Habu. James B. Johnson

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СКАЧАТЬ her and a swollen, gray be­hemoth of a cloud rolled over a snowcapped mountain-top. The peak seemed to gut the cloud, tearing it asunder. Tique shivered again.

      “Me, too,” Reubin said empathetically. “I’m going to try to make a run for it. If I reach Webster’s, I’ll do some research and return here; then we’ll teach ’em how the cow eats the cabbage.”

      “What’s that mean?”

      “Just an Olde Earthe expression.”

      She cocked an eye at him. “You really think that Fels and his people will try to stop you?”

      He shrugged and wiped fog off the inside of the bub­ble. “It’s all speculation. Remember, if I was right about the autopsy, then....”

      Tique grimaced. “Snister has no army or navy, there is no need. It’s all unified under the corporate auspices of Wormwood, Inc. But the Company police force, the ‘Constabulary’ it’s called, is quite efficient. The Constab­ulary also runs the port of entry.”

      “We’ll know right away, then, won’t we?”

      “When your ship gets underway,” Tique said, “will you send me a message telling me you made it? Some­thing innocuous.”

      “If you wish,” Reubin said.

      “Thanks.” Here she was worried about the safety of a man whom she resented. He had given her a different perspective about events, though. Perhaps she was being caught up in the intrigue.

      “Be advised, when I return I might be disguised. I haven’t decided which yet. As somebody else, it would be easier to investigate. On the ninth hand, I might have to be myself and use me as bait—”

      Lightning flashed far off. “A lightning rod?” she asked.

      He nodded. “It might be the only way to smoke them out.”

      She traced a pattern in the condensation on the inside of the bubble. “Reubin? When Mother came back from Karg and announced she’d married you and was leaving to go off pioneering, I didn’t see much of her at all. Then she was dead.” Tique felt awkward having to do all the explaining before she asked the question.

      “What is it, Tique?” One of the few times he’d used her name.

      “Would you tell me about Mother? And you?” They’d always been close and Mother’s affair with Reubin had made Tique feel left out—for a change.

      “We met on Karg and married on the starship in which we escaped.”

      “More. What was the war about? What was your job? Who are you?”

      “No.” His voice changed abruptly. He’d been coop­erative, but now—? The word “No” had been pure ice. She’d been close to reaching him, and at the last minute he’d withdrawn again back into himself. Back into his mask. Damn him!

      So far he’d shown little grief. What kind of man was he?

      She saw him watching her with an animal cunning that made her terribly uncomfortable. Without looking at him again, she walked through the rain to her groundcar.

      It was well past midnight when Building Security woke her.

      “Ma’am, it’s your guest, ma’am,” said the voice over the speaker on her bedside console.

      Tique shook sleep out of her eyes. “What? What about him?”

      “He’s on the roof, ma’am.”

      She sat up. “What’s wrong with that?”

      “He’s retracted the bubble.”

      “Oh.” Oh! She linked into the building’s weather ra­dar and her screen was cluttered. “I’ll go up and take care of it.”

      “Just thought you ought to know, ma’am, since it’s not really illegal—”

      “Thanks.” Tique disconnected and dressed quickly in a waterproof jumpsuit. She punched in outside visuals. A storm played over Cuyas, lightning streaked and wind lashed rain sideways.

      She chose the internal stairway and soon came out on the roof.

      Rain drenched her immediately.

      She wondered when the bubble had last been retracted.

      It was something Mother would do. A sheet of lightning lit her immediate world.

      Where—? There.

      Reubin sat on the edge of the roof, legs dangling over and out of sight. He lifted a bottle to his lips and drank for a moment. Lightning hit the diffuser pole high above them and cracked. Tique jumped involuntarily and smelled burned ozone. Reubin didn’t move.

      She walked toward him, strongly aware of the missing security of the bubble. She stopped behind him, appre­hensive of the distance between them and the ground far below. Though the building was pyramidal, it was still a dangerous fall during a storm. Right now the fall ap­peared damn near vertical.

      Reubin Flood turned and looked at her. How had he known she was there? Some animal instinct, probably. The glare of lightning illuminated his eyes.

      And they were not human.

      Even as she watched, fascinated by the alien phenom­enon, his eyes milked over; after a short time, human intelligence looked out at her.

      A strong gust of wind and rain threatened her, taking her balance away.

      Reubin steadied her with his left hand. It wasn’t just the possibility of falling which frightened her.

      She motioned him back with her.

      He took a drink from the bottle of 150 sour mash he held, and then rose slowly. Tique backed against a strong wind to a double seat near the center of the roof. Reubin followed her.

      She sank onto the seat, found the controls, and raised the bubble until Reubin stopped her halfway. At least it was on the upwind side, blocking the shrieking wind.

      Reubin stood in front of her, soaked, the water streaked on his face mimicking tear streaks. He was breathing heavily, as if interrupted during some physical feat.

      Overcoming her initial revulsion, she signaled him to sit next to her.

      For a moment, he resisted. Then he shrugged and sank beside her. He held out the bottle.

      She wasn’t going to, but she changed her mind. She took the bottle and tipped it to her lips. The strong sour mash burned her throat. She held in a cough and gave it back to him.

      “What are you doing up here?” she asked.

      His face contorted and he didn’t answer. In that mo­ment she saw he was vulnerable. No mask. Another Reubin Flood.

      She sat with him for a while, not pushing it.

      Finally, he said, “Challenging the elements.”

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