to his senses he’d probably thank me, knowing that what I’d done had been for his own good. I wasn’t the sort of woman any man should have serious thoughts about, and once Val learned that, things would go a lot better between us.
It took only twenty or twenty-five minutes for a doctor to get there, and by then I was all set. When Val ushered the man into my room, I already sat with feet flat on the floor, hands clasped in my lap, head slightly down, and face expressionless. I didn’t look up as the footsteps came closer, but I couldn’t have missed the sound of Val’s voice.
“There she is, Doctor,” Val introduced me to the newcomer. “If she gives you any trouble, just call me. I’ll be delighted to take care of it.”
The speech was Val’s way of warning me to behave myself, but that wasn’t the way it came across. I raised my eyes to see the doctor frowning at the remark, and he didn’t turn all the way to face me until Val had left and closed the door again. He was a tall, spare, balding man, fortyish with tired brown eyes and sandy hair, and he stared at me quietly for a moment, then put his bag down.
“How are you feeling, young lady?” he asked, his voice gentle. “I’m told you consider yourself well enough to be discharged from our care.”
I gave him a pleading look and opened my mouth to speak, then closed it without saying anything. I shook my head and looked away from him again, and the action crystalized the suspicion that had been in his frown.
“Maybe you’d better explain what’s going on,” he said tightly, then gestured toward the door. “What did that man mean by the remark he made? I thought he was your guardian.”
“He is,” I said in a hopeless voice. “Please don’t ask me about it, Doctor. I can’t involve you in my troubles.”
The statement was hook number one, and he bit immediately by coming closer to bend down.
“You listen to me,” he said, taking my chin in his fingers and turning my head gently toward him. “I became a doctor to help people. If that help lies beyond the realm of medicine, well, I’ll just have to see what I can do. Now, tell me what’s wrong, and that’s an order.”
There was no getting out of obeying a direct order, of course, so I sighed deeply and asked, “What did they tell you about me, Doctor?”
He frowned again and said, “As I understand it, you came here with your uncle and went down to tour Xanadu. Somehow, a maniac kidnapped you and beat you badly before the Pleasure Sphere Management got you away from him. Your uncle brought you back up here for treatment, and that other gentleman joined him a few days later.
Isn’t that what happened?”
I shook my head miserably. “That’s almost the way it happened, but a few things are left out.”
Truthfully, more than a few things were left out. I’d gone down to the Pleasure Sphere for the sole purpose of executing a death warrant on a slaver named Radman. I’d managed to put him away, but one of the Pleasure Sphere customers had decided I was just what he wanted for his next birthday and got annoyed when I didn’t cooperate. He’d cut my back to ribbons with his cane before Val broke in and killed him, and the bandages over the new skin growing on my wrists were due to his tying me to a bedpost with rope.
Since Ringer doesn’t believe in advertising the activities of his agents, I’d had to make sure what story he’d put out. It wouldn’t do to have my version contradict what “facts” were known.
“What really happened was this,” I continued in a dead voice. “When my mother was – gone (my mother was always going one place or another), this man Valdon Carter showed up claiming he was my uncle. He had some sort of papers, and the authorities said I had to go with him.
“Then he brought me here to Xanadu Orbital Station, and arranged for us to go down to the Pleasure Sphere. He was constantly talking to the other men there, telling them how young
It took only twenty or twenty-five minutes for a doctor to get there, and by then I was all set. When Val ushered the man into my room, I already sat with feet flat on the floor, hands clasped in my lap, head slightly down, and face expressionless. I didn’t look up as the footsteps came closer, but I couldn’t have missed the sound of Val’s voice.
“There she is, Doctor,” Val introduced me to the newcomer. “If she gives you any trouble, just call me. I’ll be delighted to take care of it.”
The speech was Val’s way of warning me to behave myself, but that wasn’t the way it came across. I raised my eyes to see the doctor frowning at the remark, and he didn’t turn all the way to face me until Val had left and closed the door again. He was a tall, spare, balding man, fortyish with tired brown eyes and sandy hair, and he stared at me quietly for a moment, then put his bag down.
“How are you feeling, young lady?” he asked, his voice gentle. “I’m told you consider yourself well enough to be discharged from our care.”
I gave him a pleading look and opened my mouth to speak, then closed it without saying anything. I shook my head and looked away from him again, and the action crystalized the suspicion that had been in his frown.
“Maybe you’d better explain what’s going on,” he said tightly, then gestured toward the door. “What did that man mean by the remark he made? I thought he was your guardian.”
“He is,” I said in a hopeless voice. “Please don’t ask me about it, Doctor. I can’t involve you in my troubles.”
The statement was hook number one, and he bit immediately by coming closer to bend down.
“You listen to me,” he said, taking my chin in his fingers and turning my head gently toward him. “I became a doctor to help people. If that help lies beyond the realm of medicine, well, I’ll just have to see what I can do. Now, tell me what’s wrong, and that’s an order.”
There was no getting out of obeying a direct order, of course, so I sighed deeply and asked, “What did they tell you about me, Doctor?”
He frowned again and said, “As I understand it, you came here with your uncle and went down to tour Xanadu. Somehow, a maniac kidnapped you and beat you badly before the Pleasure Sphere Management got you away from him. Your uncle brought you back up here for treatment, and that other gentleman joined him a few days later.
Isn’t that what happened?”
I shook my head miserably. “That’s almost the way it happened, but a few things are left out.”
Truthfully, more than a few things were left out. I’d gone down to the Pleasure Sphere for the sole purpose of executing a death warrant on a slaver named Radman. I’d managed to put him away, but one of the Pleasure Sphere customers had decided I was just what he wanted for his next birthday and got annoyed when I didn’t cooperate. He’d cut my back to ribbons with his cane before Val broke in and killed him, and the bandages over the new skin growing on my wrists were due to his tying me to a bedpost with rope.
Since Ringer doesn’t believe in advertising the activities of his agents, I’d had to make sure what story he’d put out. It wouldn’t do to have my version contradict what “facts” were known.
“What really happened was this,” I continued in a dead voice. “When my mother was – gone (my mother was always going one place or another), this man Valdon Carter showed up claiming he was my uncle. He had some sort of papers, and the authorities said I had to go with him.
“Then he brought me here to Xanadu Orbital Station, and arranged for us to go down to the Pleasure Sphere. He was constantly talking to the other men there, telling them how young
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