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

“Don't forget: it isn't God who is known as the Prince of Liars.”
    “Are half of the prostitutes really men?”
    “All but two are Men.”
    Christina smiled. “I meant the gender, not the species.”
    “I have no idea.” He glanced sharply at her. “I trust that you have no idea, either.”
    “What about the two aliens?” asked Christina. “Do humans actually go to bed with them?”
    “So I am told,” said Gold, suddenly uneasy. “I find the subject distasteful in the extreme.”
    “I saw a holo of them after your sermon last Friday,” persisted Christina. “Do they really look like that?”
    “I don't know what they looked like in the holo,” answered Gold.
    “Like little pixies, with pointed ears and oversized blue eyes.”
    “Something like that.”
    “Is that silver hair they have, or is it feathers?”
    “How should I know?” he snapped. “I'm not one of their customers!”
    “Don't be so touchy,” she said, ignoring his outburst. “I'm just curious about them.”
    “Then tie in to the main library computer and ask for data on the Andrican race of Besmarith II. You'll find out everything you want to know.”
    “I'm not that curious,” replied Christina. “I just thought you might give me some details.”
    “The subject is closed,” he said. “I am not going to discuss or describe a pair of alien prostitutes for your amusement.”
    “I resent that!”
    He scrutinized her for a moment.
    “Then I apologize,” he said. “It's just that I can't help feeling that I'm adding to their exploitation by talking about them in this manner.”
    “Accepted, as always,” she said, walking over and kissing him on the cheek.
    “Friends again?” asked Gold.
    She smiled. “If I can ask another question.”
    “About the Comet or the faeries?”
    “The Steel Butterfly.”
    He nodded. “Go ahead.”
    “What makes her do what she does?”
    “What makes any sinner sin?” responded Gold.
    “But she looked so elegant and sounded so sophisticated, at least from what little they showed of her. Surely there are other things she could do for a living.”
    “Not all sinners are inelegant and unsophisticated,” said Gold. “In fact, quite the contrary: a sophisticated man can come up with one hundred well-reasoned humanistic rationalizations for assuaging his hungers at the expense of his soul; the simple man is usually better able to differentiate right from wrong and act accordingly. As for the Steel Butterfly, she doesn't think that being the madam of a brothel is sinful. She views making money as an honorable enterprise, and doubtless views her sexual technique as an art form.
    Which,” he added, “is the problem with rationalizations: they work beautifully on Men, but God is not impressed by them. Good and Evil do exist, and all the rationalization in the world will not turn an immoral act into a moral one.”
    “You're preaching again,” said Christina, amused.
    “It's what I do,” responded Gold. “It's what I am.”
    The front door's computer lock clicked open, and Simon Gold entered the apartment. He was tall, even taller than Gold, and far more muscular. Everything about him seemed somehow severe: the cut of his clothes, the style of his hair, the expression on his face.
    “Good afternoon, sister,” he said formally.
    “Hello, Simon,” answered Christina. “We've been waiting for you.”
    “Including your husband?”
    “No. Bob's busy again tonight. He sends his apologies.”
    He stared emotionlessly at her for a moment, then turned to Gold.
    “You look tired, Father,” he said.
    “I'm not as young as I used to be,” said Gold. “Or else the zoo is a lot bigger than it used to be. Probably both.”
    “Possibly you should let the boy's father take him to the zoo while you concentrate on more important things,” suggested Simon with no show of sympathy.
    “I think not,” said Gold. “Twenty-five years from now Robert can take his grandchild to the