And Eternity Part 9

He's just warming us up for the night. Vita thought, but she was less certain than she had been.

"Do you care to tell me more of the background of the girl?" Roque asked.

Does he glow? Vita demanded.

Yes, he means well, Orlene replied. He is a good man.

I guess he is. Okay, tell him about my father.

' 'She was raped by her father,'' Jolie said. "Rather than make an issue that would destroy her family, she ran away, and was taken in by a pimp who dosed her on H and prost.i.tuted her to wealthy clients with a taste for what she calls 'young flesh.' She felt that this was better than what she faced at home."

"It is unfortunately routine. Is she willing now to testify against her father?"

No!

"She is not."

"Will she trust my discretion if she gives me the name?"

"But you already have the name! You said there was a-a note in her file."

"Yes. We know her ident.i.ty unofficially, but it must be corroborated before we are allowed to report it. Unfortunately this restricts my action, and I can not make a further investigation into the matter without that corroboration."

That's the way I want it! Vita thought.

"No."

"Let me explain my interest here. Vita is the daughter of Senator Kaftan's chief researcher. Her absence has made her mother unable to function effectively, and it seems she is the only one able to pursue a critical line of research that relates in essential business. Senator Kaftan must have that information."

But they'll put my father in prison! Vita thought in anguish. That'll really break up Mom!

"I feel that a man guilty of a crime like that should receive the full impact of the law," Roque continued. "But circ.u.mstances are seldom clear-cut. Would it suffice if her father voluntarily separated, and took up residence in another city, and was denied visitation rights?"

You mean I'd never see Dad again-and no scandal?

That is what it means, Orlene agreed.

And Mom-she wouldn't know?

"Would her mother know?" Jolie asked.

"Not unless Senator Kaftan told her-which the Senator might do, if asked."

I guess . . . Vita thought uncertainly. And me-would she know about me? I mean, the H and all.

' 'Vita doesn't want her mother to know about her recent situation, either," Jolie said.

"She could call the Senator's office and leave a message for her mother, stating only that she is safe and will return later," he suggested. "I think that would be a great relief to her mother."

The Senator's office! Vita thought. I never thought of that! Her feeling of relief and elation flooded through them all.

The carpet pulled into the megabuilding. When they reached the apartment, Roque placed the call. In a moment he was talking to Luna herself, while Jolie watched from just outside pickup range. "Luna, the girl would like to leave a message for her mother, no return address, her father not to know. Can you go along with this?"

"I can, Roque," the Senator said. "Put her on; her confidence will be protected."

Roque stepped away, and Jolie stepped into pickup range. She relinquished the body to the girl.

"Uh, Mom, it's me. Vita," she said awkwardly. "I, uh, I got into some trouble and couldn't come home. But I'm okay now, doing real well, in fact. I, uh, I've got a job, kinda, and it's real nice. I-Oh, Mom, I love you, and I'm coming home soon's I can!" She cut off the contact, unable to continue, overwhelmed by her tears.

Roque returned. "That will mean a lot to your mother, Vita," he said.

Vita turned and hugged him tightly, catching him off guard. He stood there somewhat helplessly, patting her shoulder. Then she retreated, and Jolie took over.

She released Roque. "Thank you; this is Jolie again," she said, stepping away. "It was very kind of you to do this."

"Well, there is a practical aspect, of course," he said, embarra.s.sed. "Luna needs the services of her mother, and this will facilitate the return of those services."

But he did it because he didn't like grief in either Vita or her mother, Orlene thought. He glows of goodwill, not practicality.

"Of course," Jolie said, agreeing with both Orlene and the Judge.

They had supper and watched the evening holos. As they retired for the night, wearing a silken nightie Vaasta had shopped for during the day. Vita had further comments.

I hugged him, and he never put a move on me!

He is a decent man, Orlene agreed. As decent as I have encountered since dying.

I thought sure he'd grab a feel, at least a little one, but he didn't.

He didn't, Orlene agreed.

I mean, he doesn't have a woman, so unless he's He isn't. He glows normal.

I think I love him.

"Now, wait!" Jolie murmured.

I mean, every man I ever got close to, including especially my father, wanted to get into my pants.

"Well, your pimp didn't."

You kidding? He had me first thing! Said he never put flesh in the field 'less he knew it was tight.

"There goes another bastion of morality!" Jolie said with irony. "If you can't trust your pimp-"

Oh, come off it! It was just business to him. But he sure put me through the grinder! I learned more in fifteen minutes "We really don't need to review it," Jolie said, though she would have smiled had Orlene not been present. It was evident that the girl was resilient and would not suffer emotional crippling from that particular aspect of her experience. At the same time, it wouldn't have bothered Jolie to see the pimp roasting eternally on a spit over a fire in h.e.l.l. For every truly decent man, there seemed to be two truly unscrupulous ones who would take advantage of any girl they could catch, regardless of age.

But Roque's different. I mean first he gave us a nice place to stay, and then he helped me talk to Mom, and he's not hot for my flesh. What's more to ask?

"Time. Experience. Maturity," Jolie said.

He's got them in spades!

"Not his. Yours."

Pooh! Maybe for you old women that's okay, but I'm young and alive. I want to love!

And some day surely you will, Orlene put in. But not illicitly.

That's the only kind I know!

They slept-and suffered through Vita's dreams of hugging a man who didn't grab feels. Her emotion, unwarranted and unrealistic as it was, was nevertheless overwhelming. Perhaps it was a long-dammed reaction to her need for respect for an older man, lost when her father betrayed her. The thing was, Roque really was a good man, one worth loving. But there was no way he would love an underage girl.

The next day something alarming happened in court. They were sitting as before, beside the steno, when one of the cases turned out to be the pimp. He was there on an accurate charge: soliciting for prost.i.tution.

Oh, my G.o.d-if he sees me . . . ! Vita thought.

Jolie agreed. She tried to cover her face with her hands, but couldn't do it effectively without becoming obvious.

The pimp's gimlet gaze caught her and lingered for a moment. There was no question: he recognized her. Vita felt doomed, and Jolie couldn't argue. That pimp would blow the whistle on the whole thing if he didn't get his way!

Then the judge's head turned, following the pimp's gaze, and he realized what had happened. Abruptly he called a recess. "You will consult in my quarters," he told the pimp.

In a moment, it seemed, they were there: Judge, Jolie, and pimp. "I gather you recognize this woman," Judge Scott said abruptly.

"I sure do. Your Honor! That's one of my gals! What's she doing in your court?" He stared penetratingly at Jolie.

The gall of the man! How could he think to get away with this? He was talking himself into prison!

No, he figures to blackmail the Judge, Vita thought. Figures the Judge won't want to be exposed with a wh.o.r.e.

The Judge turned to Jolie. "Is this true?"

You're no wh.o.r.e! Orlene thought fiercely. Whatever you were into before is past now.

And there was the key. "I am not his creature," Jolie said, speaking with her own voice. "I despise his breed."

The pimp's jaw dropped. He did not know that Jolie had taken over Vita's body, and her words were not at all what he had expected from a cowed, H-addicted girl.

"The lady seems to disagree with you," the Judge remarked. "What basis do you have for your claim?"

He called me a lady! Vita thought, thrilled.

The pimp realized that he was in trouble. If the girl had found courage, she could testify against him and put him in a lot more trouble than before. Still, he made the attempt. "You know I've got what you want, girl."

"Are you by chance alluding to an illegal drug?" Jolie demanded imperiously. "Certainly I want none of that, and none of you, you despicable wh.o.r.emaster! I shall be happy to provide information-"

The pimp raised his hands in a surrender gesture. "Suppose I just get out of town in a hurry. Your Honor?"

"I would have no objection to that," the Judge agreed.

That concluded the session. But how come the pimp backed down so fast? Vita asked. He knew I never could tell him no!

"He discovered that he wasn't dealing with you anymore," Jolie explained. "Had it been just you, he would have taken you with him, and the Judge would have let you go rather than be compromised and have his reputation sullied. Or so he thought. But he found himself up against a fearless judge and a fearless woman, and knew the odds had turned against him. He did the most expedient thing: voluntary banishment. You'll never see him again. The Judge let him go because this is more effective than sentencing him on a misdemeanor charge."

Gee! And that about covered it.

Chapter 5 - ROQUE.

On the weekend, Roque took them for a walk in the park. Jolie had requested it, because the host, as a minor, was not granted free access; she had to be accompanied by a responsible adult. Vaasta had no interest in parks, but the Judge liked to take weekly strolls. His suite was about halfway high in the megabuilding, by no means a favored site, so he did feel squeezed at times.

They took an elevator and zoomed up sixty stories to the roof. They stepped out, and were deep in a forest. Indeed, when they turned, their elevator was gone; there was no sign of civilization except the marked path, which curved out of sight both forward and back.

But where did it go? Vita demanded, amazed.

Magic, Orlene replied, laughing.

You're teasing me! Let me ask Roque.

Jolie turned to the Judge, who was inhaling the fragrant air with evident satisfaction. "I am turning the body over to the host, who finds this a novel experience. Since there is no expedient escape from this level, I believe she will behave.''

"As you wish." He evidently had a notion of Vita's question. ' 'However, I shall expect you to remain resident and to take over if she misbehaves."

Jolie nodded. She did not fully trust Vita, but believed that the girl's burgeoning crush on the Judge would cause her to stay in line. She vacated.

"Now I know I'm just a street-level city girl who's never been nowhere," Vita said. "But we just came out of an elevator and now it's gone, and I know they don't waste magic on regular folk. What happened to it?"

Roque smiled in the way he had, and Vita felt a thrill of emotion that worried Jolie. Crush? Jolie had forgotten how potent the pa.s.sions of youth could be! The girl had said she loved him, and indeed, in her way she did. But she had rather direct ways of expressing herself. That would have to be watched, until it pa.s.sed in favor of some other interest.

"It is not magic," Roque said. "It is merely camouflage. This is not a real tree; it is the mask for the elevator." He touched the bark of the huge tree trunk the path curved around, and a panel slid aside to reveal the elevator chamber within. In a moment the panel slid quietly across again and the tree was whole and seemingly natural.

"Oh!" Vita squealed, delighted. "It tricked me!"

"We must labor hard to maintain seeming naturalness," he remarked, walking down the path. "These parks are restricted to responsible adults because irresponsible folk have no proper appreciation for them, and may litter or damage them. It might be taken as an a.n.a.logy of society: only those who have achieved a mature viewpoint are capable of appreciating what it offers without abusing it."

"You make it so sensible!" Vita said, thrilling again. She had had little interest in parks before, and none in maintenance, but she was an instant convert.

"I should; I am one of those charged with the enforcement of society's standards."

"Yeah, my pimp would just spit on this path."

"Oh, perhaps he would not descend to such depravity." She glanced sidelong at him, trying to fathom whether this was humor. He saw that, and allowed his straight face to quirk. Then she felt free to laugh. She was learning social nuance, too, in a hurry. Jolie was amazed at the potency of this a.s.sociation. Roque had treated Vita with courtesy, and she had responded in a manner Jolie hoped was not embarra.s.sing him too much.