I stood over her for a few moments, thinking. Should I remove some or all of her clothing? I debated about it, and decided I’d better not.
Could it be true? Could this ebon goddess actually want me? A fat old middle-aged man? A paleskin? Or was it just the liquor talking?
More importantly, did I want her? Did I really want her, or did I just want to possess her exquisite beauty? Did I want a serious relationship with her, or was I just a horny old goat smitten by a beautiful and exotic woman?
I retreated to my room, but I didn’t get much sleep. I was haunted by Suli’s words. I did reach one conclusion: It wasn’t just lust. I wanted a relationship with Suli on any terms she’d accept. Term contract or life mating, with or without progeny, I’d take anything I could get, and count myself incredibly lucky.
I tossed and turned until I watched the sun rise. Finally, I sighed and got up. I got dressed and went down for an early breakfast.
Surprisingly, Cord was there. I don’t know when the man ever slept.
“Well, Admiral,” he said, grinning. “What happened to you last night? It’s not generally considered polite for the guest of honor to disappear halfway through the festivities.”
I shrugged. “Suli got drunk, and I took her up to her room.”
A puzzled look crossed his face. “Suli? But I saw her just before you disappeared. She wasn’t even tipsy.”
I shook my head. “No, sir, she was really out of it. I took her up and put her to bed.” I saw his eyebrow raise, and hurriedly added, “To sleep, Viceroy. She passed out almost as soon as I got her to lie down.”
Cord was looking thoughtful. “Really. And did she say anything interesting before she passed out?” Warmth flooded my face, and he nodded.
“Yes. Well. Suli tells me that you’ve been to Freja, Admiral. Did you spend much time off the port itself?”
Surprised at the change of subject, I replied, “Why, not much. After the first day, I got tired of being treated like an animal, so I stuck to the port bars, with the rest of the paleskins.”
He nodded. “You know, Admiral, I’ve been there as well. But I didn’t have the luxury of hiding in the port, so I learned a bit more about the planet and the people.” This type of chat was not typical of Cord. I wondered where this was going.
“Freja was colonized during a socially conservative time in Empire history,” he continued. “And many of the mores still dominate Frejan society. For instance, in male/female relationships, it is the responsibility of the male to make the first advances. Females are very limited in the actions that they can take to indicate interest to a male.” He looked at me significantly. What he saw evidently didn’t impress him.
He shook his head and sighed. “It is not my habit to advise admirals on their love lives,” he said ironically. “But you are so dense! I think you’ve just been given your absolute last chance. Suli has done everything her moral code permits to indicate her interest in you. This drunken act is an act of desperation — it must have taken her a week to work up to it. I suspect that if she doesn’t see a reaction today, you’ll never have another chance with her. Think about it.”
I shifted uncomfortably. “I did think about it. All night. I just can’t believe that she’d really be interested in a fat old man like me!” The words tumbled out, and a flush of warmth spread over my face.
He chuckled. “I find it rather puzzling, myself. But everyone else has been aware of it for weeks.” He shook his head. “All right, Admiral. I’ll make your excuses. You have the day off. Take my aircar and take her somewhere and get this settled.”
The warmth hadn’t faded from my face. “Yes, sir. Thank you.” I started for the door.
“And, Admiral,” Cord said. I stopped and turned as he continued warningly, “This has been the one and only time that I shall ever discuss your love life!” I fled through the door, his laughter ringing in my ears.
I was trembling as I took my courage in both hands and knocked on Suli’s door. She was wearing a robe of thin white material that did little to conceal the dark shadow of the body within it. Exquisite!
And distracting. As she looked at me expectantly, I began, “Suli, I… ah… I, Oh! Sheol!” I stepped to her, put an arm around her waist, and pulled her face down to mine. Her warm lips made my head swim. After a long moment, I released her, worried. How would she react?
A blinding smile lit her face. “Well! It’s about time!” was all she said before pushing the door closed behind me and taking me in her arms.
She stepped back and, with another of those blinding grins, touched a button at the throat of the robe. It fell away, revealing Suli in all her nude glory.
And she was glorious! Only her wide shoulders and erect posture could have supported such large, full breasts. The large aureoles and prominent nipples, both in purple, were an effective contrast to her ebon velvet skin. The triangular pubic patch was coarser of texture and not quite the pure white of her head hair, having a slight yellow tinge.
Gods! She was gorgeous! Again, I was amazed. How could this exquisite creature, this fantastic example of nature’s artistry, really be interested in me?
After a long moment, she put her hands on her hips and bent one knee in the eternal pose of women. She smiled. “Well, Val, are you just going to look?”
I began fumbling with my uniform, flushing with embarrassment at the hairy, paunchy, pale body I was revealing. When I was as nude as she was, she stepped forward and planted a huge, passionate kiss on my lips while her hands roamed my body.
We never did use the Viceroy’s aircar that day.
The next few days passed in a glorious haze. I barely managed to check in with Shar every day. It was about three weeks after we'd grounded that his reports began to give me hope that I could extricate Suli and myself from the social whirl.
I went to visit Cord. “Sir,” I began. “I think I need to get back to work. Shar’s starting to run into problems.”
He started to shake his head, and then paused. “What kind of problems could Captain Tan-Li be running into that he can’t handle himself?”
“Trouble holding our forces together.” I replied. “The privateer captains want their ships disarmed so they can get back to trading. The mining companies want their boats and pilots back.” I hesitated, and then continued, “You’ve been so successful selling the idea that we’ve won, that everybody wants to declare victory and go home. They seem to forget about Thaeron.”
Cord nodded, his expression thoughtful. “You may be right, Admiral. Very well, you may return to your ship.” He grinned. “I don't suppose you’d be willing to leave Suli here, would you? No, I suppose not. Oh, well.”
It was with an immense sigh of relief that we boarded Valkyrie. It felt wonderful to escape Haven’s cold bleakness and walk onto Valkyrie ’s bridge. It took all my strength of character to keep from ordering her into space immediately.
If what I’d experienced was the life of a politician, I couldn’t imagine why anyone would want political power.
Suli was as weary as I was, but unlike me, she’d delighted in the attention and social whirl. Besides, we were still investigating each other. We’d decided that for the moment, she would keep her own cabin. Too much was happening, could still happen. After the insurrection was over, we’d make plans that were more permanent. Permanent! Glorious!
Once again, the shipboard grapevine had shown its amazing efficiency. Judging from their expressions and actions, our new relationship was no secret from the crew. I didn’t have time to pamper my embarrassment. I had to immediately summon Shar so we could assess our forces and status.
We had Valkyrie, of course. Relentless, our best battle cruiser, had been badly mauled by Nemesis ’ weapons. She was at Outback, along with our other cruiser, Fearless, and two of our three destroyers, Harpy and Predator. Only Raptor, the destroyer that had surrendered at Haven, was undamaged. She was the only true warship still in the Haven system. We had a total of eighteen privateers remaining, and some thirty-two boats.
Those last two facts shocked and disturbed me. We’d started with thirty-two privateers and over a hundred and fifty boats. Of the remaining eighteen privateers, seven were in the Haven system, largely undamaged. The other eleven had gone to Outback for repairs.
