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

zoo.”
    “Doubtless,” replied Simon.
    “How was your day?” inquired Gold.
    “Satisfactory.”
    “Did you get any more research done on your book?”
    “Some.”
    “I didn't know you were writing a book,” said Christina.
    “I'm not,” replied Simon. “I'm researching a book. I won't begin writing it until sometime next spring. I expect it to take about three years.”
    “What's it about?” she asked.
    He merely stared at her.
    She smiled. “Silly question.”
    “I think you and your husband might derive some benefit from reading it once it's completed,” said Simon. “Especially your husband.”
    “His name is Bob, and I don't tell him what to read,” she said heatedly.
    “Perhaps you ought to,” said Simon.
    “Come on, Simon,” said Christina. “I'm only going to be here a few more days. Let's not fight.”
    “As you wish,” said Simon, dismissing the subject and all else his sister might have to say with a single shrug, and turning to Gold. “I walked past the Vainmill Building this morning, Father.”
    “And?” asked Gold.
    “They've changed the name of the prize from the Velvet Comet Challenge Cup to the Thomas Gold Challenge Cup, and turned it into a rotating trophy.”
    “What's a rotating trophy?” asked Gold.
    “Evidently they've made a duplicate for the owner of the winning horse to keep, but the original is on display in one of their ground-floor windows, along with a life-sized holo of you, Fiona Bradley, and the madam. Evidently the cup is to be presented every year.”
    “Nobody ever said they were stupid,” commented Gold.
    “You should never have gone up there in the first place,” said Simon. “I warned you against it.”
    “Of course I should have. We've already spent the money where it will do the most good.”
    “It may have done us more than ten million credits’ worth of harm,” said Simon.
    “I doubt it,” answered Gold. “Anyone who truly believes that holograph wasn't staged would believe the worst of me whether I visited the Comet or not.”
    He paused. “Besides, every now and then you have to beard the lion in his own den.”
    “It seems that there were a lot more lionesses than lions.”
    “Just what is that supposed to mean?” demanded Gold.
    “Jesus may have stopped the masses from stoning a prostitute, but he didn't feel it incumbent upon himself to visit her place of work,” said Simon. “Your very presence aboard the Velvet Comet , no matter how much they donated to the church, lends an air of legitimacy to it.”
    “You make it sound like I'm one of their customers,” said Gold.
    “You made it look like you were,” said his son.
    “We've been through all this before,” said Gold.
    “If I hadn't gone up there, I wouldn't have seen the aliens, and if I hadn't seen the aliens, I wouldn't have found a focus for my attacks on Vainmill.”
    “The end doesn't justify the means.”
    “I'm getting tired of arguing this with you, Simon. Pure I went and pure I returned—and what I learned while I was there will make my job much easier.”
    “God's work doesn't include visiting a brothel,” said Simon.
    “No. But mine does, and ultimately I am a servant of the Lord.”
    “Then you should have acted !” said Simon passionately. “Jesus threw the money-lenders out of the Temple. You refused even to enter the casino.”
    “I'm not Jesus,” replied Gold. “I'm simply a man, doing the best I can. They have three hundred security guards up there. How many people do you think I could have thrown out of the casino before they stopped me?”
    “You should have done something to show your disapproval!”
    “What would you have done?” asked Gold.
    “I wouldn't have gone there in the first place.”
    “Do you two go on like this every day?” asked Christina, who had been a silent but interested spectator.
    “Please don't interfere, sister,” said Simon.
    “Every day and every night,” answered Gold with a rueful smile. “We have a