In the salon of the Lancaster, Farradyne smiled knowingly. "The plan
was to let you investigate the ship while I dressed," he said. "But I
gather that you've seen you share of spacers."
"I admit it," she replied. "For that I'm sorry, Charles."
"Well, park yourself somewhere while I get into whites."
She sat down and stretched. "A highball and a cigarette?" she asked.
"The cigarette is easy," he said, handing one to her and flipping his
lighter. While she puffed, he went on, "But the highball may be more
difficult. I've nothing but White Star Trail aboard."
She nodded at him. "With water," she said. She relaxed into the
cushions. Farradyne went and mixed her highball. She sipped it and
nodded approvingly. He turned to go.
"Charles?"
He stopped. Carolyn put her glass on the tiny tray and parked her
cigarette. She rose and came forward, lifting her hands to put them on
his shoulders. He stood woodenly. "Charles," she asked in a soft voice,
"Are you unhappy because I am not the girl you hoped I'd be?"
"How many men have you played this role for?" he asked.
Carolyn smiled, a wry smile that twisted her face. "I should slap your
face for that," she said. "Because when I tell you the answer you won't
believe me."
Caution came to him. He was the rookie hellflower operator, not the
young man who has discovered that his girl has been playing games
behind his back. He tried to fit himself into her picture and decided
that according to her code of loused-up ethics she might possibly be
thinking of a future: a pleasant home with rambling roses and a large
lawn and a devoted husband and maybe a handful of happy children all
creating the solid-citizen facade for dope running, just as her parents
were doing. If this were the case, Farradyne must carry roses for his
wife in one hand, toys for the kids in the other, and his hip pocket
must be filled with hellflowers.
He played it. He relaxed and put his hands on her waist. "I admit to
being a bit of a louse," he said, with a brief laugh. "But that's
because I'm a bit new at a very rough game."