Abominations (33 page)

      Great, she thought, now she was not only stuck in some strange different reality, but also both a virgin and a slut at the same time. No confusion there then.

      Beth guided her up to the apartment carefully, arm in arm.

      When they got inside, she gave Gwen a quick hug.

      “You don't have to be, you know. A virgin. Or a slut for that matter, but your reputation is already made there, so you may want to consider it as an option,” Beth told her playfully.

      “There are lots of men here that would gladly date you. Or women. That would have to be kept a bit more secret. You're not what you were before though. You're not even like me, an abomination, even if the switch were found out, you wouldn't be held to account for it. Here you're perfect. People already want you. I think that our address being obscure and working in the Constabulary itself is probably all that's kept you from being overwhelmed with invitations from young men.”

      Standing still, Gwen asked where this came from, since they really hadn't talked to each other about such things before.

      “It's, you know, when I'm in my telepathic state, I know what you think too, right? How you feel?” She actually held her breath, but Gwen just shrugged, having figured that would be the case.

      “Well, I've noticed how much... How much you hate yourself, Gwen. Not because you're bad, but just because everyone treated you poorly for so long. But you don't have to feel like that. You're a good person, maybe one of the best I've ever known. I've seen the inside of minds, a lot of them. I know what people are really like, even the parts they hide from the world, and you, you're good, and strong, and kind all at the same time. You have every reason to hate the world, but instead you give and try to make it better when you can. That is far more rare and special than you know.”

      Then, very uncharacteristically, Bethany hugged her for a long time. For one of the first times in her life, Gwen hugged someone back, knowing that they didn't want to get away from her in revulsion.

      It felt nice.

Chapter seventeen

      Nothing happened for the next few days, except that reporters kept showing up at work to ask them questions, often the same questions, over and over again, and following them almost everywhere they went. It started to displease Peals, who felt this would be getting in the way of their investigation soon, if it hadn't already. The only thing about the whole mess that he approved of was how Gwen had managed to not give away any secrets about the case, sending the press to him, so that he could dole out information carefully instead of things just slopping out all at once.

      “Brilliant piece of work there. I'll be passing the idea up the line, if you don't mind? Too often the Constabulary gives away information to the press too soon, alerting the criminals to our intentions. If we can put a policy in place to slow that down a bit, then we'd all be better off.”

      The older man wiped his head with a kerchief pensively as he talked to the girls sitting in his office on Friday morning. Gwen thought he looked worried.

      “The thing is...well... until the press pulls back a bit, I'm going to have to take you off the case, Miss Westmorland. Now,” He held up a hand to forestall her objections, even though the female detective hadn't even begun to try and speak. “I know, it's your case and you're still the lead on it, but the field work, that can be done by others for a bit. We'll keep you in the loop, bring you in for anything important, but otherwise...”

      Nodding her head, Bethany just agreed with the man.

      “I was worried that this may be the case. Actually, I'm a bit surprised that it hadn't happened already, just having a Westmorland involved in the investigation, to tell the truth. Hopefully we can keep the data stream open, so that my work to date doesn't become useless. But I do understand. What do you want us to do in the mean time?”

      A soft sigh of relief came from Peals then, as he let out the breath he'd been holding. Shifting his weight forward in his leather chair, he recommended that they both take the weekend off.

      “You're due for a rest anyway, both of you. You, Miss Farris, just got out of the hospital after being stabbed and nearly dying for goodness sake, and Miss Westmorland, you haven't had half a chance to recover from the ill-treatment here. Both of you deserve a vacation. Even given this situation as it stands, I can't afford to lose you for as long as you should get. Still, take the weekend and I don't know... go shopping or something? Whatever it is that women like to do for fun.”

      He smiled when he said this and Gwen could tell he didn't mean it to be offensive, so she let the shopping reference go. Actually, maybe shopping would be the thing to do here? It would get them out of the house and give her a reason to be gawking at things while she tried to figure out which end should be up in this place. So far she'd barely been out in the world, in a place that didn't even have television. If they had anything like radio she hadn't heard it yet, though they must, since those news microphones had been there for a reason, right?

      Beth thanked the man and got up when he dismissed them, without saying anything more. She quickly walked to Chuan and Wilbur's desks, telling them that Gwen and she both had the weekend off, but that the men could meet them at their place before the party. She left each a card with the address on it.

      They had to wait for a while after calling James, since he'd waited back at the carriage house for Gwen to call him. That always took about twenty minutes, but put him out of the weather – a light drizzle today – since the driver's seat had him out in the elements all the time. She hated to think what he'd do in a downpour. Get really wet probably. The way he acted, she doubted he'd complain about that, not to her, so, something for her to keep in mind each day.

      They waited in the lobby of the Constabulary building, moving outside only when the small white lorrie pulled up directly in front of the door. They darted out, a quick walk really since running would have been undignified and probably ended in a skid, since the footwear didn't have traction, to find the door held open for them by the soaked driver. At least he wore what looked like a warm and waterproof coat, with a large black hood. The whole thing looked odd to her, almost like it would be half cloak, half trench coat. On his hands he wore sturdy looking leather gloves.

      “Good morning, ma'am! Where to today?”

      He sounded chipper enough to Gwen, even after making the slow drive in the rain. She glanced at Bethany for direction, since they hadn't made any plans as to what to do for the day. In the evening they'd need a ride to the party, which they'd already arranged with the man.

      “Honestly? I don't know. I think we should talk about our plans first, but I don't want to leave you sitting out here while we do it. Why don't we go and get some coffee someplace while we decide?”

      The man ducked his head, and told them he knew of a place not too far away that actually had covered parking.

      “The coffee's not bad either. Turkish style. Would that be alright for you? It's not a fine place, but it's comfortable enough.”

      Beth looked at the man and nodded, saying she thought that sounded good to her. Smiling, Gwen nodded too. She wondered what a coffee place would be like here. She had a feeling it wouldn't be Starbucks, not that she'd ever been inside of one of those herself, but she'd gotten some of their coffee from the store once. It hadn't been the best quality. Certainly not worth four dollars a cup.

      The place took about five minutes to reach and looked to be absolutely tiny inside, James seemed surprised when she indicated that he should come in with them at first, then tried to demure.

      Beth put an end to this without hesitation.

      “The lorrie will be safe here, and you should stay out of the cold and damp as much as possible. Besides, I think Gwen wants your input as to what we should do with ourselves this weekend, to distance herself from her past activities for a while. Who better to ask than a person that knows the whole city like you do?”

      James blushed, but didn't say anything else, coming with them.

      Inside he played the part of chaperon well, Gwen thought. James looked suspiciously at the people inside as if warning them not to try and steal his women. No one batted an eyelash, because that kind of thing was probably normal. The waiter didn't wait for their order, but simply brought each of them a small cup and started the coffee brewing in the carafe in front of them. The blend they used came out strong, almost thick, redolent with spices, no cream or sugar was offered, and neither Bethany or James asked for it, so she didn't either.

      The first sip surprised her, since it didn't taste nearly as bitter as she'd thought it would. After that, her body began to warm quickly as the caffeine and warming spices hit her system. They made small talk, mainly about the weather and what would be expected soon in that regard, until she finally asked James what he thought the exact opposite of what she would have done a month ago would be, as far as day trips.

      “I don't rightly know. Art galleries and museums? A bookstore and a quiet evening with friends listening to the telesar? A drive to the country, if the weather were nice enough, which I doubt it will be this weekend – dry – but a bit chill for a picnic. I was thinking of taking my missus and the kids to the Museum of Industry soon, that could be an interesting place, if you really want to try something new. May not be your speed though.”

      Looking at Beth then, she smiled. It sounded perfect for throwing off the reporters as quickly as possible. She didn't know if Bethany could pick up thoughts all the time or only when she was in her work state, but the other woman nodded at her, as if she understood what Gwen flashed on then.

      “James, do you think your wife and kids would be alright going there with us? We may have to borrow a bigger lorrie, but would that be alright? I don't want to stay in all weekend, but I don't want to keep taking their Father away all the time either. Besides, you're never too old to learn new things.”

      James told them that sounded wonderful and even seemed to mean it, which felt like a good thing to her, not wanting the man to feel pushed into anything if she could help it.

      Later, after being dropped off at home, she finally got to question Bethany on some things.

      “What's a telesar?” she asked as they took their coats off just inside the door of their small apartment.

      “That's a device that plays music and has shows, word plays and dramatics. News too. We have one, I just haven't had time for it lately. Here, I'll show you.”

      The device looked like a simplified version of the telestator. When the lid opened on the cabinet, which stood about five foot high, it revealed a set of small metal spheres that sat on small wooden poles, each about twelve inches high. The bottom of the cabinet proved to be the base, where Gwen guessed, the actual working components were housed.