Stranger in a Strange Land

Ben let her lead him on a tour — a huge kitchen with a bar at one end, a library even more loaded than Jubal's, bathrooms ample and luxurious, bedrooms — Ben decided that they must be bedrooms although they contained no beds but simply floors that were even softer than elsewhere; Patty called them «little nests» and showed him the one she usually slept in.

It had been fitted on one side for her snakes. Ben suppressed his queasiness until he came to cobras. «It's all right,» she assured him. «We did have glass in front of them. But Michael has taught them that they must not come past this line.»

«I would rather trust glass.»

«Okay, Ben.» She lowered a glass barrier. He felt relieved and managed to stroke Honey Bun when invited to. Then Pat showed him one other room. It was very large, circular, had a floor as cushiony as the bedrooms; its center was a round swimming pool. «This,» she told him, «is the Innermost Temple, where we receive new brothers into the Nest.» She dabbled a foot in water. «Want to share water and grow closer? Or maybe just swim?»

«Uh, not right now.»

«Waiting is,» she agreed. They returned to the huge living room and Patricia went to get him another drink. Ben settled himself on a big couch — then got up. The place was warm, that drink was making him sweat, and a couch that adjusted to his contours made him hotter. He decided it was silly to dress the way he would in Washington — with Patty decked out in nothing but a bull snake she had left around her shoulders.

He compromised on jockey shorts and hung the rest in the foyer. There he noticed a sign on the entrance door:«Did You Remember to Dress?»

He decided that, in this household, the warning might be necessary. He saw nothing else that he had missed on coming in. On each side of the door was a huge brass bowl — filled with money.

More than filled — Federation notes of various denominations spilled out on the floor.

He was staring at this when Patricia returned. «Here's your drink, Brother Ben. Grow close in Happiness.»

«Uh, thanks.» His eyes returned to the money.

She followed his glance. «I'm a sloppy housekeeper, Ben. Michael makes it so easy, cleaning and such, that I forget.» She retrieved the money, stuffed it into the less crowded bowl.

«Patty, why in the world?»

«Oh. We keep it here because this door leads to the street. If one of us is leaving the Nest — and I do, myself, almost every day for grocery shopping — we may need money. We keep it where you won't forget to take some.»

«Just grab a handful and go?»

«Why, yes, dear. Oh, I see what you mean. There is never anyone here but us. If we have friends outside — and all of us do — there are rooms lower down, the sort outsiders are used to, where we visit. This isn't where it can tempt a weak person.»

«Huh! I'm pretty weak, myself!»

She chuckled. «How can it tempt you when it's yours?»

«Uh … how about burglars?» He tried to guess how much money those bowls contained. Most of the notes seemed to be larger than singles — hell, he could see one with three zeroes on the floor; Patty had missed it.

«One did get in, last week.»

«So? How much did he steal?»

«Oh, he didn't. Michael sent him away.»

«Called the cops?»

«Oh, no! Michael would never turn anybody over to cops. Michael just — » She shrugged. « — made him go away. Then Duke fixed the hole in the skylight in the garden room — did I show you that? It's lovely, a grass floor. You have a grass floor, Jill told me. That's where Michael first saw one. Is it grass all over?»

«Just my living room.»

«If I ever get to Washington, can I walk on it? Lie down on it? Please?»

«Of course, Patty. Uh… it's yours.»

«I know, dear. But it is good to ask. I'll lie on it and feel the grass against me and be filled with Happiness to be in my brother's “little nest”.»

«You're most welcome, Patty.» He hoped she would leave her snakes behind! «When will you be there?»

«I don't know. When waiting is filled. Maybe Michael knows.»

«Well, warn me if possible, so I'll be in town. If not, Jill always knows my door code. Patty, doesn't anybody keep track of this money?»

«What for, Ben?»

«Uh, people usually do.»

«We don't. Just help yourself — then put back any you have left when you come home, if you remember. Michael told me to keep the grouch bag filled. If it runs low I get more from him.»

Ben dropped the matter, stonkered by its simplicity. He had some idea of the moneyless communism of Martian culture; he could see that Mike had set up an enclave of it here — these bowls marked transition from Martian to Terran economy. He wondered if Patty knew that it was fake … propped up by Mike's wealth.

«Patty, how many are there in the Nest?» He felt a mild worry, then shoved back the thought — why would they sponge on him? — hedidn't have pots of gold inside his door.

«Let me see … almost twenty, counting novitiate brothers who don't think in Martian yet and aren't ordained.»

«Are you ordained, Patty?»