Xora 3: Shell Game

by Brandy Dewinter

 

Chapter 5 - "Just Friends?"

 

We had decided - that means Tryx, of course - that she and I would not 'know' each other before we met Mordant. That way, we wouldn't be together all the time and so we'd have twice as many chances to meet him. The practical result of that decision, on the liner trip before we reached Mistfall, was that Titania and I had some time alone.

The impractical result of that decision was that Titania decided our mission, ahem, 'required' of us that we 'practice' with different appearances. We - that means, Titania, of course - had great fun being a brunette in a red jumpsuit walking one way down a ship's corridor, then ducking into a convenient alcove or something before becoming a redhead in a green mini walking back the other way. Okay, I admit it. I thought it was fun, too. We got a quite . . . satisfying array of second looks with that similar-yet-not-quite-right yank on people's attention. Well, to be honest, we *always* got second looks, and third and fourth looks from people. But the looks were different - definitely different - the second time we passed.

At least Titania didn't make us blonde. Very often.

That 'innocent' game changed with a seemingly-casual touch from Tryx soon after we arrived at Mistfall..

*"Bee says that Tryx says that we, that is, you and I . . ."* Titania reported, or started to report.

I interrupted her. *"Look, Ti, if we get a message from that contact thing you do, I can pretty much figure out that it came via Bee. And why don't you cut to the chase and just assume if you tell me she wants me to do something, that it will include you? It's not like there's any option."*

*"Not that I want one,"* I quickly added. I don't know if she'd have had her feelings hurt at an implication that being separated from her could be a desirable 'option'. Besides, it bothered me to contemplate it anyway. Maybe that extra thought was as much for me as for her.

*"Thank you, dear,"* she said, eavesdropping on my thoughts as always. *"But what is this, 'cut to the chase' thing?"*

*"Oh, that's . . . you know, I don't know. It's an expression but I don't know where it comes from. Something from old vids, I think. In any event, it means get to the point without a lot of unnecessary buildup. Anyway, what did Tryx have to say?"*

*"Oh, yes, well, it seems she's gotten a communication from Admiral Jones, or actually, I guess it was from one of Admiral Jones' agent here on Mistfall since of course he's not here and we can't use the communicator for messages since we're undercover - oh, would that be one of those 'cut to the chase' things?"*

*"Yes,"* I sighed. *"You don't need to tell me things I already know."*

*"But what if I don't know what you already know. I mean, we've had miscommunications before and . . . "*

*"Ti! What did Tryx say?"*

*"Oh, right. Well, apparently she has some new information about Mordant's preferences, and we're to meet in her room in ten minutes to go over it."*

*"Ten minutes from when?"* I teased. *"From when she gave us the message, or from when you finally got around to giving it to me?"*

*"But, but, you're the one who kept interrupting me!"*

*"Would I do that?"* I asked innocently.

*"Never tease your symbiont,"* she warned, then . . . tweaked me in a way that had me staggering against the bulkhead.

*"You are NOT a nice person,"* I charged.

*"I believe I told you that the very first day we met,"* she loftily replied. Well, in this case, she was right. Not that it made it any more fair.

Somehow, I managed to make it to Tryx's room, and on time. My flushed look and panting were excused by my hurry and my tight corset, of course. Nothing to do with what Titania was doing to me. Not at all. Thankfully, she relented when we actually got to Tryx's suite.

*"I *am* still your partner,"* Titania said.

*"Remind me to go over our partnership agreement with you, sometime,"* I requested carefully as I touched the admittance chime. If I could have lied to my symbiont, I'd have used it to hide my disappointment at losing a stimulation I hadn't even wanted in the first place.

*"Ha!"*

*"Quiet, Titty!"*

Tryx was poring over some printed-out data when we entered, and acknowledged us with a brief smile of welcome before returning to frown at the information.

"I've received some more background on Mordant's, ah, 'conquests' from the last year," she said, waving her hand over the spread out sheets. "I'm looking for any further indication of preferences, and I also thought we might be meeting some of these girls so we should both be familiar with their backgrounds."

"How many are there?"

"In the last year, half a dozen. Apparently he picks up new ones every three or four months."

That math wasn't too hard, and I picked up on a key element. "Every three or four months and half a dozen in a year? Then he, um, acquires more than one girl at a time."

"Exactly," Tryx confirmed. "Which is why it might actually be better for us to know each other after all."

She had the data sorted out into piles, and quickly summarized the six girls. The first was 'Breen', and my initial impression was a pixie Tryx - on giggle juice. The mind boggles. The data showed Breen was several inches shorter than Tryx, but she actually approached Tryx's figure as close as any normal woman could, and had the same golden blonde hair. Her photo displayed a mischievous smile that promised giggles were lurking perilously near the surface. Oh, and she had freckles, too. At the same time Mordant had recruited Breen, he had picked up 'Cheya', a redhead who, according to her dossier, had been in two fights in the three days she had been in Mistfall before joining Mordant. Touchy as anti-matter, apparently.

A few months later, Mordant had acquired a ghost - a living, walking, presumably talking ghost. 'Eloi' was white-blonde with pale gray eyes and translucent skin. She favored white clothes according to the photos, and seemed as fragile as the fine porcelain her skin resembled. Mordant's second conquest at that time had been 'Kyla' who was the other side of the same coin that defined Eloi. Kyla had blue-black hair with matching eyes. She was taller than average for Mordant's devotees, and thinner though she had that lean look of an accomplished athlete. Actually, she was not particularly notable among the rest of Mordant's acquisitions and it wasn't clear to me why she had been chosen.

*"Ha!"* Titania interrupted my musings. *"That girl is more the 'almost you' than Breen is the 'almost Tryx'. And you, my dear, are most definitely 'notable'. You're just being catty."*

*"I am *not* catty."*

*"Meow, meow, meow,"* Ti replied snidely.

*"Quiet,"* I demanded. *"We have work to do."*

*"Pffzzzztt!"* hissed Ti, and she sent me a sensation of being scratched so vivid I reached for my cheek.

"What's wrong?" Tryx asked at my sudden movement.

*"Don't get me started,"* I said, but only to myself. Well, to myself and my hidden tormentor. Outwardly, I just shook my head and looked back at the data.

The next file was on 'Trislini', a dancer, and noted for the erotic sensuality of her dances. All the photos showed her light-brown hair bound up in a fairly formal style. Her body was even trimmer and more athletic than Kyla's. Trislini's companion was 'Laran', another blonde with a light-ash color halfway between Eloi and Tryx. The photos showed a nearly Tryx-class beauty with hair as long as mine. The information accompanying her pictures gushed about her cheerful personality and sharp wit. The agent compiling the dossier had obviously fallen for her.

"Let's see," Tryx mused. "Three blondes, counting the one with white hair, and two brunettes, with one redhead. Does that mean he like blondes, or is he ready for another redhead to round out his, ah, stable?"

"Tall and short, thin and, ahem, shapely. Not much of a pattern," she continued.

Something was nagging at me. "Does he always pick two? I mean, half a dozen acquired in three visits could have meant a three and one combination or something, but this seems to indicate he always picks up two new girls every trip."

"Seems so," Tryx confirmed. "That's why I said we may need to stay together."

I started thinking out loud. "Let me get this straight. On a romantic resort planet, six beautiful women drop everything in their lives to go with Mordant, and not one of them brought a boyfriend along?"

"Still fixed on men, are we?" chided Tryx.

"Speak for yourself," I countered. "But how many women go to Mistfall to sit in the sunsets *alone*?"

"Maybe they weren't alone?" Tryx offered. "Gentlemen, if there are any of those around any more, might have, ah, accepted defeat gracefully."

"Gentlemen, or. . ." I asked as an insight came to me, "ladies?"

Tryx snickered and said, "Keep your panties dry, girl. Not everyone in the galaxy gets horny on an hourly basis with anything that breathes. If these women were oriented toward women, why would they interest Mordant?"

"For the challenge," I replied.

"What challenge?" she countered. "He gives them a whiff of his drug and they're history."

"Ah, but that's the point. Wanna bet that Mordant thinks it's his charm that conquers these women, not his drug?"

"Yeah, right."

"Trust me," I insisted. "I'll bet he thinks he's the galaxy's greatest lover. And the ultimate fantasy for men is to be so . . . desirable that they can seduce a lesbian away from her . . . her lover? Oh my god, he's getting *both* of them!"

"What?"

"Mordant considers himself the universe's greatest lover," I explained. "His ego discounts how much the thionite is really the cause of the women's desire. He likes to break up lesbian pairs. Women who are already in love, and in fact don't even like men, are the greatest challenge and therefore fitting for the galaxy's greatest lover."

"Do *all* men think like that?" Tryx asked.

I shrugged, but the message that mattered was written on my face.

I couldn't tell if the answering grin on Tryx's face was due to my embarrassment, or due to anticipation of what was to come. "Xora, dear," she said, "we're going to be more than acquaintances. We're going to be 'an item.'"

It was silly of me not to see that obvious conclusion, but all of the sudden a lot of things I had been suppressing were unavoidably brought to the surface - that bubbling lava thing again - and like lava, they brought along a lot of heat.

"Us?" I asked stupidly.

"Am I so . . . unappealing?" she challenged.

"Good god, no, you're . . . "

"Stars, lover-to-be," she laughed, "are you blushing, or is that Titania?"

*"Ti, you should be helping me, not feeding that fire!"*

*"I *am* helping,"* Titania laughed. *"She thinks it's charming."*

*"That's not what I meant, and you know it!"*

Titania sighed and said, *"I thought we had been through that 'lying to your symbiont' thing."*

I resurrected whatever tattered shards of concentration I could muster and made a not-too-successful try at a casual shrug. "Let's just say that we can work something out," I told Tryx, but the message was to Titania as well.

Despite the effect the prospect of a 'more than acquaintances' relationship with Tryx had on me, it didn't seem to be very interesting to Tryx.

*"Don't kid yourself. I can sense her pulse and she is H-O-T-T HOT!"*

*"Is she? It doesn't show."*

*"Bee is, ah, helping her, but I can tell."*

*"Oh, you mean, he is a *good* partner?"* I snipped.

*"Nope,"* Titania said smugly. *"Just a nicer one."*

"Our job," Tryx interrupted my internal conversation, "will be to catch Mordant's attention, and based on your insight, we'll have to seem totally infatuated with each other while we do it. Then we'll 'allow' ourselves to be corrupted by him. Think you can handle it?"

"I can handle anything you can," I declared.

"Promise?" Tryx challenged, then took a deep breath - which stopped my own breathing flat, not to mention my heart and whatever passed for my brain.

She dissolved into giggles before I passed out, then sent my overworked imagination off into another spiral when she said, "Showtime, girl. From now on, you are my devoted lover. Start swooning every time I smile at you."

*"Smile nothing,"* Ti chided. *"You're near to swooning every time she breathes."*

I felt yet another fire light my cheeks, which brought a heart-stopping smile to Tryx's face. God help me, when she *really* turned up the wattage, she was . . .

"That's a good start," Tryx snickered. Then she damped down on her radiance and said, "Look, Xora, this can be fun. You are the most sensuous woman - the most sensuous person - I have ever met, and you are just fabulous as the quivering ingenue. I'm looking forward to this, aren't you?"

My blush was not about to diminish, and I was hardly suave as I stammered, "I'm not sure, ah, it would be . . . an act."

She didn't make things any easier when she leaned forward to whisper huskily in my ear, "Good. Stars, but you keep *me* hot. I was beginning to think I'd lost my touch!"

"No, not . . . at all."

Titania was clamoring for her own share of my attention. *"Go for it! You know you want to."*

*"Yeah, I do,"* I admitted. *"Maybe too much."*

*"Worry about that later. Duty calls!"*

*"Yes, but . . "*

*"But nothing,"* Titania interrupted. *"Like she said, it's 'showtime.'"*

*"Yes, but,"* I repeated. *"I can't believe I'm going to be her little lover-toy."*

Titania did *not* share my concern. *"Right. Hanging on her, cuddling with her, walks in the moonlight on a beautiful resort planet. I can see how you'd hate that."*

*"That's not what I mean."*

*"Then what *do* you mean? What's wrong with having Tryx for a lover? You haven't been able to breathe right any time Tryx is in the same room with you since the first time you saw her - and you're complaining?"*

Then Titania's mental tone took on a worried element. "Unless . . .you're exclusively interested in men now, after Darius? Have you switched over completely?"*

*"No!"*

*"Gotcha!"* Titania crowed. *"I knew that, of course. Your body gives you away, but I wanted you to face it yourself. She gets you hot - and don't blame a bit of that on me, girl. By the First Morph, I think you'd complain if you were suddenly made queen of the universe."*

*"Don't want the responsibility,"* I claimed, but I had to laugh. Ti was right (*"Told you so!"*) and I had certainly had worse assignments. Besides, we were still on a mission and Tryx was professional. Surely she wouldn't let things go . . . too far. Surely that nova-bright smile was just . . . part of the assignment.

Yeah, right.

 

 

*********************************************
© 2003 by Brandy Dewinter. All Rights Reserved. These documents (including, without limitation, all articles, text, images, logos, compilation design) may printed for personal use only. No portion of these documents may be stored electronically, distributed electronically, or otherwise made available without express written consent of the copyright holder.