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lights on, will you?
The switch is by the door." Rissa did so. Now, as she sat again, she could see
the other's expression.
Smiling, Liesel Hulzein said, "I read what you said to the press the day you
got out of Welfare.
They asked what you planned to do, and you said-get off Earth, grow your hair
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down to your butt, and the rest was none of their business!" She laughed,
coughed, then laughed again. "Well, you're off Earth, all right-the hair still
has some way to go."
Self-consciously, Rissa reached to touch the ends of hair that lay against her
back. "I have had less than three years, biological, and slowed for part of
that time by the freeze-chamber. And I
must trim the skimpy ends at the back to let the front catch up, or it does
not look well."
Liesel's laugh was a whoop. "Oh, I wasn't trying to embarrass you. Just a
factual comment because your remarks stuck in my mind. And I admired you for
speaking up that way, under the circumstances." She gripped the arms of the
big chair and came up standing.
"I'll have Castel show you to your room. Unpack, rest, have a bath-a snack, if
you like; he'll bring you something. And be dressed to have dinner" with us
shortly after sundown."
"Us? And how shall I dress?"
"Us is whoever I have to table. Dress as you like."
HER room was on the third floor, at the front. Its window looked out over a
vast sweep of woodland to the range of hills she had crossed. Here too, the
walls were wood-paneled, but in a lighter color. The bath dwarfed Rissa; one
faucet brought warm water that bubbled gently and smelled of forest. She lay a
long time, head propped on a cushion so that face and ears were above water.
Then almost in one motion she gripped the sides of the bath, drew her feet
under her, and sprang erect. She felt refreshed, euphoric; without volition
her laugh came.
\c" 83 "
\cShe toweled herself. Then off came Tari Obrigo-the nose mole, the protruding
teeth-cap, the fingerprints-all of it. She brushed back her wet hair, gripped
the mass to bring the ends around to vision, and trimmed off a wispy
half-inch. Then she 'dried it and held one mirror to see herself reflected in
another. It was getting there, she thought-the front \iwas\i catching up to
the back. Still far short of her impromptu boast, but-oh, well...
ANOTHER young man-Ernol, taller than Castel and of African ancestry-summoned
her for dinner and showed her the way. The dining room reminded her of the
room in which she had met Liesel-the same
file:///C|/WINDOWS/Desktop/Incoming/Busby,%...%20View%2002%20-%20Young%20Rissa
%20v1.0.txt (37 of 80) [7/14/2004 3:22:00 PM]
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%20View%2002%20-%20Young%20Rissa%20v1.0.txt effect of massiveness. Wall lights
and a central chandelier were jets of burning gas.
Against a wall stood a huge table; under the central lights was placed a
smaller one. It would have seated six, but only four chairs surrounded it.
Liesel sat in one. To her right was a younger woman-perhaps, by Earth years,
nearing thirty-
tall, slim, with dark hair coiled atop her head and a lean, tanned face. All
her features were emphatic-heavy arched brows over green eyes, the cheekbones
and chin, blade-straight nose over a wide mouth- it was, thought Rissa, as
though her face competed with its own parts. And yet the whole had a
precarious harmony.
The man at Liesel's left Rissa guessed to be nearly seven feet tall. A curly
black beard largely hid his swarthy face. His eyes were deep-set; she could
not determine their color.
Liesel glanced up and said, "Do sit down. Rissa Kerguelen, be acquainted with
Hawkman and
Sparline Moray." The two nodded but said nothing; Rissa did the same, and sat.
Young persons brought food and wine; the wall lights dimmed and went dark.
"There is a business matter," said Hawkman Moray in a soft, deep voice.
"Fennerabilis overreaches himself."
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"When he loses his balance," said Liesel, "we push. Spar-
\c84
\cline-could you distract his attention for a time at the next ten-day
gathering?"
"So long as I need not give him mine, \iafter\i the gathering.''
As the discussion began, excluding Rissa, so it continued. Trying to follow
it, she ate without noting flavors. Time passed slowly; she was filled, but
continued eating for want of anything else to do. Her one attempt at
conversation, a comment on her impressions of the planet, was not only ignored
but interrupted.
All right, she thought; she could sulk with the best of them. She kept silence
and soon was engrossed in her own thoughts, unheeding of the talk that so
pointedly ignored her. / \ido not have to stay here,\i she thought. / \ican
play docile for a time, and then . . .\i After all, she still had Cele
Metrokin as a hole card-and Laura Konig. At the time for drugsticks, she
smoked automatically and lightly.
Liesel's voice cut through her preoccupation. "I \isaid,\i 'Rissa-we're not
boring you, are we?'
"
She shook her head, not in negation but to clear her mind. She said, "It is
futile to lie to a
Hulzein, and I prefer the truth anyway. You are boring the hell out of me, and
you all very well know it."
Hawkman Moray grunted, touched a napkin to his lips, and rose. "In that case
we will desist.
Come, Sparline."
The woman stood also. "Good night, Liesel." Arm in arm, the two left the room.
Alarmed, Rissa looked at her hostess. "Should I follow and apologize?"
"No, they found out what they wanted to know. So did I."
"Have I made myself unwelcome here?"
Liesel shook her head. "You've missed the point. Rissa, did you understand
anything of what was said here?"
Rissa started to say no, then realized that the gist had stuck in her mind.
"It is a power play.
Fenner-whatever his name is-is trying to undermine your influence in the Windy
Lakes area. So you will use-oh, I forget the names-to give him trouble
elsewhere, to occupy him while you sew the
Lakes up solidly. And-"
\c\b" 85 "
\b
\c"That's close enough. You see, you \idid\i understand. Then why were you
bored?''
"Because no one ever \ispoke\i to me, or explained who anybody is. I-"
"In some ways, you're a spoiled child. Capable, yes-but untrained."
'\i'Erika\i trained me!"
"In some skills. Not, apparently, in patience or subtlety." She waved a hand.
"No, no-don't confuse individual guile with the ability to work subtly in
group actions. However, I have hope for you-if you're willing to learn. And if
you survive, once you're ready for work outside this place."
"Survive? Why should I not?"
"Dal Nardo. I called him-he wants your life, all right. He hates anything to
do with the
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