“Well, Val, right on time I see,” a voice called, and I looked up to see John Little walking toward us from the shuttle lock we were heading toward. “In just a little while we’ll be on Xanadu, and then I can start introducing you to the Pleasure Sphere.”
“I’m looking forward to it, John,” Val answered with a sly look, and then the two of them laughed that dirty laugh that some men loved to share. “I don’t expect to find myself bored.”
“You have my word that you won’t be,” Little promised, and then he turned his attention to me. “Nor will you be, Jenny. And please allow me to say how lovely you look.”
His smirk was enough to get him belted under normal circumstances, and I wasn’t far from being willing to call those circumstances normal. I was wearing almost the same shade of blue I’d been wearing the night before, but this time it was on what the woman in the shop had called a sailor dress. The thing came high in front to hide all traces of cleavage, moved up across my shoulders and above cap sleeves to halfway down my back in what was laughingly called a collar, fit across my hips with no strain whatsoever, and continued on down to no more than an inch or so above my knees. A very nondescript pair of flat shoes came along with the dress, as did a pair of white gloves, a straw-like white hat, and a small blue purse on a white chain. I looked about as lovely as I felt, and Little knew it.
“My name is Jennifer,” I told him coldly with as much scorn as I could stuff into my tone. “You make a good friend for uncle Val, Mr. Little. Remembering my name seems to be beyond him, too. And I’m sure that anything capable of keeping your attention must be absolutely captivating, so why would you think I was worried about being bored?”
“That’s enough, Jenny,” Val put in in a hard voice, but happily nothing like the one he’d used in the clothing shop. Little was staring at me through the smirk he hadn’t allowed to disappear, and there was nothing friendly in the observing, only calculating. “Mr. Little is a friend of mine, and I won’t have you using him as a target for your tongue. I’m sure there are places even on Xanadu where hairbrushes can be bought.”
“Hairbrushes?” Little echoed, looking over at Val. “You’re supposed to buy her a hairbrush?”
“I’m considering it,” Val answered, giving me that impatient, petulant look. “Not to used by her, but on her. By me. If she doesn’t behave herself.”
Little found Val’s threat amusing enough to chuckle at, especially when I called a blush up into my cheeks and looked away in silent fury. I had the feeling that Val was trying to warn me not to antagonize a twisted creep like Little, but I knew the man better than Val did. Little was not a normal AC-GC; he had sex with other men not because he liked it, but because he hated women that much. When he involved himself with women, it was always in a way that brought pain and terror to them, the only way he could ever enjoy women. No matter what I did or didn’t do, I would never be winning any popularity contests where Little was the judge, so I had decided to use the situation to my own advantage. Little already knew “Jenny” wasn’t too crazy about her “uncle Val”; if I lumped him in along with Val, he would not wonder why I wasn’t around much once we got to the Pleasure Sphere. I intended making a point of avoiding them but watching from the sidelines, waiting for the time Little guided Val right up to Radman. At the first opportunity after the meeting broke up Radman would be mine, and then Val and I could both forget Little and just get ourselves out of there.
The shuttle docked right on time, took on its load, then headed back to Xanadu with all of us aboard, me at the port, Little on the aisle, Val between us. I spent most of the trip down listening to a commentary of the wonders of Xanadu through a set of headphones, but gave it up when I nearly laughed aloud at hearing the Pleasure Sphere described as “a naughty delight for those daring enough to taste forbidden fruit.” The section just outside the Pleasure Sphere was reserved for everyone’s aunt Hattie and uncle Bill, who were looking for a “naughty delight”; the workers there wore peek-a-boo costumes, pretended to be hotter than hell, and spent most of their time publicly propositioning people who never made love with the lights on. That plus a few simple games kept the ordinary man-and-woman-on-the-street happy as sin. The real Pleasure Sphere was not for the ordinary.
Val and Little carried on a low-voiced conversation until we grounded at Rainbow, the planet’s major port, then we and the others with us filed out into the late afternoon sunshine and down the ramp to the circle of reception tables being set up around the shuttle. Xanadu’s patrons were never put out to the extent of having to walk anywhere unnecessarily, and the non-homogeneous shuttle group had to be separated into its component parts before anything else could be done. The four major continents were each represented by about 85 degrees of arc and brightly colored banners, the first depicting sunshine and sand, the second green water and a boat, the third a forest with mountains and snow in the background, and the fourth a fun ride in front of a roulette wheel. There were, of course, sub-sections covering specifics under these general headings, and most of the people debarking had no difficulty in finding the section that applied to them. The section we wanted was dull and quiet in comparison, but the large black P on a background of lilac said something the others didn’t, at least as far as the dozen people heading for it were concerned. Strangely enough our group was quieter than any of the others, and that made me stop and think for a minute; considering what they were going toward, maybe it wasn’t that strange after all.
Val and Little registered with one of the people under the black P, and then we were directed to a waiting vehicle that consisted of cushioned comfort chairs and quiet, efficient people taking and serving drink orders. The vehicle was open on all sides but the top and was large enough to hold forty or fifty people, and once we were seated I was actually brought the glass of wine I’d asked for. Val was pretending he didn’t know what I was doing, covering himself in case anyone called him on the point, I supposed, but I appreciated the thoughtfulness. Looking around casually is a lot easier when you can pretend to be doing it as a fill-in between swallows.
In another twenty minutes the shuttle was empty and everyone going our way was already aboard the vehicle, so the show was promptly put on the road. The port was large but very uninteresting, with big, modem buildings decorating its outer edges but nothing else to look at. The vehicle started smoothly with only a preliminary hum, to be sure not to spill the drinks, I guessed. Hors d’oeuvres consisting of finger sandwiches and pastries were brought around by the drink servers, so I helped myself to a small cake of the 1000 calorie variety and ate it fast, as though ashamed to have anyone catch me being young enough to do something like that. Val was still not noticing what I was doing as far as Little was concerned, but I caught a glimpse of amusement in his eyes showing that he hadn’t missed the gesture; after all the desserts he’d made that I’d eaten, I was sure he knew I hadn’t taken the cake just to strengthen my characterization.
Once we left the area of the port, we found ourselves all alone on a well-paved highway that threaded through pleasantly cool forest with birds singing in the trees. For my purposes the forest was as useful as the port had been, so I was far from disappointed when the highway began skirting a large lake and a dock appeared in the near distance. There was a vessel tied up at the dock that was as strange-looking a water vehicle as the land vehicle we then rode, but I couldn’t see all of it from our position on the highway. The front of it seemed open but sectioned off, and beyond that there were parts that looked to be entirely closed, but our angle of approach kept me from being certain.
“You should like that boat, Jenny,” Little’s voice came, showing my interest in our destination had been noticed. “The crew are all employees of the Management, but the servants are slaves. You can order them to do anything you please, and no one will mind.”
“But slavery isn’t legal,” I said, turning my head to send him a frown where he sat. I could see from the amusement in his eyes that I’d given him the answer he’d expected-which was the reason I’d said it in the first place.
“On Xanadu, slavery is completely legal,” he informed me, a faint, cruel smile just curving his lips. “If you commit a crime or step out of line in some other way, you will most likely be sentenced to slavery to work out whatever punishment you’ve been given. If I were you, I would be very, very careful not to step out of line.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, not liking his smile one little bit. “I don’t have to worry about something like that. I’m here as a guest, and everyone knows guests are protected.”
“Your uncle Val is here as a guest,” he corrected with a lot of satisfaction, sipping lazily at his drink. “As a minor, your classification is something else entirely and not clearly defined. If you bring yourself to the attention of the Management, they may just decide you deserve to be taught some manners. Allow me to assure you that you would make a most desirable slave, my dear, and I would be certain to see that I was one of the first men you were sent to serve.”
“So you’d better be very careful of your behavior, little girl,” Val put in with a greasy smirk while I stared wordlessly at Little. “If you antagonize anyone here who happens to be in a position of even moderate power, you could find yourself facing something a lot worse than having a hairbrush applied to your backside. Not that John couldn’t see to it that that was done as well.”
A glance showed me that above the smirk Val’s eyes were filled with warning, underscoring the speech he’d made. Something more must have passed between him and Little, but I couldn’t help keeping my stare directly on Little himself. His threat had sounded as though he might have something specific in mind to tie me up, and I couldn’t afford to get, involved in something like that. I hadn’t expected my obnoxious act to push him that far that fast, but Little wasn’t straight enough to be judged easily or predicted with any sort of precision. I had to backpedal if I could, and hope it would do the trick.
“t want to go back to the orbital station,” I said in a voice shaky with shock, letting my eyes go appropriately wide. “Please let me go back, uncle Val.”
“Too late, Jenny.” Val laughed lightly, his characterization enjoying the spot his snobbish niece had been put on. “We’re here and we’re staying here, until / decide it’s time to leave. Until then we’ll ‘be watching to see how well you behave yourself, and if we don’t like what we see, you won’t like what happens.”
They both laughed at the appalled expression I showed them, then went back to their private conversation, leaving me to sink back in my chair in a thoroughly cowed manner. Inside I was cursing at that “we’ll both be watching you” phrase Val had used, and it didn’t matter whether he was just being creative in character or was warning me that Little had plans he couldn’t cancel out. I couldn’t afford to be watched, not by someone who would love to turn me in to the Management, but avoiding it would probably turn out to be easier said than done.
In another few minutes our vehicle slid to a smooth stop in front of the pretty white dock the water vessel was tied up to, and we were all able to see how much bigger the thing looked up close. The center section was enclosed and both ends were partitioned but open, and the bright colors it was painted brought a festive feeling to everyone but the little girl who had been badly frightened by the two grown men she was traveling with. Little Jenny tried hanging back when everyone began leaving the vehicle, presumably to ride it back to the shuttle port and from there get a shuttle to the Station, but her uncle and his friend made very sure she was with them when they began the short walk to the boarding ramp. I let my shoulders slump and a frightened look peer out of my eyes, but made sure not to mention that I’d never intended being left behind. People on Xanadu weren’t simply allowed to board a shuttle any time they pleased, not with all the slaves the planet boasted. If you didn’t have a properly made departure reservation you attracted official attention, and on top of that I had no intentions of leaving-until I got what I’d come for.
Each group boarding was met by a smiling attendant, females for the men, males for the women. If the group consisted of two and they were one male and one female, the dominant half of the partnership was catered to; whichever it happened to be. The operation was carried off so smoothly I was sure they’d been tipped by those working the land vehicle, which would have been the smart way to handle it. A tall, well-made brunette came forward as soon as we reached the top of the ramp, and her smile was mostly for Val.
“If you’ll come this way, gentlemen, I’ll show you to your accommodations,” she said as she moved to the left, away from the ramp. “We’ll be casting off as soon as everyone from the bus is aboard, and you might like to rest before dinner. Cocktails will be served at sundown, the meal itself at full dark. If you need anything before then-or afterward, for that matter just press the white contact beside your door. The Management wishes you a pleasant stay.”
“Thank you,” Val answered, looking the girl over carefully but only with the intensity of his role. After his comment about being partial to dark hair and eyes, I’d been briefly worried at seeing our beautiful guide; if he’d turned those hunters eyes on her it could have been all over for us, but apparently he had more control of himself than that. He watched her behind moving under the flowered sarong she wore as she led us up a wooden corridor between what seemed to be the accommodations she’d mentioned, but the look in his black eyes never sharpened, not even when she stopped in front of a door on our left.
“This one is yours, Mr. Little,” she said, opening the door as she smiled at him. “The next one is yours, Mr. Carter, and the last is for the young lady. I’ll see each of you inside, and then leave you to your rest.”
“I think I would prefer having my niece between Mr. Little and myself,” Val told her, stopping her just as she was starting for what was supposed to be his door. “Being on Xanadu and heading for the Pleasure Sphere is beginning to frighten her, but being between the two of us ought to be reassuring. ”