"And what deep, dark shadows do you see lurking within my soul?"
Pitt laughed. "A gentleman never reveals a lady's private thoughts." He offered her a cigarette, but she shook her head.
"Seriously, our eyes have something in common."
"Miss Fyrie's eyes are deep blue," Tidi said, yours are green. What could they possibly have in common?"
"Miss Fyrie's eyes, like mine, have rays that spread from the pupil into the iris," Pitt said. "They're sometimes called flashes." He paused to light a cigarette. "I have it from the best authority, flashes are a sign of psychic powers."
"Are you clairvoyant?" Kirsti asked.
"I admit to being a failure," Pitt replied. "I always lose at poker because I have yet to read my opponent's cards or mind.
How about you, Miss Fyrie, can you see into the future?"
He saw a fleeting shadow across her eyes.
"I know my destiny, therefore I can control it."
Pitts dark, grinning features gave nothing away as he began to enter into the spirit of the eternal chase. He leaned across the table until only a few inches separated their eyes-green stared into violet.
"I take it you usually expect to get what you want?"
"Yes!" Her answer came without an instants hesitation.
37
Then suppose I told you that under no circumstances would I ever attempt to make love to you?"
"I know the sort of thing you expect me to say, Major." An expression of defiant determination animated her face. "But If I really desired you and demanded your attention, I would be playing into your hands, Eternally. No, I seldom bother with something I do not want. I shant totally impore your empty rejection."
Pitt acted as if he were unconscious of any static in the atmosphere. "Why, Miss Fyrie, I hardly figured you for a cop-out artist."
She looked blank. "A cop-out artist?"
"That's American for chicken," Tidi said with a razor-sharp tongue coated with several layers of sugar.
Admiral Sandecker cleared his throat. He was thinking of what might happen if this trend in the conversation were to continue.
"I see no reason for an old man to sit here and listen to all this lighthearted talk while he's starving.
Particularly when several square yards of delicious-looking food sits begging for attention only ten feet away."
"Please allow me to introduce you to our native buffet dishes," Kirsti said. "I trust Major Pitts appetite for food is more regulated than his appetite for sex."
"Touche!" Pitt laughed. He rose and pulled back Kirsti's chair. "From this moment forward, my every move will be with moderation."
The varieties of fish seemed endless. Pitt counted over twenty different dishes of salmon and nearly fifteen of cod alone.
They each returned with their plates heaped with near over-the-rim helpings.
"I see you've taken a fancy to our cured shark
meat, Major." Kirsti's eyes were smiling.
"I've heard a great deal about the processing," Pitt said. "And now at last I have a chance to try it."
The smile in her lovely eyes turned to a flicker of surprise as he ate several slices. "Are you sure you're aware of how we prepare it?"