made love, and after all," she challenged, "I'm surely not the first woman you've slept with, am I?"
"No, but I was hoping you'd be the last." McCoy ran his hand through his hair. "This really puts a cramp into my plans."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, what about the father? Is he going to just stand quietly by while I marry the mother of his kid?"
"You want to marry me?" For the first time Peregrine felt that everything would work out right.
"Yeah, I do! What's so strange about that? Is this guy going to be a problem? Who is it anyhow?"
"It's an ace," she said slowly. "Who?" McCoy insisted.
Oh, hell, she thought. Josh knows a lot about the New York scene. He's sure to have heard of Fortunato. What if he has the same attitude Tachyon has? Maybe I shouldn't tell him, but maybe he has the right to know. "His name's Fortunato-"
"Fortunato!" exploded McCoy. "That guy with all the hookers? Geishas, he calls them! You slept with him!" He gulped down more beer.
"I really don't see that it matters now. It happened. And if you must know, he's very charming."
"Okay, okay." McCoy glowered.
"If you're going to be jealous of every man I ever slept with, then I don't give us very much of a chance. And marriage is out of the question."
"Come on, Peri, give me a break. This is kind of unexpected."
"Well, it's a shock to me too. This morning I thought I was tired. This afternoon I find out I'm pregnant."
A shadow fell over their table. It was Tachyon in a lilac silk suit that matched his eyes. "Do you mind if I join you?" He pulled out a chair without awaiting a reply. "Brandy," he snapped to the waiter, who was hovering nearby. They all stared at each other until the waiter made a precise little bow and left. "I've spoken to the local hospital," Tachyon said finally. "We can do the test tomorrow morning."
"What test?" McCoy asked, looking from Peregrine to Tachyon.
"Did you tell him?" Tachyon asked.
"I didn't have a chance to tell him about the virus," Peregrine said in a barely audible whisper.
"Virus?"
"Because both Peregrine and For--the father, that is--carry the wild card, the child will have it," Tachyon said crisply. "An ultrasound must be performed as soon as possible to determine the status of the fetus. If the child is developing abnormally, Peregrine must have an abortion. If the child is growing normally, I still advise termination, but that will, of course, be her decision."
McCoy stared at Peregrine. "You didn't tell me that!"
"I didn't have a chance," she said defensively.
"There is a one in one hundred chance that the child will be an ace, but a nine in one hundred chance that it will be a joker," added Tachyon relentlessly.
"A joker! You mean like one of those awful things that lives in Jokertown, something horrible, an atrocity?"
"My dear young man," began Tachyon angrily, "not all jokers-"
"Josh," Peregrine interrupted softly, "I'm a joker."
Both men turned to her. "I am," she insisted. "Jokers have physical deformities." Her wings fluttered. "Like these. I'm a joker."
"This discussion is getting us nowhere," said Tachyon after a long silence. "Peri, I'll see you tonight." He walked away without touching his brandy.
"Well," said McCoy. "Tachyon's little piece of news certainly puts a different light on the subject."
"What do you mean," she asked, a chill seizing her.
"I hate jokers," McCoy burst out. "They give me the creeps!" His knuckles were white on the beer bottle. "Look, I can't go on with this. I'll call New York and tell them to send you another cameraman. I'll get my gear out of your room."
"You're leaving?" Peregrine asked, stunned.
"Yeah. Look, it's been a lot of fun," he said deliberately, "and I've really enjoyed you. But I'll be damned if I'm going to spend my life raising some pimp's bastard! Especially," he added as an afterthought, "one that's going to develop into some kind of monster!"
Peregrine winced as if she'd been slapped. "I thought you loved me," she said, her voice and wings quivering. "You just asked me to marry you!"
"I guess I was wrong." He finished his beer and stood up. "Bye, Peri."
Peregrine couldn't face him as he left. She stared down at the table, cold and shaken, and didn't notice the intense, lingering look McCoy gave her as he left the bar.
"Ahem."
Hiram Worchester seated himself across from her in the chair McCoy had just vacated. Peregrine shuddered. It's true, he's gone, she thought. I will