She bolted for the bathroom.
Better safe than saying something she could never take back.
Chapter 8
A Big Dog’s Big Fall
Lily
“Among the Divani there are many ways of competition, and not all are tied to physical strength. Sometimes strategy is tested… through physical violence.”
The IMPERIUM Guide to Peaceful Coexistence with Registered Spacefaring Species
Lily was bored.
Dangerously bored.
And when she was bored, her thoughts had an annoying tendency to drift toward sex.
In the two chrono-years she had spent in space, she had been completely celibate. She was not nearly brave enough to initiate anything with a member of another species, even though the more she encountered them, the more accustomed she became to the endless variety of shapes and bodies.
There were, of course, forums dedicated to facilitating interspecies unions. Unfortunately, as a human, Lily was not considered a Registered Spacefaring Species. That meant endless bureaucratic steps before she could even appear in the database. She was not ready to parade her biological processes and intimate anatomy in front of some space administrator who would decide which species she was compatible with.
So she was left with longing glances.
And guest suite B offered no shortage of worthy targets.
The Vitromium starcruiser’s luxury design philosophy extended to the guest suites as well. They were not spacious, that was the purpose of the common areas and main suites, buttheir tasteful opulence and meticulous attention to detail made them easy places to relax. Originally, the suite had some long, elaborate name in Vegrun’s native language that probably meant something important. To Lily and Khar, it was simply suite B.
Now they were sharing a sliver of a bedroom, a breath of a living room with a single comfortable couch, and a bathroom so small Khar could barely fold himself inside.
There was very little actual work to do. Khar flatly refused Lily’s repeated suggestions to try any of the popular games from this sector of the galaxy. So Lily occupied herself with reading, music, and other discreet pastimes that would not disturb him.
Khar, meanwhile, seemed to have exactly two priorities.
Training.
And grumbling.
Grumbling.
And training.
Lily could have lived with the training. Watching the play of muscles eventually made her squirm and blush, but that was manageable. She could even call it some kind of anthropomorphic study, as the similarity to human physical traits was stunning, yet there were some noticeable differences. (At least she felt a tiny bit better thinking of it that way instead of objectifying her clearly very dedicated bodybuilder colleague.)
The grumbling, however, was driving her insane. Khar did not even suspend it during meals, and by now Lily was thoroughly sick of listening to it.
Their only saving grace was that suite B had a built-in mini stasis pantry stocked with enough food and drinks to last several cycles. No banquets, but enough to get them through the lockdown.
By the second chrono-cycle, Lily’s patience snapped.
She had to do something to knock Khar out of this endless loop. Maybe he would feel better if he got to fight a little.
“Khar, listen.”
Khar acted as if Lily’s words had never reached him, grinding through what looked like his hundredth push-up beside the couch she was stretched out on.
“Lily calling Khar. Khar, report in.”
