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JUDITH FROWNED at Randal when she realized he intended to return to the lab after dinner. “This is your first night back. We’ve been invited to a party at Terrence Donavon’s this evening, and we’re all going.”
“Judith, Devon, and I need to work with Dad and Agustin on the information we brought back. It’s important to get it running as soon as possible.”
“But not tonight,” she said firmly. “Everyone knows you brought guests back with you from Earth and everyone wants to meet Devon and Tash.”
Correctly reading his refusal, she added, “If we don’t introduce them tonight, everyone will think something is hokey and start spying on you to find out what you’re doing.”
Randal made a disgusted noise. “Alright." He turned to
Devon, "I don’t suppose you brought party clothes with you?”
“Uh—what kind of party clothes?” Tash asked cautiously.
“Let’s go and see what you have,” Judith said. “Randal, Devon’s about your size. See if some of your stuff will fit him.”
As Judith hauled Tash off to inspect her clothing choices, Randal rolled his eyes.
“She’s right, dammit. I’ve been away so long I’ve forgotten what it’s like here.”
Devon regarded him curiously. “What do you mean?”
“We didn’t only copy the lifestyle from the Renaissance,” he was told. “Unfortunately, that period in history was rampant with plots and intrigues where everyone spied on each other. Be as vague as possible tonight when you’re asked why you came.”
Deciding Tash had nothing appropriate, Judith took her home with her where she found a dress in her older sister’s closet to fit Tash. The ankle length overskirt was bright red, with an ultramarine panel in front. The low-cut top was of off-white linen, under a bright red vest, cinched tightly at the waist with gold cord. The blouse had two rows of puffy material at the top of the narrow sleeves. It was also cut much lower than Tash was used to. All three of the triplets had inherited full, well-developed busts; most of which was put on display in the gown.
“My goodness!” Tash exclaimed when she saw herself in Judith’s full-length mirror. “I can’t wear this—I’ll fall out of it!”
“Nonsense!” Judith laughed. “You look much better than Ava did in it. The young men will all be falling over themselves to dance with you!”
The dress also had a built-in slit for a poniard. Traditionally, Judith told her the weapon was worn in a sheath on her thigh. When Judith offered the dagger and the sheath to Tash, the girl from earth looked at it in horror. “You think I’ll need that?”
Judith shrugged, and showed Tash hers, which was fastened on her thigh. “It doesn’t hurt to be prepared,” she said.
“I’d probably cut myself with it,” Tash told her. “I’ve never had any training in using a knife for defense. Most of my self-defense classes were in unarmed combat.”
“In that case, I think we’ll do without it,” Judith said.
Devon’s mouth fell open when he and Randal arrived to escort the girls to the party. Both young men wore the traditional linen shirt with its wide, billowing sleeves under a brightly colored Doublet. The knee length breeches, striped in contrasting colors were loose and roomy, tied off under the knees with a red cord. Under it they wore matching leggings. Randal also wore calf length boots. It had been decided Devon’s own boots would serve. Randal was in green, and Devon was in bright yellow and indigo.
“Is that what you’re wearing?” Devon asked, staring at the amount of flesh Tash’s gown displayed.
Tash felt her face heating up. “Judith says everyone else will be wearing something this low-cut,” she defended the gown.
“Yeah, but I’ll bet most of them don’t have your—ah—attributes either.”
Randal choked on a laugh and turned it into a cough. Tash glared at both young men and Judith rolled her eyes.
“Very funny,” Tash snapped. “I’ve refrained from making remarks about codpieces, Devon so you can just shut up about how much boob I’m showing!”
Randal did lose it. He leaned against the door and howled.
Devon glared at him. "It isn't funny!" he said. "How would you like it if Judith went out in public with so much on display?"
Randal eyed Judith. They had been engaged since they were both children and he had always taken her appearance for granted. This was the first time in years he had really looked at her and it dawned on him that his fiancé was a beautiful woman. Judith’s dress was the same style as Tash was wearing. It did show of lot of creamy flesh above the waist. Judith was almost as well-endowed as Tash in some areas, and a considerable amount of her breast was also on display. Very nice it was too. An unfamiliar feeling of possessiveness hit him, and he suddenly understood how Devon felt.
Mrs. Garney’s nodded to herself, satisfied. Randal was finally looking at her daughter the way a man looks at a desirable woman instead of his old childhood playmate.
"Devon," Judith said patiently, "If Tash wears a high-necked dress, everyone will think she's a Dowd. The other girls will tear her to pieces."
"I'm afraid she's right, Devon," Randal told him. "The girls who attend these affairs are like chickens. One who stands out as different will get pecked to death—"
"Randal Langeton! That is the most disgusting comparison I ever heard! Are you calling me a chicken?"
"Ah—of course not," Randal denied in haste. "You look beautiful."
“Yes, she does," Judith's father said. "Both Judith and Tash look lovely." He looked over at the man who was soon to be his son-in-law with a grin. "Better shut your mouth before you dig that hole any deeper, son. You're about to drown as it is."
“Quite right,” Judith’s mother agreed. She looked the two girls over with a maternal eye. “You both look lovely. Tash, I’ll make you a present of the dress, if only to keep Ava from wearing it out in public again. It looks so much better on you. My daughter insisted on buying it, and she should never wear red!”
“Try telling her that,” Judith said under her breath.
“Thank you,” Tash said. “It’s a beautiful gown. Please thank your daughter for me.”
When Judith chose to sit with Tash rather than beside him, Randal knew he was still in trouble. They rode in style to the party in an airsled modified to resemble a renaissance carriage on the outside. The colonists had deliberately designed many things on Barsoom to seem old world on the outside but all cutting-edge tech inside.
The colonists had made every attempt to preserve the natural ambience of the Planet, so the Donovan’s home was surrounded by a bioluminescent jungle of tall trees with large fronds. The Nightbirds called to each other and occasionally they could hear a predator roar and the squeal of its prey.
The robot driver dropped them off on the dock in front of the house and went to park in a nearby parking slot.
“I’m glad I don’t have to try to park in that,” Devon remarked, eying the narrow slit the robo driver slid the sled into. There were about ten rows of slots filled with sleds stacked on top of each other.
“It looks like a good crowd tonight,” Judith said happily. “I didn’t go out much while Randal was gone.”
“Why not?” Tash asked her.
“Oh, well, some guys will misunderstand if an engaged girl goes to a party without her fiancé.”
“Is there anything we should know not to do?” Devon asked.
“Keep an eye on your drink,” Judith said as they entered the foyer. “Most of our crowd wouldn’t put anything in it, but there’s always a few bad eggs at any party.”
The Donovan’s house was massive; three stories with a glassed cupola atop the 3rd floor. Inside, the robot butler bowed to them, accepted the invitation Randal held out and handed them off to a robot footman who escorted them up the spiral staircase to the ballroom. The glass roof gave the impression the room was open to the night sky. Tash was interested to note although there was no formal receiving line, the footman checked them before announcing their names loudly enough to be heard over the music.
When they entered the ballroom, the guests were moving to the stately measures of the Pavane.
“I think we should have taken dance lessons,” Devon whispered to Tash.
“Yes, I think you’re right,” she whispered back.
As the music ended, several couples came over to greet Judith and Randal and be introduced to the guests from earth.
Tash soon found her fears about not knowing the dance steps were of no consequence. It was true she and Devon were unfamiliar with some of the steps used in the formal court dances, but the majority of those attending the party favored the livelier Country Dances. Watching Randal and Judith cavort in one of these dances, Tash realized, “Devon those are square dance steps!”
“What?” he asked.
“No, look at them. Remember back in our freshman year when we all had to learn the steps for that melodrama?”
He stared at the dancers for a moment. “You want to dance, don’t you?”
“Yes,” she admitted.
“Okay, when the next set forms we’ll try it.”
The newcomers from earth were welcomed by Randal and Judith’s friends and soon enjoying themselves.
Randal was engaged in demonstrating a fencing move to Devon and several others. When a man she hadn’t been introduced to asked her to dance, Tash accepted.
“My name is Jean Coudet,” he said. He was tall and slim with delicately cut features. His looks didn’t appeal to Tash, but she smiled and accepted the invitation.
It was a fast-moving line dance and when it was over, she found herself across the room from her friends.
She thanked Jean for the dance and headed back across the room.
“Hey, don’t run off,” he said.
“Sorry,” she told him. “But I left my drink back on our table and I’m thirsty.”
“Here,” he said, “plucking a glass off a tray held by one of the robot servers. “Drink this. I’m sure it will do the trick.”
The look was so quickly gone Tash thought she imagined the predatory gleam she saw in his eyes. She thanked him and took several swallows before she realized it tasted funny.
“What is this?” she asked. “It tastes funny.”
“I’m sure it’s fine,” Jean said. “I bet you’ve never tasted Cocoa Berry juice before.”
It had only been a few moments since she swallowed the punch when she commenced feeling dizzy and sick. She pushed away from Jean, intending to go and find Devon.
“Hey, don’t rush away,” he said, grabbing her arm.
“I have to go. I’m sorry. I’m sick,” Tash gasped out. She tried to pull away but his grip on her arm tightened.
“Relax, you won’t remember a thing,” he said.
“Jean, I don’t know,” one of the others said. “She’s turning green. I think maybe she’s about to barf.”
“Grab her arm!” Jean snapped, yanking on the laces at her waist.
Tash spotted Devon through a gap in the crowd surrounding her and yelled, “Devon! Help!”
“Shut up bitch!” Jean hissed. “Filippo, put your hand over her mouth to shut her up.”
Before the tall dark man could obey him, Devon, Randal, and Judith came racing up. Devon jerked Jean around to face him and planted a fist in his face. Jean stumbled back and tripped over the man who had said Tash looked green. In the meantime, Randal delivered a New Orleans slap to the man who held Tash’s other arm. The blow might have looked like a slap, but the actual strike was delivered with heel of the hand rather than the fingers. The man staggered, releasing her, and Judith put an arm around Tash to hold her steady.
Tash leaned over and threw up. She would have fallen if Judith hadn’t been supporting her.
“What did you give her, you creep?” Judith glared at Jean over Tash’s back. The girl from earth had sunk to her hands and knees, her body heaving with the force of the convulsions.
“I’m going to need some help, here,” Judith said. “I think she’s having a reaction to whatever they gave her. We need to get her in to have her stomach pumped.”
Devon turned and pulled Tash to her feet, sliding an arm under her legs to carry her.
“I’ll get the car,” Randal said. “Meet me out back,” he told Judith.
Jean and the four others took advantage of Devon and Randal’s preoccupation to slide away.
Their sled came gliding in as they stepped out the back door onto the backyard wharf. Devon sat with Tash on his lap and the other two followed him into the sled. Tash moaned, turning her face into Devon’s shoulder. She had quit convulsing, but her breathing was irregular.
“Med center. Fast!” Randal ordered. “Tell them we’re coming in with a poison victim who might be going into anaphylactic shock.”
Judith dug out the sled’s first aid kit and turned on the oxygen system. She put a mask over Tash’s face and her breathing steadied.
The trauma team was waiting when their sled pulled into the Emergency unloading dock. The team put Tash on a gurney and started their own oxygen system.
“What did she take?” the doctor was young with tired looking eyes and trailed by a bevy of medical students.
“This isn’t her fault!” Devon said, aggressively. “Someone slipped something into her drink at a party and she started convulsing and throwing up. You can’t blame her for this!”
“Relax, tiger. I wasn’t blaming her, but to treat it I do need to know what she took.”
“I’m sorry, we’re all a little on edge, Dr. Givens,” Judith intervened, reading the man’s name tag. “I think it must have been a date-rape drug of some kind. They were trying to get her clothes off when we found them.”
“Them? do you know who it was?” Givens asked.
Judith exchanged a startled look with Randal. “I saw Jean Coudet, Sandro Malony, and Filippo Bruenlleschi. Coudet and Malony both had hold of her arms.”
“Why does it matter?” Randal asked.
“Because your friend isn’t the only victim who has been brought in here with these symptoms this month.”
He turned to the aide taking notes. “It’s probably Ribastar Ultrivarix. Do a tox screen, and pump her stomach, then prep an IV pressure syringe with 1cc Halcitracin, after five minutes, give her a mixed dose of 1cc Halcitracin and Insuderal.”
“What are you giving her?” Devon asked.
“The Halcitracin is to counteract the Ribastar Ultrivarix and the Insuderal will counteract the allergic reaction.”
“You can wait in the lounge until we have some news,” one of the students told them, gesturing to a room off to the side.
After about an hour, Dr. Givens came to find them. “Your friend will be fine,” he assured them. “In fact, you can take her home now if you want, but before you go, Officer Mendez wants to ask you some questions.”
“I understand you saw the men who did this?” Officer Mendez was around forty, with the steady eyes and hands of a veteran cop.
“Yes, we did,” Judith said. “I gave Dr. Givens their names.”
Mendez nodded. “So,” he said. Would you mind repeating it for my report?”
After they did so, Judith went to help Tash dress. Mendez eyed the two young men grimly. “This is now a police matter,” he told them. “Don’t go hunting on your own, you hear?”
“Of course not,” Randal said innocently.
Mendez made a disgusted noise and left.
“I don’t think he believed you,” Devon said.
They dropped the two girls off at Randal's house, where his mother made a fuss over Tash, and insisted she lie down after her ‘ordeal’.
Judith followed the two men out to the door. “Randal Langeton you be careful!” she said. “You might fool your mom and that cop, but I know what you’re going to do.”
Randal laughed and brushed a kiss across her mouth. “Careful is my middle name,” he said.
Judith glared after them. “I know your middle name, and it isn’t careful!” she muttered to herself.
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