was looking his way. She
lifted a white-gloved hand and waved.

He smiled and headed for her. He forced his smile, and made himself
forget the prickling of his wrists and the feeling of bristling fur
along his spine. And he held his smile all the way across the room.
_Why, hello, darling, fancy seeing you here; no, nothing's wrong,
nothing at all, why on earth would you think anything was wrong?_

"Hi, baby," was all he actually said.

"I'm--I'm glad you're here, Dick." Her eyes didn't show much. They roved
over his face a little too much perhaps, but otherwise they seemed
simply as large and dark as ever. He noticed that the meth glass in
front of her was empty.

Grinning, he sat down. "This is a big moment. This is almost too much
for me to handle. Maybe that's what I need--a good slug of meth."

"No."

"No?"

"Let's not waste time. Let's go out on the terrace. I want you to kiss
me."

"Best offer I've had all evening." He rose again. "Where's the terrace?"

"Through that door. There's a dining room there that's closed at night.
You go through the dining room and out to the terrace."

"Okay."

He took her arm and led her in and out of tables, across the room. They
moved swiftly through the quiet, nearly dark dining room, and after that
through a pair of window-doors. They were on the terrace then, a
flagstoned space with a low wall. It overlooked the scattered lights of
World City's topside area and some distance beyond they could see the
river, a blue-silver ribbon in the moonlight.

They stopped at the wall. She turned toward him. He looked down at her,
at her pale face and deep, dark eyes. He smelled her perfume and he felt
her live warmth near him and coming nearer. He saw her eyes close, her
lips part just slightly, and each lip glistening, faintly moist....

He was wondering when it would happen. He was wondering when he would be
struck.

As he wondered that he suddenly discovered he wasn't on the terrace any
more.

* * * * *

He looked about him in some surprise. It was nearly dark. He was in a
room; he could sense the walls about him. He heard a curious,
high-pitched metallic voice--and recognized it.

"_Pell? Are you awake now?_"

It had happened then, just as he had expected. Someone had thrown a
freezer on him there in the patio, and during his complete
unconsciousness he'd been taken here, wherever this was. He sighed. The
least they could have done