The Altian Plague by DM Arnold (best book club books for discussion .TXT) 📖

thought you said to ignore him.”

“YOU ignore him. I had to teach him a lesson.” She looked at him with her eyes filling. “He called me a whore! Do I LOOK like one? Is it ... tattooed on me somewhere?”

“Of course not, Dyppa -- he was drunk.”

“He called me ax'amorfa!” Nyk put his arm around her.

The tubecar pulled into position on the platform. Dyppa directed it to the shuttleport and it sped through the tubular roadway toward the perimeter of the dome. Nyk let out a sigh of relief. “Are you feeling all right?” he asked. She nodded. “You had the worst reaction coming out of the drug. I was frightened for you.”

“I feel fine, now. A bit tired maybe.” She leaned against him and he slipped his arm around her.

He glanced at her and saw tears. “What's the matter? That filthy old drunk?” She shook her head. “Is it Lom?”

She nodded. “I can't believe he's joined The Seven. He's not the same man I knew. Something's gone ... tenderness has been replaced by something hard -- something unfeeling.”

“I've been face-to-face with some Altian operatives. I was convinced they had no regard for life ... not for their own ... not for anyone's.”

“I saw that in Lom. He told me he didn't care if they tortured him -- if they killed him.” She turned to Nyk, lay her face against his chest and sobbed.

Nyk pet her hair. “You'll be all right. Some of this is just delayed reaction to truth drug.”

“No it isn't. I hated hearing him talk like that.” Dyppa sniffed and looked into his eyes. “I'm mourning a loss, Nyk. My one happy memory of those times is gone.” She squeezed him and kissed his cheek. “Yes, I'll be all right.” She rested her face against his chest again. Nyk stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head. “I'm all right -- no more tears.”

“I hate truth drug. It's nothing less than the rape of a mind. If I'm ever in a position to request that sort of interrogation -- I won't.”

“Nyk...”

“What, Dyppa?”

“Thanks for coming with me, and thanks for listening and seeing for yourself.”

The tubecar stopped outside the shuttleport. Nyk grabbed Dyppa's hand and they ran, pushing through the crowd into the port. Wristscans admitted them to the departure lounge. Nyk sat in an aluminum chair and modulated his breathing to cool off. “I think we're safe enough here,” he said. “Non- passengers aren't admitted to this lounge.”

“Many on this planet can't afford passage,” she replied. “I should thank you for something else -- for sponsoring me into the ExoAgency and for paying my passage. When I was in training they told me it's rare for non-Floran natives to be in the Agency.”

“We welcome anyone with the talent and the motivation,” he replied. He looked out toward the runway. “The shuttle's here and the passengers are debarking. Who travels to and from here?”

“Mining and manufacturing officials, administrators and the like. The working poor is the biggest class here, but it's by no means the only one.”

“They'll board us shortly. I can't wait to be off this world and on that packet. This place gives me the creeps.”

“You should try living here.”

9 -- Another Plum Assignment

Nyk sat behind his desk manipulating his laptop computer. Seymor poked his head in. “Do you have another plum assignment for me?” Nyk asked.

“No -- I thought we could walk down to Bronfmann's for lunch. It's a mild day.”

“Give me a minute.”

“What are you doing?”

“I'm requesting a news feed -- the main feed from Altia.”

“Why Altia?”

“My visit there with Dyppa gave me a ... a sort of fascination with the place.”

“Ah, yes. How did that go?”

“I certainly understand why no one goes there on vacation. It's not a vacation spot, unless you care to sample the diverse wares of the cadre of whores in Altropolis. You know Dyppa was a hooker, don't you?”

“I've heard.”

“She told me a bit of what that lifestyle is like. Did you ever meet a prostitute, Seymor? Have a chance to talk with one?”

Seymor stepped in and pulled the door shut. “Gads, lad. Keep your voice down.”

“What?”

“I said keep your voice down!” he hissed.

“What's the matter?” Seymor glanced toward the closed door. “What?” He nodded his head in that direction. Nyk's jaw dropped. “JAQUIE?” he whispered.

“Let's talk on our way to Bronfmann's. I'll tell you the whole story. You are my assistant -- you deserve to know, so it won't come as a complete shock should anything happen to me.” Seymor grabbed a camel-hair overcoat. Nyk slipped into his suit jacket and followed to the street.

“I came here in '73,” Seymor said as they walked. “I was 40 Floran years old at the time and was an administrator in the ExoService -- a bean counter. The oversight chair asked me to go down and straighten out the mess my predecessor made. He had fucked it up good. They picked me because of my management experience. It was to be a one or two year term. I was dreading it.”

“You never went back,” Nyk said.

“No... In those days just looking at an Earth girl was enough to get you sent up. We were instructed to satisfy our needs by patronizing the local professionals.”

“Jaquie was a hooker?”

“A call girl ... an escort. Not the sort you used to see hanging around Time Square -- the high-class kind you hear about from a friend of a friend. I was living in the penthouse. I didn't buy it, Nyk -- my predecessor did with mis-appropriated funds. I should've sold it but didn't. I kept it because it was comfortable and convenient -- and, paid for. One of the other Agents gave me a card for this escort service. They operated out of a town house in the Upper West Side -- it's gone now, but it was a nice place in a nice neighborhood. I called and they sent Jaquie. I told the doorman I was expecting a visitor. He rang me and said Jaquie was on her way up.

“The elevator doors opened, she stepped out and my jaw hit the carpet. I had never seen a woman like her. She was... She was...”

“She was Black,” Nyk said.

“And, she was beautiful. Nyk -- be honest. When you first were attracted to Sukiko, how much of it was her race?”

“Well...”

“Be honest.”

“A lot of it. I laid eyes on her and I had never seen a woman so exotic, so mysterious, so beautiful... Even today, there's something about the shape of her eyes that makes me melt whenever I look at them.”

“It was the same with me. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. I fell for her hard -- I became one of her regulars. There was chemistry between us. She told me she looked forward to her visits.”

“You know they'll say whatever they think you want to hear,” Nyk remarked.

“I know they do, but I believed her. What happened next proved it. One day the doorman rang and said Jaquie was on her way up. We didn't have an assignation scheduled for that night. The door opened and she stood there. She had turned white with terror. I didn't think a Black girl could do that, but she was white and she was shaking. One of the other girls in her house had been murdered and she witnessed it. She was terrified, and she wanted out of the business. She came to me, Nyk. She had the whole City to turn to, and she came to ME for help. So, here I was -- on Earth for all of three months, helping a young woman with a not unreasonable fear for her own life.”

They arrived at the deli and stood in line. Nyk ordered a pastrami sandwich and sat at a table. Seymor joined him. “I'll never forget that night,” Seymor continued. “I told her I really didn't know what I could do to help, but that I had a vacant guest room and she was welcome to use it. I told her she was safe in the penthouse -- as safe, at least, as anywhere in the City. It took several hours for her to get over the shakes. I didn't have any brandy or wine - - hell, I didn't even have a beer to offer her. I suggested she take a warm bath, and I tipped the doorman to send up some hot chocolate. Finally I got her calmed down enough to go to bed.

“She had said she wanted out of the business and I respected that. I told her there was no quid-pro-quo, that I was helping a friend out of a jam. I made up the guest room with fresh linens, tucked her in, kissed her forehead and switched off the light. I told her I was going to take a shower and go to bed.

“I stepped out of the shower and into the master bedroom. There was Jaquie in my bed. She was afraid of the dark, she said. I climbed in, held her and we professed our undying love for each other.”

“And then,” Nyk added, “you had the best sex you'd ever had in your life.”

Seymor stared at his soda. “No... Neither of us were in much of a mood that night...” He sipped his drink. “However,” he said with a smile, “the next night...” Nyk stifled a chuckle. “She never spent a single night in that guest room.”

“I know she's not living in the penthouse now,” Nyk replied. “How long did that go on?”

“About three years.”

“Why did she move out?”

“Our relationship changed ... evolved. She wanted respectability and independence. She did not want to be a kept woman. I told her I couldn't marry her. She didn't want that, either. I suggested she work for me as a receptionist, only until she got on her feet. She never left. Don't think we keep her on because of me -- us. She's a damned good secretary.”

“She's more than that,” Nyk replied.

“I'll say. Nyk -- if you're my right hand, Jaquie's my left.”

“You still love her, don't you?”

“Of course I do, and she loves me. We visit each other fairly regularly, but we both enjoy our freedom. It's worked for us.” Nyk gazed at him as he chewed. “What's that look for?”

“Why, you old codger -- it's no wonder you were so accepting of my situation with Suki.”

“You'll learn, lad, that Florans sign up for Agency tours for a myriad of reasons: Adventure, curiosity, sense of duty... But we invariably stay for one reason.”

Nyk nodded. “The love of a woman.” He picked up a handful of potato chips. “Does Jaquie know?” Seymor looked down. “Seymor -- does she know about us -- our mission?”

“Yes.”

Nyk let out a low whistle. “She does a good job of hiding it.”

“In those days if word got home, not only would I have been sent up but drawn and quartered, too. She keeps it from everyone -- even other Agents. She's discreet -- it's one trait that makes her a good assistant. She knows and she protects us. Don't let on you know this, Nyk.”

“Oh, I won't. So she and Dyppa have something in common.”

“I told Jaquie a bit of young Dyppa. She was the one who convinced me to let you take your chances with her -- as I took my chances with her.”

“I'll tell you, Seymor -- from the first time I set foot in our office, I've enjoyed Jaquie. I think she's an attractive, classy woman.”

“You won't get an argument from me.” Seymor took a swig from a cup of cola. “Speaking of Dyppa -- how went her interrogation?”

“She had the worst reaction coming out of the drug. Thankfully, she doesn't remember any of it. On Floran they only use enough drug to get you into truth trance. On Altia they always use the maximum dose.”

“Did they learn anything?”

“She's back in Wisconsin, isn't she?” He sipped his soda. “Of course not. She had nothing to do with that bunch.”

“I'm relieved. I was a bit worried.”

“Needlessly.”

“Well,” Seymor