Yuen-Mong's Revenge (27 page)

 
     
"Atun, please? We did it together."

 
     
He smiled awkwardly. Syd Twan studied them briefly, as if to guess
their relationship, and then asked them to take seats again. "Unfortunately, I have to attend a meeting shortly. So let’s briefly talk about what
steps are needed to secure your inheritance. Although I have no doubt
that you are Zoshan’s legitimate daughter, DNA proof is needed. I will
ask Miss Blacey to initiate that. Then, once it is confirmed, you must
meet Chen Young, the head of your family and your grandfather. I guess,
at that point things will be taken out of my hands. He will decide what
happens next. Are you aware of the Foundation covenant?"

 
     
"Yes, I am. But before you commit yourself to help me, I want you to
be clear about my own position. I am my own master. I will listen and
consider advice given, but I make my own decisions."

 
     
He briefly raised his eyebrows. "I see, you not only have the looks but
also the will of your mother. You though realize that this may mean you
might be stricken from the Foundation register and lose all the privileges
associated with it."

 
     
"If it takes that to retain my freedom, I will have no regrets. Are you
still willing to help me?"

 
     
He smiled. "Yes. I never shy away from a challenge, and I have a
hunch that this will be an interesting one, although the odds are stacked
heavily against you."

 
     
"We shall see," she answered and noticed his intrigued look.

     
He got up. "Sorry, Yuen-mong. I have to rush off. Let Miss Blacey
know where she can reach you. She will get in touch with you tomorrow
morning at the latest. In the meantime, I suggest that you do not contact
your relatives."

 
     
"Thank you, Dr. Twan. My mother was certain that you would help
me. She always spoke fondly of you."

 
     
"She was a very close friend."

 
     
Atun cleared his throat. "There’s one other minor matter. We’ve about
ten kilograms of pure gold. Would you be willing to sell it for us?"

 
     
"Ten kilograms? Quite an amount." He raised his eyebrows

     
"Yes, we collected it four days before we left."

 
     
"In four days you collected that much?"

 
     
"Oh, it took us only a few hours," Yuen-mong remarked.

     
"Remarkable. Ten kilos … that is about half-a-million credits at the
official rate, but you should get more. Certainly, bring it to Miss Blacey,
and I will have our treasurer sell it for you."

 
     
When they took leave, Syd Twan held on to both her hands for several
seconds, locking eyes with her. She sensed his heightened emotions and
his strong goodwill toward her.
I can trust him.
She would carefully
weigh up how much she could take him into her confidence about her
quest.

     
Back at the hotel, they packed the gold into a carry bag and took it to
Miss Blacey, instructing her that the proceeds should be credited to
Atun’s account.

     
"May I have a look inside?" she asked. "I’ve never seen that much
gold."

 
     
Yuen-mong opened a bag and let her look at its content.

     
"Real gold nuggets," she exclaimed.

     
Yuen-mong took out three fairly big ones and put them into her hand.
"Here, these are for you, to thank you for letting me see Dr. Twan."

 
     
The woman blushed in spite of her age and murmured: "Thank you,
Miss Shen. I must admit that I almost refused, but your face seemed so
familiar. I saw your mother shortly before she left. How is she?"

 
     
"She died many years ago."

 
     
"Oh, I’m sorry."

 
     
It felt genuine.

* * *

That afternoon they went shopping. She was sick of hearing derogatory
comments or sensing disdain about their out-of-date dress style, although
she felt that their attire was actually more becoming than some of the
strange garb currently in fashion — both men and women wearing bulky
three-quarter-length pants, exposing a lot of unflattering skin and bulges
around the midriff, both pants or skirts sitting often below the hip that
she was baffled how they were staying in place, platform shoes that
seemed to weigh a kilogram each, resulting in a stiff, ungainly gait, and
strangely cut tops that had designer holes at the most unexpected places,
all in strident colors, often clashing with the garish tones of their hair.

     
Fortunately, there were a few who wore more sensible clothing and
by matching theirs it would allow them to blend into the crowds, making
it easier to get the feel for the city and its people. She bought several
items, including full-length bellbottom black slacks, a white loose knit
top and sandals that she wore straight away.

     
She also tried on an evening dress — some women still wore skirt
dresses for formal occasions — and could not help laughing when she
saw herself in the mirror, but Atun assured her that she looked fabulous.

     
"But how can you run in a tight skirt like this?" she asked.

     
"You don’t run. They are made for standing around and for elegant
walking."

 
     
"You cannot even walk properly, only in small steps."

 
     
"That’s considered elegant."

 
     
"I would rather be safe than elegant."

 
     
"I see. You’re still thinking survival. But this isn’t Aros."

 
     
"Even on Andromatis, it’s wise to think survival."

 
     
"I would like you to buy this dress. I love you in it. You look very
desirable."

 
     
She glanced at him amused. "Look, Atun, I saw other long dresses on
the rack that had a slit in the skirt, I presume to allow walking. Get me
one of those."

 
     
"The slit is intended as an eye catcher."

 
     
"Eye catcher?"

 
     
"Yes, to draw attention to shapely legs, like yours."

 
     
"Like that short skirt of the girl on Old Earth?"

 
     
"No, that was advertising a service."

 
     
She laughed. "Go, get me one or two to try on."

 
     
A minute later he returned with three, one of them a black, glossy
knit, leaving the shoulders largely bare, with a generous round décolleté,
hugging her breasts. It had a slit on the right side that reached up well
into her thigh.

     
"Yuen-mong, you look gorgeous in that."

 
     
"But why wear a dress that leaves you half bare on top. I will be
cold."

 
     
"Not in this mild climate, and you can always combine it with a colorful shawl. Take it … for me, please."

 
     
"Do I also look desirable in it?" She turned, holding her hands on her
flat stomach, looking at herself in the mirror, exposing her long right leg.

     
"Yes, even more. Please, take it."

 
     
"It makes me look taller." She turned some more. "All right. I take it."

 
     
They also bought suitable clothing for Atun, and wristunits for the 26-standard-hour, 7 minutes and 31 seconds Andromatis day, divided into
24 Andromatis hours. Although the Old Earth calendar did not really fit,
the Andromatis year consisted of 413 days, divided into 14 months,
alternating 29 and 30 days and exactly 59 weeks. Every sixth year the last
day of the second month was dropped to adjust for drift. They had landed
on Monday, the 23
^rd
of the fifth month.

     
Back at the hotel, he suggested that she should shave her underarms
and legs — she had already noticed that people seemed to remove their
hair there — and he insisted that she have her hair and fingernails done
in the hotel hair salon before dinner. Hair styling was still seen as an art
and therefore done by humans. Yuen-mong declined to have her hair died
or to get one of the elaborate towers that were the current fashion and
opted for a conservative French bun that enhanced her aristocratic
features.

     
They dined in the hotel restaurant on the top floor, both wearing their
new evening clothes. She could literally feel all eyes turned on her as
they were shown to their table at a window. For the first time she also
became aware of her slight limp and tried to compensate for her shorter
right leg.

     
Atun was beaming and she could see his love for her in his eyes. She
enjoyed the dinner, although neither the food nor the wine did come up
to the meal they had on Old Earth, but it was compensated by the
spectacular view over the night lights of the city.

     
They were barely inside their room, when he took her into his arms,
kissing her fervently, while trying to open the zipper at the back of her
dress. When he succeeded, he peeled off the top, and she let the dress
slowly slip to the ground, standing there only in her black briefs, while
raising her arms to undo the French bun of her hair and then letting it fall
loosely over her shoulders.

     
"Oh woman, you drive me crazy with desire," he murmured.

     
She loved his delight in her and started undressing him too, but while
in love play, she surprised herself wondering how it would feel to make
love to Syd Twan.

12

Next morning, Tuesday, Yuen-mong convinced Atun to accompany her
to the gym. The instructor looked curiously at their tight craw skin pants
and tops, and asked her: "When have you last visited a gym?"

 
     
"Never," she answered

     
"I see, you’re new to this,"

 
     
"Yes."

 
     
"One usually warms up first. Say, walk ten minutes on this treadmill."

 
     
"We had something similar on the ship."

 
     
"Fine." He adjusted it to a speed of 4 km and a slight incline.

     
As Atun expected, she immediately pressed the button to increase the
speed. It gradually rose to 9 km.

     
"Lady, that’s more than enough to begin with," the instructor shouted.

     
"Just leave her," interjected Atun.

     
The speed continued to rise to 20 km, and she settled into her loping
run. "That’s better," she said smiling.

     
"Man, you’ll get yourself a heart attack. I’ll not be responsible, I
warned you."

 
     
He kept standing there, watching her.

     
"You’re in for a long wait," remarked Atun, as he got ready on the
adjacent treadmill, selecting a speed of only 15 km.

     
After ten minutes, the guy gave up and walked back to his desk,
shaking his head. Atun was amused to see him periodically come back
and check on her. While he worked out on several devices, she kept
running for an hour. When she stopped, her breathing was hardly faster
than when she had started.

     
"Thank you. I needed that," she said to the instructor as they left.

     
"You a marathon runner or something?" he called after her.

     
"What did he ask?" she questioned Atun in the elevator.