[Wildcards 10] - Double Solitaire by George R. R. Martin Page B

contract. Then the Takisians had discovered the lshab'kaukab , and bred them to serve their needs. The Network had resented this loss of a market, and a vicious war had been fought. Eventually the Network withdrew, but the Takisians had never forgotten the cost in blood and wealth. They had also never forgotten the shame of their economic servitude.
    "Now, Jay, having heard the skewed Takisian view of the universe, will you give me equal time?" Jay shrugged his assent. "Yes, we're traders, yes, we drive a hard bargain because for us the highest law is the contract. But unlike them" -- a point to Tachyon -- "any race is free to join the Network, and we don't care how distasteful your personal habits might be."
    Tach couldn't stand it. "They have no honor. No sense of right or wrong. They just grub for advantage. For eight thousand years they've been trying to regain their hold on Takis -- and for eight thousand years they've been failing."
    "Guys... uh, people. I'm not getting paid by the hour on this one." To Tachyon he added, "I was hired to pop you in here so you could find out if Jube was an alien or not. He is, so I'll be going, and you two can trade insults all afternoon."
    "Don't you care at all that your world is under siege?"
    "I see one fat guy in a really tacky Hawaiian shirt. Doesn't look like the front wave of an invasion to me."
    "Then you're an idiot." Tach turned her back and folded her arms, resting them on the bulge of her pregnancy.
    "Bye." Jay waggled his fingers at the alien pair.
    "Wait." Jay turned inquiringly back to Jube. I must have your solemn promises that you will not reveal my secret."
    "I don't have to drink any blood or anything, do I?" Jay asked.
    Jube frowned, puzzled. Tach bit her lip in vexation. "No," the Glabberan replied.
    Jay nodded thoughtfully. "And if I don't promise?"
    "I make no deal with her."
    Jay and Tach measured glances. The alien acquiesced with a sharp little bob of the head.
    "You got my word."
    She had to force the words. "By Blood and Bone I swear."
    Jay left.
    Jube picked up the remote control to his television and waddled into his bedroom. Tachyon waddled after him. She watched as the Network agent entered a complex series of numbers onto the remote. As the last digit was struck, the bare brick wall at the back of the apartment seemed to dissolve. Sixty years ago it had been a coal cellar. Now it was a beachhead for a poisonous invasion force. Pushing aside her repulsion, Tachyon forced herself to concentrate. The back wall held a gigantic holocube. A horseshoe-shaped console curved about that cube, and nestled in the center was a chair contoured for Jube's squat bulk. More machines lined the walls. Some Tachyon could identify. Most she couldn't.
    Jube walked past her and settled with a grunt into his chair. He looked back inquiringly at Tachyon. Gnawing nervously at the inside of her cheek, the Takisian dithered.
    Yes, her predicament was desperate, but did she have the right to endanger Takis for one hundred and twenty pounds of male flesh?
    "Are we doing this?" asked Jube, shattering her thoughts and sending them skittering in all directions. Tach nodded mutely.
    There was a place on the console where Tach could sit. It wasn't terribly comfortable, but Jube showed no inclination to offer his chair. The sausagelike fingers caressed the keypad. He glanced up at Tach. Like most people his eyes kept drifting to the swell of her belly. Tach steeled herself for the inevitable question. But Jube surprised her. Instead of the irritating bleat of "How does it feel?" the alien said wistfully, "I haven't had a child yet. May never get to now. One of the trade-offs for taking up Network service."
    "Yes, I suspect there isn't a Glabberan female within twenty light-years."
    Jube busied himself with the keypad before answering. "I could impregnate myself." The joker smiled at Tach's eye-widening reaction. "We Glabberan are hermaphrodites. But I had a feeling that me fetching up