Read Online Eros Descending: Book 3 of Tales of the Velvet Comet by Mike Resnick - Free Book Online

commented Gold with a smile. “At least he's creative.”
    “You know, if Simon or I had ever pulled that routine on you, we'd have gotten a ten-minute lecture about lying, followed by a sound thrashing,” noted Christina.
    “I save my lectures and my thrashings for my enemies these days,” responded Gold. “Besides, he's only five years old.”
    “I don't remember that being five ever got us any special dispensation when you were raising us.”
    Gold smiled. “That's because children are for raising; grandchildren are for spoiling.”
    “Well, you're doing your best,” she laughed.
    “Actually,” said Gold with a sigh, “when we're not looking at animals or entertainers or athletes, I seem to spend most of my time explaining why his religion forbids his eating all the things he wants me to buy for him.” He frowned. “There are more than two million Jesus Pures on Deluros; you'd think the concession stands would take that into account.”
    “They will, when there's enough of a demand,” replied Christina. “Don't forget: most of your followers would sooner read the Bible than look at captive animals.”
    “Most of them don't have five-year-old grandsons,” said Gold defensively. “I've never said that our lives have to be joyless, just moral.”
    “Well, now that they've seen holos of you sitting next to the Iron Moth, or whatever she calls herself, maybe they'll start believing you.”
    “The Steel Butterfly,” he said wryly. “I wish I knew how they decide upon their names up there. Do you know what the Chief of Security is named?”
    “What?”
    “Attila! And one of the prostitutes was named Perfumed Garden.”
    “I wonder what it represents?” mused Christina.
    “I hope I never find out,” answered Gold. “You know, even the computer has a name.”
    “Really? What is it?”
    “Cupid, of all things.”
    She looked at him for a moment, as if weighing her next statement.
    “What was it like up there on the Velvet Comet ?” she asked at last.
    He frowned. “Why?”
    “Just curiosity,” she replied. “Hadn't you ever wondered before you got there?”
    “Never once.”
    “Well, I guess I'm just not as moral as you,” she said with a smile. “I'm absolutely fascinated.”
    Gold stared at her. “Every now and then, when I least expect it, I find myself agreeing with Simon,” he said wryly. “I think Robert may be a bad influence upon you.”
    She returned his stare with no trace of uneasiness or embarrassment. “I was curious about houses of ill repute long before I married Bob. It's perfectly natural. Now why don't you tell me all about it?” she coaxed him.
    “There's very little to tell,” said Gold. “I imagine you've seen advertisements for it.”
    “You're not getting off the hook that easily.” She grinned. “Come on, now—what's it really like?”
    “Seriously?”
    “Seriously.”
    “All right,” said Gold. “I went up there expecting to find Satan, and I did. What I had forgotten was that he is a fallen angel.”
    “I don't think I follow you,” said Christina.
    “I mean that everything that happens up there is moral under certain circumstances. The pleasures of the flesh are acceptable, even desirable, within the confines of marriage. And it's hardly sinful to eat or shop or be entertained or to work out in a gymnasium or to watch a sporting event. But there comes a point when eating becomes gluttony, and seeking constant entertainment becomes sloth, and spending money on expensive presents becomes excessive and wasteful. It's a blurred line, and different for every man and woman, and as a result values get very confused up there. They make sin very comfortable.”
    “I suppose people wouldn't sin if it weren't comfortable, so to speak,” offered Christina.
    “They make it too attractive,” said Gold. “You asked about their names before. I suspect they all take such names because it lends to the illusion they're trying to create.” He paused.