Read Online Eros at Zenith: Book 2 of Tales of the Velvet Comet by Mike Resnick - Free Book Online Page B

tonight.”
    He spent the next twenty minutes studying holographs of some of the most sensuous and beautiful women he had ever seen. Where the prostitute had some special interest or field of expertise, it was so noted.
    THAT ENDS THE LIST OF THOSE WOMEN WHO WILL BE AVAILABLE PRIOR TO 2400 HOURS. ARE THERE ANY YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE AGAIN?
    “Not right now.”
    IF YOU HAVE MADE A DECISION, I CAN REGISTER A LIAISON HERE AND NOW, AND THUS ASSURE YOU OF YOUR COMPANION'S AVAILABILITY.
    “I haven't made up my mind yet.”
    I SHOULD POINT OUT THAT WE HAVE AN EQUALLY LARGE SELECTION OF MEN, AND THAT ANY CONCEIVABLE NUMBER AND GROUPING OF PARTNERS CAN BE ARRANGED.
    “I'll bear that in mind,” he said sardonically.
    THE BLACK PEARL HAS JUST INSTRUCTED ME TO ALLOW YOU ACCESS TO HER FILE OF LIAISONS.
    “I'm surprised she remembered,” said Crane, getting to his feet.
    WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO BRING THEM UP ON THE SCREEN NOW?
    “Later,” said Crane. “I think I'll go out for a breath of air.”
    THE AIR IS THE SAME QUALITY THROUGHOUT THE SHIP.
    “That was a figure of speech. I feel restless. A little walk around the public rooms will do me good.”
    I WAS RIGHT.
    “About what?”
    YOU ARE SEXUALLY ATTRACTED TO THE BLACK PEARL.
    “The hell I am! I thought we'd been through all that before.”
    I CAN GIVE YOU A READOUT OF YOUR CURRENT PHYSICAL CONDITION AND COMPARE IT TO YOUR READING WHEN YOU CAME ABOARD.
    “I'm just feeling a little tense,” said Crane defensively.
    YES. I KNOW.
    “You go to hell!” snapped Crane, stalking out of the suite and heading off to the reception foyer.

Chapter 4

    The Dragon Lady looked up as the Black Pearl, swathed in silver beads and silver boots and very little else, entered the hospital's waiting room at 0430 hours the next morning.
    “Jesus!” muttered the madam irritably. “If it's not one damned thing, it's another. Where are they?”
    “In Intensive Care.”
    “Overdose?”
    The Dragon Lady nodded.
    “Let's take a look,” said the Black Pearl.
    They walked to the Intensive Care Room, where a lovely young brunette was stretched out on one of the beds, a number of monitoring devices attached to her body. A middle-aged man, attached to an identical machine, lay on the next bed.
    “How serious is it?” asked the Black Pearl.
    “The doctors feel that they got to him soon enough.”
    “What about Weeping Willow?” asked the madam, indicating the unconscious girl.
    “She's a little worse off,” replied the Dragon Lady. “She was already comatose when we got there.”
    “Will she live?”
    “Oh, I'm quite certain that she will.”
    “When she recovers, tell her she's fired,” said the Black Pearl.
    “Are you quite sure?” asked the Dragon Lady. “There are extenuating circumstances in this case.”
    “Because he brought the drugs? Show me a tape that proves he held a gun to her head and forced her to take them, and she can stay. Otherwise, she's out. She knows the rules, and considering what we're paying and who we're servicing, one offense is all anyone gets.”
    The Dragon Lady shrugged. “What about him ?”
    “Have the hospital bill his account, keep him here for three days, and put him on the next shuttle to Deluros. And while Security is your concern and not mine, I'd sure as hell fire whoever was working the airlock when he smuggled that stuff aboard.”
    “He brought it up more than a year ago,” replied the Dragon Lady. “I checked the readout of his luggage and his person, and it was negative, so on a hunch I went to the hydroponics garden.”
    “Alphanella?”
    The Security Chief nodded. “He must have brought up a packet of alphanella seeds when he was here last year. I found a pair of plants that seemed to be about 15 months old.”
    “Well, that's a new angle.”
    “I still don't know who tended them, though. I've got Oglevie and the computer scanning all our tapes from the garden, but they haven't come up with anything yet.”
    “Maybe you ought to