The Prisoner of Zhamanak

X REUNION

Towards evening, Percy Mjipa and Alicia Dyckman appeared on the north shore road along the Pichidé River. They trotted a pair of ayas bought in Majbur, with their bags strapped on behind the saddles. They rode in high Krishnan boots, also from Majbur. A new sword clanked against the ribs of Mjipa's mount, while Alicia wore that which they had taken from the guard when they escaped from the detention chamber in Mejvorosh. Mjipa had bought a new blade because the hilt of the Zhamanacian sword was too short for his big hand.

Alicia wore her Khaldoni straw hat. The hat was tied under her chin, and the wide brim flopped with the motion of the aya. The hair of both travelers had grown out to a length of perhaps a centimeter, so that when bareheaded they appeared to have short crew cuts.

As they approached the East Gate of the Novorecife compound, Mjipa shouted up to the man in the watchtower: "Aberta! It's Terrans Mjipa and Dyckman!"

There was a scurry within the wall, and the gate opened. As they rode in, people poured out of the buildings until the travelers found their way blocked by the crowd. All Novorecife turned out as word of the travelers' arrival spread from building to building.

"Get down, Percy!" shouted someone. "We'll take care of the animals and baggage!"

When Mjipa dismounted, the bearlike Boris Glumelin seized him in a hug and kissed him loudly on both cheeks. Then he did the same to Alicia, saying: "Bozhe moy, what happened to your pretty hair?"

"It's a long story," she said. "We'll tell you as soon as you let us get presentable."

"Good! Go take bats. If we had champagne, I would say take bats in champagne, but we don't got any. Listen, everybody!" Glumelin held up both arms. "Is holiday for rest of de day. We have a party to celebrate, wery big party. Hokay? See you in a hour, maybe two. Oh, Fergus!" Glumelin addressed a lean, youngish man with a weathered look, carroty red hair, and freckles. "I don't tink you know Alicia. Doctor Alicia Dyckman, dis is Fergus Reith, our resident tourist guide to de whole damn planet. You can call him Sir Fergus; de Regent of Dur made him a knight."

"I've heard of you," said Alicia, shaking hands. "Percy told me about your adventures in Dur. I think we were at Baianch at the same time but didn't meet."

Mjipa boomed: "Hello, Fergus! Were any of your trippers swallowed by a saferir?" They shook hands vigorously.

"No, thank Bákh." Reith grinned. "The Orientals behaved better than that nutty gang of whites I took before. How about you?"

"Victoria, darling!" said Alicia. "Your Percy was absolutely wonderful; a real hero." She stepped forward, rose on tiptoe, and planted a quick kiss on Mjipa's chin. "I'll see you all later."

Victoria Mjipa seized Percy in her own bear-hug, saying: "Come with me, darling. I know what you want."

"Better let me have that bath first," he said. "I must stink like a bloody stable." They walked off.

Hours later, exhausted from food, drink, singing, and dancing, and hoarse from repeating his story, Mjipa leaned back in his seat in a booth in the Nova Iorque Bar. Wearing King Ainkhist's necklace, Victoria sat across from him. She asked:

"What became of your professor?"

"We left him in Majbur. He'd have liked to come to Novo with us, but we'd had enough of his whining. I asked Gorbovast to try to find him a job. He may be a martyr to science, but to me he was a bally nuisance."

Across the room, another couple sat in a booth. One was Alicia Dyckman, wearing a frilly, transparent blouse with nothing beneath it, and the Khaldonian kilt she had bought in Majbur. The necklace of silver and semi-precious stones vied, but not very effectively, with her bosom for attention.

The other was Fergus Reith. Mjipa stared quizzically in their direction.

"Look at that!" he said."They've scarcely met; and she's the woman with no interest in sex, who's married to her career."

Alicia and Reith were so absorbed in each other as to be oblivious to all else. They leaned forward towards each other, talking, laughing, and holding hands under the table.

Victoria Mjipa smiled. "It looks as if our willowy blond icicle were melting all of a sudden."

"How about that Krishnan wife Fergus is supposed to have left in Dur? The princess?"

"That's out, at least under Terran law. Ram gave Fergus an annulment on-ground of coercion."

"Well," said Mjipa, "if Fergus takes the bait, he'll have his hands full."

"What's she like?"

"Lish? A marvelous person in some ways: brilliant, courageous, energetic, shrewd, and practical. She could give Machiavelli lessons in realism, and she bears up under hardships that would kill most women. But she's also a pain in the arse: bossy, opinionated, argumentative, hot-tempered, and always wanting to set everybody right about everything. We fought like cat and dog much of the time. I respect and admire her no end, but I thank all the gods of Krishna I don't have to live with her."

"How much of the friction was due to her being a woman? I mean, if a man had had exactly the same qualities, would you have found him more congenial?"

"I don't think so, and I don't think it was male prejudice. After all, darling, you're a person of pretty decided opinions yourself; but we've put up with each other's faults for a long time." Mjipa smiled. "But how much are we ever aware of our own prejudices? To us they seem like realistic views. Still, I'm apprehensive for young Reith."

"Fergus seems a pretty able, self-confident fellow."

Mjipa shrugged. "I don't know how the chap would stand up under one of her tongue-lashings. Anyway, it'll be interesting to watch."

"She's beautiful by white standards, in spite of that ghastly hair," said Victoria. "Perhaps, before it's too late, she'll learn there are some things you just can't do to another person and get away with it."

"Maybe, but I shan't hold my breath. Mere beauty never balanced a cheque-book or helped a spouse through a spell of illness or unemployment. Not," he hastily added, "that you're not beautiful in my eyes."

"Thanks; a good try." Victoria leaned forward. "Tell me one thing, Percy. Tell me the exact truth, and I swear I won't hold it against you. no matter what the answer. I know you men, so I wouldn't blame you. Did you have an affair with her?"

"No, dear, I did not. I admit it was a damned near thing, as the Duke of Wellington said about Waterloo, because circumstances forced us together so long. It might have been different if we had really liked each other; but we didn't.

"A couple of times I was willing, and a couple of times she was; but the times never coincided. Just luck. It's more good luck than good management that we 're here at all." Thankful that Victoria had not asked questions leading to his night with Ovanel, Mjipa patted a yawn. "Party's over. Let's go to bed."

"Poor thing! You must be asleep on your feet."

"Who said anything about sleeping? I said bed."

"What, again already? Oh, very well." They rose, Mjipa observing that Alicia and Reith had already slipped out.

On their way across the compound, Mjipa caught sight of Alicia and Reith, walking slowly hand in hand under the light of Karrim, the nearest moon. Speaking in low voices, they paid no heed to the Mjipas. As the latter turned away towards their own quarters, Mjipa said:

"Speaking of beds, wonder whose they'll end up in?"

"Evil to him who evil thinks. It may end in nothing more than a chaste good-night kiss."

"I suppose you could be right, but from what I've seen ... Oh, well, none of our business anyway. But I can't help wondering how long it'll last."

"Not many couples stay together so long as we have," said Victoria.

"True. The institution of marriage wasn't designed for a two-hundred-year life span. But we baMangwato take our obligations seriously ... I say, has Glumelin got the Balhibo approval for my consulate at Zanid yet? Well, why not? Some day that ass will say Nichyevo! to me once too often, when I've got an urgent matter, and I'll throttle him ..."

The End