Gateway To Xanadu (48 page)

“Uncle Val arranged for us to go down to the Pleasure Sphere,” I sniffed, looking into the nurse’s sympathetic face. “He said I’d have a great time learning about life, but then he let all these other people touch me and do things to me, and then he gave me to this-this-person who said he wanted to take care of me, and then-and then-” The shuddering I did at the memory of James wasn’t any part of the playacting; it would take me some time to forget him.

“You poor child!” she breathed, looking shocked. “Don’t you worry about another thing! I’ll take care of you while you’re here, and you’ll be fine.” Then she straightened up again. “I’ll be right back. I have a few words to say to your uncle, and then we’ll change those bandages on your wrists.”

She stalked out with a grim look on her face, and I waited until the door had closed behind her before letting myself grin faintly. Once Val heard what the nurse had to say, he’d know I was back to being my old, lovable self and would also know that he could relax. Sitting up was getting harder and harder to maintain, so I lowered myself back down on the bed just as some sort of disturbance began outside the door. I could hear the nurse’s voice shouting, but Val’s voice rose above hers.

“I said I’m going in there!” he roared. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll get out of my way!”

The door flew open and Val and the nurse came through together, she trying to stay in front of him, he trying to get past her without actually knocking her down. I hadn’t expected something like that, and I watched with interest, wondering who would win.

“You’ve done enough to that poor girl!” the nurse snapped, staying between Val and me. “If I had my way . . .”

“I am her legal guardian and I demand to see her alone for a few minutes!” Val thundered down at her.

“If you find that request impossible, I’ll have her discharged and moved elsewhere, but I refuse to be put off any longer!”

The nurse hesitated, then turned reluctantly to look at me.

“I’m sorry, Red, but he does have the legal right to see you,” she said, as apology, then turned back to Val and finished talking to me while staring at him. “Hut I’ll be right outside the door! If you need me for anything, just call!”

I thanked her quietly, admiring her nerve, and she marched out, walking stiff and straight. When the door had closed behind her, Val took his eyes away from it and came to stand over me. As high as the hospital bed was he stood even higher, and the look in his eyes was anything but friendly.

“Hi, Val,” I greeted him, staring up at the looming mountain above me. “How are things?”

He leaned his left arm on the railing of my bed, then bent forward to put his right palm to the left of my head, flat on the bed next to me.

“Things are just lovely,” he answered in a too-gentle voice, those black eyes directly on me. “I’ve been out there for two days worrying myself sick over you, and the next thing I know some nurse is accusing me of everything but strangling you! What the hell are you up to now?”

“Well, I had to tell her something,” I muttered, squirming uncomfortably at the way he was looking at me. “It’s not my fault if the facts-sort of-point to you.”

“You and facts!” he snapped, still leaning over me. “That combination just isn’t possible! Just wait until you’re out of that bed! When I get through with you, you’ll never pull another gag on anyone as long as you live!”

“Now, Val, don’t start anything foolish,” I warned, not liking the hardness in his voice. “I wouldn’t want to have to hurt you.”

“Don’t worry,” he said, standing straight again but still sending that dark-eyed look toward me. “You won’t. Ringer will be getting here tomorrow, and I’ll be back to see you then. Right now I’m going to see if I can’t find some fun around here. Rest up real well, I’m looking forward to seeing you on your feet again.”

He reached for the door and disappeared through it, and seconds later that same nurse reappeared, to reclaim the tray she’d brought earlier and carry it over to me.

“Don’t worry, Red, this won’t hurt at all,” she confided the way nurses do. “One, two, three, and I’ll be all finished.” She smiled a reassuring smile and got to work, cutting off the old bandages with a scissors and seeing to the medium-raw mess my wrists had been turned into. Nothing she did caused any pain, but that stemmed from the same reason I felt nothing in my back. I probably could have given her the generic name for the pain killer in me, but that wasn’t the route I had chosen to travel. Ringer disliked letting the general public know where his agents were and what they were up to, and possible bad publicity aside, I couldn’t help agreeing with him. Not too many people would have cried over Radman’s warrant having been served, but I was in no shape to cope with anyone who did. If any of Radman’s people were still close enough to hear about the Special Agent in the hospital area, they might be distraught enough to try reaching me. That side of it could be considered part of my job” but the bodies of anyone who got in their way was more than I was willing to accept. I would stay the innocent little Jenny until I got out of there, but there was one question I would have enjoyed having an advance answer to. Because of the conditioning of my job I had a fast snap-back from all drugs, pain killers included. The one they had me loaded with was bound to wear off sooner than anyone expected, and T

there was nothing I could say to make the time any easier. There was sure to be some warning before it wore off entirely, and all I could hope was that someone would notice before it went all the way. The decision was made, but then I insisted on dredging up a memory of what it had been like the last time I’d been beaten this badly.

“Take it easy, Red,” the nurse said sharply, putting her hands on my arms. “Don’t shiver like that, you’ll be all right. Just lie still now and get some rest. After what you’ve been through, you need it.”

She held onto me until the shuddering stopped, waited a minute or two to be sure I was all right, then took the old bandages she’d removed away with her. When I was alone again I turned onto my side, staring at the closed hall door and picturing Val as he’d looked when he’d stood there. He was much better off being out searching for fun than sitting beyond the door agonizing, but the hospital area had become a lonelier and emptier place. As a comparable place the Pleasure Sphere had very little going for it, but at least there I could have used my role to hold tight to his arm.

By lunchtime the next day I was finally feeling less like a decaying side of beef. If I’d told Jane-my nurse-the generic name for the pain killer in me, I would have been wrong. I’d forgotten who they thought they were dealing with, and most people don’t require the strength and effectiveness of neranol.

They’d used some other garbage on me, and I spent the day watching the snowy woods scene through the vu-cast window, catching glimpses of odd-looking animals, feeling the hovering pain nip and bite at me every once in a while, testing the strength of my protection, growing bolder with every successful bite. Jane had been in and out, watching me with a disturbed look in her eyes, knowing something was wrong but not knowing what. I lay in one spot on the bed, my forehead and underarms dotted with sweat, well beyond even thinking about sitting up, a sour sickness growing stronger inside me. I heard clattering noises out in the hall, noises that usually meant food was on its way, but happily nothing was brought to me.

Beyond the vu-cast window a light snowfall started, adding to whatever was on the ground, and then, unbelievably without any real warning, my defenses were gone, buried beneath wave after wave of fiery, blazing pain. My back was raw meat under the surroskin, my wrists a bloody mess under the bandages, the muscles of my arms and legs still strained from what I’d been put through, and it all came out together, rolling over me and smashing me flat to the bed. I tried not to make a sound but the screaming got itself started and kept going, and then Jane was there, grabbing for me and shouting something over her shoulder. Other faces came to view, most of them attached to hands that held onto me, and then a male face appeared, his hands holding a pressure hypo, but it had all gone on too long. Just as the protective wrapping began forming around me again, I passed out.

I couldn’t have been out too long, because Jane was there wiping sweat off me when I opened my eyes.

She smiled in the dimmed lighting when she saw me looking at her, and lost no time telling me that what had happened wouldn’t happen again. They were now using a special drug called neranol, and would watch it closely to see when it was wearing off. I’d gotten to the point of being positive it hadn’t been neranol to begin with, and Jane’s confirming it made me feel considerably better. If the day ever comes that neranol behaves the way that garbage had behaved, a lot of Federation agents will be in a lot of trouble.

I spent some time just breathing quietly, but Jane kept up -a light, one-sided conversation while she saw to it that I drank down various thin concoctions. I drank them without argument and let her cheerful words flow around and over me without paying any attention to them, but then a stray thought brought to mind a chore undone. Hospitals don’t like leaving unconscious people with jewelry on them, and my bio-ring had been gone from the time I’d first opened my eyes. Of course, it was always possible that someone else had taken the ring, and it was important that I find out if it was gone for good. I waited for the first break in her monologue, then asked if I’d had any jewelry on when I’d been brought in. Jane hadn’t known off-hand, but she’d volunteered to go and find out, which took about a minute and a half.

As soon as she came back through the door I saw my bio-ring clutched in her hand, but I also saw the frown on her face. She closed the door firmly behind her and then came to stand next to the bed.

“It could have been a lot worse for you than it was, Red,” she told me, her large brown eyes matching her frown. “Why didn’t you say something?”

“About what?” I asked, wondering where the conversation was going.

“About this,” she answered, opening her hand to let me see the ring. “I know a bio-ring when I see one; and I also know who carries them. I was on the staff of a special Federation hospital for five years before deciding to move here. ”

Being helpless has a funny way of making everyone around you seem suspect, and I’m not a particularly trusting type to begin with. Jane’s story hadn’t convinced me of anything but the fact that she knew I was an agent, and she must have seen on my face what I was feeling. She moved her free hand to my shoulder and squeezed gently.

“The name of the hospital was Blue Skies,” she said, her pretty face understanding. “You must know as well as I do how fitting the name is. Dr. Croyden was head of my service, and Dr. Madison was his superior. Ralph Madison is a tall man in his forties; Ned Croyden, short and in his thirties with a mustache. The staff calls them Mutt and Jeff, but not to their faces.”

Her-eyes were full of calm assurance, and in spite of myself I found the tension draining out of me. The facility wasn’t called “Blue Skies” by anyone who wasn’t familiar with it, and the joke about Ned and Ralph was restricted to an even greater degree. If the woman in front of me was lying, the effort she was putting into it was more than anything she might conceivably gain.

“I’m surprised you were able to take it for five years,” I said at last, and she smiled and nodded in agreement with the sentiment. “Blue Skies” was set up not far from the agent-training facilities, and was the most active special hospital the Federation had.

“Five years was all I could stand,” she said, handing me the bio-ring. “This place is a vacation compared to what went on over there. Have you finished your assignment yet?”

“Yes, I finished it.” I smiled slightly, watching her move a chair closer to the bed and sit down. “Can’t you tell just by looking?”

“Not always,” she said with a laugh, and then she frowned in thought. “Hey, wait a minute,” she muttered, staring into space and then bringing her eyes back to me. “Who did I chew out when I thought you were an innocent kid?”

She looked so suddenly embarrassed, that I couldn’t keep from grinning.

“Val’s my partner,” I told her, shifting to my side to look at her more easily. “Aside from being totally innocent of everything I hinted at, if not for him I wouldn’t even be this well off. He’s the one who saved what was left of my hide.”

“And to think what I said to him!” She gasped, her cheeks red. “Why did you do that?”

I thought about Val out having his fun, then shrugged as well as I could.

“Val and I have a rather special relationship,” I explained. “He tends to worry about me too much, and I’d rather see him mad.”

“I think you’re out of your mind,” she pronounced, shaking her head at me. “He didn’t strike me as the sort of man who would appreciate having jokes played on him. Doesn’t his size bother you at all?”

“Only when he’s mad at me,” I answered, then closed my eyes with the deep weariness I was feeling.

“I can put you out, you know,” Jane’s voice came, soft with understanding but free of useless pity. “The doctor left orders for it if it became necessary.”

All of my carefully nurtured instincts stirred at that, and I shook my head as I forced my eyes open again.

“No, thanks,” I said, trying to grin. “I’m all right.”

“The hell you are.” She snorted, getting out of the chair to stand next to me. “All you agents are alike.

You always have to be awake and in charge.”

“It’s a survival characteristic,” I commented.

“I’d almost forgotten what taking care of agents was like,” Jane said, her back straightening as she looked down at me. “You think you know best and you won’t even consider anything else. Well, that’s all right with me, as long as you remember that I’m in charge. If you’re silly enough to forget it, you’ll be reminded the hard way.”

She took the bio-ring from my hand and put it in the drawer of the small table next to the bed, then got on about her business. I shifted onto my back again, wondering just how much trouble I’d have with her, but I shouldn’t have bothered wondering. Her sturdy body was in and out of the room for the rest of that day, bringing pills for me to take, gelatine-like mixtures for me to drink, tests that required no cooperation on my part, and examinations that did. I tried being as objective as possible about it, but I have a deep-seated belief that three quarters of all things done to you in a hospital are done just to give the staff something to occupy them. I finally had a bad attack of lousy temper, but Jane couldn’t have cared less. She brought in a hypo filled with sleepy stuff, and I didn’t even get to see how long the snowstorm outside the vu-cast window lasted.