STARSHIP TROUPERS IV: THE UNKNOWN GUEST

Chapter Fifteen: Waiting in the Wings

by

Christopher Stasheff

Copyright 2012

 

We stood staring for a heartbeat or five.  Then Marnie lit up like a skyrocket and tore into Valdor.  “You!  How dare you come to watch us after all you’ve put me through?”

“I know, I know, my dear.”  Valdor made a grab for her hand, but quick though he was, she snatched it away with nanoseconds to spare.  “Please forgive me—but I couldn’t stand to see you wasting your talents in lunches and shopping.”

“Wasting!  You were far more concerned with my wasting your money than my talent.  I’ll have you know that my gowns will increase in value with the years!”

“True—but only because they’ve been worn by Marnie Lulala.  That’s not only my opinion, but that of couturiers and designers with whom I’ve consulted.”

“So you value my clothes more than me?”

“I value you more than anything in the universe.”

Marnie looked surprised for a minute, then managed to restore her glare.

“But I value everything about you,” Valdor continued, “your brilliant mind, your warmth and generosity of spirit, your ability to defend yourself from insult and slander, your magnificent figure, your exquisite face, those huge wonderful eyes, your ripe and tempting lips—but most of all, your skill and talent, the way the stage lights up as you make your entrance, just as you enter a crowded room and instantly own it.  But you display none of that to the greatest degree unless you are onstage or before a camera.”  He stepped closer, and this time he did manage to capture her hand, though a cynic might have noticed that she moved it more slowly this time.

“Now, of course,” she said, “you expect me to fall at your feet and beg to be taken back to the designers and gourmet restaurants of old Earth?”

“I expect nothing,” Valdor said, “but I hope for a quiet dinner with you, to tell you how deeply I’ve missed you, and to hear all that has befallen you on this tour.  Forgive me, my dear, and turn your face upon me again, that I might bask in the glory of your gaze.”

“Overdoing it at bit, aren’t you?” Marnie asked with an astringent tone.

“Never too much, where you are concerned.”

Marnie tried to hide it, but I could see she was touched.

“I know I deserve no mercy,” Valdor said, “but I hope for a chance to explain and win your forgiveness.”

“I might forgive you,” Marnie said, “if you had not also jeopardized these people about whom I have come to care deeply.”

“One chance,” Valdor asked in a tone to melt her heart.  “One chance, to explain.”

“Chance!  But you know it all—from your lackey of an investigator who follows us to make sure we don't attempt to return to Earth!”

Finally the Man in Grey spoke.  “That’s not my function, Ms. Lulala.”

“Then what is it?  To sabotage our productions, beginning with a revolution on New Venus, one that has no doubt blackened our reputation throughout the Sphere of Terran-Occupied Planets?  To assassinate Charles?  To entrap us forever on this dismal prison of a planet?”  She turned on Valdor.  “For which purpose did you hire him, you traitorous snake?”

“To be your bodyguard,” Valdor said.

Marnie stared at him, speechless for what was surely the only time in her life.

“I knew Elector Rudders had put a bounty on Charles’s head, and therefore on all of you.  It was Rudders who had you shadowed and planned to abandon you all on a deserted planet from which you could never escape—but he underestimated Charles’s ability to distract the local agents he hired.”

“Ah, so that’s why disastrous things kept happening,” I said in sudden understanding.

“You sure this was his doing?”  Ramou nodded at the Man in Grey.  “How could it be, when we always saw him as we were leaving a planet, never when we were arriving?”

“Because he is very skilled at what he does,” Valdor said—and believe it or not, the bodyguard looked down to hide a blush.

I frowned.  “But if he was always following us, how did he know where we were going to perform next?”

“An excellent point,” Valdor said, “but I was not the one who sought to prevent you from carrying education with your entertainment.”

“Who, then?”

Valdor shrugged.  “Take your pick.  Mr. Publican—or rather, Mr. Barman—has angered all the plutocrats of old Earth with his stubborn insistence in preserving some shred of democracy in the Terran Sphere.”

“So it was the doing of Elector Rudders and his party,” Charles said, pondering the puzzle.  “But how did they always know where we were going next?”

We were all silent, looking at one another in puzzlement.

“I know nothing of the theater, of course,” Valdor said, “but I do know a bit about intrigue.  It would seem to me that Rudders has planted a spy in your company.”

“A spy?” Barry asked.

“One of our own?” Marnie gasped in horror.

We all looked at one another, but this time with suspicion, anger just below the surface.  Though Barry hadn’t used the word, we all knew we harbored a traitor.

Marnie pressed her lips so tightly they turned white while the rest of her face darkened with anger.  “Now, this is truly insupportable!  I have given my time and my knowledge to every one of this company, as friend to all of you and mentor to the novices, encouraging you and coaching you.  I have left at the height of my comeback to go trouping with you in the provinces, and this is how you repay me?  I’ve suffered my share of stabs in the back over the years—but nothing to resemble this!”

Several of us looked down to hide smiles.  Others managed to look properly indignant.  There was truth in what Marnie said, though with considerable exaggeration, and her good qualities had begun to show only on Sandrock.

I froze in a moment of realization.  What had happened on Sandrock to bring out her friendly and caring side?  And come to think of it, Larry’s more positive aspects had begun to show too—but they hadn’t lasted.  Marnie’s had.

“Process of elimination,” Barry proposed.  “Who had access to a courier ship that could carry a message back to Earth?”

 

We were all silent, looking at one another.  Then Marty said, “Some of us wouldn’t know how to make those kind of arrangements even if we did know how to find a courier.”

“A point well taken,” Horace said.  “Who does know how?”

“McLeod, of course,” Winston said.  “He’s the captain, and if anyone has contacts with the space merchants, he does.”

McLeod started to object, but Winston beat him to it.  “I raise the point only for discussion.  We all know McLeod’s loyalty.”

McLeod closed his mouth, appeased.

“But doesn’t the first officer know most of a captain’s tasks?” Larry asked.

Merlo’s face darkened, but Barry and I nodded, and Charles pointed out, “If the tour is abandoned, he has no ship to command.”

“And no transportation away from this planet.”

Everyone shuddered at the thought.

“Could be you, Larry,” Marty offered.

“Don’t even think of it!” Larry snapped.  “I have no wish to be stuck on this forsaken rock, either!”

“Well, none of us do,” Suzanne said.  “My dream is to be a star on Old Earth, not a castaway on Wolmar.”

Okay, so I was going back to Earth.

Back?

“Wait a minute,” I said.  “We’re going at this backwards.  None of us wants to stay here, and the only ones who want to keep touring are us beginners.  After all, for us, this is at least a start, and one where the younger actors can be seen by some of the most influential players of the day.”

“Nice to be accorded my due at last,” Marnie said.

Several of us coughed, but the more discerning noticed a slight twitch of Marnie’s lip that could be interpreted as laughing at herself.

“Of course,” said Winston, “some of us have passed the zenith of our fame and find this the only way to continue our careers.”

Marnie gave him a whetted glare.  Winston gave her the blank look of total innocence and glanced all about.

“Good point, Winston,” said Cholly.  “We should ask not who has something to lose by keeping the enemy apprised of our whereabouts but, more to the point, who has something to gain.”

“Few or none of us old hands, I fear,” Barry said with a sigh.  “Truth be told, it is as Winston said—if we could still gain significant roles on Broadway, we would.”

“Speak for yourself, Barry,” Marnie said with a toss of her head.  “I, at least, am not prepared to declare my career ended quite yet.”

“Nor should you be,” Valdor said.  “There are ways to assure you both a theater and a new and excellent script.”

Marnie stilled, and I could see the calculations running through her mind.

“The point is nonetheless worth noting,” Barry admitted.  “If I may say it, Marnie, you are younger and still more attractive than some of us.”

“Why, thank you, Barry,” Marnie purred.

“Only your due,” Barry responded with true gallantry—and, perhaps, a hope to preserve some influence.  “However, if I must speak truly, I would have to admit that my chances of gaining another leading role are slight.”

“If we discount all the senior and seasoned members of the troupe,” Ogden said, “that does indeed leave only the younger members.”

A drastic silence fell.  Then Winston asked, “Who wants a career start badly enough to betray friends and cultivate possible enemies?”

Suzanne bit her lip to keep from speaking.

Marnie’s gaze swiveled to Larry.  “Who has gained few friends on this tour and seems to care little for anyone else’s needs?”

Larry stiffened as, one by one, all stares turned to him.

“I suppose I should be complimented that you think I’m devious enough to be a suspect,” he said, “but this is one occasion when I’m relieved to say I don’t have the… cleverness to maintain such a pose for the whole of this tour.”

“He has a point,” Marty admitted, “and don’t look at me, folks—my mind is an open book.”

“Yes,” Larry said, “full of dry leaves.”

“More evidence of his innocence.”  Ogden nodded.

“That leaves two of the younger set,” Marnie said.

Winston indicated me with a nod.  “Ramou has proved his loyalty again and again—and he never was planning a career in the theater, anyway.”

“’Was,’” Larry said.  “Has ambition rubbed off on you during this journey, Ramou?”

“A point,” Ogden conceded.  “Where do you plan to go, now that the tour is over?”

“Hadn’t really thought about it.”  And, with a glance at Suzanne, “Wherever destiny takes me.”

The young lady glanced down, blushing, but with a rather self-satisfied smile.

“That leaves only one.”  Marnie turned her gaze slowly toward Lacey.

“You can’t think I did it!” Lacey cried.

All heads turned toward her.

Marnie’s glare hardened.  “How much did they offer you, little traitor?”

“A million credits?” Winston asked.

“A mansion and servants?” I suggested.

“A private island all your own?” Ogden demanded.

“I think you’re all off-base,” Cholly said.  “There’s no more luxury when the money runs out—no more mansion, no more servants.  What is the gift that won’t fade away, that will keep on gaining and yielding income for as long as her career lasts?”

A deadly hush settled over the greenroom.  Everyone stared at Lacey.

She trembled, vibrating like a sapling in a windstorm.

“You’ve never spoken a word about politics,” Marnie said.  “That leaves self-interest as your only motivation.”

“All right, I did it!” Lacey snapped.  “Elector Rudders came backstage in person.  He explained that the tour had started from nothing and in only a couple of weeks had mushroomed into something he couldn’t stop.  If I could get selected as a member of the company, he promised me a return to Earth and a leading role in Hartner’s new drama!  The 3DTs are snuffing out the 2D shows, the virtuals are dying, Broadway is dead!  The vicarious-experience stories are drowning them all, and I don’t fancy walking around with a wire in my head recording my every emotion!  Can you blame me for wanting a lead role before the last vestige of show business disappears?”

“If it means betraying your friends,” Marnie said, “yes.”

Lacey looked from one to another and saw little pity and great conviction.  “Tell me you wouldn’t have done it yourself if you’d had the chance!” she protested.

 “All right—I wouldn’t have.”  Winston’s voice was harsh for the first time since I’d known him.  “Not to a friend and colleague, no.”

Ogden stirred, the look of censure still on his face.  “By the time you’re forty, Ms. Lark, you may find that other priorities have overtaken your career.”

“Or maybe not,” Lacey fired back.

Marnie glanced at Valdor, leaning against the doorframe and watching with arms folded.  Catching her gaze, he unfolded his arms and took a step forward.

Marnie turned back to Lacey.  “People are more important than money, you little fool.  That is what you will learn by the time you’re forty.”

“Oh, please don’t tell me that love is more important than money and fame!  Not when you’re on the verge of having it all!”

“All right, I shan’t tell you,” Marnie said.  “I’ll let you learn it for yourself.”

“Does this mean,” asked Valdor, “that I may yet hope?”

“You may,” Marnie said, lip quivering with suppressed mirth, “but you shall have a long and arduous road to climb.”

“Certainly the goal shall be worth the effort,” Valdor said, “if at the summit I find my heart’s desire.”

”There is no guarantee of that.”

“So I’ve learned.”  Valdor stepped forward again and caught her hand.  “But I’m not so foolish as to risk its loss a second time.”

“Indeed,” Marnie said.  “And what had you lost that made you send me away, but are now importuning me to return?”

“Your warmth and your concern for your friends,” Valdor said.  “I’ve witnessed both even now, watching you come to their defense here in this room.”

“Haven’t you also seen her anger, her bitterness, and the hardness of her heart?” Lacey said with a curl of the lip.

Marnie turned on her in a royal rage, but before she could speak, Valdor said, “That she can defend herself if needed?  I think that is an admirable quality.  That she will mete out punishment to those who deserve it?  I think that is understandable.  Laudable or not, it’s a characteristic of the passionate.”

“You should know that better than anyone,” Marnie said, with a look that made it clear all was not yet forgiven.

“I should indeed,” Valdor said, “notwithstanding which, I have come to beg you to allow me to risk your wrath again.”

“You must think I’ve mellowed considerably during this tour.”

“Therein, at least, my spy has kept me well-informed.”  Valdor nodded toward the Man in Gray.

“Him?” Marnie asked, staring.  “But he’s not a member of the company!  How could he know?”

The investigator finally spoke up.  “It’s amazing, Ms. Lulala, how much a man can learn about actors simply by sitting near them in a crowded restaurant or cocktail lounge—and, of course, by watching you perform.  There are hints of interpersonal relationships evident even when you’re speaking lines written by a playwright for fictitious characters.”

“Indeed,” Marnie said with arctic frost.  “And what characteristics did you read into my performances?”

“A warmth and caring for your colleagues that I find rare in your profession.”

“It was that as well as your beauty that drew me to you,” Valdor said, “but it seemed to vanish as our relationship progressed.  I am immensely relieved and delighted that it has finally come out of hiding.”

“Has it really!”

Lacey was staring at Marnie as though she were insane.

“What clues did you find in my performances that led you to believe I was really kind and caring?”  Marnie asked.

“Oh, little things, such as covering for a younger actor, or even an older one, who forgot the occasional line—and insisting on taking focus when it was required, but yielding it when the good of the performance demanded it.  In fact, your company’s productions are some of the few I’ve seen without a single upstaging contest.”  He nodded to Barry.  “Your director is to be highly commended.”

“And I?” Marnie demanded.  “How would you read such characteristics into my portrayal of, say, Master Shakespeare’s Gertrude?”

“I’ve found that the leads frequently set the tone of a production just as surely as the director.  If that production has the type of interaction and morale I’ve just been speaking about, the leads should receive an equal amount of  praise.”

Marnie stood still for a minute, her face a mask.  Then she turned to Valdor.  “It would seem you have found an investigator who knows something of the theatrical world.”

“Not all of us have the talent and good fortune to succeed,” said the Man in Gray, “and, of course, in the theater, succeeding means earning a living.”

“I take it you did not.”

“You take it correctly—but I have found my stage training useful for my current profession.”

Marnie stared at him again, then said to Valdor, “I hope you paid him handsomely for such excellent powers of observation.”

“I have always enjoyed travelling,” the Man in Gray said, “especially when someone else is paying.”

“And you adroitly get your master off the hook.”

“Oh, but there are some hooks we never wish to remove,” Valdor said, “especially the ones the fisherman doesn’t see.”

“Oh?  And do you really think I didn’t see you casting the bait?”

“I trusted that you would follow the line back to he who dangled it in hope.”

Marnie gave him the silent look again, then said, “That hope might not be entirely misplaced.  What bait are you casting today?”

“A bottomless credit account.”

“I’ve had enough of that, thank you.  I think I’d prefer to mount more productions of the plays we’ve rehearsed on this voyage, with a cast and director whom I trust.”

“Why, there’s a wench for you!”  Valdor pressed her hands between his.

“Don’t you dare bid me to come on and kiss you!”

“Not in public,” Valdor agreed.  “But there are other things I will ask of you.”

“Such as?”  The frost was back.

“That you return with me to New York.”

“To be your mistress again?” Marnie spat.  “We’ve tried that once, Valdor.  It didn’t work.”

“Not when you forsook your other love to decorate my arm.”

“Other love?”  Marnie frowned.

“The theater.  I would ask that you maintain your professional activities.”

“I see.”  The frost was thawing a little.  “Any other demands?”

“That you allow me to court you.”

Marnie pondered.  “I might.”  Then, with a smile that lit the room, “But this time, do it right.”

Lacey couldn’t stand it any longer.  “No pre-nuptial agreement?  Are you insane?”

“Why, you’ve just heard the terms, foolish child, and my acceptance of them.”  She turned and looked about at us all.  “You are my witnesses.”

“I shall have it drawn up, if you prefer,” Valdor offered.

“You are premature.”  There was still a bit of frost.  “Wait until we are considering marriage before we discuss such terms.  There is, however, another on which I must insist.”

“Anything!”

“Still reckless,” Marnie said, as much to herself as to him.  “Well then, I require that the marriage, if there should be one, be null and void if I seek to withdraw from my career before retirement age.”

“As you wish,” Valdor said, and his eyes were glowing.  “For myself, I don’t intend to retire until I reach the fine old age of one hundred.”

“Come now.”  Finally, Marnie laid her hand on his arm.  “In this day and age, that is scarcely the statistical average.”

“Indeed.”  Valdor brought his other hand over to press hers.  “I will not ask for what I should not have.”

“Well, then…”  Marnie looked into his eyes.  “I shall consider the matter.”

“Only one issue requires an immediate answer,” said Valdor.  “Will you return to Earth with me?”

Marnie’s smile calmed to the warmth of a winter fireplace.

“Oh, do, Marnie.”  Suzanne clapped her hands.  “Cinderella should always marry the prince.”

Marnie turned to her with a lofty smile.  “You ask that I accept this man solely to satisfy your desire for romance?”  Without waiting for the answer, she turned back to Valdor.  “Of course I shall return with you.  How else shall I discover how this story ends?”

Suzanne beamed and caught my hand.

Barry shook his head as he turned to Horace.  “So at one stroke, we lose our utility player, our leading lady, and our ingénue.”

Marnie turned back with a frown of concern.  “How shall you manage?”

“Well, we’ve already replaced our utility player.”  Barry nodded toward Lazaro, who stared in shock and surprise before a slow smile brightened his face.  “As to the others,” Barry continued, “there are always locals hinting for an audition on every planet we visit.  In the meantime, though, we have enough actors for Backer’s Didn’t He Ramble, since there is only one female part.”  He smiled and looked up at his erstwhile leading lady.  “Don’t concern yourself, Marnie.  We shall manage.”