Anderson, Poul - For Love & Glory by Anderson Poul

Author:Anderson, Poul
Language: eng
Format: epub

He strode over to embrace her. She was worth embracing, for sure, slim, chocolate dark, with luminous eyes in delicate features. A sari-like dress was exactly right for her. Her garb alwayswas, whatever it might be.

She responded willingly, but less ardently than before. “I wish you didn’t have to flit away so much,” he said when they came up for air.

She stepped back and murmured, “That’s been more on your account than mine, dear. You’ve needed solitude.”

“Yeah, to do the drills and straighten myself out and so on and so forth.I couldn’t have managed without you, however.”

After the clinic and the machines, human companionship, consoling,heartening. Great sex, also lively talk and shared music and rambles around the countryside and—

Avi smiled. “I’ve enjoyed it.”

How much does she mean that?he wondered, not for the first time. Oh, somewhat, I suppose, otherwise why’d she bother?But with how much of her attention on it?

In his regained clarity he saw how skillfully she’d always evaded his questions about where she went and what, she did when she wasn’t here. Her flitter seemed to drift away and back[161]as lightly and meaninglessly as thistledown. Nevertheless, she was absolutely not a creature of impulse. Now and then he’d touched, barely touched, on enormous underlying self-control, before she fended him off with a word or a caress.

And seeing her stance, her gaze upon him, he understood: “You’ve got something new for me today.”

She nodded. Light shimmered slightly on the coiledmidnighthair. “Yes. Haven’t you seen it coming?The verdict. Everything shows you’re whole, ready to go back and take up your own life.”

In spite of the warmth in her tone, he had a sense of impersonal kindness. Briefly he imagined stopping a minute to put a fallen fledgling back in its nest. Oh, yes, they’d charged for their services, a draft on one of his bank accounts, but very reasonable. When he’d asked what was worth their buying on yonder world, Avi had said that humans were too apt to misuse whatever they perceived as free goods.

The train-of-thought recollection gave him a moment’s chill.“Humans?” Isn’t she as human as I am?

Biologically, yes—I suppose—maybe. In her head and heart—well, maybe, too; but what else is in there?

He pushed that aside. The tidings were not unexpected.“Hey, wonderful!” With even more sincerity: “I’ll miss you, though, Avi.”

Her eyelashes fluttered. “Thank you, Torben.” Then she looked straight at him and said, “You’ll do best to take up your life again as soon as possible.”

“No argument there,” he must agree. “One thing I won’t miss is all this sitting around on my ass.”

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She raised her brows. “Why, what would you rather use?”

He grinned and shrugged. She did have a sense of humor, or, at least, she knew how to put one on, like a dress. Like anything purely human?

She turned earnest. “Have you considered what you’ll do?”

“N-no.Been turning some notions over, but I never was one[162]to think really far ahead.Except—” he blurted, “I’d like to come back here once in a while and see you again.

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