Deathstalker 08 - Deathstalker Coda

Instead, he stripped off all his clothes, dropped them in a very smelly pile in one corner, and then stretched out on the sinfully comfortable king-sized bed, sighing deeply as his stressed and abused muscles were finally able to relax. It had been a long time since he could relax. He thought wistfully about indulging himself in a long, hot bath, as soon as he could work up the strength of will to leave this marvelously supportive bed.
    (He wasn’t thinking about his dead Family. About his dead father and mother. He wasn’t thinking about them at all.)
    In front of the mirror, Jesamine finally got her face looking the way she thought it should, glared at the mess her hair was in, and then pulled apart the tattered front of her dress so she could critically inspect the breast that had been regrown in the regeneration tank, after the treacherous reptiloid Saturday had ripped the original off. She looked from one breast to the other and back again, frowning.
    “You know, I really don’t think they match, sweetie. Of course, they never were exactly the same in the first place, breasts never are, but even so . . .”
    “They’re fine,” said Lewis.
    “You’re not even looking!”
    Lewis sighed, sat up in bed, and studied Jesamine’s breasts in the mirror. “They are fine, Jes. They’re great. They’re wonderful! They are exactly the breasts I remember, and I think you’ll agree, I have paid them a lot of attention in the past. I would know if they were different. Breasts . . .” he said thoughtfully.“Breasts, breasts, breasts . . . I like breasts. I even like just saying the word.”
    Jesamine turned around and smiled at him dazzlingly. “Darling. Do we have time . . .”
    Lewis grinned back at her. “We’ll make time.”
    (Afterwards, she held him close while he cried, remembering his lost Family.)
    Some time later, they sat up together in bed, snuggled together and companionably naked, eating the very best food the Havoc ’s gourmet food synthesizers could produce. After far too long with nothing on the menu but protein cubes and distilled water on the Hereward, their taste buds practically exploded with pleasure, and they had double portions of everything. New clothes lay waiting at the foot of the bed, and all was well. Jesamine snuggled up against Lewis.
    “Lewis . . .”
    “You want something,” Lewis said immediately. “You always use that tone of voice when you want me to do something for you.”
    “Oh, don’t be such a grumpy old bear! I just thought, now that things have improved, and we’re not running for our lives anymore—couldn’t we please dump Brett and Rose now? I mean, it’s not as if we actually need them anymore. You’ve got an entire Imperial fleet at your command! I don’t know why you insisted on them coming along with us.”
    “Because, my very dear, they’ve both been through the Madness Maze. They were dangerous enough before; God alone knows what they’ll be capable of once their powers start developing. No, I want them right here, where I can step on them hard, if I have to. Besides, you never know when having your very own thief and psychopath around will come in handy.”
    “You know they’ll betray us eventually,” said Jesamine, resting her head on his shoulder. “If not to Finn, then to someone else. It’s in their nature.”
    “Who knows what their nature is, anymore? They’ve been through the Maze, and that changes everything.”
    Jesamine shuddered briefly. “I know. That’s what scares me.”
    Lewis hugged her tightly to him, and for a long time neither of them said anything.

    In the very next cabin, Brett Random and Rose Constantine were also in bed together. Brett was slowly getting used to having sex with Rose, but the lying beside her afterwards still made him nervous. He never slept, even when she gave every indication of being fast alseep. He always half suspected that at any moment Rose might decide to stick a knife in his ribs, to combine her newfound passion for the flesh with her old delight in the act of murder. The things a man will put up with to get his ashes hauled, Brett thought reflectively. For the moment they were both awake, lying side by side, her seven-foot-tall frame somewhat dwarfing Brett’s. As usual, he talked and she listened.
    “I say, once we get to Mistport, we leg it,” Brett said firmly. “Head for the nearest horizon, and then disappear over it. There’s a war coming, and people get killed in wars.