Stardust Dreams (41 page)

As she waved down a taxi, a
positive thought occurred to her. "One thing for sure, with that crowd,
nobody will think anything of my touching them. I was a little concerned about
someone thinking I was trying to get fresh." On their way to the hotel,
she explained what she meant by that, promptly adding to Gallant's concern for
her safety.

Two hours later they
returned to discover that the afternoon sun had sent a portion of the
bystanders away to seek air-conditioned shelter. Because the crowd had thinned,
Cherry and Gallant were able to quickly discern another problem.

A two-block area in front
of the White House had been cordoned off with a yellow-and-black-striped
plastic ribbon, and an army of helmeted, baton-bearing police were very
seriously obeying the order not to let anyone but members of the press pass the
line. Within the secured area was a sea of people, cameras, cables, and lights.
Umbrellas provided shade for many of those who couldn't squeeze beneath one of
the trees along the sidewalk.

"Any ideas?"
Cherry asked Gallant.

"Bessima has followed
her instructions up to this point. I think it's safe to assume that she will do
whatever she must to be as close to those front gates as possible at three
o'clock."

"Yes, but how?"

Gallant's greater height
gave him a definite advantage as he studied the area. Suddenly he grasped her
waist and lifted her so that she could see from his perspective. "Look. An
officer just let that man in the yellow shirt go through. He doesn't look so
different from me. Perhaps you just have to ask the right authority." He
set her back down on the pavement.

"No way. He probably
showed him a press pass." She explained what that was. "I don't
suppose Rom thought of giving you one of those."

"No, but if you point
one out to me, I can duplicate one for each of us. That's probably what Bessima
would do, too."

Cherry frowned in confusion
for a moment before she understood that he meant he could create an
illusion
of a pass. Now she knew why he had chosen not to wear the eye patch beneath his
sunglasses. "See the rectangular cards attached to those people's shirts
or hanging from a string around their necks? And there…" She pointed to a
case sitting on the street a few feet away, with a pass tied to its handle.

"All right. I've got
it. Just hold your hand out in front of you as if you're holding a pass. Since
I don't know how to make two separated images at the same time, you'll have to
keep your hand right next to mine."

Within a few minutes, they
were inside the restricted area and picking their way through equip-ment and
reporters in an effort to get near the front gates. Cherry laid her hand on
every person she passed and was again glad that the summer heat had people
wearing as little clothing as necessary.

Gallant had suggested she
not eliminate anyone as possible suspects. If Bessima looked anything like the
female Illusians they had already encountered, she might be able to pass for a
male. He also figured she was probably good at assuming a variety of disguises,
since she had obviously blended in with so many different groups around the
world without drawing attention to herself.

Unfortunately, the simple
act of walking around in an area where everyone else tended to be stationary,
was attracting attention to Cherry and Gallant, and they weren't able to check
out as many people as they would have liked. It became apparent that Gallant
was too big to go unnoticed and he agreed to stand still and let her stumble
around without his escort. But he watched her every second, prepared to move at
her signal.

By four o'clock, they
estimated that Cherry had touched at least a hundred individuals without any of
them causing the slightest tingle. They would have to return tomorrow and try
again.

Disappointed, but not
completely surprised, they headed back to the hotel for air conditioning,
showers, and room service.

"I suppose she could
have been delayed," Cherry offered while they ate dinner at the small
table in their room. "After all, she did have to cross the continent from
her last extravaganza, and from what

Josep told me she would
have to use normal transport to get around."

Gallant buttered the last
roll in the basket and gave Cherry half of it. "I lean more toward the
possibility that she was there; we just didn't find her. I was thinking, we
spent the whole hour close to the gates and people started noticing us. Maybe
Bes-sima was hovering less conspicuously at the fringes, waiting for the
princess to show up before coming forward."

"It's worth a try
tomorrow. I got the distinct impression all those media people had staked out
their own piece of the street and would remain in the same spot where I touched
them today."

"Right." He
drained the last drop in his glass. "What did you call this drink?"

"Dr. Pepper."

"Remind me to take a
can back to have it analyzed. I'd like to have it added to my ship's supply
station menu."

Cherry giggled. "That
station of yours needs a lot more than a new drink selection. It should be
completely overhauled."

"Fine. Before we take
off again, you have it reprogrammed the way you'd like. Neither Mar-Dot nor I
have cared enough to take the time to have it done."

"I don't know how you
can say that when I've watched you eat every meal since we've been here as if
it were your last. And let's not forget your enthusiastic appreciation of the
princess's food. You may as well admit it. You were afraid if you enjoyed the
pleasure of eating too much, you'd be acting like a barbarian."

He caught her hand and
pulled her out of the chair. "Is it absolutely necessary to strip me of
every secret I have?"

Her eyes sparkled as her
fingers undid the top button of his shirt. "Let's just say I find it
necessary to strip you, period."

His hand stopped hers from
proceeding, and with a look of sheer deviltry, he asked, "How about a
game? I brought my cubes."

Cherry narrowed her eyes at
him. "Which ones?"

He managed to look
indignant. "The honest ones, of course."

"And what might the
stakes be in this game you're suggesting, Captain?" She slipped her hand
out of his and ran it down his chest and over his flat stomach, but once more
he stopped her from going further.

"If you want to strip
something off me, you'll have to get a quad, and I get to do the same to you. One
quad, one piece of clothing forfeited."

"Mmmm. Sounds
interesting, but counting both my shoes, I only have six pieces to lose, and I
know you have even less. What does the winner get if all the clothing is
already lost?"

A low growl accompanied his
slow grin. "In this game, love, the winner gets anything he wants."

"
He
? Don't
count on it, mister. Let's play."

Using the room service
tray, he set the game up in the middle of the king-size bed.

Cherry got the first quad,
and knowing he wasn't wearing underwear, considerately removed one of his boots
first. She tickled the arch of his bare foot and said, "One down, Captain.
Only three pieces to go."

However, he got the next
set of four and went right for her blouse. He took his time undoing each button
and peeling the silky red material down her arms. His brow raised admiringly as
he saw how a red lacy demi-bra lifted her breasts.

His leering expression
caused her to sharply inhale and her aroused nipples peeked out over the top
edge. Unable to hide his pleased grin, he said, "So, this is why you
dressed in the bathroom this morning. When you have my supply station
repro-grammed, you can do something about the clothing selection, too."

Using only his index
finger, he skimmed her bare flesh and she playfully slapped his hand. "No
touching. You haven't won yet."

He managed to get another
quad on his next roll, and though he was clearly anxious to see whether what
was hidden beneath her blue jeans was as seductive as the brassiere, he had no
choice but to remove her shoes first, one at a time.

Cherry could see he was
growing increasingly uncomfortable in his tailored slacks, and wickedly left
them for last. His luck ran better than hers in the following innings, and soon
he was discovering the sexy panties that matched the bra.

His darkening eyes revealed
just how hungry she was making him. "And to think all this time I was glad
my station couldn't provide you with underwear."

As he sat there trapped in
the tight trousers, he began to wonder if she was purposely losing. Before
long, he had the pleasure of removing both the flimsy pieces of enticement…
very,
very,
slowly. As his fingers barely caressed her flesh, her
breath quickened, and he knew she wouldn't want to play much longer, at least
not with cubes.

On her next turn, she threw
a quad and demonstrated a definite lack of patience as she stripped off his
slacks to bare his lower body.

Despite both their desire
to change the game, neither was willing to be the one to forefit. It was
necessary for each of them to take several more turns before Gallant was able to
conclude the match by tossing a green quad.

By that time, Cherry was
ready to pay whatever penalty the winner demanded. But in the end, she was the
one doing the demanding and, as usual, one explosive release wasn't nearly
enough.

Later, when their pulses
finally slowed and urgent need became affectionate cuddling, Cherry said,
"I just remembered. There are a few more things besides your supply
station that need replacing. Your protective suits had to be left behind on
Lore, and so was the slave collar and chain."

"The suits I can take
care of in Innerworld. The collar is just as well gone."

"Oh? It seemed to be a
fairly useful prop for you."

He grimaced. "If I
didn't have it, I'd have come up with another idea. I should never have kept it
once I got it off."

Cherry raised her head to
look in his eyes. "I beg your pardon?" With his hand at the back of
her neck he pulled her head down for a kiss, but she resisted. "What did
you mean by that? On Zoenid you said something cryptic to Dutch about being a
slave also." His hand fell away from her neck and he let out a sigh. "No
secrets, Gallant. Spit it out."

He shook his head as if he
didn't believe she could do this to him so easily, but he told his tale anyway.
"It was an assignment. I was given the job of tracking down a report that
a slaver was illegally working within the Consociation borders, primarily
abducting adolescent children from the more passive cultures and selling them
to a breeder farm. Making contact with the slavers and infiltrating their tribe
was a rather routine matter for me.

"Stomaching the
abusive way the children were treated, however, was more than I could quietly
handle. I objected one too many times and ended up with that collar around my
own neck before I could get out of there to make my report. Dutch was the man
who won the privilege of teaching me precisely what rights a slave has."

Cherry held herself very
still as his eyelids lowered, temporarily shutting her out. She could sense him
replaying a nightmare in his mind and forced herself not to ask him to say more
than he wanted to.

"The only reason I let
him live to throw it back in my face was because he and that collar ended up
saving my life. One night, a rival tribe of slavers attacked the camp where we
were staying. I'm sure if I had been chained to a post, I'd have been
massa-cred along with everyone else. But Dutch had been having some fun with
me, so he was using his wrist manacle. When the bloodbath started, he couldn't
find the key fast enough and took off with me still chained to him."

He paused a moment before
continuing. "When the princess drugged me, and I was helpless, it was like
being back in that slave camp again." This time, when he pulled her closer
for a kiss, she gave it willingly. "I will never forget what you did for
me back there, love."

She gave him another long,
sweet kiss. "And I'll never forget you, Gallant Voyager."

Before falling asleep, with
her head tucked beneath his chin, Cherry murmured, "Have I told you how
much I loved your taking me to see Rose?"

He briefly tightened his
embrace. "As a matter of fact, you've thanked me at least a thousand
times, but I don't believe you ever said it exactly that way. Did it hurt
much?"

As exhaustion carried her
toward the land of dreams, she smiled to herself and whispered, "Hardly at
all, love. Hardly at all."

Shortly before three the
following afternoon, they were back in front of the White House. As planned,
Cherry worked the crowd furthest from the gates, yet still within the
restricted zone. Four o'clock passed with no better luck than the day before.

On the third day of their
vigil, a continuous downpour chased away all but a handful of diehard
reporters. Gallant and Cherry agreed that she had tested every one of them
already, which was a good thing because most of them, like themselves, were
wearing hooded plastic ponchos that were being sold by an enterprising man on
the street. They hesitated to leave the area before four o'clock though,
despite the fact that it appeared to be a waste of time.