Later in the tape room he listened to music and pondered the question. Suppose he awakened her and she proved to be anything but what he wanted? Sure, she was good looking, but what about her age? Her mannerisms? Would his fifteen years turn her against him? There were nine years left to Ostarpa; a lot could happen in nine years and she would eventually discover he was no ogre. She might even learn to love him. Why, she might even take Karen's place!

He clicked off the music with a trembling hand, went to the bar, drew a double shot and ice.

Karen, Karen! Why did it have to happen to you?

Forgive me, darling, for what I am about to do.

Clifton watched the lard-like flesh become suffused with pink, saw the surge of color in the lips, the catch of breath and the resultant swell of breast. Then the eyelids flickered.

A moment later Portia Lavester was staring at him, and even as she did so Clifton could see she did not understand what had happened. But when the vacant eyes came alive, the girl sat up, crossed her hands to her bare, hunched shoulders and looked around frantically.

"Don't be frightened," Clifton said, smiling. "You're still on the ship. You've just been awakened."

"Thanks," she said without gratitude, "but I wasn't frightened. I was looking for something to put on."

"Oh." Clifton had forgotten about that. Now he blushed and opened a nearby drawer and withdrew a white gown. "Take this. It will have to do until I get you something else."

She took it and held it to her nakedness, eying him coldly. He turned, heard her drop quietly to the floor. "Where are the others?" she asked, and he could hear the rustle of the gown as she put it around her. "And where can I pick up my clothes?"

He turned to look at her, found her at the side of the room in front of its only mirror, inspecting her face and pushing her lush hair this way and that and grimacing. "How long ago did we land? What's Ostarpa like?"

She was lovely and not unlike Karen in manner and it was going to be harder for him than he thought.

"Was I the first or the last? Or was I in the middle? Just like me to be in the middle." She laughed a little and he was glad to hear her, though her laughter was a little lower in pitch than Karen's. And then her eyes 

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