Part 2 (1/2)

”I don't mind the ch.o.r.es,” she said. ”But it might be fun to have a big fellow like that to shove around.” She was trying valiantly to hold up her end, but the vein in her temple was throbbing.

Well, the next forty-eight hours were more than interesting. Soth turned out to be what the doctor ordered, literally and figuratively. After I'd taken him on a tour of the place, I showed him how to work the automatic devices--food preparation, laundry and cleaning. And after one lesson, he served us faultless meals with a quiet efficiency that was actually restful, even miraculously to Vicki.

She began relaxing in his presence and planning a few outside projects ”to get our money's worth” out of the behemoth. This was our earliest joke about Soth, because he certainly was no expense or problem to maintain. As the Ollie had promised, he thrived on our table sc.r.a.ps and a pink concoction which he mixed by pouring a few drops of purple liquid from a pocket vial into a gallon pitcher of water. The stuff would be supplied by the Ollies at a cost of about a dollar eighty a week.

Sat.u.r.day afternoon, Vicki bravely took over teaching him the amenities of butlering and the intricacies of bed-making. After a short session in the bedroom, she came out looking thoughtful.

”He's awfully real looking,” she said. ”And you can't read a darned thing in his eyes. How far can you trust him, Cliff? You know--around women?”

Fred looked at me with a raised eyebrow and said, ”Well, let's find out.”

We sat down and called Soth into the living room. He came and stood before us, erect, poised and motionless.

Fred said, ”Disrobe. Remove all your clothing. Strip!”

Vicki sucked in her breath.

The Soth replied instantly, ”Your order conflicts with my conditioning.

I must not remove my covering in the presence of an Earthwoman.”

Fred scratched his gray temple thoughtfully. ”Then, Vicki, would you mind disrobing, please?”

She gulped again. Fred was an old friend, but not exactly the family doctor.

He sensed her mild outrage. ”You'll never stop wondering if you don't,”

he said.

She looked at Fred, me, and then Soth. Then she stood up gingerly, as if edging into a cold shower, gritted her teeth, grasped the catch to her full-length zipper of her blue lounging suit and stripped it from armpit to ankle. As she stepped out of it, I saw why she had peeled it off like you would a piece of adhesive tape: It was a warm day, and she wore no undergarments.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Soth moved so softly I didn't hear him go, but Fred was watching him--Fred's eyes were where they belonged. Soth stopped in the archway to the dining room with his back turned. Fred was at his side.

”Why did you leave?” Fred demanded.

”I am not permitted to remain in the company of an uncovered Earthwoman ... unless she directs me to do so.”

While Vicki fled behind the French door to dress herself, Fred asked, ”Are there any other restrictions to your behavior in the presence of Earthwomen?”

”Many.”

”Recount some of them.”

”An Earthwoman may not be touched, regardless of her wishes, unless danger to her life requires it.”

”Looks like you wash your own back, Vicki,” I chuckled.

”What else?” she asked, poking her head out. ”I mean what other things can't you do?”