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doors into the garden's lush sum-mer growth. Zref slipped by, stripping as he
went, and dove into the pool. He surfaced and grabbed a cleansing mat, rubbing
himself all over as he watched Sudeen thoughtfully.
"Sudeen?" It was as if the kren hadn't heard. Zref hoisted himself out of the
pool and wrapped a bath cape around his shoulders, throwing its cowl over his
stream-ing hair. "Sudeen, come on, I'll scrub your scaly hide for you." It was
an offer the kren could never refuse.
But instead of diving, clothes and all, Into the pool, Sudeen turned and
looked at him. "Your parents are go-ing to offer us money."
"Dad's heard your father hold forth on the subject of kids leaving home
before they can earn their own way in a trade. He wouldn't want to cause
trouble in MorZdersh'n any more than I would. But if he does offer money, we
just won't accept it."
"Even if it means staying here?" Sudeen's venom sack stirred as he responded
to Zref's desperation and his own.
Abruptly, Zref was face to face with the choice he had been ducking for
weeks. Founders University on Rhobank V was the only school both he and Sudeen
were qualified for that offered the degree of Communications Generalist. As
Zref saw it, the greatest problems of the Hundred Planets stemmed from
communications failures. If the HP was to occupy the entire galaxy, as the
First Lifewave had, they'd have to learn the secrets of the First Lifewave.
Who'd be more likely to succeed than a human/kren bhirhirn?
Zref replied in a steady voice. "Yes, Sudeen, even if it means staying here.
We're a team." Immense relief flooded through him, but Sudeen was riveted by
some new vision.A flash?
The kren turned slowly toward Zref, stark horror fadingfrom his eyes, though
in the presence of his bhirhir he barely raised venom.
"What was it?" asked Zref. "A premonition?"
"I hope not," Sudeen answered. "I was never trained at Mautri to know a true
premonition from ordinary fears, but I'm sure this was just fear."
Because of his occasional flashes of vision, Sudeen had been trained at
Mautri from his earliest years to his first adult molt, when he had fled the
school and Zref had found him, late one night, beaten and robbed in a dirty
alleyway, delirious with blue-voiding, babbling out his most personal fears
between the bouts of involuntary writhing. Out of lifelong friendship, Zref
had not hesitated to offer bhirhir.
"Sudeen, if you can't tellme, who can you tell?"'
"I had a vision of you, wearing the insignia of the Inter-face Guild, with
that peculiar blank look on your face. And I knew you'd gone offworld without
me." He shook him-self and went to the bathing pool, stripping off his street
costume.
"Sudeen, when we pledged bhirhir, I knew what I was doing. You've never given
me cause to regret it."
"Not even when I was too frightened to go back to Mautri and try again,
leaving you free to live as a human, the way we planned?"
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"You know what I was frightened of this afternoon at the shuttleport? I was
afraid of losing you and you know why? Because since we pledged bhirhir, I
haven't had any of those insane yearnings to get Mautri to take me in."
"They're not completely gone. I can see that every time we go up to the
kyralizth."
"But I can control it because there's something else im-portant I can do with
my life."
There was a sound at the door as somebody stepped onto the entry mat outside.
Zref opened it to find a stack of clothing behind which stood a girl. Long
honey-blond hair, dark eyebrows and sharp cheekbones, two slender hands
cradling the pile she looked gorgeous yet vaguely familiar. As Zref stood
transfixed, she smiled.
"Zref, you and Sudeen should be able to find something to fit among these "
"Tessore! Tess Kobre!" Her voice triggered a thousand memories of a lumpy,
awkward girl who could outdare any
boy in their class and outdream even Zref. "Tess, I thought you'd gone to
Pallacin to study music."She's lost weight or something.
"I was on Pallacin for a year, then Sirwin for three. I couldn't wait to get
back to Firestrip!" "I'm glad you're back." "Well, aren't you going to take
these?" "Uh, sure." He took the load from her arms and found her standing
before him in a blue floor-length gown that left her shoulders bare and clung
magnificently.
"We can talk later," she said. "I'm living here now." "Great."
He pulled his eyes from her gown and smiled. She turned and walked down the
hallway. Closing the door, he set the pile on the bed and began sorting it.
Some was his own that he'd left here. Other items belonged to some other
human. But there was also a kren jacket and trousers.
"Come on, Sudeen, get washed. They're waiting with dinner."
The kren was sitting in a chair. "I'm not hungry." "Well, neither am I,
suddenly, but I'm not going to miss this dinner!"
Sudeen got up and came to where Zref was sorting clothing. "Tess? You are
attracted?" "You saw. She's grownup!"
Sudeen looked Zref up and down. "Itis your turn to mate. Come, scrub my
filthy hide for me, and we'll go see how she responds to you."
The dining room was decked out in silverware from Theate, bluish plants from
Sirwin in hanging baskets over the table, and as a centerpiece providing all
the light in the room, a glowing Ciitheen water globe. In ornate decanters set
about the long table, emerald green liqueur sparkled in-vitingly, an import
from Horth.
The Brenilak Interface was seated in the place of honor next to Zref's father
at one end of the table. Zref was placed across from the Brenilak, and next to
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