure happiness lit up her classic face, as if a ray of the sun had crossed it. Reith knew she had been wondering whether he would forgive his ducking in the Zigros, or banish her to the single room. When they were settled and the porter had departed, she asked:

"Why did you insist on showing the innkeeper Aristide's fossil fragments?"

"If I hadn't, they'd have been sure the bag contained gold, jewels, or what have you. I'd trust Angur, but not his hired help." Reith raised his voice. "Aristide! Will you step in here, please? We have a couple of hours before dark. What would you two like to do with that time?"

"I should like to go look at the railroad," said Marot. "Perhaps I could arrange for our passage."

"Has Jazmurian a decent shopping district?" asked Alicia.

"I don't think the railroad would give us credit, and there's no use shopping with empty pockets."

"Well then, I shall go look at the trains," said Marot. "I am what you call a railroad bluff."

"Buff, old boy, buff. Find out what you can about fares and schedules."

"And I'll write up my rough notes," said Alicia.

"In that case," said Reith, "I'll leave you for a while. Lock your doors. If you go out, stay close to the inn, and don't wander off into any tough districts."

"Where are you going?" asked Marot.

"To the temple of Yesht, to see if our little Jeshango priest made it."

"Could you buy me some more paper and pencils?" said Alicia. "I'm running short."

"Sure; I have a couple of karda left. See you."

The temple of the Judge of the Dead was a heavy, square structure surmounted by a huge dome. The entrance was below street level, so that to enter, one went down a flight of steps. This, Reith thought, was a shrewd psychological preparation for worshipers of the Lord of the Underworld.

In the entrance way, an acolyte took Reith's name and listened to his inquiry after the Jeshango priest of Yesht. Soon Nirm bad-O'lán appeared in the full green-and-purple regalia of a priest of the Qiribo cult.

"Master—Master—Reit', is it not? 'Twas you and your companion who succored me in Jeshang, wherefore I shall be forever grateful. Come hither where we can talk."

In an audience room, the garrulous little priest described his passage down the Zigros. By way of gossip, he added: "We have here another fugitive from the wrath of the Bákhites, a priest of Dashmok who arrived but a few days since. The jolly Majburo god hath no temple here, but he had a small cult in Jeshang. We have given refuge to the Reverend Ozagh, even though his god be not ours, and heard his breath-stopping tale of violent doings in Jeshang. Shall I hale him forth?"

"By all means," said Reith.

Ozagh appeared in the red-and-yellow habit of his cult.

When Reith questioned him, he said: "As I heard the tale, there were two sets of you bone-diggers at the Zora ranch. Me-thought they were all of one party. Which is sooth?"

"We were two parties, not working together. The priest Behorj queried my party and departed, seemingly satisfied."

Ozagh wagged his head in the peculiar Krishnan negative gesture. "For some reason I know not—the tales conflict— die Reverend Behorj's men fell into strife with the servants of the other bone-digger. A battle ensued, wherein several were wounded or slain. The surviving bone-diggers were brought to Jeshang for judgment. Most were simple countryfolk, of no interest to Her Holiness. But the leader, a Terran disguised as a human being, hight Foltis I'm told, aroused her suspicion. So she summoned him for further interrogation.

"Since the questioning was done in private, I know not how Master Foltis fared. But I am told that he hath neither been boiled in Lazdai's Kettle, nor been enlarged to go his way.

"I hear Her Holiness hath conceived an interest in further interrogating the other set of bone-diggers to wit: you and your companions. She suspects that the queries of the Reverend Behorj pierced not deeply enough. So she issued commands that you be apprehended upon arrival in Jeshang and brought before her. But you somehow slipped through her fingers, whereat she waxed passing wroth. How didst work this sleight?"

Reith smiled. "I'm sorry, but on this point my tongue is tied."

A knock on the door heralded a young Krishnan in the habit of an acolyte of Yesht, carrying a strip of thin paper covered with microscopic writing. He handed this strip to Nirm, saying: "Father Nirm, this message hath just arrived from our informant at Jeshang by bijar post."

"Thank you; you may go." Nirm frowned over the strip. Then his antennae quivered with excitement. "Ohé, Master Reit'! This doth concern you!"

"What does it say?"

"It saith that the Bákhites of Jeshang, resolved to settle the controversial matters whereof we have spoken, have sent persons forth to find you and your comrade, the learned doctor, and to return you to the Great Temple willy-nilly, for interrogation and judgment.

Reith grunted. "I should have foreseen they'd do something like that. What form will this kidnapping take?"

"Alas, the message saith not. 'Tis not likely they'd attempt an armed incursion, in view of the much greater strength in arms of Qirib. More likely, they'll slip into Jazmurian an agent or two, well furnished with coin, wherewith to hire a gang of local bravos to crimp you twain and hustle you to the border. This is a corrupt and lawless town, where such dark deeds are easily set in motion."

"I thank you," said Reith. "We'll take precautions."

Reith hastened back to Angur's, pausing only long enough to pick up Alicia's stationery supplies and to buy a bottle of falat and three cheap pottery mugs. As he and his companions drank the soothing vintage, he reported on his visit to the temple.

"I think we're fairly safe in the inn," he said. "We must of course keep our doors locked—that reminds me, ours isn't at the moment." He rose and took care of the matter, and in addition placed a chair at an angle with the chair back wedged beneath the doorknob. He continued:

"We should go out only under necessity. When we do, we should go no farther from the inn than we must, and Aristide and I should go armed and together. What did you learn about trains, Aristide?"

The scientist replied: "They run on alternate days. We have missed that of today, helas. The next departure will be the day after tomorrow, at the third hour."

"Damn!" said Reith. "We shan't be really safe until we board that train."

Alicia said: "Mightn't it be just as quick, and much more comfortable, to go by sea? On a ship I can work on my notes, which I couldn't do in one of those bouncy little cars."

"Let me think," said Reith. "Jazmurian to Majbur by rail is about five hundred and fifty kilometers; by sea it's a little over nine hundred. The train trip takes five days; with good winds and no stops, the sea voyage also takes five days."

Marot asked: "How is the ship so much faster than the train?"

"The train makes four overnight stops, while the ship sails all night."

"And why such a discrepancy in the distances?"

"Both Jazmurian and Majbur stand at the heads of deep bays, so to get from one to the other you have to sail three sides of a rectangle, around Cape Dirkash."

"Me, I hope you will decide on the train," said Marot. "I am curious about Krishnan railroads and have never ridden one. Besides, I am not a good sailor."

Alicia: "You did all right on the Morkerád."

"Ah, but that vessel floated on water so smooth that one could play the billiards on it."

"After you've been bounced around on that wooden track," said Alicia, "you might change your mind. Besides, if we took a ship, we'd probably stop at Damovang, and I do so want to see how Vizman's campaign against slavery is coming."

Reith listened silently, but his muscles tensed. Alicia's mention of the Qiribo President sent a surge of jealousy coursing through Reith's veins. He told himself not to be silly. The Krishnan politician, unlike that blackguard Foltz, had done Alicia no harm. In fact, he had made an honorable offer of marriage, at a time when she was free to wed anyone she liked.

So long as he, Reith, had not offered to remarry her and been accepted, what right had he to object to her seeking love elsewhere? He was being a dog in the manger, he told himself; but the feeling of jealousy persisted. Whatever method of travel they chose, he would try to make sure that they did not stop at Damovang.

"What are the relative hazards of the two modes of travel?" asked Marot.

Reith pulled his mind back to their current problem. "The train is safe enough, save for an occasional derailment or upset. As to the sea, it's fair-weather time on the Sadabao. The main thing we'd have to fear would be not storms but calms, which might cost us additional days. These ships carry oars, but rowing merchantmen is slow work.

"There was also an outbreak of piracy a few years ago. Ships had to move in convoys, which meant delays and higher costs. The princes and presidents around the Sadabao claim they've put the pirates down, but I don't know how far to believe them."

Marot continued to argue for the train, Alicia for the ship; while Reith remained judiciously neutral. At last he said: "I personally don't care; but as things stand, the railroad has it. The cost is about the same, and the train is likelier to get us safely to Majbur in six or seven days. I'll get our tickets the first thing tomorrow, as soon as we have the money."

Angur, in his incarnation as maitre d', escorted the three to a table on the edge of the dance floor and took their orders. This was a touch of special deference, since the usual procedure was to give orders over a counter directly to the cook.

"One of the perks of a tour guide," Reith explained. "They all hope for future tourists to exploit."

Only a few other patrons occupied the big room. After the waiter brought their dinners, however, more Krishnans drifted in. Marot was raising his eating spears to his mouth when he started so violently that he dropped the food back on his plate and pricked his own chin. "Sacre dieu, what are those?" he said.

Reith turned his head. Marching past their table were three reptilian creatures, taller than a man but more slender, who walked on their hind legs with tails held stiffly out behind them to balance their bodies. Heads, a little smaller than human but with bulging crania, rode atop necks thirty centimeters long. Arms much like human ones ended in four-clawed hands. Instead of clothes, the newcomers bore on their scaly hides intricate patterns of spots and stripes, in black, white, and red.

"Those?" said Reith. "Osirians. From the planet Osiris."

"Of the Procyonic system," added Alicia. "Quite a few visit Krishna."

She wore the filmy, nipple-baring dress that Ilui had given her in Kubyab. The sight of Alicia in that dress stirred a cauldron of emotions in Fergus Reith. There was sexual excitement, unsuppressible yearning love, anger at her past treatment of him, sorrow that she was no longer truly his, and relief that he no longer had to brook her volcanic temperament. There were also a half-hidden wish to break out of her spell and forget her, and resentment that he could not seem to do so—at least, not while she was present and visible day after day.

Marot mopped the trickle of blood on his chin and held his napkin (a recent innovation on Krishna, inspired by Terran example) against the wound until it stopped bleeding. "If the dinosaurs had not become extinct on Terra, that is what we might look like today. I mean, that is what the intelligent Terran species, occupying our place in the biota, might resemble."

The three Osirians did not sit at table. Instead, the waiters moved a couple of tables away from a comer, and the Osirians lowered their scaly, baggy bodies to the floor. They squatted facing outward, so that the tips of their tails met in the comer. Waiters set down drinks on the floor before them.

Angur wandered past the Terrans' table, remarking: "Be the victuals to your taste, Master Reit? Doctor Dyckman? Doctor Maghou?" Assured that Angur's cook had done himself proud, Angur followed the Terrans' glances towards the Osirians. "They're good customers but afeared lest some wight tread upon their tails.

"I mind me some years since, one of that ilk had a drop too much kvad and decided he must needs monstrate to all a Terran dance. So he seized our entertainer, the talented Pari bab-Horaj, spun her out upon the floor, and whirled her round and round. Another couple was dancing a simple ragsudar. The alien's tail, swinging like the boom of a ship, smote the man on's arse as he bowed to's lady. His partner, being of the then dominating Balhibiya, wore a sword loose in its scabbard. The man, incensed, snatched his partner's weapon and would most bloodily have slain the tailed one, had not a wandering Earthman dissuaded him with an earthen mug, launched like a dart from a catapult, to's cranium. 'Twas a near thing. Now I tell Osirian patrons they may not dance when the floor's in use by dancers of tailless species.

"Here come our present minstrels. May ye enjoy their performance!"

Five musicians took places in an alcove on the far side of the dance floor. They brought a drum, a harp, a kind of miniature xylophone, and two instruments that looked like woodwinds. The clatter of eating spears died down as patrons turned to listen.

"Ah!" said Marot. "At last I shall enjoy some of the genuine Krishnan performing arts! It is a thing I have long wished; but on this safari, we have been too hurried and harassed."

The harpist signaled the start. All five instruments crashed together in four notes, da-da-da-DUMM; and then in a lower register, da-da-da-DUMM.

"Mon dieu!" cried Marot, clapping a hand to his forehead "They are giving us Beethoven's Fifth! So much for the native arts!"

Alicia said: "Well, he was a great composer. I've heard that piece on the Japanese koto, the Indian sârangi, the Russian domra, and Trinidadian steel drums. I've even heard it on Ken Strachan's bagpipes; at least that's what he said he was playing."

The musicians worked their way through the first movement only, then rose, bowed, and went out, leaving their instruments. A Krishnan female, wearing heavy makeup, appeared.

Her costume consisted of a spangled, metallic loin garment; a tiara; a complex necklace whose strings of gems spilled down on her bare breasts; and bejeweled sandals. Reith assumed that the hundreds of glittering gems were faceted pieces of colored glass; but they glittered beautifully in the lamplight, crimson and emerald and sapphire and white amid the gold of the spangles.

The entertainer sat down and began talking, telling jokes and stories in so pronounced a dialect, and so filled with local slang, that they went over the heads of the Terrans. The Krishnans seemed to find them uproarious, for they burst into the gobbling Krishnan laugh until they nearly drowned out the speaker. Next, she did a little dance, playing a small metallic instrument that looked to Reith like a kazoo.

When she had ground and bumped and twee tied about the stage, she sat down to a lively cracking of joints, the Krishnan applause. She picked up the harp, struck a chord, and launched into a song:

Mainai zafsin zeglo ridv zeke mináv zelort ...

"I have heard that tune somewhere," said Marot.

"You probably have," said Alicia. "It's The Battle Hymn of the Republic, by Julia Ward Howe. 'Mine eyes have seen die glory ...' "

Marot sighed and shook his head. "It is depressing enough the way our own planet has become homogenized, so that in a given latitude everyone dresses the same the world round. Local traditions and customs are virtually extinct, save where artificially maintained as bait to draw tourists. Now I see that Krishna is starting down the same road."

"It'll take some time," said Reith. "I certainly expect enough local differences to keep tourists coming here through my lifetime. After all, nobody forced either Beethoven or Mrs. Howe on these folks."

"No; but I ask myself: is this blending of all cultures good?

Does it rob the individual of his sense of identity?"

Reith shrugged. "Who knows? But I wonder if they'd like The Battle Hymn so well if they knew it was an anti-slavery song?" The song ended in cracking of thumb joints and shouts of approval.

The band struck up. Reith listened, then tapped the table: "One, two, three-four-five! One, two, three-four-five! You're foutu again, Professor. That's a tango, or else a cha-cha at half speed." He stood up and nodded to Alicia. "Would my lady care to dance?"

"Really? Why, Fergus, I thought you hated dancing!"

"I try to give my clients satisfaction. Come on!"

They began their tango, although nobody else got up to share the floor with them. When they had made one circuit alone, Alicia exclaimed: "Why, Fergus, what's happened? The last time I danced with you, you weren't so bad as some I've known but not very good, either. Now, all of a sudden, you're simply divine! Have you been taking lessons on the sly?"

"To tell the truth, I got tired of being embarrassed, like the time I was commanded to dance with Princess Vázni."

"The one you were forced to marry?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't you stay with her?"

"Vázni's a nice girl in her way, but she's just the opposite of you. She's placid, amiable, loving, sexy, frivolous, stupid, and dull. Mostly dull."

She jerked her head back, missing a step. "You mean I'm not loving or sexy?"

"I don't mean that; but you're certainly neither placid nor stupid. Vázni's only interests were clothes, parties, and screwing. Being a bird in her gilded cage became as boring as a life sentence in a Terran jail."

"Too bad you couldn't have married both of us and divided your time between us, like Captain Sarf and his wives. When you couldn't stand one, you could flee to the other."

"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."

"You forget. Perhaps they're not after you; but they know about you. They could hold you as a hostage. Presently I'd get a note saying: Reith, unless you give yourself up to us, we will set to work on your female Terran. To show we mean business, we inclose a finger, or a nose, or other detachable part of her."

"You needn't obey their demands!" she snapped.

"But ask yourself whether I would. You know me pretty well. I said I wouldn't order you around, and I won't. You needn't break Angur's pitcher over my head in order to walk out that door. But think about what I've said."

Slowly she set the pitcher down. "You win, damn it! Oh, Fergus!" Her speech ended in a wail as she threw herself into his arms. "Why do I do these things?"

Between kisses, he said: "The human mind is a mystery to me—especially yours, my love."