Dek studiously avoided the covetous and disbelieving eyes, fixed all of his attention on Sharascina. He laughed, reveled, and enjoyed her famous wit, the intelligent sparkle in her designer-violet eyes with their vertical pupils. Pretending that the crowded room didn’t exist was the true art of the game, after all. And, of course, Sharascina played it with perfect pitch. That’s what the best courtesans did. They made their companions look good. And Sharascina was the best of the best.

“Truly, Dek,” she told him in that marvelous contralto of hers, “if Contrachedo’s Concerto in D Minor were ever to be played by a master, it was by Gutiea. His understanding of the violin’s role in the second movement might have been as if the very fingers of God were on the bow. You have never heard such a pathos wrung from the strings. Or, perhaps you have, come to think of it. You had Gutiea play Bach at your ascension, as I recall. That night is still talked about. Word was that Fantu was never the same after you bested him in aeropolo during the games that followed the concert.”

“Actually, he wasn’t all that good. Implants. Father made sure his were jammed. Poor beast, he had to play without them.”

Her melodic laughter carried just the right volume to communicate true amusement, the sparkle in her eye conspiratorial. “Amplified heterodyne with multipod microdirectional tracking?”

He almost hesitated, which would have let her catch him off guard, which in turn would have been humiliating. “Ah, used it yourself, have you?”

She gave his arm a conspiratorial squeeze. “You think my life is all about implants and training? Sometimes you just have to admire an elegant solution to what seems an impossible problem.” The intimate look was for him alone. “I cheat.”

The way she said it stoked his laughter, genuine and unforced.

God, she was good.

They were at the foot of the escalator—the velvet ribbon winding up toward the higher levels—when, to Dek’s dismay, Dan Wirth came strolling down from above, that boyish grin bending his lips.

“Fucking nice piece of ass you got there, Dek. I tell you, she’s one hell of a fuck. Thought my head was going to explode. Considered putting her on the floor at The Jewel. You know, sort of a replacement for Allison now that she’s gotten all high and mighty.”

Beside him, Sharascina’s violet eyes had widened, the slitted black pupils going round in astonishment.

“Friend of yours?” she asked with venom in her voice.

“Get the hell out of the way, Dan.” Dek unslung the rifle from his shoulder. Never even gave a thought to where it had come from. Never leave your rifle out of hand while you’re in the bush. He brought it around.