STAR HOUNDS -- OMNIBUS by Bischoff David & Garnell Saul

Author:Bischoff, David & Garnell, Saul [Bischoff, David]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Tags: Fantasy, Space, Space Opera, war, Science Fiction
Publisher: Hotspur Publishing
Published: 2013-02-23T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-four

They were shown to their room after the evening meal. It was a simple affair, with human-type beds, used to houseguests from the Block’s compound.

“I shall come for you to prepare you an hour before dawn. You will be ready then, yes?” Xersi said.

Captain Northern collapsed drunk onto one of the beds.

“Oh yes, yes,” said Laura. “Thank you, Xersi.”

The alien fluttered his fingers, indicating both Laura and Tars Northern. “You two …. You are a human sex-bound couple? Don’t make too much noise, please, you’ll scare the children!”

“We are no such thing!” Laura cried, outraged.

“Just be quiet when you mate, please,” said the native closing the door behind him.

Laura went over to the window, shaking her head wearily. Her brain still seemed a bit off kilter, what with the gloc she had taken, though she was clearly not as messed up as Northern. Strange, he seemed to almost live on alcohol and stayed coherent and sharp, if a touch wild. Laura never touched the stuff. It seemed to interfere with the operation of her cybernetic systems and made her sick besides. But gloc and its chemical sisters and brothers with psychoactive properties gave her a glow of good feeling and nothing more.

Apparently, it knocked Northern head over heels. He was sprawled out on the bed, arms akimbo, eyes closed. She went over to tuck him in. Wouldn’t do to have a starship captain with a cold.

At the touch of her hand, he reached out for her. She almost shoved him away, but his touch was so gentle, his attentions so weak, she knew she could separate herself at anytime with a minimum of fuss.

She might just be able to get something out of him in this state, she thought. Besides, it didn’t feel bad at all ….

“Mmmm,” he said languidly, wrapping his arms around her waist. “Laura, darling, you are such a hot little number.”

“You had too much gloc, Tars,” she said, settling against him tentatively, enjoying his warmth and the hard comfort of his powerful body but trying not to let herself relax. She sensed the danger of any kind of surrender to him; an emotional pitfall that must be avoided. “Don’t worry. It’s really marvelously free of aftereffects.”

It was for her, anyway. She hoped it had the same effect on Tars. Which reminded her ….

“Tars, why do you drink so much?”

“Thirsty!” he said drowsily, tracing imaginary pictures delicately across her back with his fingertips.

“No, its something more than that, Tars. You drink like an alcoholic and yet you can get cleaned of that very quickly. Mish monitors your consumption. What gives?”

“I like it!” he murmured drowsily. “Now give us a kiss!”

She took a different tack. “What do you want from me, starship Captain? Really.”

“Your delicious affections, my dear. Now why are we wasting time!” But he said it all without conviction, as though from rote. Perhaps he meant it, but the gloc rendered his words spineless.

“I’d just be using you, Tars,” she said condescendingly. “But I am interested in why you drink alcohol.

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