‘I think he must have been a boyfriend.’
‘Now that's just what I mean,’ said Insigna. ‘I don't want you watching him and telling him what he really means or thinks or feels. And for your information, he was not my boyfriend, exactly, and we were certainly not lovers. We were friends and we liked each other - as friends. But after your father-’ She shook her head, and gestured vaguely. ‘And be careful what you say about Commissioner Pitt - if that subject comes up. I get the feeling Commander Genarr distrusts Commissioner Pitt-’
Marlene bestowed one of her rare smiles on her mother. ‘Have you been studying Commander Siever's subliminal behavior? Because what you have is more than a feeling.’
Insigna shook her head. ‘You see? You can't stop for a moment. Very well, it's not a feeling. He actually said he didn't trust the Commissioner. And you know,’ she added, half to herself, ‘he may have reason-’
She turned to Marlene and said suddenly, ‘Let me repeat, Marlene. You are perfectly free to watch the Commander and find out all you can, but don't say anything to him about it. Tell me! Do you understand?’
‘Do you think there's danger, Mother?’
‘I don't know.’
‘I do,’ said Marlene matter-of-factly. ‘I've known there was danger as soon as Commissioner Pitt said we could go to Erythro. I just don't know what the danger is.’
28Seeing Marlene for the first time was a shock to Siever Genarr, one that was made worse by the fact that the girl looked at him with a sullen expression that made it seem that she knew perfectly well that he had received a shock, and just why.
The fact was that there was not a thing about her that seemed to indicate she was Eugenia's daughter, none of the beauty, none of the grace, none of the charm. Only those large bright eyes that were now boring into him, and they weren't Eugenia's either. They were the one respect in which she exceeded her mother, rather than fell short.
Little by little, though, he revised his first impression. He joined them for tea and dessert, and Marlene behaved herself with perfect propriety. Quite the lady, and obviously intelligent. What was it that Eugenia had said? All the unlovable virtues? Not quite that bad. It seemed to him that she ached for love, as plain people sometimes do. As he himself did. A sudden flood of fellow feeling swept over him.
And after a while, he said, ‘Eugenia, I wonder if I might have a chance to speak to Marlene alone.’
Insigna said with an attempt at lightness, ‘Any particular reason, Siever?’
Genarr said, ‘Well, it was Marlene who spoke to Commissioner Pitt and it was she who persuaded the Commissioner to allow the two of you to come to the Dome. As Commander of the Dome, I'm pretty much dependent on what Commissioner Pitt says and does, and I would value what Marlene can tell me of the meeting. I think she would speak more freely if it were just the two of us.’
Genarr watched Insigna leave and then turned to Marlene, who was now sitting in a large chair in a corner of the room, almost lost in its soft capaciousness. Her hands were clasped loosely in her lap and her beautiful dark eyes regarded the Commander gravely.
Genarr said with a hint of humor in his voice, ‘Your mother seemed a little nervous about leaving you here with me. Are you nervous, too?’
‘Not at all,’ said Marlene. ‘And if my mother was nervous, it was on your behalf, not on mine.’
‘On my behalf. Why?’
‘She thinks I might say something that would offend you.’
‘Would you, Marlene?’
‘Not deliberately, Commander. I'll try not to.’
‘And I'm sure you'll succeed. Do you know why I want to see you alone?’
‘You told my mother you want to find out about my interview with Commissioner Pitt. That's true, but you also want to see what I'm like.’
Genarr's eyebrows drew together just a trifle. ‘Naturally, I would want to get to know you better.’
‘It's not that,’ said Marlene quickly.
‘What is it, then?’
Marlene looked away. ‘I'm sorry, Commander.’
‘Sorry about what?’
Marlene's face twitched unhappily and she was silent.
Genarr said softly, ‘Now, Marlene, what is wrong? You must tell me. It is important to me that we talk frankly. If your mother told you to watch what you say, please forget that. If she implied that I was sensitive and easily offended, please forget that, too. In fact, I command you to speak to me freely and not to worry a bit about offending me, and you must obey my command because I'm the Commander of the Erythro Dome.’
Marlene laughed suddenly. ‘You're really anxious to find out about me, aren't you?’
‘Of course.’
‘Because you're wondering how I can look the way I do, when I'm my mother's daughter.’
Genarr's eyes opened wide. ‘I never said anything of the sort.’
‘You didn't have to. You're an old friend of my mother's. She told me that much. But you were in love with her, and you haven't quite gotten over it, and you were expecting me to look the way she did when she was young, so when you saw me, you winced and drew back.’
‘I did? It was noticeable?’
‘It was a very small gesture because you're a polite man and you tried to repress it, but it was there. I saw it easily. And then your eyes turned to my mother and back to me. And then there was the tone of your first words to me. It was all very plain. You were thinking I didn't look at all like my mother and you were disappointed.’
Genarr leaned back in his chair and said, ‘But this is marvelous.’
And a great gladness lit up Marlene's face. ‘You mean it, Commander. You mean it. You're not offended. You're not uncomfortable. It makes you happy. You're the first one, the first one. Even my mother doesn't like it.’
‘Liking or not liking it doesn't matter. That is totally irrelevant when it's a question of coming up against the extraordinary. How long have you been able to read body language in this way, Marlene?’
‘Always, but I've gotten better at it. I think anyone must be able to do it, if they only watch - and think.’
‘Not so, Marlene. It can't be done. Don't think it. And you say I love your mother.’
‘No doubt about it, Commander. When you're near her, you give it away with every look, every word, every twitch.’
‘Do you suppose she notices?’
‘She suspects you do, but she doesn't want you to.’
Genarr looked away. ‘She never did.’
‘It's my father.’
‘I know.’
Marlene hesitated. ‘But I think she's wrong. If she could see you the way I do right now-’
‘But she can't, unfortunately. It makes me so happy that you do, though. You're beautiful.’
Marlene flushed. Then she said, ‘You mean that!’
‘Of course I do.’
‘But-’
‘I can't lie to you, can I? So I won't try. Your face isn't beautiful. Your body isn't beautiful. But you are beautiful and that's what's important. And you can tell I really believe that.’
‘Yes, I do,’ said Marlene, smiling with such genuine happiness that even her face had a sudden distant cast of beauty.
Genarr smiled, too, and said, ‘Shall we now talk about Commissioner Pitt? Now that I know what an uncommonly shrewd young woman you are, it is all the more important I do so. Are you willing?’
Marlene clasped her hands lightly in her lap, smiled demurely, and said, ‘Yes, Uncle Siever. You don't mind if I call you that, do you?’
‘Not at all. In fact, I'm honored. Now - tell me all about Commissioner Pitt. He has sent me instructions that I'm to give your mother all possible cooperation and that I am to make freely available to her all our astronomical equipment. Why do you suppose that is?’
‘My mother wants to make delicate measurements of Nemesis' motion relative to the stars, and Rotor is too unsteady a base for those measurements. Erythro will do much better.’