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The truck roared into life, although I ain't sure right then if even they knew
where they was goin'. Monroe had sorta screwed up their plans. The man reached
in his pocket and took out two little cubes and tossed them to us. "Here," he
said, in Spanish-accented English. "Get your fix now. We have much work to
dp."
I still wasn't sure it was late enough for me, but since these folks had the
supply it didn't cost nothin' to try. I was under in real sweet ecstasy in
about a minute and a half.
They didn't do nothin' in the comedown period, since they shut off most of the
lights and all of 'em seemed to be asleep themselves. We was still movin', but
we didn't know to where. I heard my twin give a giggle and turned to her.
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"Look at 'em," she said. "The most dangerous people around, and we don't dare
do nothin'. That girl one of them bossworld people?"
"Yeah, that's what they look like," I replied.
"Reminds me of somebody, but I can't think who."
I looked over at her. "The rest of the shadow dancers. Different color,
different hair, but all the rest of them girls looked just like that. Haven't
you figured that much out yet?"
"Uh uh. Not till now. By the way-glad to see you can talk regular again. Guess
they musta done it while we was out with somethin' in here."
I was flat-out amazed. Until that moment I hadn't realized that I was back to
normal-at least, the normal I was before they run that jive on me at Arnie's.
Wasn't nqthin' to read in there, but I could imagine a page in my mind and
know all the words. Somehow, they took that module out of me that they put in.
That meant that one of these crates, probably the biggest, was a hypnoscan,
and that made the Mex or whatever he was Dr. Carlos. Brandy Two confirmed it.
"That pig was my main trainer at the lodge. You suppose he's one of 'em, too?"
I shook my head. "No way. Wrong build, wrong face, wrong everything. I guess
they could make themselves look like that if they really wanted to, but I
don't think they did it to him. He's like that pair back there, and Crockett,
and
Arnie-just hired help. Real smart and skilled hired help, but that's it."
"You suppose they ran us both through that thing like they did last time? I
mean, they took somethin' out of your head, but did they put somethin' else
in?"
It was a good question, but I was fairly confident they hadn't. "Uh uh. They
can take that shit out in 'bout an hour, but it takes a long time to put
things in.
Damn! I'm starvin' and I hav'ta go to the bathroom."
"Me, too. So do they, I guess. Got to be somethin' in here."
We was feelin' good, and we got up and did a little explorin', tryin' not to
wake up nobody. They did have one of them chemical porta-potty things back in
a corner, and that at least took care of the immediate problem. We wandered
back, 'cause there was nothin' else to do.
"You know, that girl she looks kinda Hawaiian. You got Hawaiians in this
world?"
I nodded and looked. "Yeah, 'cept for the brown hair and maybe a little
difference in skin tone, you're right. Never thought of that. Island kind of
folks, anyways. You got my brains, even if you ain't got my experience. See
anything else peculiar? Take a look at both them girls."
She tried, but shook her head. "What do you mean?"
"Addison's one of them, too. You take that makeup off, put down that hair and
make it that brown color, and put her in some decent clothes."
"Them eyes ain't right."
"Yeah, they are, under there somewhere. She ain't been medically converted.
It's more like some kind of high-tech makeup job, like they might do in their
world for show business. That's why the makeup's so heavy. Covers up the
seams."
"But her skin's darker-not like ours, but like white folks with real deep
suntans."
"More tricks, that's all. Probably takes a bath in some kinda dye that shade,
which is a little darker and duller than theirs. Makes a world of difference.
The shadow dancers was black, brown, lily-white, and China yellow, but they
was all the same. All but us."
file:///F|/rah/Jack%20L.%20Chalker/Chalker,%....%20Inc%202%20-%20The%20Shadow%
20Dancers.txt (111 of 146) [1/19/03 4:19:24 PM]
file:///F|/rah/Jack%20L.%20Chalker/Chalker,%20Jack%20L%20-%20G.O.D.%20Inc%202%
20-%20The%20Shadow%20Dancers.txt
Even with the noise and shakin' and rattlin', I guess we was talkin' too loud
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'cause Addison stirred, opened her eyes, looked over at us, then got up. "No
use," she said. "I can't stay asleep in something like this. I heard you two
talking."
"We was just wqnderin' whether you started out in actin' or not," I said
pointedly. "You do great makeup, and you play parts real good, too."
"You are good. Uh-I assume you are this world's Brandy I'm talking to. Since
Carlos took that module out you really are incredibly identical."
"I am-was-the detective," I told her.
"Well, to answer your question, my parents were performers. The sort of art
they practiced has no real equivalent here. It's a traditional form among my
people that is both for art and religion. It is practiced only by husband and
wife teams, so when my father died the show was over, so to speak."
"I didn't think none of you people ever died," I commented.
"It is true that we live a long time, and do not suffer the diseases and
infirmities you do, but we all die, sooner or later, from age or from
accident.
His was accidental, in a crash. They loved each other very much. My mother was
left with three daughters and no means of support. She was expected to marry
again out of convenience, but she could not bring herself to do so. The only
chance they had for any future was in one of the colonies, one without major
class distinctions. We were neither fish nor fowl, as you say. We were
low-class people performing for upper-class patrons. Unless we all found
eligible men in our very small profession, we could not continue it. It took
money to emigrate and become established, and my sisters were very young.
There was a patron, a very powerful man, whom we played for often, who took a
liking to me. I could become his mistress, his kept woman, as it were, and he
would pay for the emigration of my family. I accepted. I was fifteen years
old."
This was something I hadn't expected at all. She was moody, soft,
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