"And extremely handsome."
"For aliens?"
"For humans. They are humanoid, and readily emulate other humanoid forms. You will surely have a time with the girls."
"I already have a girl," he said, joining her on the bed.
"But not a mistress. Yet. Maybe a twin will serve."
"An alien creature? I'd rather have a robot."
"There are five bath girls to choose from."
"They belong to Pa."
"One or two might be reprogrammed."
"Stop talking." He kissed her firmly as he clasped her.
There was of course a subtext: now they were looking for the Makers, having learned of their existence. They had to find them before the machines did, because the machines would destroy them. They had no idea what physical form the Makers had, or what intellectual qualities. They could be anything, anywhere. This made the search tricky, especially since it was a secret quest. How could they identify such an unknown? What would they do if they succeeded? Because they were not at all sure the Makers wanted to be found.
"Which is why Ennui warns us to use no telepathy while there," Marionette said as he stroked within her. "Our information is that the Twins are not telepathic, but surely the Makers are, so it could be a ruse. If we open our minds for that even briefly, the aliens may gain access to our minds and discover our secondary mission. If they should happen to be the Makers, they may see to it that we never find out."
"No telepathy," he agreed, jetting forcefully.
They donned portable translation units set for human/twin. They should be able to communicate freely.
In due course Warp conjured them to the rendezvous station on the Twins contact world. This turned out to be an airy pavilion replete with exotic plants and statuary. A show place for the benefit of visitors.
A gorgeous young woman approached. "Warp!" she exclaimed, spontaneously embracing him, in the process providing him a torso-length feel of her qualities. Then she released him and turned to his companion. "Marionette!
Welcome to Twins. I am Vra, your host."
Warp stood transfixed for the moment. This was the loveliest creature he had ever seen. How could she be an alien?
"And you are a Glamor," Marionette said.
"You are perceptive. I am the Glamor of Air."
Warp was startled. There was no such Glamor in the human culture. But of course this was a different culture, with different conventions.
"I love a Glamor," Marionette said. "I am attuned."
Vra considered momentarily. "Then you are familiar with Glamor nature."
"Agreement."
"Pso will guide you. He is the Glamor of Fire." And a male Twin approached, eerily handsome.
He was indeed a Glamor; Warp recognized the type. The Twins had prepared well for this contact.
"I am honored to meet you, Marionette," Pso said gallantly. "I hope to know you better soon."
Marionette did not offer to embrace him. "I carry an ikon."
"I am aware. Otherwise I would have kissed you."
Marionette considered briefly. Then she spat out Warp's ikon and held it at arm's length. "I did not mean to be unsocial."
Pso enfolded her and kissed her firmly, one hand stroking her bottom. She had after all given him leave.
"It occurs to me that I was not as responsive as I should have been," Warp said to Vra. "I am the Glamor of Fungus." He embraced her, kissed her, and put both hands on her evocative rear. The very touch of her gave him an erection.
"Delight," she murmured, pinching his own rear with clearly experienced fingers. Then she surprised him.
"But we are not identical to your form. We are close, and can readily emulate it, but there are cautions."
"I will not presume," he said regretfully.
"Presumption is fine. Just be cautious on expectation."
"Question? We do not wish to give offense."
She stopped back slightly, caught his right hand, and threaded it into what turned out to be a covered slit in her shirt. Suddenly he was holding her bare right breast. It was consistent with the rest of her: the finest breast he had felt. "No offense."
This woman kept surprising him. "I may touch you freely?"
"As freely as is feasible."
He glanced at Marionette. She had followed his lead, and had Pso's hand in her shirt. He looked quite interested.
Warp left his hand where it was and met Vra's gaze. "Are you familiar with the concept of no fault?"
"We have studied your culture, anticipating your visit. We have learned about no fault, and find no fault with it. But it doesn't work for us. Not completely."
Was she simply teasing him? Her manner and body were stimulating him wickedly. But evidently there were limits. "Then maybe we should get down to business," Warp said regretfully. "I am here to negotiate for a contingent of your space ships."
"In due course," Vra said. "Let's get better acquainted first."
What was on her mind? She evidently knew his culture better than he knew hers. He had come here poorly prepared. Why hadn't Voila or Ennui told him what to expect? "As you wish."
She removed his hand from her breast, but not with any indication of censure. It was as if she wanted his caresses, but could not follow through where they might lead. What was holding her back, if she understood and accepted no fault sex? "Background: everything is twinned in our culture. We have twin suns." She gestured, and a holographic picture appeared in the air. It was a representation of a stellar system with two equivalent stars orbiting each other.
"So do we," Warp said. "One of ours is a black hole."
"Yes." The focus zoomed in on a pair of planets also orbiting each other, in the larger orbit around the stars. "Twin planets."
"We, too," Warp said.
"Charm and Counter Charm."
"Yes," she repeated. "It is not uncommon. But we take it farther than most." The focus oriented on a planet. "Twin moons."
That stopped Warp. "We have no moons."
"Your planets are too close to each other. That interferes." Now he saw that each planet in the image had two small moons whirling close to their surfaces. "Twin continents."
Sure enough, the planet in focus had a watery surface featuring two large islands: the continents.
"We don't," Warp said. "Our worlds are all land, with occasional lakes and seas."
"Twin kingdoms." Now a political boundary appeared, demarcating two approximately equal areas on the indicated continent.
"We have only one."
"And twin people. Each mating couple produces twin males or twin females."
"Not mixed twins? We sometimes have them."
"Never."
"You have a twin sister?"
"Yes. We live and work apart."
"You don't get along with each other?"
"We love each other. We are incomplete without each other. But we must be separate."
"Confusion."
"This is why your officials did not acquaint you with the full situation. They were perhaps afraid you would decline the mission." Warp looked at Marionette, and saw she was as perplexed as he. He returned to Vra.
"Question?"
"We can tempt you, and be tempted by you, but can't breed with you."
"We are different species," Warp said. "Sex between us will never produce offspring. We understand that."
"We can't even have sex with you."
"There are social restraints? We will certainly try to honor them." But he really regretted this. The thought of sex with this luscious alien really turned him on.
"Not so. We are allowed, but can't."
"Am I being stupid? You seem capable to me."
Vra glanced at the other couple. "Pso would very much like to indulge with Marionette, whom he finds extremely tempting, but is unable. Similar is true with me and you."
Warp was at a loss. "Bafflement. We are willing to conduct business with you, or to have sex, or both. You are both extremely attractive individuals. Please tell us what you expect of us, and we will do our best to oblige."