ENTOVERSE

Nixie reappeared carrying a tray with a bottle and glasses, a dish of

broken ice, and a bowl of mixed snacks. “When Vie get here Jevlen?” she asked, setting the tray down and sitting by Murray.

“Today,” Hunt said. “An hour ago, maybe less.”

“Today,” Murray repeated, adding something in Jevlenese. “You drink rum?” he asked, looking back at Hunt.

“Sometimes.”

“Local gutrot. Something like rum, but kinda minty. It’s called ashti. Give it a try.” He poured Hunt a generous measure from the bottle, pushed across the ice, then half filled two more glasses for himself and Nixie.

Hunt took a sip neat and found it not bad. He added an inch of ice. “So Vie have no girl here yet,” Nixie said. “We fix. Know plenty girl. Find real pretty one. Good and kinky.”

“Jesus, don’t you ever think of anything else?” Murray grumbled. He lounged back and raised his glass toward Hunt. Nixie took a small case from a side table and began applying a pink cosmetic to her nails. “So what’s your story?” Murray asked Hunt. “Is there a Thurien ship in today?”

Hunt nodded. “I’m part of a group that UNSA sent to have a look at some aspects of Ganymean science. There are going to be big changes.”

“So, is that what you are-a scientist?”

‘‘Yes.”

“What kind?”

“Originally nucleonics. But since the Ganymeans showed up, it’s been getting more general.”

Murray took a gulp from his glass and regarded Hunt quizzically. “So how in hell did you wind up being bounced around in the middle of a Jev banana parade? For somebody who’s been off the ship an hour, that takes real talent. You must have a guidance system that homes on trouble.”

“Not really. The tube in from the shuttle port wasn’t running—”

“Typical.”

“—so we used a bus. Our group will be based at PAC.”

“The old government center. Okay.”

Hunt shrugged. “The bus had to divert and got bogged down in the crowd. The Jevlenese who were with us decided to try and make it on foot. I got separated from the others. And then you showed up.”

“Probably just as well for you, too. They can get pretty wild. Most of them are headworld cases who forgot the difference between

cuckoo-land and reality a long time ago—assuming they ever figured it out in the first place.”

“There was something else, too,” Hunt said. “On the way in from Geerbaine we passed an accident.”

Murray pulled a face. “It gets a bit like 1-405 sometimes. How bad was it?”

“It wasn’t a pileup. A traffic bridge collapsed—part of an exit slipway.”

“Goddamn turkeys,” Murray muttered beneath his breath. “Any­one hurt bad?”

“It looked like it. And I think one of them was the deputy police chief. Apparently he was driving over it.”

“Oh, shit. Well, I guess we’ll be hearing all about that.”

Hunt looked around the room, tapping his fingertips lightly on the tabletop next to him. His eyes came back to Murray. “Look, I don’t want to be unsociable or anything, and maybe it’s been a long time since you talked to anyone new from back home. But the others will be wondering what’s happened to me. I need to get to PAC. Is it very far from here?”

“You’re right. We can shoot the breeze some other time.” Murray turned to Nixie and said something in Jevlenese. She replied with a stream of chatter, nodded, and said something in a raised voice. Another female voice answered from what seemed to be the room in general.

“That’s Lola, the house computer,” Murray murmured. Hunt nodded.

Nixie exchanged a few words with Lola, and then another female voice came on and entered into a dialogue with Nixie.

“Nixie and Osaya will take you there,” Murray said, turning back to Hunt. “Osaya’s one of the girls upstairs. I’d do it myself, but I’ve got somebody coming here in about fifteen minutes. Business.”

“That would be fine.” Hunt nodded and finished his drink. “That stuff’s not bad.”

“Glad you like it. Don’t forget to come back and have another.” They were silent for a few seconds. Then Hunt said, “That ‘head­world’ that you mentioned a minute ago. What is it? Do you mean JEVEX creations?”