The Dark Lady

contaminated beyond any possibility of exculpation.
    “You are quite right, Friend Valentine,” I said, stammering in my embarrassment. “It was an immoral suggestion, and I apologize for making it.”
    “I'll forgive you for making it,” he said, pulling a small hand weapon out of his coat pocket, “if you'll forgive me for accepting it.”
    “You never told me that you owned a weapon,” I said.
    “You never asked me,” he replied with a smile. “And if it will make you feel any better, I've never fired it. I don't even know if it works.”
    Two chimes sounded.
    “Well, at least he isn't trying to gain entrance surreptitiously,” commented Heath. “Open.”
    The door slid into a wall, and Reuben Venzia, covered with snow, his mustache a sheet of frost, entered the room.
    “ You, ” he said, staring directly at me, “are one goddamned difficult alien to find!”

14.
    “Who the hell are you ?” demanded Heath.
    “Don't worry, Mr. Heath,” said Venzia. “I haven't told anyone else where you are.”
    Suddenly he was looking down the barrel of Heath's weapon.
    “Nobody on Graustark knows my real name,” said Heath. “I think you'd better tell me who you are and how you found me.”
    “I'm Reuben Venzia, Tai Chong told me where to find you, and I'm freezing my ass off. If you're not going to shoot me, let me get in out of the cold.”
    “This is the man you've told me about?” asked Heath.
    “Yes, Friend Valentine.”
    “All right,” said Heath, lowering his weapon. “You can come in.”
    Venzia entered the room, and as the door slid shut behind him he tossed his outer garments onto a nearby chair, cupped his hands in front of his face, and blew onto them.
    “I've got a package for you from Tai Chong,” he said to me, “but it's out in the snowcart. I'll get it for you when the weather lets up.”
    “You can't get a snowcart up this mountain,” said Heath, suddenly suspicious again.
    “I know,” responded Venzia. “I left it about a mile and a half down the road.”
    “Why did you ride one at all?” asked Heath. “The village is only two miles away.”
    “Because no one told me what the approach to this damned place was like!” snapped Venzia. “Have you got anything hot to drink?”
    “Just coffee,” replied Heath.
    “Can you put a shot of rum in it?”
    “I might, if you'll tell me what you're doing here.”
    “Looking for Leonardo,” said Venzia.
    “He, too, is interested in the Dark Lady,” I explained to Heath.
    “So you've discovered her name,” said Venzia.
    “If that is her name,” replied Heath before I could answer.
    “It's one of them, anyway,” said Venzia. “What about my coffee?”
    Heath walked to the nearby kitchen area, poured a cup, and added a shot of liquor to it. “You're not exactly the most gracious guest I've ever had, Mr. Venzia.”
    “I'm freezing to death five thousand light-years from home,” shot back Venzia. “Let me warm up and get my breath back and I'll find my manners again.”
    “Fair enough,” said Heath, handing him the coffee. “In the meantime, perhaps you might tell us exactly why you're five thousand light-years from home.”
    “Do you mind if I sit down?” asked Venzia, walking over to a large, tufted chair.
    “Certainly not,” replied Heath. “I'd be gravely disappointed if your explanation for all this privation you've undergone was so brief that you could tell it to us while you were standing.”
    “I wish Tai Chong had told me how goddamned cold it was here before I left,” muttered Venzia with a shudder. He took a sip of his coffee, and warmed his hands on the cup.
    “Are you feeling any better now?” asked Heath after a brief interval.
    Venzia nodded. “I'll be all right in another minute.”
    “At which time I expect you to tell us exactly what you're doing here,” said Heath.
    “I'm here to see Leonardo,” replied Venzia. “I have to speak to him alone.”
    “Nobody keeps secrets from me in my own house,” said Heath adamantly. “Whatever you have to say can be said to both of us.”
    “Who are you?” asked Venzia suspiciously.
    “Valentine Heath, as you well know.”
    “But who is Valentine Heath?” continued Venzia. “All I know is your name and the fact that you don't want anyone to know you're on Graustark. Why should I be willing to say anything in front of you?”
    “Because I am a man of many talents, as well as a myriad of far-ranging interests, not the least of which is