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assistance."
Gavin slowed his walk and looked sideways at her.  Suppose they aren't open to me?"
"They will be when I tell them you're on my council."
"I am?"
"Yes. As of now."
Gavin resumed his easy stride, being careful not to outpace her.  Are you sure that won't get you
accused of cronyism? Most folks are beginning to consider us a couple, you know."
Lyda took his hand.  I know. That's fine with me and don't worry about impressions. Anyone who has
dealt with me for any length of time knows I would never promote a person into a position of authority
for personal reasons. They have to be capable. And you are. Besides being a nice kisser."
Gavin chuckled.  On that note, I'll accept the promotion. When do you want me to leave?"
Lyda took a deep breath.  Tomorrow. I want you to stay with me tonight."
Gavin halted, then tugged gently on her hand to bring her back within reach from where she had taken
another step. He looked down at her face and saw nothing there but acceptance and caring.
Nevertheless, he asked  Are you sure you're ready, Lyda? I know what happened to you back on earth.
I don't ever want to hurt you."
Lyda put her face against his chest and rubbed her cheek against the rough woven fabric of his jerkin.
 Yes, I'm certain, you ninny. I wouldn't have asked if I weren't. What happened is in the past. I want to
look to the future. With you."
Gavin took her in his arms and kissed her, very gently and very sweetly.
Lyda didn't care who was watching. She was happy to be where she was, but it made it feel like a very
long time before the day would be over. And then she hoped she would be even happier. In the
meantime, there were other things before  night came she had to take care of. She and Gavin parted,
reluctantly, as young lovers are wont to. She heard him whistling as he called to Tweedle and hurried off
to another demonstration.
* * * *
Lyda was walking back toward her box after stopping by the column at the common watering place to
bathe and change clothes. Some alien fabric from earth and the new, very rough curtains fabricated from
the tendrils gave any who wanted it a modicum of privacy, though before it was ready she found that she,
along with most other people, were losing some of the nudity taboos they had brought with them from
earth. It was a good thing, she thought. Her original clothing was gone, deteriorated to rags and used for
other things now. She had no bra; the training bra she had been wearing had long since grown too small
and been put to other uses. She wore pants made of the rough woven cloth and a blouse fashioned from
some of the alien cloth brought from the desert.
She was strolling along dreamily and thinking of Gavin and what the night would bring, for once, not
occupied with administrative duties. Buddy had appeared and scuttled along on his six legs, matching her
slow walk. She placed a hand on his crest, enjoying the vibrations it sent through her skin to the rest of
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her body. She wished vainly for a mirror so she could see what her hair looked like now. She had let
Rayne cut it several times and now wore it gathered in a loose bundle behind her neck, the best solution
she had found, given the limited facilities of their environment. Oh well, she thought, I know he cares for
me no matter if we don't have lipstick and hairbrushes and things like that here. I wonder if he loves me
like I think I do him? Oh, I hope so, she thought. He is such a good person, and so intelligent and
handsome and...
The sudden lurch of the whole world as they had come to know it caught her completely off-guard.
Lyda stumbled and fell, cracking her knees and one elbow painfully on the ground. She rolled over and
tried to sit up. Another lurch pinned her back to the ground and a surge of increased gravity kept her
there.
No!she thought,not now! Not when we were going to...
Her personal thoughts were overridden by the sound of outraged screams and yells from nearby. In the
distance, she could hear more of them. She saw Buddy's legs bow outward, then straighten, fighting the
gravity. A peculiar mewling sound she hadn't heard before came from him as he struggled to stay upright.
Lyda tried to sit up again and found she could do so, but only with difficulty. She felt like cursing the
aliens. She knew another change was coming as surely as she knew that whatever happened, it wouldn't
be for the better.
Gravity returned to normal. She stood up shakily and began walking back toward the column, hoping to
find Gavin before something else happened. Before she had taken more than a few steps, one sidewall of
all the boxes in sight vanished as they did when the hexapods came or went, but it wasn't the creatures
the boxes opened for. One after another in quick succession, an unending line of the familiar old spider
mechs emerged from the boxes, mandibles opening and closing as they spread out and scurried off in
different directions.
Lyda managed to avoid one, then on impulse, threw her leg over Buddy and used her knees to try to get
him to run. Surprisingly, he got the idea immediately and paid no particular attention to her rump flattening
part of his crest, but it still did no good. The mechs poured out in numbers sufficient to do all the herding
necessary. Before Lyda could get back to the column, she found herself and Buddy in the midst of a
scared and despairing bunch of humans being funneled toward one of the bigger boxes. Several of them
tried to break loose. Two of them were quickly slaughtered by the spiders and the rest went resignedly
toward the opening in the box, and to whatever fate awaited them.
Gavin!Lyda thought as she and Buddy passed inside and immediately began falling through a darkness
so total that nothing at all could be seen. She felt her mind slipping into the same insidious darkness that
enveloped her body. As scary and fearful as the situation was, she tried her best to keep her mind intact
and functioning. She felt a fearful certainty that she would need every facility she could muster in the very
near future. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]