Jack L. Chalker X 2 Charon A Dragon at the Gate

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wasn't there.
The bone structure needed to support such a body properly, even in the
slightly reduced gravity of Charon, was a bit different than the human norm,
but none of it showed. Other than her size, Darva was an absolutely beautiful
human-looking woman. I had taken my own visualization of what she must have
looked like before Isil's changeling spell and produced what I freely admitted
was an idealized version. I probably accented her female figure overmuch, but
I plead guilty to doing so without shame. Hell, she'd done the same thing to
me.
In fact, I hadn't the slightest idea who I looked like, but it was her idea of
what the perfect man should be. We were both strongly over-muscled, of
course it was one fine way of compacting mass usefully but hers only showed
when she flexed, while mine showed all over. My face was broad and handsome,
and overall we were very good personifications of some ancient god and goddess
from man's primitive times. Both of us, of course, had tremendously long hair
and I had a huge beard as well more mass used up but that was in an area that
could be cut and trimmed.
But we were not human. She should weigh between 105 and 110 kilos, and I,
perhaps 120, but we both had around 180 kilos to contend with and hair really
doesn't take away that much. The balance I had placed in our tails; hers was a
bit
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Charon: A Dragon at the Gate longer than mine. For pigmentation I'd selected,
with her approval, a dark solid bronze, with the hair a reddish brown. She
hadn't really cared but we both agreed on anything but green.
I couldn't help but notice that her idealized man was as exaggeratedly endowed
in one area as my idealized Darva was in the other. Even though the doctor was
there, I had to admit I felt a little self-conscious. Well, something would
have to be worked out, even with that tail in the way but there was nothing to
do about it now.
It was hard to tear our gazes away from the reflections, but finally we did
and turned back to the trio, who were watchingais with great interest.
"Tailed gods," the handsome older man in white commented in a pleasant, deep
voice. "Fascinating. You could start a whole new religion, the two of you."
I chuckled. "I think there are enough of those as it is."
"Quite so," he agreed, then looked to Dr. Yissim expectantly.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Yissim said, sounding uncommonly flustered. "Park, Darva this
gentleman is Tulio Koril."
I felt a shock go through me.
Koril! At last!
Yissim turned to the little man who wasn't there. "And this is Dr. Dumonia. He
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is a Cerberan."
We had problems with doorways made for smaller folk, and occasionally ceilings
were just a tad too low. Darva bumped her head leaving the lab and I felt a
shock.
I hadn't bumped into anything, but I felt every ache she did. It quickly
developed that there was more to our exchange than first met the eye as we'd
been warned.
The lines of communication were permanent and intact, theory said, and that
meant that whatever one felt, the other did too. A minor irritant, but a
potential dagger at my throat nonetheless. Whatever was done to her was done
likewise to me, no matter where I was. There had to be a range limitation the
energy channels were too tiny to carry but as long as we were close enough to
feel the wa, the wa in one body considered itself the body of the other.
"The wa considers you one," Yissim agreed. "You will have to be careful.
Still, if you really do care for one another, you should be in for some unique
physical sensations on the plus side, too."
I saw Darva's eyebrows rise and her lips form a slight smile. We hadn't
thought of that angle which really proved out, I might add.
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Charon: A Dragon at the Gate
We were led into a large office, the kind top executives have, complete with
outer office staff, receptionists, the whole business, and we got a lot of
stares. In the inner office, our tails proved useful for at least one thing.
There were few chairs made for people our size but, with the tails, we didn't
need them.
Koril took his seat behind a large desk in the center of the room and Dumonia
took a chair next to him, facing us. Yissim had left us in the outer office,
assuring us that when we returned she would have already arranged to check us
out physically, and for some sort of living quarters. She offered a barber but
Darva just asked for barbering tools no use somebody getting on a ladder to do
us.
Koril looked at us for a few moments without saying anything. Finally he said,
"Well, you two have become some kind of celebrities around here, I must say."
"I'll bet," I responded. "Still, it's good to be back among the living again,
and maybe even be able to get out and see this great place you've built here.
I am amazed by it all."
"A large share of the credit goes to the good doctor here," Koril responded,
nodding to the little man. "Dr. Dumonia, you see, is the man who makes sure we
get our share of Cerberan manufactured goods and training in their use. He
doesn't usually come along himself, though. In fact, this is the first time I
think you've ever been here, isn't it?"
Dumonia nodded and smiled. "Things are going down all over the system. Matters
are coming to a head. It was necessary to coordinate as much as possible with
our friends elsewhere, and I could only do so in person. I will admit the trip
has been both fascinating and entertaining."
We stared blankly at him. "What's all this about? And what does it have to do
with us?"
Koril looked at Dumonia, who nodded and sighed. "Three days ago, in a fluke,
Marek Kreegan, Lord of Lilith, was assassinated."
My heart skipped a beat, and Darva looked at me in concern.
"What!"
I exclaimed, not even realizing that Darva's heart had also fluttered for no
reason she could fathom.
The Cerberan nodded. "Despite its flukish nature, such a thing could never
have happened without the direct intervention of a Confederacy assassin."
I couldn't suppress my excitement. So I'd done it! Or somebody had anyway. I
kind of hoped it was the other me on Lilith.
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Charon: A Dragon at the Gate
"With Kreegan's death, the brains behind the alien plot are dead as well,"
Dumonia went on. "But he was a good planner, so his death, in and of itself,
will not affect much. His chief officer, Kobb, ran the basic system anyway and
was not only in on everything but was in pretty fak agreement with Kreegan's [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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