Versatility is the ability to swim on unknown ground.
from Profit of Doom by the Princess Iresolut
As the forcedoor hissed shut behind her and she walked forward, she was conscious of entering alien territory.
A threshold of awareness. The decor is the same, commonplace marble, jewels and platinum inlay--but after the bland corridor, this room has a personality. A hostile personality.
In a swirl of robes she sat, pointedly ignoring the weaponscanner poised unobtrusively three inches over her head. Does he think I require weapons? It can only be a gambit to lure me into over-confidence. While I sit here I must tread warily.
They faced each other, Count Gorman and the Lady Henrietta.
I could take him now, she thought. That way he tilts his head to one side--the knife will be taped to his left shoulder-blade. I need not make my move until he pretends to scratch his neck.
Aloud, she said: "Hello."
Trapped by convention: we must bow to our enemies even as we destroy them!
)
