Unicorn Point by Piers Anthony Read Free Book Online Page A

seeing a good deal of each other this month.” She twisted around, her thighs sliding across his thighs, her breasts making better contact. The sensations sent electrical pulses through his body, and both his mind and his loin responded. Damn that override she had turned on! He was unable to curtail any of his natural reactions.   She reached up to draw his face into hers. Her tan hair spread out, framing her face, descending to brush against his body. Her tan irises seemed to grow large. She kissed him, and he was aware of his resistance crumbling. She was an infernally attractive figure of a woman, never mind her unattractive nature, and his body wanted hers.   There was a ping from the screen. Tania paused, a quirk of annoyance twisting her mouth.
    “What?” she rapped.  
    “Notice of problem,” the screen said, showing matching words. “The child Nepe has gone astray.”
    “What?” This time it was Mach, unable to damp down his alarm circuitry.
    “She boarded her plane,” the screen said and printed. “It took off. It disappeared from surveillance. It seems unlikely to arrive at its destination.”
    “That’s impossible!” Tania exclaimed. “Recheck!” She started to get up.
    Mach’s arms clamped around her body with the power of machinery. “That child is covered by the covenant!” he said.   “As is Agape—and my wife and child in Phaze.”
    “I know she is!” Tania said. “We haven’t done this!”
    “Haven’t you?” One of his hands closed on her upper arm and began to squeeze. Now the override prevented him from moderating his developing emotion of anger. “You thought to distract me while you acted against my niece?” He was hurting her, but she refused to cry out.
    “I thought to seduce you, yes. Nothing more. No harm to Nepe. Now let me go so I can pursue this matter.”
    He realized that it would make no sense for the Contrary Citizens to make such a move, even after they gained suffi cient information to achieve their power in Proton. He and Bane remained the Citizens’ only contact with the opposite frames. He released her. His desire for her body had been nullified by his awareness of the threat to Nepe.   Quickly Tania ascertained that the plane, flying preprogrammed, had at first suffered what appeared to be a malfunction of the tracking equipment. It had ceased to show on the screen. But when they compensated by orienting with another tracker, they had been unable to locate it. A direct physical check had also failed to turn it up. A crash in the polluted desert was a strong possibility; a robot search party was now proceeding to the site of last observation.  
    “The timing remains suggestive,” Mach said tightly.  
    “What reason would we have to take her out, knowing it would jeopardize your cooperation?” Tania asked, looking genuinely nervous.
    “This is what I am trying to ascertain. Your receptionist conducted her to the plane. She could have planted something on the craft, or sent a signal to an accomplice. While you made sure I was not there, because I might have interfered.   It all fits together rather neatly: Citizen Tan stepping aside at this time for you, your hireling taking the child—”
    “No!” she cried. “The timing is coincidence! We were trying only to—”
    “You did set this up?” he asked, stepping toward her.  
    “No! Not to hurt the child! We have nothing to do with mat! We don’t want anything to happen to her! We want her on our side!”
    “What are you talking about? Nepe is only four years old! She’s no part of the struggle between Citizens.”
    “But she will be! She—“ Tania stopped, realizing that she had said too much.
    “I think I had better question you more authoritatively.”
    She drew herself up angrily. “You have no right!”
    “Listen, Tania, you are a serf, just as I am. If your brother dies, you may inherit his Citizenship—but if my father dies, I may inherit his. You are human, I am a robot, but