"They won't live forever."

"Won't they? I thought that's what you were working on?"

Crystal winced again. "If it works, it'll extend their life expectancy, but it won't do more than double it. The brain can't last any longer than that--160, 180, 200 years tops."

"Their brains are already 200 years old," said Bianca, sourly. "They think it's still 1850-something, and Abraham Lincoln's just an impertinent nobody with no future." She wiped the mist off the mirror, and stared at her face. "God, I look like shit."

"You look gorgeous."

"Thanks. You're beautiful. Crys..." She wrapped the towel around herself, and drew a deep breath. "You're right; Simon's not a bad man, I wouldn't have married him if he were, and you wouldn't have... but I don't want to see his parents turn him into one. Will you help me?"

"Any way I can."

"Thanks." She finished drying herself, dressed for the flight, and freshened up her make-up. "Okay, let's go."

Simon and his best man were sitting in the den watching one of the news channels. A PR flack was defending the use of Sanderson MedTech's new lie detectors in screening job applicants. "These machines are ninety-nine percent reliable," he blustered, while a split screen shot showed the detector's needle unquavering. "They use nanotech to detect minute quantities of certain pheremones which are only emitted when somebody lies. We have to check our workers out thoroughly; even minor acts of negligence or sabotage can cost the--" Simon reached for the remote and muted the 3V as he heard the women walked in. "Ready?" Bianca, unable to speak, merely nodded.

Simon stood, and looked at both of them. "You're beautiful," he said, smiling broadly. "Rick, can you take Crystal home?"

Bianca zipped her dress closed and tried to smile. "I'm sorry," said Rick.

"Hey," she said, trying a little harder, "if condoms never failed, I probably wouldn't exist."

His mouth quirked slightly. "You have an implant, don't you?"

Bianca nodded. "A GeneSafe."

"You sound worried. Is there a problem?"

"I hope not," she said, sitting back on the bed. "It's just that... if it's been triggered, it's fairly obvious."

"How obvious?"

She sighed softly as she searched for her shoes. Rick, one of Sanderson MedTech's battalion of lawyers, seemed to take care to learn only what he needed to know at the time. "Iridescent blue patches inside the eyelids, in the lymph nodes, and any places my skin's thin enough for veins to be visible. If there was enough of your semen to activate the nanos, it'll start showing in an hour or two."

Rick sat up slowly. "How long does it last?"

"Two or three days."

"And when's Simon due back?"

"Tuesday, but Simon isn't the problem. I told him about us months ago." Rick blinked. "It's his parents."

"You told him?"

"Of course."

"Why?"

"Why not? I don't like lying. I was fairly sure he wouldn't mind, and he doesn't. He married me mostly to get his parents off his back, and maybe keep the Sanderson empire running for another generation, though he hasn't shown much sign of that. I thought you knew that?"

Rick rubbed his face, and climbed out of the bed. "No. I don't get to talk to him as much as I used to. Does he have someone else?"

"Yes," she said, neutrally.

"Who?"

"If he hasn't told you, I'd rather not," she replied. She finished dressing, and leaned over to kiss him. "Look, it'll be okay. If anything does happen, I'll let the computer screen my calls."

"I don't know," said Rick. "The Old Man has a lot of spies... Does he know about Simon and..."

"I'm sure he does--it's been going on for years--but they don't know about us."

"What do you think they'll do if they find out?"

She looked at Rick sadly. Nothing to you, she thought. Nothing to Simon, either. Something to me, maybe something to Crystal... but probably not, she's too useful to them. "They won't find out," she said, kissed him goodbye, and hurried home.