The Pimpernel Plot (TimeWars 3)

“Well, thank you, though I still have a great deal to get used to. It hasn’t yet ceased to feel strange to come across things that I have absolutely no experience of and suddenly discover that I know all about them.”

“It probably never will cease to feel strange,” said Lucas. “It’s something all of us experience at one time or another. Believe it or not, you’ll grow accustomed to it. It’s what soldiers call ‘subknowledge.’ You’ll learn to live with it. In fact, you wouldn’t survive for very long without it. None of us would.”

“You’ve come through with flying colors,” Finn said. “I spoke to that officer who was in charge of your case-”

“Colonel Hendersen,” she said.

“Yes, that’s the one. He said he was damned sorry to have to let you go. You’re the most radical case of temporal relocation in the history of the corps. He said that we’ve had people relocated further back in time before, on the Minus Side, but evidently no one’s ever been displaced and permanently assigned to Plus Time. He was bending over backwards trying to get you reassigned to his unit.”

“He wasn’t the only one,” said Andre. “The recruiters wanted to get their hands on me, as well. Evidently, as an example of the type of woman that soldiers could expect to meet on the Minus side, I’d be a good inducement for enlistment.” She laughed. “Never mind that it would be misleading, I found the whole thing extremely funny. Women are certainly treated far better in this time than in the one I came from, but I suppose that some things will never change. The recruiting officer practically turned himself inside out trying to get me to sign some papers and he was quite upset when I told him that anything I did would have to be cleared through Col. Forrester first. By the way, where is the old man? I was hoping he’d be here.”

Lucas grinned. “Just make sure you never call him ‘the old man’ to his face! He wanted to be here, but he couldn’t make it. Something came up and he was called upstairs, which means that either Delaney’s up on charges again or there’s a good chance we’re going out soon.”

“Does that mean that I will be included?” Andre said.

Finn flicked her collar up with a finger, the side with the division insignia on it. “That makes it official,” he said. “Meanwhile, there’s still a part of your education that’s been sadly neglected.”

Andre frowned. “But I was assured that my programming was quite complete,” she said.

“All except for one thing,” said Finn, “and that’s something implant education can’t take care of. Now that you’re a soldier, you’re going to have to learn to drink like one.”

“Are you implying that I’m deficient in that department?” she said with a smile.

“Well, let’s say that you have yet to prove that you are not,” said Finn, chuckling.

“That sounds like a challenge.”

Finn grinned. “Name your poison,” he said.

Andre looked at him with amusement. She knew that Delaney was a prodigious drinker, but she also recalled that there was one drink in particular, preferred by Col. Forrester, that Delaney truly loathed. She hadn’t tried it, but she recalled Delaney saying that it took a deathwish and a cast-iron stomach to be able to stand it.

“Red Eye,” she said.

Delaney looked aghast. “Oh, no!”

Lucas burst out laughing. “Ten chits says she drinks you under the table,” he said.

“Okay, you’re on,” Delaney said. “Only let’s make it more interesting. If you want to collect, you’re going to have to match us drink for drink.”

“I think that I can make it still more interesting,” said Andre. “It’s been years since I’ve had a man and the last one left a great deal to be desired. We’ll all go drink for drink and if one of you wins, I’ll take him to bed.”

The two men raised their eyebrows and exchanged glances. “But suppose you win?” said Lucas. “Unlikely a possibility though that may be,” he added.

Andre smiled. “Then the two of you will pool your resources and purchase me the services of a Class 1 male courtesan.”

“A Class 1… Where in hell did you learn about that?” Delaney said. “They’re putting that kind of stuff in the programming?”

“My therapist at Colorado Springs seemed to think that I’d been sexually deprived,” said Andre. “She suggested that as a solution. The idea of a male whore intrigued me greatly and I told her that I would consider it. She said to ask for a Class 1, since they possessed the greatest level of skills.”

“Do you have any idea how much something like that would cost?” said Finn. “It takes years to achieve a Class l rating.”

“Well, you did say that you wanted to make the wager interesting,” she said.

“Of course, you realize that by bringing a Class 1 licensed courtesan into the wager, you’re placing a not inconsiderable value on yourself?” said Lucas, with a hint of amusement.

She replied with a straight face. “I always have,” she said.

Lucas chuckled. “Very well, I’m game. What about you Finn?”