DS02 Night of the Dragonstar Read Online Free PDF Page B

writers. “Eat your hearts out, guys. ”

WHEN COLONEL Phineas Kemp awoke in a hotel room, he was aware of two things. First of all, he had a hangover, which was unusual.
    Second, it wasn’t his hotel room.
    He exhaled a groan and closed his eyes, trying to shut out the bright morning light seeping around the drapes. Slowly he groped for the memory of last night, buried somewhere in the midst of his headache.
    Let’s see ...
    Oh yes, the tipsy cab ride into rustic old Georgetown, to a small, relaxed French bistro with a cozy fireplace. Wonderful meal of some kind ... lots of wine. A vague walk along the C & O canal. Talks of old times, old dreams. A trip up in the elevator of the Four Seasons hotel ...
    All with Rebecca Thalberg.
    “Becky,” he said and rolled over. Dark hair sprayed on the white linen of the pillow beside him. The splendid curve of a shoulder peeped from above the line of the blanket.
    Oh my God, thought Kemp. Now I remember.
    The sensations flooded back. It had all been so familiar — the touch and smell of her, the sound of her voice in his ear. They’d been lovers for so long, it had been so easy, with the numbing influence of the wine, to slide back into the old feelings and needs.
    Or, at the very least, the old motions of the same, which they had acted out last night with a passionate vengeance.
    His movements awakened her. She sat up. The covers slid off, exposed the vaselike qualities of her naked back, perhaps Phineas Kemp’s third favorite sight in the universe.
    “Oh,” he sighed, turning away.
    “Well, good morning, Phineas. You want something from room service?”
    “How about a gun?”
    “For me or yourself?”
    “Never mind. Coffee, juice ... hell, Becky, you know what I like.”
    She made the call.
    “I’d better put something on,” she said as she hit the comm’s off button.
    “Yeah,” Kemp said.
    She walked to the bathroom, and Kemp utilized all his willpower not to watch. It brought up too many memories, and the memories brought up the pain he just wasn’t willing to face.
    When she came out, wearing a bathrobe, he was already in shirt and pants.
    She dried her face with a towel. “Well, Phineas, do you want to talk before or after your coffee?”
    “I had a wonderful time last night,” he muttered, going to the window and looking out.
    “I was afraid you’d say that.”
    “I’m also furious at you. And myself. We shouldn’t have let that happen. Damn it, Becky, we’re too grown up to let that kind of thing happen between us.”
    She sat on the bed, and there was a long moment of silence. “Ah, Phineas, I can always count on you to be such a comfort.”
    “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” He turned on her angrily. “You’re the one who was screwing Ian Coopersmith in the urgency of need and survival. And you know, I might have gotten past that. But no, you had to add insult to injury. And now you come back with your tail between your legs, wanting me back.”
    “Tail between ...” she said, getting angry. “Look, Phineas, last night was just as much a mistake for me as it was —”
    “Oh yeah? You know I’m in love with Mikaela Lindstrom, and you drag me off to a romantic evening and drug me up and ... You sure didn’t act like it was a mistake last night. I’ve never heard you carry on like that before. What were you doing, imagining yourself making it again with Coopersmith in the primeval jungle?”
    “Shut your goddamned stupid mouth!” she screamed at him and then helplessly began to cry.
    His head pounded furiously, but his anger was spent. He took a deep breath, then sat beside her. “Look, Becky, I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean that.” He put his hand on her back.
    “Don’t touch me!” she said, face buried in her hands. “Just get away, Phineas, please.”
    “Becky, I guess I just haven’t dealt with the pain and the anger properly. And I —”
    “Just save it, Phineas, okay? I just don’t want to hear it. I’ve