The Dust of Stars: Engineering Infinity by Robert E. Vardeman

Author:Robert E. Vardeman [Vardeman, Robert E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Cenotaph Corporation
Published: 2020-07-19T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Remagen Roullei sat on the edge of his bed, letting the medidoc unit whir and hover and fuss over him. Small patches of skin turned cold, then lost all feeling as the bot worked to repair the last of his injuries. Remy looked across his cabin to where Aura preened in front of a full length mirror. Seeing his interest, she pirouetted to give him a full view, the reflection affording an almost 360-degree show.

"We shouldn't be together," Aura said. "Not like this. The crew will resent it."

"So why are you still tempting me?" He stared at her trim, naked form and wondered if perfection differed from the Siren's body. He doubted it.

"I can't help it if you are excited by me." She ran her hands through her hair. Cascades of particolored tresses spilled between her fingers like water in a stream over rocks. It changed colors as she combed through it until the spectrum was exhausted. Then hues and shades and colors for which Remy had no name appeared.

"Is your hair naturally that way or is it artificially excited by touch?"

"Are you artificially excited? Never mind. I find it hard to restrain myself." Aura reached out and touched the rim of the mirror. The reflection flowed into one showing her fully clad in an e-suit. Intricate patterns were woven in it using shining silver and gold threads. Even as Remy stared at her clothed figure in the mirror, her naked body sinuously rippled. The reflection changed to a different style with even more impossibly eye-confusing patterns.

"That one," Remy said. "That's the best one."

"You think so?" Aura ran her fingers along the edge of the mirror and cycled through a half dozen other possibilities before deciding on one that lacked all the drama and beauty of the others. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and looked back at him. "We are aboard ship and discipline must be enforced." She tapped the edge of the mirror and the plain dark e-suit vanished from the surface and wrapped itself around her physical body.

It was plain, almost without ornamentation, and still Remy caught his breath. Every valley and mountain of her body was emphasized by the close-fitting e-suit.

"I've changed the fabric to better dampen my pheromones. I apologize for being so excited on the bridge during the encounter. It's been some time since I faced possible ... death."

Aura seemed to shrink into herself. Remy had never considered what frightened others. It made a certain sense that such a sexually active being feared death. The few encounters with other ships where Aura had been on the bridge weren't very memorable. The Tumblebug had been a guaranteed victor in those encounters. The fiercer space battles he had engaged in had been fought prior to Aura being hired by Engineering Infinity. The last one that had resulted in any significant damage his sister, Alcantara, had been XO and her husband, Niall Chee, had been fire control officer. Shortly after porting at Devil's Den for

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