Gateway To Xanadu by Sharon Green Page A

shuttle is due in. ”
    I handed over the stack of Absari greetings into Ringer’s willing hands and began to turn away from the table while trying to close the bag again, and suddenly found myself on the verge of running into Val.
    He’d gotten out of his chair at almost the same time Ringer had, and only needed a step or two to put himself directly in my path.
    “You can’t really have anything so urgent to do that it can’t wait a few more minutes,” he said, looking down at me with those eyes. “It won’t take me long to decide on what I want, and then we’ll all go where you want to go.”
    “Without making me earn the privilege first?” I asked with what was supposed to look like monumental surprise. “Shame on you. Are you trying to spoil me?”
    “If I was, I’d be too late,” he came back calmly. “If you’re going to get mad at me again go right ahead, but at least try not to misquote me. I said you ought to be made to behave yourself before getting what you want, nothing about earning privileges. There was very little wrong with the way you behaved while we were sitting here, so there’s no reason not to let you go wherever you like once those clothes are taken care of. Which, as I said, will only be a few minutes, especially if you come along and give me some advice on color and style.”
    “Ringer can give you whatever advice you need,” I told him, having no trouble resisting what he seemed to consider irresistible bait. “Since you apparently think I ought to be denied things, you should be pleased that the first thing I’m going to deny myself is the inexpressible pleasure of your company for a while. Besides, if I came along I’d be far too tempted to make sure you looked even dowdier than Ringer will make you look. Try not to miss the shuttle, or I’ll be brokenhearted. ”
    I gave him a cheerful little wave to go along with the reassurance I’d already given him, then turned and walked away from the frustrated annoyance he was making no effort to hide. Ringer had excellent taste when it came to his private, non-business wardrobe, but after what I said Val would never be able to make himself believe it. He’d try to judge alien styles and material all by himself, unconsciously discounting whatever advice Ringer gave, and would end up looking like someone who was all opinion and no taste. Val understood the spot I’d put him on, and also understood that knowing about it would not get him off it again. He’d end up unhappy with whatever he got.
    When I walked out of the bar, I paced along the corridor until I found a cluster of shops to do some browsing of my own in, but the near-emptiness of the Station was too much of a distraction to make anything appealing enough to buy. Despite Ringer’s worries I wasn’t in a mood to throw away departmental funds, and I didn’t care for the dismissive looks I was getting from the shops’ salespeople.
    For some reason they were writing me off as a no-sale after a single glance.
    The cluster of shops included a small shop catering to junk food, and I suddenly discovered that that’s what I’d missed most all those months I’d been away. My appetite did flipflops at the first sight and smell of the mouth-watering garbage, and I spent a few minutes stuffing my face with more pleasure than I’d felt in a long while.
    The immense docking area wasn’t much changed from the way it had looked a few hours earlier. The right side of the Station was reserved for incoming liner shuttles, the colored lights around the bays coming on and blinking at the first approach of the shuttle and continuing on that way until it left the bay for the liner again. The left side of the Station was for private ships which, of course, included navy shuttles, which were usually as large as private ships. The lights overhead and all around were bright without glare, clearly illuminating the two blinking shuttle bays and the one new private ship that had come in. Two