[adamu]

It had been clear to Al that she'd sensed his sudden wariness earlier.

There was no point in being transparent again. In any case, nothing had transpired between them, so all he had to do was keep anything from slipping out of control.

She was still fun, pleasant, and competent. An indispensable ally if things went south.

It was time to enjoy dinner.

"Approval? Hell's bells, missy, this here's a five-star spread, an' that's by Southern standards. Let's eat!"

The meal was outstanding, and he chided himself for having been a visible boor earlier. He explained the arrangements he'd made for the next day, and that turned the conversation to Yao. "You got an answer? North or south?"

[Mercy Merchant]

Alyce smiles at the relish with which Al eats the meal, pleased at his compliments.  She makes no attempt to hover or ask unnecessary questions about if he really likes it or could it be better.  His obvious satisfaction is enough and she remains quiet as he explains the plans for leaving in the morning.  She nods at his question.  "Yes, actually I did get a message from him.  We are going into the southern range.  He also indicated that he wants to talk about the logistics arrangements and I told him he would need to talk to you about that.  I can set up a comm for you after dinner, if you like.  In general, I got the impression that most of the stuff we saw in the warehouse is for other Wuxng activities, but I think that you are the better person to talk to him about what we need for bearers and so on. I can set up comms with him after dinner if you like.  And what time tomorrow morning are we leaving?"

After the meal, she takes Al back to the bedroom and uses her deck to punch through the noise to get to Yao Lung and routes the call to Al's 'link.  After getting things set, she tells both men that she is cutting herself out of the conversation and asks Al to let her know when they are finished.  Returning to the dining room, she begins clearing things away and cleaning up.  She refuses to leave the kitchen the worse for her being there.  The family begins returning when she is about half done and pitches in to help.  The hostess slyly asks how Al liked the meal and Alyce laughs and nods, telling the woman that Al is in the bedroom getting ready.  Both women laugh and carry on a conversation.  At some point Alyce tells her that they are leaving in the morning for a boat ride up the river.  The woman gives her a knowing glance and leaves the room, returning in a couple of minutes with a jar in her hands.  "River mosquitos bad.  They like blood, especially tourists.  Here is cream to keep bugs away.  Make smell so bugs stay away.  You barely notice smell, but bugs hate.  Here, you take.  Let know if like, but am sure you will."

"Thank you very much.   You are very kind."

Bugs at night ruin romantic adventure.  Stop sex to swat.  Use cream and good sex.  No worries about bugs."  "The woman looks sharply at Alyce, "Your man like sex, yes?"

Alyce can only nod as she breaks into laughter.  After finishing the cleanup, she goes to sit on the front lanai to watch the stars and wait for Al to come get her.  She does not break into the conversation that Al is having, letting the two experts do their thing.  Her mind keeps going back to the conversation she had with the hostess and she finds that she would really like to know if Al would enjoy sex with her.  She shakes her head to try to get that idea away as it looks like she will never find out.  She sighs and watches the stars above and waits.

[adamu]

By the end of the meal, Al was feeling a hell of a lot better. He saw clearly how things were, and it wasn't a bad deal.

And he was very happy to have a chance to talk to Yao directly. They exchanged face-saving pleasantries, and Al confirmed that they were looking at the main party's arrival in in the evening on the fourth day hence. He promised to arrange billeting for all eight of them that night, and, assuming Alyce's comms were secure, explained their basic route to Chi Pat. Yao wanted to know about the locations of the Pearic villages, and Al said, "Boss, jist tell me what ya know about where we's headed, an' we'll git there a lot easier."

"I am sure you are right. But right now, secrecy more important than efficiency. Southern Cardamom, first stops will be Pearic villages in that area. Plan to take us to them."

"Your world, amigo."

"What?"

"Yes sir. No problem."

Then they'd had a boring discussion about load outs, with Al voting that less was more. Yao had acquiesced, and Al determined four bearers would be sufficient with everyone but Ling carrying a load of their own. Ling. Damned spoiled pretty boy.

Then Yao had surprised him. "What is your thinking of Alyce?"

"She's all right. Knows her stuff."

"And her blindness will not be an impediment?"

"I've been worried about the same thing," Al responded, careful to use English the Wuxing man could follow easily. He wanted to be understood clearly on this point. "But I'm not worried no more. She'll do her job better than most. But I thought you'd worked with her before."

"I have, but my superiors question my judgement. I will add your assessment to my recommendation. That is all."

But that wasn't all from Al. "One more thing - what become of the spy Alyce spotted for you?"

There was a pause. "Now is not the time to discuss. Be careful. I have given full details of that to Alyce. She will brief you."

And that was it. Not even an 'over and out' like on the trid.

Al went out and sat with Alyce on the lanai. "So tell me what happened with the spy."

[Mercy Merchant]

Alyce hears Al coming out and lifts her face to him and smiles.  "All done, then?  I will cut the secure connection."  She waits for him to sit near her on the lanai deck before answering his question.  "He died.  Yao Lung was not specific on the details, but the man is dead and feeding the fish in the river.  Yao Lung does not torture people because he does not believe any of the information gathered that way is trustworthy.  He is more direct.  He told me that they found a commlink on the man and looked at his call record, finding out who he had contacted in the twenty-four hours before he was caught.  The name Senor came up.  Are you familiar with the name?  It is not something you hear much outside of Azzie operations, but he is very much a counterpart to our Yao Lung, only meaner.  I have worked with him twice in the last ten years.  He is a professional and gets the job done, but he is also very ruthless."

"Anyway, Senor is in Cambodia and the spy was transmitting calls to him.  These were encrypted and Yao Lung sent them on to me to clean up.  The code is good, but not good enough.  I already have several of the messages cleaned up and ready to transmit back.  From what I can tell, the Azzies are here to follow us and steal an artifact we are supposed to find.  The Azzies do not like to play fair, Al, and Senor is about as bad as they come.  Things are probably going to get interesting."

Alyce pulls her knees up to her chest and crosses her arms around them before placing her chin on her knees.  Speaking in a soft voice, she says, "I know the stars are out tonight, Al.  Would you have time to describe some of them to me?"

[adamu]

The Al part of Al's brain wanted to say, "Geez, woman, we got Azzie assassins ta talk about."

But the Al-sitting-with-Alyce part of Al's brain was in pole position right now, so what he actually said was, "Sure, toots, do my best."

He took some space, scooting away from her some so that he could lean his back against a support post and see both her and the sky at the same time. He smoked for a bit, not hurrying. He'd led caravans across the Sahara and boarded pirate ships in the Carib. But he'd never tried telling someone what the stars looked like.

"Well, they's a helluva lot of 'em." Yeah, great start. "We got some thin clouds driftin' at a good height, so they's a bit of a patchwork. Some spots is all sparkly, diamonds on a jeweler's black felt, some places so thick they's more light than dark. But other spots is all misty-like, with jist a diffuse glow seepin' through. Clouds is movin' right along, though, so it's like them  Christmas trees where the lights go on in one part then off in t'other, an' round an' round an' so forth."

He paused and focused on her. "Let yer thoughts drift, it's like the clouds is still but the stars is movin'." Her face was much more interesting than the sky. So he continued, "Sorta like that there dragon gracin' yer countenance."

[Mercy Merchant]

Alyce is lost in Al's description of the stars in the night sky and she files his words away to replay later.  Tears fall from dead eyes as she says, "The wonder of God's grace, isn't it Al?  Thank you.  I can remember looking up at the stars as a child, but I cannot remember any better or more accurate description."  She puts her head on her arms and cries silent tears for all that she has lost; for the things that she will never be able to see the way they were meant to be seen.

Al's comment gets to her brain and she looks up, momentarily confused.  She touches her face and says, "This?  It is not really a dragon, but I suppose you could think so.  It is a seven-headed serpent, which is the symbol of the Earl's House in London Below.  Ever heard of it?  Well, you will if you ever get to London.  Anyway, there is part of London that is built below ground.  It was originally supposed to be additional living space and shops and the like.  Drek happened and it never got finished.  Many of the "undesirables" moved in and made it bigger and deeper.  There is an entire society down there now; lots of awakened and some infected.  All living and surviving together.  It is not all nice and rosy, though, and many of the people there prey on the others."

"There are thirteen organizations that call themselves Houses, with a capital H.  Some are more important than the others, but they all help regulate what happens in Below, again with a capital B.  People can get a sort of protection from the other Houses by being claimed by a House.  Some are even accepted and warded, and these get the greatest degree of protection.  One of the most important Houses is the Earl's House.  The House symbol is a seven-headed serpent.  I have been claimed by that House, and warded.  I was given the tattoo as a mark of the House and to let others know that I am protected.  It allows me to be able to walk relatively freely in certain parts of Below.  I would need several guards to try to go into some of the other areas, though, so the protection is not universal."

Alyce stops talking and turns her face to Al after wiping the signs of her tears away.  Would you like to see the copy on my back?  It is much larger and in color.  I know that you saw it this morning from the bed, but I am pretty sure that is not all you were looking at."

[adamu]

No, that hadn't been all he'd been looking at. But he'd paid it more attention than she probably assumed. He loved good ink, and the extensive work had not been what he would have expected on seeing her form revealed.

She was a real nice lady, he reckoned. Nice on the surface, and he suspected nice to the core. But there was this uneven middle layer of naughty that kept popping up and yanking at his imagination.

"Well, did live in London fer a spell, an' know they's a shoppin' mall under the West End, but can't say I've heard o' yer Houses an' whatnot. Must be livin' too tame a life." And probably for the better, he thought, since it sounded like a bunch of godless hippies.

"So the one on yer back, it move too, like this one does?"

[Mercy Merchant]

Alyce nods.  "You are very observant, Al.  Yes the heads move a bit.  There was some enchantment used on the ink.  It doesn't do anything, at least not that I know of, but the heads and eyes seem to move to follow people.  I can feel them move.  I have other ink as well, but you probably noticed that, too.  Some very good artists have used parts of my skin to display their work.  My upper arms and thighs are well decorated.  You should take a look at the back some time.  I had some trouble on one of my earlier expeditions and was captured by an opposing team.  Which one does not matter at this time, since they are all dead now, but one of them was a bloody sadist.  He left some whip scars across my back and would have probably killed me but his team leader stopped him and had me dropped off at a hospital.  The House artist that did my back managed to use the scars in the tattoo, making them pretty hard to see unless you look real close or already know they are there.  Do you have any tats, Al?"

[adamu]

Sitting across the lanai from her and watching her bespectacled face in the starlight, Al was deeply disturbed at the thought of anyone hurting her. Lashing - he knew what that was like...

"Heh, a few here an' there. Nothin' so fine as what I glimpsed earlier. I'm partial ta this one, though." He moved a bit closer and pushed up his right sleeve to show her his Troubleshooters tattoo, but stopped short. "Reckon ya can't see it none, though. Sorry."

[Mercy Merchant]

Alyce holds out a hand to touch his arm.  "No, I cannot see it, but if you let me use my ultrasound sensor I might be able to discern the different textures between the ink and the skin, and my touch is very good.  But you can describe it to me if you like."

[adamu]

Al wasn't real big on touchy-feely stuff, but with her hand all outstretched, what could he do? He finished moving closer, and realizing it would be too awkward with his heavy sleeve forced up around his elbow, he took off his jacket. He figured it was safe as long as he didn't turn his back to her.

Taking her hand, she could once again feel the unnatural texture of his palm and fingers, like wax melted into roiling ripples and then hardened to the consistency of leathery hide. His breath was harsh with the smell of cigarettes and an undercurrent of rice alcohol from his drinking in the afternoon.

He guided her fingers from the inside of his right wrist up the fleshy part of his forearm. It was thick and heavily muscled, and covered with the same scarring as his hands. "The scars, they purty much go on up ta the elbows, but they's a smooth spot right here," he said, placing her fingers about halfway up. "All my tats, this is the only one with color, 'cept o' course fer the Stars an' Bars on my shoulder. Can ya feel that, the circle, an' then a big ol' fanged sea serpent strikin' straight out of it? Guy got the perspective real good. The sea serpent's crushin' the company logo inta pieces. Proteus AG, that's who we was workin' fer. They warn't bad. Across the top it says Troubleshooters, that was what we called our little crew, and then - stop me if I'm tellin' ya stuff ya can see fer yerself - so then across the bottom she says Number One Bilge Rat. That were me."

[adamu]

Alyce allows Al to guide her fingers from his wrist to his where the tattoo is, feeling every muscle and every scar.  once at the tat, she can tell the difference between the ink and his skin and the picture is forming quite clearly in her mind as her deft touch and the hyper-sensitive nerve endings provided by her implants allow her to clearly "see" the tattoo as he describes it, but she likes the way his hand feels on hers and does not want to break the contact.   "So, this Bilge Rat is a good thing?  And what are 'Stars and Bars'."  While listening to him talk, the heady scent of Al's closeness, combined with his cigarettes and alcohol, are almost too much for her to resist, but he has not shown one bit of interest in her and she does not want to drive him away by being precipitous.  Instead, she takes his hand in hers and guides it to her face.  "I have never let anyone touch them before so I do not know if they bite.  Tell me what it feels like when they move.  It is slow and might take a bit, so be patient."

[adamu]

Al let her put his fingers on her art.

Her skin was warm, and the arm of the crazy glasses was cold where it touched the side of his finger. The contrast matched his thoughts.

"Heh heh, it were a good thing ta us'n. Man earns his bread by the sweat of his brow, an' if he's got any self-respect, he's good at what he does. Reckon the bilge is the part o' the boat way down below the lowest deck. Filled with ballast an' whatever else seeps its way down an' never gits cleaned out. But we weren't workin' boats much. We was mostly on big Arkoblocks, an' they got pipes an' infrastructure goin' way on down ta the seabed, and then down from there. Stuff like that all gotta git fixed by someone, an' drones can't do ever'thin'. Mighty tight down there, mighty dark. But I could go anywhere, git the job done. So that's what they called me, Number One Bilge Rat."

He could feel it. Slow like the hands of a clock, inexorable but invisible movement.

"Stars an' Bars, well, that's the Battle Flag o' the Confederacy. Symbol of a noble cause lost but never fergotten. Now vindicated at last with the birth o' the CAS." He shrugged. "But I ain't political, long as ya never ask me ta vote fer a Democrat. But no Guthrie's voted in fifty years anyway." He pulled his hand away. "Well, answer's no - they don't bite."

[adamu]

My, his hand felt good against her face.  She listens to his explanations and feels the slight movement in his fingers as they experience the movement of the heads of her serpent tattoo.  Her head almost follows his hand as he pulls it away.  Almost.  She sighs and checks the time on her internal clock and stands up, offering her hand to Al.  "It is getting pretty late.  Normally I am quite a party girl, but we have to leave early in the morning.  Would you like to come to bed?  I can let you look at the other tats and I promise not to bite."

[adamu]

Al shrugged and put his jacket back on, stood and offered her a hand up. Having not slept the last two nights, he was fairly sure he could sleep at least a bit now. Not in the bed, not even on it, not with this beauty in it. But he'd let her fall asleep before he took off. He didn't feel like arguing about it.

But he did want to see her tats. What he'd seen earlier had looked beautiful. And he didn't lie to himself. Sure, there was more to his interest than simple appreciation of the inker's art. But he'd keep that separate. This girl was dangerous.

So he led the way into the room and started unlacing his boots. Remembered something she'd said earlier. The wonder of God's grace. "You a believer, Alyce?"