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finish, then tore off a sheet with half a dozen addresses on it,
short para-graphs beside them listing requirements and costs.  You want to be
careful,
she said.  Some of the boardhouses out there funnel women to bordellos and
worse; they ad-vertise cheap prices and give you more than you pay for, but
nothing you d like. These are all right, though. She pushed the list across
the counter.  If you ll get your things, I ll show you where to put them.
3. Spy on the job
Shadith had her choice of ears. The ottotel was clean enough outside the
walls, but inside was a busy haven for vermin of various sorts, much of it off
the ships that landed here mice and other small rodents along with assorted
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spiders and insects. Exterminators cost money and random sprays of toxics were
likely to make some of the clients sicker than the vermin.  Bots and servitors
didn t care and the Ptakkan owners of the  tel had no intention of coming near
the place. The rooms were sealed and small seeker
 bots took care of complaints, if any.
Shadith stationed a mouse in the air duct, put it to sleep, and used its ears
to pick up what was being said in the main room of the suite the Cobben
infested.
She rather missed Autumn Rose, though she certainly hadn t expected to. There
was no one to talk to. And she couldn t even go play. With all this passive
mindriding, the concentration it needed, all this lying in dark rooms, not
moving, trying to keep awake, she was too exhausted most nights to do anything
but watch the vids. Everything in Lala Gemali, even around here in this
bedroom com-munity for low status workers, was geared for plucking the
offworlders of their last coin. Coin viewers in every room.
Watch the war and feed the Ptakkan greed.
She scolded herself, reminded herself she was here on a job, not chasing one
of her own shadows or running down a personal threat.
I have to get used to this, she thought.
I m on someone else s time.
Again. Well, I man-aged to get used to the diadem, this shouldn t be too hard.
Listening to the Cobben was depressing. Despite what they did for a living or
maybe even because of it there was a closeness between them that made
her want to break off and go cuddle with
Swardheld for a while. It reminded her too forcefully of the lack in her life.
Re-minded her that she had to yearn after Autumn Rose just to have someone
about who shared a common purpose. Several times she bailed out quickly as sex
play started developing. Made her envious and queasy at the same time. And
curious, wondering what it d be like to be part of a multiple arrangement that
had been going on for a number of years.
Odd. She could spy on them to find out what they were going to
do, to learn their skills and interactions in case she had to fight or
even kill them, but spying on their sex lives to satisfy curiosity was
something she simply could not do.
 The Blivvy was looking at you, Feyd, you know she was. A rolling giggle.
 Don t know what she d do with a little playtoy like you, you d get lost in
those rolls of fat
 Oh, he likes them lush. A rumbling growl of a voice.
 Someone turn on the shield? A light dry voice, am-biguous as to gender.
 Why bother. The first speaker, a mid-range female voice with harsh edges.
 Government issue.
You know it has to have holes in it.
 Hoy, Sarpe, you said it. Slow, rather dragging male voice, the words
interrupted by a loud yawn.
 I m beat. Rest of you want to min the chik you ll have to yob with-out me.
 Yo, Orm, you right. A quick ripple of a voice and a long sigh.  It s sleep
for me.
Dragging sounds, giggles from the fresher, slap of flesh against
flesh, coughing, smells of kava brewing, of soap and damp and dust stirred
up. More coughing, sighs, creaking from the pallets, soft rubbing sounds from
quilts moving over flesh. Silence for a while, punctuated by a few snores
before one of the Cobben made an exasperated sound like a mix between a snort
and the clicking of tongue against teeth and shifted the snorer onto his side,
or perhaps her side.
More silence for a while, then sounds of movement converging on a corner of
the room away from the sleep-ers. Quiet voices.
 Sarpe, we getting good money for this, but I ve about had it here. How long s
it been, six years?
Feels like six centuries. We re getting to be like contract labor, if you ask
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me.
 Yeh, Meya s right. Stuck in a yobbing rut worse n any bourgie snek. A
soft groan, stretching sounds.  I m get-ting sloppy. If I had a real hit,
chances are I d blow the Cob. Don t like it. Don t like losing my edge. Don t
like feeling maybe it isn t just me.
A short silence, then the harsh clipped voice of the Coryfe.  You challenging
me, Kayr?
Sound of snort, then the quick light voice with a hint of laughter in it.
 Don t point your fangs at me, Sarpe Coryfe. I m just telling you.
A longer silence.
Sarpe s voice, quieter now, the edges smoothed over.  I ll be meeting with the
Clo-Kajhat two days on, he said he s got something special for us. We ll talk
again when I know what it is.
Shadith took the mouse through the ducts until it was far enough away so its
reaction wouldn t reach the Cobben, then she turned it loose and let it go
squealing off, tiny claws scrabbling on the plas of the duct floor as it ran
for familiar territory.
She pressed the heels of her hands against her temples, then rubbed them
across her eyes. She was exhausted but too nervous to sleep. With a whispered
curse, she hunted out a handful of coins and settled back to watch the
war unfold. Once again the war. It had an awful fascination. After a week of
watching she almost understood what brought the tourists here.
She drowsed as war scenes flowed across the screen, minor engagements and [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]