[Wildcards 10] - Double Solitaire by George R. R. Martin Page B

don't want to see 'em."
    "Where did you send the blanket, Jay?" Tach asked sternly.
    He looked sheepish. "When I don't really have time to figure out a destination, I usually just go for the scoreboard at Yankee Stadium."
    Tach stared at him in growing fury. "You were going to pop a Kondikki worker to Yankee Stadium ?"
    "Hey, it's in the Bronx. They're used to big cockroaches up there."
    "Jay, you are my ace in the hole," Tach said, accepting Mark's offer of a hand up. "You must be more cautious about so frivolously using your power."
    "Frivolous! There was a giant bug in the room. And I don't know why you're sweating it -- how far away from Earth are we?"
    "Several light-years, I'm not sure."
    "I'm good from L. A. to New York. Light-years... I doubt it. The bug would never have made it."
    "First, it's not a bug. It's a sentient creature. So the idea of your leaving it floating in space does not comfort me. Second, I think you underestimate your power. I doubt it is impeded by the normal laws of the space-time continuum." She cocked her head to the side and considered for a second. "On the other hand, I don't wish to test the theory." Tach walked to her bunk and sat down. If you are both rested enough, we must begin your instruction and training."
    "In what, and for what?" asked Jay. The set of his jaw was belligerent.
    "Language, customs, most important, attitudes."
    Mark pushed Tachyon onto her back on the bunk. She let out a gasp, and the ace quickly retreated a couple of steps, holding out his hands placatingly. "Easy. How about a foot massage?"
    "All right," was the dubious reply. Mark seated himself and pulled her feet into his lap. Slipping off her shoes, he began to rub. Tach gave a tiny groan of pleasure.
    "So lecture," Jay ordered.
    "Ideal, where to start?"
    She chewed on her lower lip, but before she could launch in, the lights in the cabin dimmed twice, and they felt an odd prickling over their skin.
    "Oh, Christ, what was that?" Jay asked, in a voice gone suddenly breathy.
    Tach was as flummoxed as the detective. The phenomenon was repeated. Mark knitted his brows in a contemplative frown. "I think it's, like, maybe the... doorbell?"
    "Who the hell'd be visiting us?"
    "We could, like, open the door and find out," Mark suggested.
    Jay hurried to the portal, touched the keypad, and it slid open to reveal an extremely tall, lovely woman. Well, not woman exactly. She was an upright biped, and she was a mammal as evidenced by the impressive pair of breasts curving the material of her shift, but she was eyeless, and what Tach had at first taken for hair she realized were twining sensory organs. She was also the whitest creature Tach had ever seen. Her clothing was simple in the extreme -- a plain blue shift, sandals. Her only ornamentation was an elaborate leather belt both inlaid and embroidered with jewels and metal threads, supporting a gem-encrusted pouch that hung at her left side.
    She smiled and said in halting English, "Wel... come to my... uh, ship. I am Nesfa."
    "Pleased to meet you. Jay Ackroyd." The detective held out his hand, then shot Tach a pained and embarrassed look. Tach was not the least bit surprised when Nesfa unerringly took the ace's hand.
    "Oh, groovy, are you part of the Network?" Mark asked. "Hi, I'm Mark Meadows."
    "Pleased to face you... no, see you... no."
    "Meet you," Mark corrected with a happy smile.
    "I learn your... language only a little from my captain."
    "Zabb?" Tach suggested.
    "Yes." She "looked" back at Mark. "We are Network, but very... new."
    "You just joined?" Jay amplified.
    "Yes. We Viand search for new... places... to live. We... buy ship."
    "But you don't know how to operate her?" Tach asked.
    "No," Nesfa replied.
    "Typical," Tach said bitterly.
    "I come only to say... hello. No to bother. Ship is... as yours."
    She smiled again, and it was so warm and pretty that the travelers were beginning to forget the lack of eyes. Of course they'd all had practice. Before its