Eidolon by Steve Miller, Sharon Lee Read Free Book Online Page B

told her how a
teacher's attempt to make his inner rhythms match the world's gave
him a migraine, which she could well believe if the teacher had
been anything like her own Grandmother, so she let him twist in the
breeze as he thought. There was something he hadn't said, that was
certain.
    He caught her eye and gave a weak grin.
    "So, you think this is a good thing, being
asked to dinner by strange people who frighten you?"
    Beba closed her eyes, all of them.
    "I lack foretelling, Joshu, as you well
know. What I have is what you asked for: I have looked into his
eyes. Indeed, that is the best way to deal with him, I think, this
Conrad. The others are guards and assistants, but they act on his
words and his needs before their own, I feel it. I would treat this
person properly, Joshu."
    She opened her eyes as he sat, hard, on the
display of multi-shade wood-moss infused carpeting for children's
rooms.
    "Forgive me, Beba, but I take proper profit
where I can. If I did not we would not still be burdened with your
dowry piece nor would Management be asking for a search fee to
discover the whereabouts of our last two incoming shipments."
    "So I am a burden again?"
    The last was cruel, and Beba regretted it
the moment it left her mouth; the brief yellow blaze of a true
strike masking his eyes as he blinked.
    "We are faced with ruin within the
Standard,"he said bleakly, looking more at her shoes than at her
face. "Management will be charging a fee to help defray the cost of
extra surveillance devices to support the new administration's
rulings. The Commerce Center will be requiring search fees for any
shipments more than a ten day overdue, and the lease-charge will
now include a rising percentage of revenue as our profits
rise."
    "What devices will they use?"
    He stood, rocked, looked her in the
face.
    "They say they have a source for equipment
that tells if someone is being manipulated by--"
    Beba fuffed hair out of her face, but he
only nodded.
    "Yes, they're at it again. We have the rug
still on display, and anyone with half a word of history knows that
it is old and that your family name is all over it. They said, in
Commerce, that there's talk your rug controls people's minds by
itself."
    "That would be the Caratunk effect," she
ventured, and seeing hims start, asked "Has Derry made another
offer for the company, or for you?"
    She read the annoyance and the flutter of
indecision across his face; the scent--of Derry's favorite perfume
was rather clear.
    "Oddly enough, she was waiting for me at
opening. Offered for the business as she always does." The flicker
then, of confused issues, untouched emotion. "She explained, too,
that her triad has been considering expansion."
    Ah, well, that might explain the extra
levity of their conversation then, for the woman was comely
enough.
    "She explained this in close proximity?"
    He nodded and shrugged shoulders.
    "Derry lives on close proximity, you know.
Of course she did. She seemed not to hear me point out the
standards you and I have shared."
    There was a glimmer of sensual recollection
there, and annoyance as well.
    Beba shook her head briefly, put on an
imitation of Derry's husky voice and then mocked Derry's favorite
tactic of holding Joshu's arm with friendly grasp just above the
elbow when they were close. She leaned to whisper in his ear."I
knew it. Ignorance is winning."
    Joshu harrumphed, and tried changing the
topic.
    "Frightening you say?"
    It was her turn to look bleak. He rarely
questioned her about the process and her own methods were no easier
to explain to him than his intuitional leaps were to her.
    "Undercurrents. I would not stand in the Con
Rad's way. There is a sense of, let me say a sense of purpose that
will not be detoured, of intent that will be followed, and of great
need. Too, I hear they have come to the attention of Management,
which may be bad."
    Unexpectedly, Joshu laughed.
    "Then surely it is settled! We meet for a
quiet dinner and things will be solved. I