Six Gates From Limbo by J. T. McIntosh

Author:J. T. McIntosh [McIntosh, J. T.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Sci Fi, Science Fiction
Publisher: Corgi
Published: 1969-01-31T00:00:00+00:00

Venus couldn’t have been less trouble to them. She acted like a self-effacing mother-in-law, though nothing less like any mother-in-law could have been imagined. If Rex and Regina seemed to want to be alone at night, Venus went to her room with a book or a microfilm. If Regina was otherwise engaged, but only then, Venus would cook meals almost equal to Regina’s. If there was work to be done, Venus was glad rather than willing to do it; time seemed to hang a little heavy on her ' hands, though she was far more patient than either Rex or Regina.

The clothes problem was no problem. Venus not only dressed herself, she dressed herself so reticently that it was Regina who felt an exhibitionist most of the time. Although it was as true as ever that Regina was a pretty girl and Venus was a beautiful woman, Regina was allowed the limelight all the time.

Rex never gave Regina a moment’s anxiety. Neither did Venus. Venus and Rex could work together, or go away together, and Regina was soon as unconcerned about it as if by looking out of the kitchen window she could see Rex working in the garden.

But ... They all knew that Venus’s presence meant Limbo was overflowing, too full of company or not full enough. Ironically, Venus herself was perfectly happy and patient.

More ironically still, the second Gateway expedition was made by Rex and Regina. Venus was willing to go, and Regina had no objection to her going with Rex, except for being left alone.

‘If it has to be done ...’ Regina said one night.

Rex was careful to say as little as possible.

At the foot of the stairway to the second Gateway, which he and Venus had already erected, Rex felt in the pockets of his overalls and checked mentally that nothing was forgotten.

Nothing was. They turned to Venus, awkwardly.

‘See you in seventeen days or so,’ she said cheerfully.

It was at that moment that Regina remembered one unanswered question, and it suddenly seemed important.

‘Venus,’ she said, ‘when we first met you, you said that in one way you’d stay in your place, but in others ... You promised to tell us later what you meant.’

Venus smiled. There was never, Rex noticed, any malice in her. Perhaps she was, in some sense, the goddess of love.

‘I didn’t promise to tell you,’ she said, ‘but I will. Here, Rex is supposed to be the boss. I’ve never disputed it, have I? But if I thought Rex shouldn’t be the boss, and I should, I’d do something about it.’

There was no menace in her voice. Rex knew, however, that she meant it. It even seemed logical, understandable, that the patient Venus should turn out to be the supervisor of the Limbo plan, whatever that was. Perhaps not the boss, but the overseer. The two functions were similar but not identical. The overseer took charge only when necessary.

Regina, two steps up, started to come down. She seemed to think there was something to discuss, to argue about.

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