Intensity (2 page)

Her mind jumped with enthusiasm before she remembered that she had little to no clothing suitable for this venue.

"Management has arranged a wardrobe for you that will enable you to blend in with the clientele here at the resort. You will have everything you want, you need only whisper your requirements and they will be granted."

She nodded. "Thank you, I am sure that I will be very comfortable."

He grinned and stood, "Please allow me to escort you to your guesthouse. It has already been keyed to your biometrics."

"The Alliance again?"

"Of course." He walked a respectful distance from her as they moved down marble pathways flanked by wild, fragrant greenery.

"Who built this resort? It seems ancient but this planet has never been settled. It was startling to find that there was a habitation here."

"That is a query for management. I am sure it will be answered in time."

Questions could wait until later. She inclined her head as a wave of fatigue ran over her. "I will be very pleased to get to my room."

"Of course. This way." He increased his pace and soon, they were passing under an archway between two enormous trees.

She fought the urge to stop and gawk at the miniature castle that appeared in the green expanse but had to say, "Wow."

"It is lovely. It is our most requested guesthouse. There is a maid or butler on staff at all times and a private pool as well as a private path to the ocean if you wish to spend your time on the beach." He was proud of the facility and it showed.

Tvoro showed her the main entryway and introduced her to Minya, her personal servant for the duration of her stay. Minya was sober and no-nonsense, dismissing Tvoro and taking control of Madam Raine.

The moment that he was out the door, Minya looked over Raine from head to toe. "Madam, I believe you need a hot soak and a good night's rest. I will read your specs and have a meal brought in the moment you wake."

The woman in the crisp green uniform had the look of a battlefield commander. Her braids marked her as a widow and her stance was ex-military. Raine couldn't stifle her urge to salute.

"Yes, Minya. That sounds wonderful. Lead the way."

The halls were dotted with tables and vases full of flowers. Wide windows opened to catch every ounce of natural light. It was just nice to walk through the halls and not worry about disturbing the other guests.

Minya was silent, sensing that she was not up to a tour. When she opened the double doors to the bedroom suite, Raine had to hold her breath again. The beauty of the room was astounding and it brought to mind the exotic hotels back on Earth, each trying to outdo themselves with craftsmanship and beauty. This one trumped every picture she had ever seen.

"Oh, this is wonderful." Her expression came out on a soft exhalation of air.

"It really is. Do you have to seal your ports before you bathe?" Minya was bustling around the room, starting a bath in the huge sunken tub and turning down the bed.

"Yes. I had a canister of sealant with me. It was in my bag."

Minya quickly darted into the lav and returned with the canister. "Would you like me to spray them?"

"Have you sealed ports before?"

Minya nodded. "We had some communicators back in the Mordichai cluster. I worked with a few of them."

She shrugged and sat at the dressing table. "Be my guest. Three light coats usually does the job."

Minya stroked her hair away from her neck and gave a light squirt of the sealant. "It's silver."

"Yeah, that is so that everyone knows what I am. It keeps the awkward explanations of the metal ridges in my head to a minimum."

"I will try and stay tidy then." Amusement was in Minya's tone and she used short strokes to complete the neck port and then she moved on to the temples and the forehead.

"I have a port over each ear as well."

"Very well. This is working quickly, how do you get it off?"

"I can give out a short pulse that cracks the sealant."

"Handy. What is your designation? Not a lot of Alliance personnel make it to this resort."

The very understated nature of the observation made her laugh. "I am a logistical specialist. I get stations up and running so that when personnel arrive, all the bugs have been worked out."

"That sounds difficult."

"That is why I have the implants. They let me see all the systems in the station at the same time."

"As if you become part of the station itself?"

"Yes, I measure its life signs and correct what needs correcting for the target species." She sighed as the cool sealant closed the ports in an armour-plated gel.

"There you go, Madam Raine. Your bath is ready." Minya backed off and replaced the canister in the lav.

Raine opened her eyes and checked the seals in the mirror. Each port had a tiny silver cap on it and a quick touch with her fingers confirmed that her ports were indeed covered.

She walked to the edge of the huge soaking tub and smiled. "I will just take a quick shower and then come back for that soak."

Minya smiled in approval and prepared a stack of towels.

In the shower, Raine could barely contain the pleasure that vibrated through her at the touch of hot water. It seemed to be years since her skin had absorbed moisture that wasn't ingested. Gel showers were efficient and perfect for a person with the implants, but the quick-hardening slime was less than satisfying as a cleaning mechanism. Water, however, was perfect.

Knowing that a hot bath waited made her shower for cleansing purposes only. She exited from the shower and wrapped herself in the fluffiest robe she had ever put on. Patting on bare feet, she blushed when she noticed Minya waiting to take her robe.

"I am your maid while you are here, Madam Raine, best you get used to my assistance." The maid slid the robe from her shoulders and helped her into the tub.

As the water churned around her, she smiled. She just might be able to get used to this environment. Now, if only her implants would stop humming, she might just be able to relax.

Chapter Three

The beds on Yosh had to be made of puffy clouds, because when she sat up and Minya placed a tray on her lap, she realized that she hadn't slept that well in years. "Is it morning?"

"Yes, Madam. You slept for eighteen hours. It is amazing what relaxation can do for your rest. Now, have some water. You are dehydrated."

Meekly, Raine rubbed at her eyes with one hand while holding a glass to her lips with her other. When the first glass was empty, another was placed on her tray.

"I have booked some spa treatments for you. Your skin is rather dry and you have enough tension in your shoulders to enable me to break rocks on them."

Raine grinned and shrugged, "It's an occupational hazard. It isn't a natural thing to run electronics through one's brain. It takes a toll." She drank the second glass of water and then started to squirm slightly.

Minya nodded and lifted the tray. "Your breakfast will be waiting at the table."

After the necessary events of morning were taken care of, she put on the fluffy bathrobe waiting for her and returned to the bedroom. "Wow, you are fast."

The room looked pristine, as if Raine had not just spent close to a Terran day asleep in that huge bed.

Minya finished shoving the used sheets into a cleaning cabinet and she nodded. "I do this for a living, Madam."

A dome had been put over her breakfast, keeping it hot for her return. A selection of cured meats, eggs, toast and fruit waited for her. Memories of her last meal on Earth rioted in her mind as she took her first bites.

"It tastes like…home."

Minya grinned. "I will tell the staff. They were concerned that they hadn't gotten the textures right. They slaved over your breakfast all night."

Raine chuckled. "So, I should expect a lunch at sundown?"

"No, Madam. Now that we know we have found your correct taste zone as well as dietary requirements, everything will be adapted for your species specifications."

"When do you sleep, Minya?"

"I slept last night. I have a room on the main floor and an alarm sounds in my room if you get out of bed, alerting me to your needs."

"That is a little much. Can't you just tell me when you are on duty and I will move my schedule around you?"

Minya smiled. "It doesn't work that way. I am only explaining it to you so that you are aware of what is going on around you. I believe it is important for you to be aware of what the staff here is used to so that you will understand the attitudes of the guests here. They expect us to be available no matter the time of day or how tired we are. You are an unusual guest and the others will expect you to act like they do."

The maid went to the wardrobe and withdrew a glittering piece of fabric and a pair of jewelled sandals. "This will help you to blend in. The management has provided a full wardrobe for you so that you won't experience any uncomfortable moments. There is a jewel chest within the drawer of the dressing table. You can select whatever you wish."

Curious and with a mouthful of toast, Raine got to her feet and investigated the drawer, choking at the cask of jewels and gems that met her gaze. It took a lot of swallowing and coughing, but eventually, she got herself back under control. "Is there some kind of deposit I have to leave?"

"No, Madam. They are at your disposal so that you will feel at home here."

With Minya's help, she got dressed and slipped into the sandals. Minya selected jewels that made Raine's eyes look huge in the mirror. The sarong was a clingy platinum and the blue green pearls made her skin glow and her eyes seem dreamy. Her hair was arranged in a loose tumble that framed her features and when Minya was finished fussing, Raine had to admit that she looked fabulous.

"Someone at the front desk will take you to the spa. A full range of body and skin care has been scheduled and before you know it, you will be one hundred percent."

The soft slap of her sandals kept her company as she left her private house and made her way through the fragrant gardens surrounding her home away from home.

An attendant welcomed her to the reception area and led her through silent halls to the spa. The masseuse had strong hands and the intoxicating flowers were blooming in a pot nearby. After an hour of being forcibly relaxed, Raine was soaked, buffed, polished, trimmed and plucked until she was sure that every inch of skin was throbbing with awareness and abrasion.

Back in her sandals and gown with her hair up in an elaborate and gem-studded arrangement, she followed her nose to the dining room. The staff came to her without her beckoning and in a moment, she was seated with a server all her own standing by.

By the time she finished selecting her food, two of the other guests had arrived and were being seated.

It was the first time she had seen other guests up close. In the spa, walls had separated them and she had heard a few other females and males but had not been exposed to them.

One couple had a very unattractive male with a Selna female in elegant garb. The woman looked to her companion, but the male smiled at Raine, exposing dangerously pointed teeth.

Uncomfortable, she adjusted her field of vision to the new couple coming into the dining room. They were aloof, elegant and didn't give her more than a passing glance.

The dining room went from pleasant to prickly in a moment and when her server attended her again, the woman whispered, "The management has requested your presence in the private dining room. Please, come with me."

Relieved, she got to her feet and followed the woman to a set of invisible doors that appeared as a hairline crack in the wall before swinging open. The other inhabitants of the dining room stared as she followed her server through the huge doors.

The crystals that made up the walls took on a rougher-hewn look as they walked the twenty feet to the room with one occupant.

Raine blinked in surprise as she recognized the species from the latest
Terran Times
instalment, dragon shifters that had become creatures of human, as well as a number of other species, mythologies. Drai or Draikyn were one of the oldest races in the Alliance and it was only since the entry of Terrans to the Alliance that the dragons had resurfaced.

He stood and bowed from the waist, his elegant movements in complete concert with his white vest and dark trousers. His midnight hair slid slowly over one shoulder, caressing his neck as he raised his head, his aqua eyes twinkling. "Welcome to Yosh, Raine Burke."

His huge bat wings flexed and shivered as he straightened to his full seven-foot height.

"Thank you."

"I am your host, Orell Kovik. Are you enjoying your stay?"

He moved around the table and pulled out her chair. She took her seat carefully, keeping the long slit of her gown as closed as she could manage while he stood over her.

"I am enjoying my stay so far. The hospitality offered here has been exceptional." She touched her neck self-consciously. Those aqua eyes of his were focussed on her implants.

"Pardon my stare, but I have not seen a woman with data jacks in her head before. Do they bother you at all?" He took his seat across from her and nodded to the server.

The server opened another section of wall and retreated through it.

At his bald question, she answered him frankly. "I have experienced a bit of buzzing recently, so I will probably have to have them overhauled when I next go to the dispatch centre. It has become a rather annoying counterpoint to the serenity here."

She rubbed at her forehead a little and then put a bright smile on her face. "So, you are the management?"

"I am the owner of Yosh as well as the resort, yes." He leaned back in his chair and his wings extended out to either side, framing his bronze body in dark, satiny skin.

She swallowed as some of the dreams she had had the previous night flickered into her consciousness. Half-forgotten images of wings, hands and lips on hers burned to life in her mind where before she had only had a faded memory of sensual warmth.

A blush came to her cheeks and she folded her hands in her lap. "Is it a family business?"