fugue - Oblique Publications

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FUGUE ˆˆˆˆˆ
JANE BARON
ˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆ
the discussion going off course. “But the question
is valid. We lose nothing by going down and
making inquiries. Where’s the harm in investigating?”
Avon swung around fast, stabbing two
fingers at the blue-green spheroid floating behind
Blake. “There’s the harm. That was reported
by the first surveyors as being a world
hostile to all other races. A primitive theocracy
which makes Cygnus Alpha look like a garden
spot. Even if their priest-chieftains have information,
how likely are they to give it to us?”
Blake grinned. “They might do. There
are ways to take advantage of a theocratic attitude,
if I recall.” He tilted his head slightly
toward Avon in reminder. Avon made a sharp
sound and turned away.
“We have been to hostile worlds before,”
put in Cally reasonably, without heat.
“Haven’t been to anything else,” added
Vila, and then subsided into his glass under the
gazes of the women on either side of him.
“And,” Avon snarled, looking at the far
wall, “we’ve suffered the consequences before.
When you” —wheeling on Blake again— “have
decided to see what you want to see.”
This reference was unmistakable, and
Blake felt a slow smoldering kindle in his stomach.
He remained obstinately obtuse, arms a
barrier between himself and the needle jabs of
the man who now crossed to face him.
But Avon, scenting blood, only moved
in closer, leaning forward. “Your obsession is
blinding you, Blake,” he hissed. “It’s in control.
And when that happens we are the ones who
pay.”
He was flushed with suppressed excitement,
eyes narrow, chest rising quickly and
lightly. Enjoying this. The electric tension virtually
a palpable aura all around him. Blake
watched it dispassionately.
Stolid, he said, “You’ve made your
point. My decision remains the same. I’m
going.”
Avon moved in the last half-step, thrusting
his face to within a handspan of Blake’s.
ˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆ PÆAN TO PRIAPUS
“And which of us—which of them—do you
choose to accompany you this time? Who is
expendable now?”
Blake was annoyed and harassed and
bone-weary of all this argument—or at least he
should have been so. But the strange thing was
that with Avon this close, close enough that
Blake could smell the faint suggestion of his
sweat, and feel the tenor of his body heat, his
own reactions were bewilderingly inappropriate.
He found himself relaxing, noting the lashes
weighing down those chestnut eyes, the subtle
curve of upper lip. The immediacy of that slim
strong body both soothed and stirred him, and
the argument—Avon’s objectionability—no
longer seemed very important.
He was reacting to Avon as if he were
Kerr. It had never happened before, and he had
no idea what to do about it.
Avon was persevering at being objectionable,
being abusive really. Throwing himself
into it with a vigor Blake hadn’t seen for
weeks—for just over five weeks, to be precise.
Spoiling not just for a fight but a knock-down,
drag-out battle royal. Idly, Blake wondered what
Avon would do if he kissed him.
This frivolous ripple of thought was
enough to make him blink and turn away, looking
down his own shoulder at the floor and
putting Avon’s warmth and his own baffled
musing out of his mind. It would have been
easier if he could call up a sense of real alarm.
“I suppose you’d better be the one,” he
said absently, apropos of nothing because he
hadn’t been listening to the tirade for several
minutes now. “After all, I can be quite certain
that you, at least, will take care of yourself.”
Avon, his stride broken, looked affronted
and piqued. Blake noted that much with
the one glance he spared as he wandered away.
“Better talk to Orac about their religious system,”
he added, vaguely helpful, from the stairs.
“Find out what deities are supposed to do. And
run a climate check.”
And that sound was Avon’s teeth snapping
shut. The last Blake saw of him, he was
ˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆ