Robert Charrette - Arthur 01 - A Prince Among Men Read Online Free

him, so they butted heads often enough, but he knew she meant well, that she really loved him. She had to. Otherwise she'd never put up with him. But love, they said, was blind, though they usually didn't mean this context. And blind she was where Faye was concerned. Right?
    Right.
    But while love might be blind, it wasn't necessarily stupid. "Shall I make you an appointment?"
    "I can take care of it."
    "Now, Johnny. You know how you forget sometimes to do things you're supposed to."
    Believe it.
    "You'll be running off to the museum or working on your homework and the next thing, Dr. Bloch will be calling back, wondering what happened to you. Missing psych evaluations won't look good on your record."
    And having them would? Logic jar, there. "I'll do it now if you want to watch."
    "Now, Johnny. You know I trust you."
    Uh-huh. Which is why you nag. John sighed. When the corporation paid for you, they expected you to fit their image of what you should be. It was easier to pretend to go along. You had to fit into the corporate image and lifestyle if you wanted to have any privacy at all, and John had long ago found that he liked his privacy. He'd deal with Block. Maybe this would be the last time.
    Go along.
    Yeah, that was the best thing. He keyed the respond menu and selected make appointment. He took an opening between his Heroic Literature seminar and fencing practice. He'd have just enough time to shuttle into the med center and back, if the trolley line was running on time. And if it wasn't, Coach would just have to understand. Medical, you know. Healthy mind in a healthy body, you know.
    "I'll go Tuesday."
    His mom smiled her well-satisfied smile and returned to her redecorating, leaving him to get on with his life.
    "I might have known."
    John looked up from his reader. Yael Haasmann's voice had sounded annoyed, but he had a stupid smirk on his face.
    "Hey, Mom, call security. We've got a burglar."
    Not really. Just an obnoxious fiend.
    Friend, John corrected. Obnoxious friend.
    Whatever.
    In any case, there was no response from the other room. Yael stuck his hand under his jacket and pulled it out again, thumb pointing up and index finger extended. A maniacal look on his face, he pointed at John. "Too late, drone. She let me in. There's no one to save you now. One more twitch and you're vapor."
    John put down the reader but declined to raise his hands. "It's 'there's no hope for you now.'"
    The pretend blaster dissolved as Yael shrugged. "With all the times I'd seen the vid, you'd think I could get. the lines right. I mean, Stellar Wars, the Final Generation is, like, the formative vid of our generation."
    "Keep working on it." He waved a hand. "Grab some space."
    Yael snatched a stack of reports, disks, and magazines from the desk chair and deposited it on the foot of John's bed. The pile dissolved into an avalanche that buried John's stocking feet. Promising himself he would put all that stuff away where it belonged, he pulled his feet free and sat up straighter.
    "What brings you to this part of the galaxy, stranger?"
    "I missed Zalinger's class today."
    "So I noticed. Oversleep?"
    "In a manner of speaking." Yael grinned wickedly. "But ask no more, for I will sully no lady's reputation."
    "That's a new attitude."
    "Simple practicality. I'm always discreet when it's useful."
    "You've got a new line, anyway."
    "Like it? I thought you would. Sounds like something you'd come up with. If you ever had to, of course."
    "We were talking about your love life, not mine. She anyone I know?"
    "Only in your dreams."
    "Let's leave my dreams out of it."
    "Okay. But I do need the reading assignment."
    "Next three chapters. So, who is she?"
    "I'm not telling. Three chapters! Doesn't Zalinger know we have lives outside his class?"
    "I don't think he believes there is life outside his class. Not intelligent life, anyway. Her name, freund?"
    "When you meet her. If you meet her. But I will tell you that she knows there's life outside the