Random Convergences by Stein Willard

Author:Stein Willard
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2018-08-22T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 17

Flushed from her bath and with her damp hair hanging loose, Espert felt more like herself as she patted barefoot into the lounge. She made directly for the processor and keyed in another glass of berry wine. On second thought, she decided to study the selections for a light supper. She took a sip from the sweet, fruity wine. The hair in her nape bristled.

“Are all the crew members subjected to such close scrutiny or is it just me?”

When no answer was forthcoming, she turned slowly. Still, as a statue, Cilla stood at the door. Even from that distance, Espert could feel the force of Cilla’s stare. She suddenly felt naked, even covered in her dressing gown.

“I can assure you that I have no intention of corrupting any of the crew, if it’ll stop you from dropping by announced.” She took a long fortifying sip from her glass. She couldn’t help herself. “If the need strikes, I have found that our Avian travel companions are more than willing to meet my needs.”

A deep growl filled the silence following her snide remark. There was sudden blur of movement and Espert squeaked when Cilla jerked to a stop a hairsbreadth from her. The glass slipped out of nerveless hands as she brought her hands up defensively. She felt the cool splash of liquid on her bare toes. The air around Cilla bristled with emotion, as the other woman glared down at her. She was so close that Espert could feel Cilla’s breath on her face.

When Cilla finally spoke, her voice was thin with rage and her eyes glittered in her pale face. “When you signed on to this ship, you agreed to adhere to the rules and regulations assigned to govern the conduct of all crew members of Mercer.” She slowly leaned back from Espert as her eyes roved almost disdainfully over Espert’s face. “I will write your indecent statement off as a result of over-imbibing.”

Maybe the wine was stronger that she initially thought, thus allowing her to throw caution to the wind, Espert felt her anger rise and bubble to the surface.

“It pains me to be the one to inform you, Adjutant, that it seems that quite a lot of your precious, incorruptible crew members have not received the memo on intergalactic fraternization.” She bit down hard on her lower lip. She absolutely hated telling on the others, but she was so tired of being singled out all the time. Being constantly vilified was becoming tedious.

The blue eyes flashed with something dangerous before Cilla took a careful step back. Her movements were jerky as if she was mentally forcing her body to go against its own will. Espert swallowed hard. Cilla probably wanted to strangle her again. A shudder coursed through her body. If Cilla were to do just that, there were no witnesses this time. It would be her word against the respected adjutant’s.

“Don’t look at me like that.”

Espert stiffened. She wasn’t aware that she was looking at the other woman in a particular way.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.