The Dark Lady by Mike Resnick Read Free Book Online Page A

program, and I must— ”
    “Look,” he interrupted me, “if I have to buy Claiborne lock, stock, and barrel to get what I want, I will! Is that clear?”
    I could think of no reply, and so I made none.
    “You'll be well paid,” he continued less harshly. “Salary, expenses, you name it.”
    “But I am here to gain knowledge of Claiborne's procedures so that I may impart them to other members of my House, just as one of Claiborne's human employees is currently learning from the House of Crsthionn.”
    “Your House is in business to make money, isn't it?” he said.
    “Yes, of course.”
    “Then I'll pay your House ten thousand credits a month for as long as you work for me. That's over and above your personal salary. Does that solve your problem?”
    “I do not know,” I said, perplexed, my color fluctuating wildly. “I will have to consider your offer very carefully.”
    “Let me make it easy for you. If you turn it down, I'll fire you right here and now. You'll lose your job, and your House won't get its money. How does that sit with your precious concept of dishonor?”
    “Surely you do not mean this, Mr. Abercrombie!”
    He stared coldly at me. “Try me,” he said in level tones. “I don't make empty threats, and I always get what I want.”
    “Then I have no choice,” I said unhappily. “I must accept your offer.”
    “Good. That's settled. I'll get in touch with Rayburn this afternoon and tell him our new arrangement.”
    “Hector Rayburn is my peer. The manager of the Claiborne Galleries is Tai Chong.”
    “Madame Chong,” he repeated grimly. “I know all about her.”
    “She is very knowledgeable.”
    “She's also a bleeding-heart alien-lover who sometimes forgets which race she belongs to.”
    “You must not speak of my Great Lady like that!” I said as firmly as I could.
    “Ah!” he said with a smile. “So you've got some spunk after all! Let me give you a little advice, Leonardo— save it for yourself and don't waste it on her. She's what I call a weekend bleeding heart, and that's the worst kind of all.”
    “I do not understand you.”
    “Madame Chong's the type who'll run out to one of your worlds on a weekend and march up and down the streets with you demanding whatever the hell it is you people demand— but comes Monday morning, when the Navy moves in and starts breaking open heads, she's back on Far London feeling like a fulfilled person and wondering who she can help liberate next weekend.”
    “I will listen no further to such things!” I protested, my color fluctuating wildly. “My Great Lady has been kind and considerate to me in every way.”
    “You can't put kindness in your bank account, or send it off to your House. I'm giving you coin of the realm— and nobody tells me what to say in my own home.”
    I could think of no reply, and so I remained silent.
    “All right,” he said with an air of finality. “That's settled.”
    “When am I to begin?” I asked at last.
    “You've already started.”
    “But I must get Madame Chong's permission.”
    “I'll take care of it,” he said.
    “But— ”
    “Are you questioning my word?” he demanded ominously.
    “No, Mr. Abercrombie,” I said with a sigh of resignation. “Where shall I work?”
    “Wherever you have to. If you need the library, use it. If you have to fly to the Albion Cluster, go there. If you need to buy something, buy it. Have everything billed to me. I'll call my bank and clear your name and ID with them.”
    “And if I want to study your collection?”
    “I'll instruct the robots to let you in any time of the night or day— but only to see the collection. The rest of the house is off limits to you. Is that clearly understood?”
    “Yes, Mr. Abercrombie.”
    “And one other thing.”
    “Yes?”
    “There was a man called Venzia who went up to 350,000 credits for the Kilcullen painting the other night, and would have gone a lot higher if he hadn't messed up his credit deposit. See if