Voila tossed off her clothing and lay on the bed. "Do it."
"But now you have a real lover."
"No fault," she reminded him. "I did not mean to tease you."
She had read the passion in his mind as he watched her indulge with tentacular Rafal, and was ready to abate it.
He didn't argue. He tore off his clothing and joined her on the bed. She met him neatly, wrapping her arms and legs about him as her vagina took him in. He came explosively. In his fancy he pumped her as full of fluid as Rafal had.
"Almost," she agreed, laughing.
"Appreciation!" For her understanding as well as the sex. She was treating him well.
They separated and lay on the bed. "Rafal and I exchanged mindprints," she said. "Now he can see the near future, and I can make a spot nexus. It should help the effort."
"Endorsement."
"You helped, Fifth. You carried my ikon. You served as witness. If other don't believe, you can reassure them."
"You want them to know—the details?"
She laughed again. She was far more cheerful than she had been before the session with Rafal. "Negation, unless necessary. But the fact of the alliance, yes, and of the marriage."
"You did marry him?" But of course she had. She had found a male to match her.
"We married each other. The formal ceremony will be performed in due course."
"Understanding." Would other members of either culture understand? Yet this merger of equals seemed appropriate.
"But there are limits," she said. "I can't bear his offspring. I will need fourths."
"Understanding," he repeated.
"You will provide the first. After the war is done."
"Welcome." He was proud to have been asked.
Chapter 7 Ennui
Shee looked at Ennui. "I do not wish to be a burden. I can inactivate myself for a set period so that you don't need to interrupt your activities. I know your work is important."
Ennui shook her head. "Havoc has spoken. Nothing is more important than attending to you."
"But you essentially run the planet."
"I won't be missed." Ennui pressed a button on her desk. In a moment another woman entered the office. She looked exactly like Ennui: in her sixties, with graying hair, and a set expression. "Take over."
The woman sat at the desk and started processing papers exactly where Ennui had left off.
"You have a double!" Shee said, as they left the office.
"Several. I briefed her mentally. She's competent."
"You are telepathic."
"Affirmation. You aren't? Your mind is opaque to me."
"I am a machine. I can communicate mentally with machines, but am on a different wavelength from living things. I could be adjusted, if warranted."
They entered another room. Two beautiful woman stood expectantly. "Queen Gale of Charm," Ennui said.
"Mistress of Mistresses Monochrome of Earth. This is Shee Robot, emissary of the machines, assigned to be Havoc's second mistress."
"We are of course aware," Gale said. "We worked Havoc over before sending him to her."
"You have two advantages over me," Shee said. "Telepathy and awareness of the near future."
"And you are a prime nexus," Gale said.
"My mission is to persuade him to save your culture by sending your daughter Voila to join the machines. This lends me importance that is not inherent."
Both women laughed. "You underestimate your significance by magnitudes," Monochrome said.
"Question?"
"If you renounced your mission this instant, you would remain vitally important," Gale said. "You can't turn off a nexus by design; it is a concurrence of forces that operate regardless of personal will."
"This is not apparent to me."
"Do you suppose Havoc would assign his most trusted oath friend to you merely to ascertain whether you are a satisfactory sexual partner? He has much more in mind for you."
Shee was confused. It was not a comfortable feeling. "I love him. Does this relate?"
"Minor," Monochrome said. "We all love Havoc, from the queen down to the simplest village girl. It may even be a quality of being female."
"Request: explain my importance to me."
"You are a nexus," Gale repeated. "But that requires substantial interpretation. We need to fathom it as soon as we can. That is why Monochrome will join you."
"I mean Havoc no harm. I am designed only to please him. My loyalty is to him rather than to the machines that made me. I bear malice to none of you. I do not know how I can be a nexus. I am not even alive."
"I have an urgent mission on Earth," Monochrome said. "The near paths indicate that you can help."
"I will do what I can," Shee agreed. She had felt competent when dealing with Havoc, but her programming related less well to these other Glamors. She was not easy with the way they accepted her and proposed to use her.
They should have been extremely wary of such a sophisticated machine among them.
"First we must verify with Idyll," Monochrome said. She took Ennui's hand, then also Shee's hand.
And they were on another planet, in a lovely glade in a forest. Shee knew of the Glamor powers, of course, but this was her first such actual experience. "Counter Charm," she said, recognizing it from her programmed information.
"And Idyll Ifrit," a voice said as mists swirled before them.
"This is Shee, the robot emissary of the machine culture," Ennui said.
"And a potent nexus," the voice agreed. The mist was coalescing into the form of a lovely young human woman.
Evidently they all could see it. That near future perception surely related. Shee herself could see some of the far future, but her own case was fuzzy, perhaps because her present actions kept changing it.
"Havoc asked me to get to know her," Ennui said. "She is to be his second mistress."
"And more," Idyll's figure said. "Much more."
Shee was not reassured. The Glamors evidently understood things about her that went beyond her mission or her assignment as Havoc's second mistress. She was out of her depth. If the machines had thought to set these living folk back by showing them a sophisticated humanoid robot, they seemed to have failed at the outset. She knew they were not being wishful or deluded; they had powers no machine did.
"We are going to Earth," Ennui said, "to see about a problem there Shee might help with."
"Take Iolo. He relates."
"Gladly."
Shee searched her memory, but did not find the name. That did not mean the person was inconsequential, just that none of the fifths gathering data had encountered him.
Then a six legged dog came bounding into the glade. Ennui dropped to her knees and hugged him. "Iolo! We need you."
The tail wagged.
Iolo was a dog! No wonder he wasn't in her people data.
"Iolo, this is Shee, from the machines," Ennui said.
Shee held down her hand for the animal to sniff. He did so, and snorted, surprised. "Yes, I am a machine," she said. "No living odor."
"Appreciation," Monochrome said to Idyll. Then she took the hands of Ennui and Shee, and Ennui put her free hand on Iolo's head.
And they were on another planet. This, Shee knew, was Earth, the world of origin of the human culture. Her information about it was limited, because it had not yet been infiltrated by fifths.
They were in a subterranean station. Iolo led the way along a passage until they came to an administration building. They entered, traversed other passages, and came to a closed metal door. Monochrome lifted one hand and knocked on it.
In a moment a panel slid aside and a pretty face peered out. "Mistress!" The door swung open.
"Greeting, Mistress Mascot," Monochrome said, and the two women hugged. "May we see Caveat?"
"He is on his way, Mistress."