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Space-D
Science Fiction
Short Free Read --
A Daphne Adventure: Episode Three.
Read the first story here.
Second story here.
Episode Three
Straight backed and dry mouthed, Daphne waited at the closed door and ran fingers through her hair, pulling out a few red kinky curls in the process. The portal slid open. Recycled air washed over her, cooling her hot skin. She smoothed down the crisp, borrowed uniform and stepped inside the office where her fate would be decided.
The wide room held a conference table for a dozen. One silver haired woman sat at the head. No one else interrupted the warm colors and clean lines of the room. A rare potted plant in the corner gave off the scent of wet dirt. She'd never be able to smell rich soil again without a twinge in her gut. There might even be little worms in there. Daphne shuddered.
Before the woman looked up from the small stack of papers on the otherwise bare table, the door swished behind Daphne. She didn't need to turn. Her scanners spun into sensory mode, the automatic reaction to a surprise to her backside. The scent of ghahara teased her olfactory glands. Only one man on this military space cruiser full of young, enthusiastic and patriotic troopers used that subtle herbal scent.
"Trooper Aspen, thank you for attending this inquiry." The gray haired woman smiled at the man behind Daphne. The smile made her look younger, more approachable than mere seconds ago when Daphne had looked into her wizened face and locked her legs so she wouldn't run.
Handy, having cybernetic legs that responded to commands, otherwise, she might slump to the floor now, weak-kneed over the man who ignored her and folded his long body into the chair near the older woman.
"Please have a seat Civilian." The watery blue eyes of the woman peered at her as if sizing her up and deciding the outcome of the meeting in one split second. "My name is Henny Collins. I'm the facilitator. I'll decide on what will go in the official report of the incident and make the decision of the outcome."
Daphne sat, at the far end so that she'd not be tempted to memorize Aspen's scent. Well, she'd done that already, but since he'd featured in all her down-cycle dream states over the past few weeks onboard, she didn't need the reminder screwing with her concentration. She needed all her sensors tuned to this conversation to be sure she didn’t give herself away.
"These proceedings will now be recorded." Collins made a circular motion on the handle of her chair and a red light blinked on the wall behind her. "Tell me what happened, Trooper Aspen. How did all our ground team die?"
"We received an emergency beacon transmit along the regular patrol circuit. We diverted to the colony to investigate. The full complement of troops for Shuttle Eight responded. We discovered this civilian, Daphne. She was the sole survivor of a colony known to have had a population of approximately fifty."
Daphne sucked in a breath. Her leg pulsed where the mesh hadn't quite regenerated fully to cover the wound those nasty ass carnivorous worms had given her. Aspen glanced at her from the corner of his eye, but he continued in his monotoned report.
"Within minutes of landing, an indigenous creature, much like snakes, attacked. In the fight, everyone went down except for the pilot of the shuttle who'd remained on-board, myself, and the civilian."
"Thank you, Trooper." The facilitator nodded as she noted something on the papers in front of her.
Daphne squirmed in her seat and ignored the twinge in her leg. Though every moment had branded on her, she'd made herself forget that harrowing time spent alone in the temporary shelter, but later, she'd relived the moments, and dwelled on those few minutes with Aspen after she'd finally gotten away.
They'd imprinted on her, and since arriving on this ship, she'd avoided him like a rash.
Getting close to anyone was impossible. She was illegal. Getting hot and naked with a military man was one way to get herself erased.
Her daddy may be worm fodder, but he didn't build and raise her to be stupid.
The side of Aspen's jaw indented as he waited, staring straight ahead, for the proceedings to end. Collins looked up from her papers and nodded at Daphne. "I have the mission files from the shuttle on file and have reviewed them. We've also downloaded all data from the research station and I've reviewed the pertinent facts."
Daphne made herself blink, as her systems tried to power into cyber mode at the perceived threat. If they looked at the right documents, they'd know she was contraband--a doll, a cybernetic, an imitation human, and completely outlawed. All robots--she hated that derogatory term--were immediately dismantled upon discovery by all who aligned themselves with the Oversee Government. Most certainly, that counted this military vessel. If they were kind, they'd space her. If discovered, she probably wouldn't be so lucky. They'd video her demise as a deterrent, download all her memories, and study them. Then, they'd dismantle her and give parts of her away to humans who needed prosthetics. Oh, the irony.
"All I need from you, Ms Daphne, is for you to sign the document you've already provided, which I've verified by the data pulled from the colony." Collins smiled at her, looking a bit grandmotherly, as if Daphne knew how a grandmother smiled.
"That's all?" She blurted. She couldn’t have made it through this meeting without being discovered as a cybernetic masquerading as human.
"Yes. This is a formal decision so we have the meeting to pass judgment on the incident, but it is clear to me that the deaths of our crewman was an unavoidable tragedy. They went down in the line of duty, so we owe them a formal facilitation."
"Yes, ma'am." Her daddy didn't raise no fool. She kept herself polite and said as little as possible. If she could leave this room without giving herself away, she’d keep to herself. They were due to stop at a civilian space station in a dozen shift rotations. All she had to do was keep quiet.
"Thank you, facilitator." Aspen pushed away from the table and stood. "I'll escort Ms Daphne back to the women's dormitory."
She'd been asked to stay there, unable to be given free mobility on a military vessel.
On the way out the door, she let out a long breath. She sputtered when Aspen grabbed her hand to place it in the crook of his arm. His face seemed pale beneath his dark stubble. "This way."
They headed out into the maze of corridors and Daphne limped to keep up with his long, sure strides.
"You can cut out the limp. I know what you are."
The oil in her veins nearly froze to ice. She sputtered, "I...I don't know what you mean."
"I think you do, but you saved my ass, so I'll save yours."
"You do have a pretty ass." She clamped her mouth shut so hard the clicking of her teeth sounded loudly in the empty hall.
"So do you." Aspen chuckled. The lopsided grin with that damned dimple brought the color back to his face. Gorgeous lines, completely male and appealing, if she didn’t know better, she’d have thought he was built to be a doll as well.
She absolutely ignored the tell-tale signs of her rapid heartbeat, the blush tingling on her skin, and the quickening between her legs. Cybernetic or not, she was only human. This man was hot. She had to keep away from him before she did something that would get all her circuits melded together.
"Listen, my daddy always taught me not to outstay my welcome. I'll be debarking at the next station. Just point me in the direction of my coveralls. Can't find the damn things and this uniform has too much starch."
"I have a deal for you. I'll be sure you get yourself safely onto that station, if you'd do me the honor of going to this thing tonight. See…" Aspen colored across the top of his cheek bones. He stopped and pulled her to the side of the now crowded hallway. "See, we have this special social event coming up. It's for couples."
He swallowed so hard, his adam's apple bobbed. She stared at his strong neck that led down to the slightest parting of his uniform jacket. The vulnerable spot where his neck indented made her mouth water to explore, to stick her tongue right--there.
Then his words sunk in to her swirling thought processes. "You mean, like a date? You're asking me on a date?"
"Something like that. I need you to go, show some of my more aggressive suitors that I've chosen."
"You have suitors? What kind of world do you live in? My daddy would have whipped my hide if I'd ever asked a man on a date." Then he would have sat her down to do a little tinkering with her programming.
"Whipped?" He frowned down at Daphne. "I'm botching this. If you'd accompany me tonight, I'll guarantee your safety. Deal?"
Difficult to say no to that. Spend some time memorizing the moment for her recurring dream-times, then get an escort off this ship and into safety.
For the first time since she'd seen that first carnivorous worm take down one of the colonists, she smiled.
"There won't be worm food there, right?"
Aspen tightened his hold on her elbow and blanched. He made an emphatic shake of his head and insisted, "No."
"Good. We'll do this couple thing, and then I'll be on my way."
"Trust me. Everything will be okay."
"I've never trusted anyone but my daddy, and he's dead, proved without doubt I can't trust anyone."
"You can trust me."
She blinked on her scanners and read his body's reactions. He believed everything he said to her.
"Yes, I believe I'll trust you."
He patted her hand and led her onward down the hall.
Yes, she'd trust him, for as long as she could.