"It sounds grand," Llita conceded, "if we can make a living with those hours-"

"You can. A better living. But instead of trying to get every buck, Llita, your object will be to maintain top quality while not losing money...and enjoy life."

"We will. Aaron, our beloved...captain and friend, since I must not say that 'dirty' word, we enjoyed life even as children when I had to wear that horrid virgin's basket- because it was so sweet to snuggle together all the long nights. When you bought us-and freed us-and I didn't have to wear it, life was perfect. I didn't think it could, be better-though it will be, when we don't have to choose between sleep and trying to stay awake for loving. Uh, you may not believe this since you know what a rutty wench I am- but lots of times sleep won."

"I believe it. Let's change it."

"But- No breakfast trade at all? Aaron, some of our breakfast customers have been coming to us the whole time we've been on Landfall."

"Net profit?"

"Well...not much. People won't pay as much for break fast even though materials sometimes cost as much. I've been satisfied with a very small net on breakfast. Advertising. I'd hate to tell our regulars that we won't serve them any longer."

"Details, dear. You can have a breakfast bar in one corner and not open the main dining room-but Joe won't cook breakfasts, and neither will you. You'll be in bed with Joe at that hour-so that your eyes will sparkle at lunch."

"J.A. knows breakfast dishes," put in Joe. "I started him on breakfasts."

"Details again. Maybe we'll work out a deal with my godson whereby he makes money of his own, if the breakfast bar makes money-"

(Omitted)

"-sum it up. Take notes, Llita. I agree to accept this draft while you two-especially you, Llita-agree that it settles forever any debt between us. Maison Long to be a closely held corporation; fifty-one-per cent to you two, forty-nine percent to me, all three of us directors, and we can't sell stock save to each other-except that I retain option to change all or part of my share to nonvoting stock, in which case I can assign it.

"My share of the initial financing is this draft. Your share is what we get for this lunchroom-"

"Hold it," said Llita. "We might not be able to sell for that much."

"Details, dear. Stick in a paragraph to let you pay the corporation any discrepancy out of your net-and there will indeed be a net; I don't stick with a business that doesn't make money, I always cut my losses. Let's have another paragraph that permits me to supply more capital, if needed, by buying nonvoting stock-and we'll use something like that to hang onto our top help, too. Not have Joe train a chef and then have him walk out. Never mind, let's get the outlines straight. You two are the bosses; I'm silent partner. Salaries for you two on the scale we discussed, escalating with rise in net, as discussed.

"I don't get a salary, just dividends. But we all will be working our tails off to get this rolling. I'll come in from Skyhaven as necessary; there's nothing going on there now that my overseer can't handle. But once it's rolling, I do nothing; I sit back and let you two make us rich. But-listen carefully-once it's rolling, you two must stop working your tails off, too. More time in bed. More time for fun out of bed. You won't make us rich working lunchroom hours. Have we reached a meeting of minds?"

"I think so," agreed Joe. "Sis?"

"Yes. I'm not certain New Canaveral will support a gourmet restaurant like those lovely ones on Valhalla-but we'll try! I still think our starting salaries are too high, but I'll wait until I've struck a trial balance on our first quarter before I argue the matter. Just one thing, Captain-"

"My name's 'Aaron.'"

"'Captain' is safer than that 'dirty word.' I've agreed to the whole thing-and I'm durned well going to make it work!-as you always say. But if you think this makes me forget a night you dragged me out of your bed and bounced me on my bum on a hard steel deck, you can think again! Because it hasn't!"

I sighed, Minerva, and said to her husband, "Joe, how do you cope with her?"

He shrugged and grinned. "I don't, I just get along. Besides, I see her side of it. If I were you, I'd take her to bed and make her forget it."

I shook my head. "But I'm not you, that's the point. Joe, I learned long before you were born that free tail is invariably the most expensive sort. Worse than that, we three are business partners now-and I can see six possible outcomes if I accept your notion of a solution-and any of the six could cause Maison Long, Ltd., never to lift off.

- (Omitted)

-just as I knew it would, Minerva; I've never had a nonspeculative Investment pay off so well. They tried to' imitate us-but they couldn't imitate Joe's cooking or Llita's management. I made a bundle!

VARIATIONS ON A THEME-IX

Conversation Before Dawn

The computer said, "Lazarus, aren't you sleepy?"

"Don't nag me, dear. I've had thousands of white nights, and I'm still here. A man never cuts his throat from a sleepless night if he has company to see him through it. You're good company, Minerva."

"Thank you, Lazarus."

"The simple truth, girl. If I fall asleep-fine. If I don't, then no need to tell Ishtar. No, that won't work; she'll have graphs and charts on me, won't she?"

"I'm afraid so, Lazarus."

"You durn well know so. A good reason for me to be a little angel and wash behind my ears and get this rejuvenation over is to get my privacy back. Privacy is as necessary as company; you can drive a man crazy by depriving him of either. That was another thing I accomplished by setting up Maison Long; I got my kids privacy they didn't know they needed."

"I missed that, Lazarus. I noted that they had more time for 'Eros'-and I saw that that was good. Should I have inferred something else from the data?"

"No, because I didn't give you all the data. Not a tenth. Just the outline of some forty years I knew them, and some-not all-of the critical points. For instance, did I mention the time Joe decapitated a man?"

"No."

"Not much to it and it wasn't important to the story. This young blood tried to share the wealth one night by sticking them up. Llita had J.A. in her right arm, nursing him or about to, and couldn't reach the gun she kept at the cashbox; she couldn't fight and was bright enough not to try against those odds. I suppose this dude didn't know that Joe had simply stepped out of sight.

"Just as this free-lance socialist was gathering up their day's receipts, Joe lets him have it, with a cleaver. Curtain. The only notable thing about it was that Joe acted so quickly and correctly in the crunch, for I feel sure that the only fighting that he had ever tried was that which I forced on him in the 'Libby.' Joe did everything else properly, too-finished taking the head off, threw the body into the street for his friends to take away if he had any, for the scavengers to remove if not- then displayed the head in front of the shop on a spike meant for such purpose. Then he closed his shutters and cleaned up the mess-then may have taken time to throw up; Joe was a gentle soul. But it's seven to two that Llita did not throw up.

"The city's committee for public safety voted Joe the usual reward, and the street committee passed the hat and added to it; a cleaver against a gun rated special notice. Good advertising for Estelle's Kitchen but not important otherwise, save that the kids could use that money-helped pay the mortgage, no doubt, and wound up in my pocket. But I wouldn't have heard of this minor dustup had I not been in New Canaveral and happened to stop by Estelle's Kitchen when the real head was removed-flies, you know-and the plastic trophy head custom required Joe to display was substituted for it by the street committee. But I was speaking of privacy.