Getting the Business on Viriinil

There was also the fact that ulverm was pretty much freely available here. Mel should have figured that out when first Treen and then Droth were able to easily procure some for him, but when he finally did realize it Mel decided he should take advantage of the opportunity. He discovered just a little of the stuff could brighten up his whole day.

Ulverm also came in quite handy the next few times he was summoned to entertain a nobleman. The Taylpat was even more smitten with Mel now and couldn't stop boasting about his First to his cronies. This naturally made them curious, so they would drop hints about how grateful they would be to the Taylpat for the chance to sample Mel's charms for themselves.

Within two months after his second time with the Taylpat Mel had spent nights with the Ondank of the province around Guoton, the grand vizier of the treasury, chief general Dal Un Mene, and the Taylpat's own younger brother, Ulla. (It was from the last that Mel finally learned the Taylpat's personal name, Utada. Mel decided he would call him by it the next time they met.) On each of these occasions Mel dosed himself with enough ulverm beforehand to ensure that he had a good time.

And Mel did have a good time. Before coming to Viriinil Mel had only dated women. He'd enjoyed it well enough, but he'd always thought people made sex into a much bigger thing than it deserved to be. Sealing a trade deal in which Mel completely out-maneuvered his competitors and/or suppliers had always been a much more exciting and satisfying process as far as he was concerned.

The sex since he'd arrived on Viriinil was different. It was much more involving, both emotionally and physically. At first not always in a way he'd liked, admittedly, but Mel couldn't deny how strongly it had affected him even back then. And since his second time with the Taylpat he'd decided he'd been silly to be so resistant about everything. In Mel's experience sex with Viriin males was great sex. And when you came right down to it, Mel had to say this whole "being a woman" thing was a lot more interesting for him than being with a woman had ever been.

Mel made up his mind that, given the choice, he may as well be happy. And he was.

Then eleven months after he'd first arrived in the Women's House everything changed again.

{}

Later Mel realized that his rescue was all due to Treen. After that time in the privy when he'd told her he'd been kidnaped and wanted to be back with the other humans in Yetter she'd set her devious mind to the task of getting a message out of the harem to reach them. It took her a while to do this, partly because Mel had destroyed most of her power base in the Women's House, but eventually she managed it.

The Alien Sentient Service began an investigation. This too took time since they didn't want to tread on too many Viriin toes without more evidence, but in time they determined that the Taylpat of Osirana had indeed acquired a "real umahn" for his harem. Envoys were dispatched to demand Mel's release.

Apparently the Taylpat had offered to pay Mel's "clan" an amount of ulverm that Mel calculated was approximately equal to 7% of the usual annual total export of the substance, if only he could keep Mel. Mel felt incredibly flattered, while at the same time salivating over the amount of money that would have been worth.

But of course the Assos turned it down and took Mel instead.

{}

Once Mel was back in Yetter he spent days alternating between psych evaluations and being debriefed by the Assos. The psych part was easier, Mel was a good salesman and knew how to spin a pitch. He soon convinced the medics he wasn't suffering from Stockholm Syndrome or any other mental problems from his captivity.

The Assos were a bigger hurdle. They hadn't wanted Mel wandering around the planet to begin with and now were trying to find some way to blame him for the whole problem.

"Well, as far as we can discover your story checks out," the officer at Mel's final interview told him. "The innkeeper you named denies ever seeing you, but other witnesses contradict him. And we've found out that it's common knowledge he's in cahoots with this Tela Sar Utana you described, also that the latter is in fact a notorious slaver in those parts."

"Did you find Sar Utana?" Mel asked. "He's the one you should be after if he's ruthless enough to kidnap Terrans."

The Asso looked disgusted. "No, some local must have let him know we were looking and he high-tailed it. If he ever shows up near Yetter we'll nab him, but we don't have the authority to go hunting for him."

"How about the other innkeeper, and the guard captain in Eystro?'

"Again, the innkeeper denies knowing you exist but your presence was confirmed by others at his establishment. And again, this guy apparently tips thieves off about guests who may have valuables in their rooms and provides them with keys so they can get in."

The officer sighed. "The guard captain is just your typical meathead local cop, says you came to him but he couldn't help you. You're probably right about him not trying very hard but that's not something we have control over. We found your stolen devices at the bottom of a garbage heap, the thief may not even have known what they were and just dumped them after taking your money."

"To sum up, the worst we can say about your part of the mess is that you didn't exercise enough caution, but that's not a chargeable offense."

"So I'm clear, then," Mel said.

"I said we can't charge you with anything," the Asso corrected grumpily. "Your visa has been pulled and we've booked you on the next transport off-planet. Furthermore there is now an advisement on your record to make certain you'll never get another trading certification on Viriniil. If I had my way we'd pull your trader cert altogether, but that's beyond my authority. Now get out of here."

"Yeah, you have a nice day too, commander," Mel said.

{}

Despite his bold front Mel was at a loss. His time on Viriniil had changed him far more than he let on to the psych boys. In addition he couldn't stop thinking about how, despite all the missteps he'd made along the way, he'd come very close to acquiring a lock on a new, cheaper source of ulverm. But now the Assos weren't going to let him trade on the planet no matter what! It was a terrible dilemma.

On the ship back to civilization one of the crewmen caught Mel's eye. He was a big man with a full beard and had olive skin that might, if you set your mind to it, look just a bit orange under certain lights. He also seemed to be receptive to Mel's compliments and attention.

They ended up in Mel's stateroom when the crewman was off duty, doing what came naturally. And it wasn't bad as far as Mel was concerned. (The crewman was quite a lot more effusive in his praise of Mel's skills and suggested they make a regular thing of it, and had to be let down gently.)

But it wasn't like doing it with a Viriin male.

{}

"You're Melchizedek Randie?"

"That's me, though I usually go by Melissa these days," Mel said, smiling flirtatiously at the Asso. He was a freshly-minted lieutenant, not one of the officers Mel had met the last time he was on planet. "I haven't quite gotten around to changing it officially, it's such a bother with all my certifications being under my old name and me being so busy arranging our current tour."

"Ah, right then," the officer said, looking away and then back again at the figure in the slinky dress and large flashy earrings. Mel thought the young man might be about to blush.

"And the purpose of your visit here is... cultural exchange?"

The Asso sounded so suprised Mel had to suppress a giggle. "Why, yes. As you can see from the forms I'm the leader of a dance troupe. One I personally organized, in fact. We're going to be performing for Viriin audiences, I've even arranged some private shows for certain local potentates. Showcasing Terra's best for them, you might say."

"Huh. And all the dancers are male?"

"Oh, certainly. You're here on the planet, you must know that the locals have this thing about gender."

He nodded. "True enough. I see how an all-male troupe would work better."

"No, you don't see at all," Mel thought privately. "But just as well."

Coming up with the idea had been the easy part. Cultural exchange wasn't trade, so there was no prohibition on Mel doing it on Viriinil. It had still taken over a year for Mel to get the necessary permits, not to mention putting together the troupe. Recruitment had been a very delicate issue, all the men had to be trained dancers, fit a certain ideal of beauty, and also be open to "new experiences" which Mel could only hint at until they'd signed the contract. Fortunately a lot of male dancers were gay to begin with.

Mel had trained them all in Viriini dancing. Not that Mel felt qualified to teach more than the basic steps, but they could combine Viriin moves with the Terran styles they already knew. Besides, it would look awfully odd to the Assos if they'd come to showcase Viriini dancing to the Viriin, so the Terran dances made for a good cover as well.

Then of course there was the time it took to make surreptitious contact with the Taylpat of Osirana. Mel had managed to do this through that old rascal Tela Sar Utana, of all people. But now the arrangements were complete, and all the "private performances" of the Terran dancers were going to be paid for in ulverm. Quite a lot of ulverm. And that was in addition to any coin the dancers earned from the common people at the public shows, which would be used to buy more ulverm in the local markets.

Mel would be getting a cut of all this as manager. In addition, the largest single payment of ulverm would be for Mel's own "private performance." It seemed the Taylpat missed his lost Mesattlis a great deal.

"Well, everything seems in order, uh, Melissa," the Asso said. "I see you've already been on planet once before so I guess I don't need to remind you about the importance of wearing your beards and artificial scent."

"Oh, yes, I am very well aware of what can happen if you don't wear those things," Mel agreed.

And then Mel just couldn't help but giggle aloud, quite happily.

THE END