Eros Descending: Book 3 of Tales of the Velvet Comet by Mike Resnick Page B

everything I've been able to learn about Gold leads me to believe that he's simply not that subtle a manipulator. He never finesses when he can attack a problem head-on.”
    “I don't know,” said Fiona dubiously. “That's the one explanation I can come up with that fits the facts.”
    “It might even be right,” conceded Constantine. “It just feels wrong. He's not the type to get you into a corner and not go for the jugular.”
    “All right,” said Fiona. “You've studied him more thoroughly than I've had a chance to do. Can you suggest some other reason for his actions?”
    “I already told you: I can't—which doesn't mean there aren't any. Maybe he feels that this stuff will be more effective if he lets it dribble out over a period of months. Also, let's not forget that he's syndicated on about five hundred worlds; maybe the bulk of them wouldn't air the program if he ran that footage. Not all worlds are as liberal as Deluros, you know.” He leaned back on his chair, his face a mask of frustration. “There could be half a dozen valid reasons. Hell, for all I know, he thinks the faeries look too damned happy.”
    Fiona stared at him, a curious smile spreading across her face.
    “Do you realize what you just said?” she asked at last.
    “Evidently not.” replied Constantine. “At least, I don't feel as pleased with myself as you seem to be.”
    “You suggested that the faeries might have looked too happy.”
    He looked puzzled. “It was just a thing to say. I didn't mean anything by it. I don't even think I believe it.”
    “I know.”
    “You're not seriously suggesting that that is the reason he withheld the tape?”
    “No, of course not,” replied Fiona. “But the notion of happy faeries has given me an idea.” She paused and smiled at him, enjoying the puzzled expression on his round face. “Richard, I think we've wasted enough time worrying about why the tape was withheld or when he's going to run it. I think it's time to take the initiative.”
    “I'll bite,” said Constantine. “What do you think we ought to do?” Suddenly he uttered a self-deprecating laugh. “Of course! I should have thought of it myself! We'll take the two faeries from the ship, put them on video, and let them tell everyone what a wonderful time they're having and how well we're treating them.” He looked inordinately proud of himself.
    “That is your idea, Isn't it?”
    “Something like that,” said Fiona with a look of satisfaction on her face. “It will take some preparation, though. For one thing, we'll need to decide upon a format. Because of our respect for the privacy of our patrons, we've never invited any journalists aboard the Velvet Comet , and I don't think this is a good time to start.”
    “I agree,” said Constantine. “Besides, I want to make sure I control exactly what gets released, and I couldn't do that if I involved the press in this. Hell, they'd probably come up with a feature on how Vainmill tries to manage the news. Another point: whatever our finished product is, I don't think we should send it to the news media the way we passed on your little message to Gold; it would look too much like another apology.” He paused. “I suppose creating some kind of documentary would be best.”
    “About the Comet or the faeries?” asked Fiona.
    “Neither,” he answered promptly. “If we concentrate on the brothel, the faeries won't get enough attention—and if we concentrate on them , it will seem too defensive, too much like a direct answer to Gold's sermon.” He paused. “Just because Gold is incapable of subtlety and misdirection is no reason why we should be. We're still not going to mention him, or seem to be replying to him. Perhaps we'll run a feature on how the Comet 's chefs and medics and costume designers had to adapt to the faeries, which would be one way of continually putting them on display while seeming to be concentrating on someone else. Or possibly we'll focus on how