'Indeed, madam.' The maitre d' tapped his podium and brought up a screen. 'Would you like to spend time with either of them? They begin seeing customers at seven o'clock.'
'Who are they and what are they like?' she asked.
A small hologram of a greenish, cone-shaped creature with a multitude of segmented arms appeared next to an image of something that looked like a giant throw pillow with zebra stripes.
'Tour-rif-na,' the maitre d' said, indicating the cone creature, 'is from the planet Pell-de-ra. Her multiple arms and fingers are especially adept at giving pleasure in many forms and she secretes several specially scented oils for this purpose. Zem-' the maitre d' indicated the pillow '-is a very relaxing partner from Rivva. The fur is actually made of mobile cilia which can either massage or excite.'
Behind Gretchen, Ben and Lucia came through the door, hand in hand. Lucia wore white gloves to cover her scars. Gretchen ignored them to concentrate on the holograms. She started to point to one of the images, then apparently changed her mind.
'Is… has Ken Jeung made a reservation for this evening?' she asked, setting a coin on the podium. 'I don't mean to pry, but I work for him and it would be… embarrassing for me if I ran into him here. I'd prefer to arrange things so that he doesn't see me.'
The coin vanished. 'He hasn't called yet, madam, but I'm expecting him to do so any moment. The Honor Roll notifications went out only two minutes ago. You asked to be first.'
'And I do appreciate it,' Gretchen said. 'He should be out of work any moment, now, and I'm sure he'll come straight here, so if I take an hour with Zem-' she pointed to the pillow '-I should be out of sight. Unless-oh, wait-are their rooms close together? Where we might run into each other?'
The maitre d' began to look a little annoyed, so Gretchen put another coin on the podium. 'Their rooms are right across the hall from each other, madam. But don't worry-each room is equipped with a spyhole so you can check the corridor to see if it's empty before you leave.'
'Thank you so much,' Gretchen said.
'I've logged you in to spend an hour with Zem in the Palace room beginning at seven o'clock. Go to the top of the stairs, turn right, and go all the way to the end of the corridor. Zem herself will not be spending time down here-she isn't as mobile as our other souls-but she will be ready for you. Meanwhile, you can enjoy the bar and buffet.' The maitre d's podium chimed for his attention and he tapped it. 'Greetings, Lady Kellyn's. Ah, hello, Dr. Jeung. So good to hear from you. Yes, we do have a reservation open.'
Gretchen mouthed 'thank you' at the maitre d', who nodded to her. Then she wandered away. Ben and Lucia were sitting on a couch talking with a hairless, red-spotted humanoid. A bit of searching turned up Tour-rif-na, the green, cone-shaped female Jeung had doubtless made a reservation for. She was massaging the shoulders of a startlingly handsome young man with black hair and liquid brown eyes.
Gretchen tapped her earpiece with a sigh. 'Myra, open channel to everyone. Listen up, gang-I think we're set. I've got one of the newbies reserved for seven o'clock, and I'd bet two months of Kendi's stipend-'
' That's Father Kendi to you, if you're going to bet my money, ' Kendi interjected.
'— that Jeung will reserve the other for the same time. Her name is Tour-rif-na, and her room is across from the Palace Room, though at the moment she's down here socializing. To get to her room, go upstairs, make a right, and go all the way down to the end. Everyone got it?'
A multitude of voices from her earpiece indicated that everyone did.
' Ben, you should get into place as soon as you can,' Kendi said. ' If Tour-rif-na is downstairs, it means her room is empty.'
' On it,' Ben said.
Across the room, Ben and Lucia both got up and headed for the main marble staircase. A caged lift nearby accommodated patrons and souls who couldn't deal with stairs, but it was empty at the moment. Other customers went up and down the steps fairly regularly, so Ben and Lucia didn't attract any attention. Gretchen snagged a wine glass from a hovering tray and wandered over toward Tour-rif-na, who was still working on the beautiful young man. Tour-rif-na, apparently, couldn't sit down on chairs designed for a human, so she was standing behind him while he perched on the back of a sofa. Her long, long fingers worked gracefully at his shoulders and neck. His eyes were closed in blissful happiness. As Gretchen got closer, she was hit with a powerful scent that reminded her not unpleasantly of earth and grass. The soul had three tiny eyes spaced evenly around the top of her head.
'Are you Tour-rif-na?' Gretchen asked.
'I am,' she said. Her voice was almost as deep a human man's, and Gretchen wondered if that was her normal voice or what the translator in her earpiece had settled on. The young man's eyes popped open and he glared at Gretchen.
'This won't take but a second,' Gretchen told him. 'I was wondering if Tour-rif-na here could do me a favor.'
'A favor,' Tour-rif-na said, fingers still working. Two of her other hands stole toward Gretchen's shoulders. Gretchen thought about pushing them away, then decided not to. Tour-rif-na's touch was pleasant, and the gentle pressure of just a moment's massage unknotted several muscles. Gretchen hadn't realized she was that tense. She pressed a coin into one of Tour-rif-na's hands, hoping she came from a culture that understood tips and bribes. It was a pretty good bet that she did-anyone working in a brothel for humans would have to. The young man closed his eyes again.
'I was wondering if you could help me win a bet,' Gretchen said in a low voice that the man wouldn't be able to hear.
'What is a bet?'
'A sort of game in which the loser has to pay the winner a forfeit.'
'I see,' Tour-rif-na said. 'And what is this bet?'
'It's very simple,' Gretchen said, resisting the temptation to close her own eyes under Tour-rif-na's delicious fingers. 'And very small. Let me explain.'
A while later, Gretchen sauntered up the marble staircase toward the Palace Room. At the last moment she looked over her shoulder and saw Ken Jeung hurry in the front door. He spoke briefly with the maitre d', and then Lady Kellyn breezed over to greet him as well. She took his hand and led him over to where Tour-rif-na was holding court by massaging three people at once. Good. The tricky part of the evening was over for her.
Gretchen quickly trotted up the stairs and came across Ben and Lucia standing together on the landing. What were they doing out here? She almost paused to ask them, then stopped herself. She wasn't supposed to know them. Instead she made herself sail past them and down the hallway. The last door on the left sported a gold plaque that said 'Palace Room.' Directly across from it was another door with a plaque proclaiming it the Garden Room. Gretchen opened the Palace Room door and saw a large room with pillars that arched up to a high ceiling. Thick carpets lay on the floor, and a fireplace with holographic fire graced one wall. In front of the fireplace was a zebra-striped floor pillow big enough for two humans to lay on. Half wondering if she were the victim of some elaborate prank, Gretchen said, 'Hello?'
The pillow sat up. 'I can sense your presence,' said a musical voice. 'My name is Zem. Please enter and be welcome.'
Gretchen edged closer to the creature, a little nervous now. The only reason she had made the reservation with Zem was to ensure Jeung chose Tour-rif-na. What Gretchen actually did with Zem was now immaterial, and she still had one more small job to do.
'Look,' she said, 'I'm not really here because I want sex.'
'I knew that when you entered my room,' Zem said. There were no signs of eyes or a mouth, and Gretchen couldn't figure out where the voice was coming from. Zem's fur-cilia-stirred. They were long and silky-looking, with an arresting black-and-white pattern. 'You do not smell like someone who is interested in that sort of pleasure. But you do smell lonely. Let me soothe you.'
Gretchen almost left, but something held her. Tentatively, like a bird ready to take flight, she sat on the floor next to Zem. Well, why shouldn't she take advantage? Her final task wasn't something she could do until Jeung was done with Tour-rif-na, and that was an hour away.
'Sit on me,' Zem said. 'Rest on me. That is why I am here.'
Again without knowing why but no longer feeling self-conscious, Gretchen crawled over Zem's body until she was in the center. Zem was soft like a gel mattress and she noticed that the individual cilia moved on their own. Zem slowly folded over her until she felt engulfed in a warm body hug. For the first time since the Despair, Gretchen
