“You’re not sleeping well. You’re not eating properly. You’re edgy, moody, irritable.”
“That’s your opinion?”
“No,” she said easily. “Those are my observations. Now the opinion comes. The reason for your condition is that you’re,” she hesitated a barest half-heartbeat, “scared.”
Alec fought down an urge to get out of the chair and walk away. He could feel the color flaming in his face.
“Not in the sense of physical cowardice,” Lenore added quickly. “You’ve been dragging around here under a steady full-Earth g and feeling lousy. All of us have. But you’re worrying about how you’ll perform on Earth. You know about the heavy atmosphere, the heat, the terrific humidity, and it’s got you worried. Too much imagination. Like Lord Jim.”
“Who’s he?”
“God! Don’t you read anything?”
“Sure—military history, meteorology, geography...”
Shaking her head, Lenore said, “Your problem is that you don’t know how to unwind.”
“That’s your diagnosis?”
“It is. And I’ve got a prescription for you.” She pushed away from the desk and stood up. Alec realized again how desirable she was.
“Prescription?” he asked as he got to his feet.
“Yes,” she said, and now she was really smiling. “Tonight I’m going to fix a special dinner for you. In my compartment. Twenty-hundred hours. Be there. Doctor’s orders.”
Alec grinned at her. “The tyranny of the medics.”
She did fix a special meal. Somehow, out of two standard dinner trays from the galley she managed to add spices, some sort of delicious sauce for the soymeat, and even a golden concoction that tasted almost like lunar brandy.
“I raided the galley and the medical stores,” Lenore admitted.
She was sitting on the bunk. Alec had the compartment’s only chair. Lenore was wearing shorts and a pull-over top, standard off-duty clothes. She filled them magnificently.
“I like your prescription,” Alec said. He spoke slowly and carefully, the brandy was that strong. “I haven’t felt this relaxed in months.”
“The treatment’s just starting,” she said, patting the bunk beside her.
Alec took his glass to the bunk.
“You do feel good?” she asked.
Nodding, “Maybe too good.”
“What do you mean?”
“I want to go to bed with you,” he said.
“Well,” she said, “why not?”
“I don’t know. I’m not sure that I ought to.”
“Are you afraid that I deliberately ensnared you? Manipulated you into this?” She was smiling.
“No, not...”
“Well I did,” Lenore said. “I’ve been planning this for several days.”
“Really?” Something in the back of Alec’s mind told him that he should be upset about that, but it was a distant warning. He ignored it.
She went on, “Ever since I noticed how uptight you were starting to look.”
“I see. I brought out your maternal instincts.”
“Not exa... why did you say that?”
He shrugged. “Dunno. What?” Alec drained his glass and reached for the bottle on the desk.
But she asked, “How many women have you made love to?”
He grabbed the bottle. “Thousands. I used to keep a list in my desk back home but it got too long. Had to put it on the computer.”
“Come on, really.” She held her glass out and he started to refill it. The liquid flowed so fast under one-g that the tiny plastic cup overflowed and brandy splashed down onto her bare leg.
“Hey!”
“Hell! I’m sorry...” Alec put the bottle down and took one of the napkins from the desk. He dabbed at the wetness on her leg.
