Leo Frankowski

good men. But you
will have some advantages that they didn’t. For one thing, you will have completely discretionary powers. Do you understand?” Hastings asked.
    “Sure. I’m not
allowed to kill anybody unless I want to.”
    “Crudely put, but
accurate. Also, your mission is not simply to spy. You are to seek out Heinrich Coper- nick and/or Martin Guibedo. We believe that they
are in Death Valley. You are to find
out as much as possible about their bioengineering techniques, then eliminate them. Arrest them if possible. Kill them if necessary. And in no event will you allow yourself
to be captured.”
    “You mean
‘captured alive.’ Okay. What about my modus operandi?”
    “That is
completely at your own discretion. You may sign for any materials and money
that you feel appropriate,” Hastings said.
    “Lovely. I’ve
always hoped for orders like this.”
    “This is the most important mission
of your life. It is also the most
dangerous.”
    “What about the
reporting procedure?”
    “There isn’t
one. It is quite possible that we have been infiltrated. Once you walk out of that
door, you’re on your
own.”
    “Suits. See you in a few weeks,
General.”
     
    Patricia Cambridge
stretched luxuriously between satin sheets on the huge bed. Her whole body
tingled with a new awareness
of itself. She never would have believed that the world could be so enchanting,
that sex could be so totally satisfying.
    “If you’re
finally awake, Patty, come on in. The water’s fine!” Martin Guibedo called
from the pool at the far end of the bedroom. Liebchen was sudsing down his pudgy body.
    “Oh, Dr. Guibedo!
Will Liebchen wash me, too? She’s
got to be the prettiest thing your nephew ever made!”
    “She is and she
will, and please call me Martin.”
    “After last
night, I should call you lover!” Patricia splashed into the pool and swam over
to them.
    “Hooh! Nobody
ever call me that before. I like it!”
    They collided with
exuberance and laughter near the center of the pool.
    After having washed
and dried and dressed her masters, Liebchen pranced through the branch to the kitchen. The water
running off the blond fur on her legs left hoofprints on the carpet. “Two masters to serve, Dirk!” She giggled to the Labor and Defense
Unit in the living room. “Isn’t it wonderful!”
    Dirk raised his eye
tentacles from the book of Oriental philosophy he was reading. “It is
pleasant to see our Lord Guibedo happy. We owe him so much.”
     
    After the usual
excellent breakfast, Guibedo said, “Patty, it’s good to have you here for a
bunch of reasons. For one thing, we got a fourth for pinochle.”
    The CCU I/O unit on
the kitchen wall said, “My Lord Guibedo, Lord Copernick requests your
presence at his tree house.”
    “Telephone,
tell him I’m going to take a couple days off this morning. I see him maybe
Tuesday.”
    “He said it was
important, my lord. My Central Coordination Unit has compiled some critical
information.”
    “So what’s the
information? You’re the same animal, aren’t you?”
    “I am, my lord,
but I didn’t tell me what it was.”
    “Some
coordination you got there. Tuesday!” Guibedo turned away from the telephone.
“Hey, Dirk! Bring some cards. With you here, Patty, we can play two teams, you and
Liebchen against me and Dirk, so they gotta play fair. With playing three-hand
cutthroat, they let me all the time win.”
    “Never, my
lord,” Dirk said, a pinochle deck in his hand. His lateral tentacles were
holding a book in front of his starboard eyes.
    “Ach! You know,
Patty, Dirk never used to lie until he started into philosophy. Dirk, what are you reading now?”
    “The Shih Ching, my lord,” Dirk said, shuffling and dealing, “a poetry anthology commonly said to have been edited by Confucious.”
    “Twenty-one!” Patty said.
“Martin, how can Dirk read and play
cards at the same time?” She still didn’t feel comfortable around the LDU.
    “He’s got six
pairs of brains, Patty. Heiny made him so he could figure strategy, tactics, and
where he was putting his foot all at the same time. So right now, one chunk of him is
reading, another chunk is playing cards, some other chunk better be keeping score, and
part of him
is probably gabbing with his brothers. Twenty-two.”
    “Gabbing?”
Patty said. “How?”
    “They’re
telepathic with each other,” Guibedo said, “not with you and me. Your bid,
Liebchen.”
    “Oh, pass!
Dirk, pull in your eyes. You’re