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Interesting that she'd taken the first chance to mention that &
Horace looked up in surprise. "Have I offended by local custom? Believe me, my dear, I did not so
intend!"
She trilled another laugh. "What a pretty speech!"
"It is my stock-in-trade," Horace assured her solemnly.
"In our world, Miss Prudence, all women are addressed as 'Ms.' capital M, small s, period. It is an
abbreviation for both 'Miss' and 'Mrs.' "
"Why, how wonderful!" she cried. "Then you never need worry about whether a woman's married
or not, to know how to address her! But doesn't it make it possible for you to " She blushed, lowering
her eyes. " make advances toward a married woman?"
"A gentleman would never ever make such advances unless he was sure they were desired," Horace
assured her, letting her ignore the possibility that a married woman might want to be advanced upon.
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Merlo cleared his throat, ostentatiously glancing at his watch-ring.
"Oh, yes! Forgive us, Miss, but we must hurry to catch the monorail!" Barry bowed and turned
away.
"Oh, if you are going into town, may I ride with you?" Prudence cried. "It is not quite proper for an
unmarried woman to go about unescorted."
Barry paused, then turned back with a broad smile. "We should be delighted. Let us make all due
speed, thought machines do not wait on our convenience."
"So we must wait on theirs," Horace said, offering his arm.
She took it with obvious pleasure. "What a gentleman you are!"
"The benefits of urban culture," Horace assured her. "In fact, we refer to such gestures, and the
attitude underlying them, as 'urbanity.' "
Out through the doorway they went, Prudence asking question after question, Horace answering
gravely.
Merlo edged over to me. "Tough luck, kid. Looks like the veterans get all the attention today."
"Do you see me crying? I guess she just prefers suave-ness to muscles."
Merlo shrugged. "Women like rank, and they outrank you. They also look richer."
I nodded. "Let the old guys enjoy a little adulation for a while." I caught Horace's eye and gave him
a look of thanks. He winked and turned back to Prudence, answering another question. I told Merlo,
"Just fine with me."
It wasn't, though. We sat down on the monorail with her next to Barry and across from Horace,
heaping flattery on them by the bushel, asking questions and listening in wide-eyed wonder. I was
amazed that they were falling for it. Okay, I had, yesterday, but I had an excuse I was young and
hyped on hormones.
Still was. I found myself resenting Horace and Barry for getting all her attention, and felt this
unsettling impulse to gain some status, be number one, so the pretty girl would come after me.
Stupid, I know but okay, I was jealous.
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So was the spacehand who sat in the comer, glaring at us or maybe he was just suspicious. I
nudged Merlo, nodded toward our fellow traveler, and muttered, "I think she has a chaperone after all."
Merlo glanced at him out of the comer of his eye and nodded. "So do we."
9
Prudence broke off from them at the monorail stop, though. "Thank you very much for all you have
told me, gentlemen! What a wonderful, magical world you inhabit!"
"You wouldn't say that if you had to endure twelve-hour rehearsals," Horace assured her, "or cudgel
lines into your memory at the last moment. But it has been a pleasure talking to you, Miss Prudence."
"And you, sir! May I guide you anywhere?"
"No, I've already been where they're going," Publius said, "the municipal offices."
"Oh!" Prudence said, eyes wide.
"We must see about permits, and other such boring impedimenta," Barry lamented. "I trust we shall
see you in our opening-night audience, Miss Prudence."
I had a notion they were going to be seeing her a lot sooner than that.
They bowed over her hand and turned away to start hiking, and Prudence turned to Merlo and me,
all rosy-cheeked eagerness. "How delightful they are! And where are you off to, Ramou?"
"The lecture hall," I told her. "Fifteenth at Fifteenth."
"Oh, good! That's on my way home! You don't mind, do you?"
Of course we didn't mind except when she was talking to the other guy. She did a marvelous job
of splitting her attention between the two of us, though no small feat, considering I was quite content
to keep quiet and watch. But she kept asking me every other question, and whenever those huge eyes
were on me, and that smile inviting, I found I just couldn't keep the answers down to one sentence. It
occurred to me that the girl was wasted out here she should have been a police interrogator. With her
asking the questions, the Spanish Inquisition wouldn't have needed any torturers.
Of course, that probably would have taken the fun out of it, for them &
Finally, we reached the corner of Fifteenth and Fifteenth which looked just the same as
everyplace else we had passed on the way: broad streets, exact right-angle corners, low stone-and-wood
buildings, gray and brown, discreet signs only, and those painted or carved next to the door. But the
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stumbling-stone did say "15" on each side, so we were in the middle of town, all right.
We halted, and Prudence said, "Oh! Are we here already?"
"Sure are." Merlo put out a hand. "Nice talking to you, Miss."
"Oh, I'll come along! I may be able to help."
"I don't think & " I began, but Merlo's elbow in my ribs dissuaded me.
"We'd love it," he said. "Maybe you can tell us how to find somebody to talk to."
"Oh, certainly! The office is right inside, but up one flight of stairs!" She hurried away in front of
us, through the door.
"Never turn down help from a local," Merlo told me as we went in, "especially a young and pretty
one, when you're dealing with people who don't trust you."
"Why wouldn't they trust us?" I said, my voice low.
"We're from out of town," he answered, then stepped through the door.
Prudence was already halfway up the spiral stairs as we came in; we had to hurry to catch up with
her. I caught a glimpse of flashing ankles, and was amazed at the thrill it gave me when everything
else is covered up, even ankles become alluring!
We caught up with her at the top of the stairs, and she stepped over to a cloudy-glass door. "In
here."
The door was labeled HALL MANAGEMENT. We let her lead the way in.
An old battle-ax in a mobcap and brown sack dress looked up, frowning over the tops of her glasses
at us. I wondered about the glasses, then realized that a frontier planet wasn't apt to have the facilities for
lens surgery, even though it was standard back on Terra. "What are you doing here, Prudence?"
"I was on my way home, Mrs. Hopstead, and these gentlemen were good enough to escort me." She
held out a hand toward us. "They are from off-planet, and are interested in our lectures."
Mrs. Hopstead gave us both the leery eye. "Escorted you, eh? In public, I hope?"
"On the streets, and the monorail and there were three of their fellow passengers in the car with
us, and a spacehand."
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