Regan's Reach 4: Avarice Read Online Free PDF Page A

day one it was a nightmare Hilary and
that about sums it up. I was stupid . . . I never thought it through really but
once I'd decimated Beria's ship and mine I knew pretty quickly what I'd done. I
was aware that I was still there, so I hadn't been killed in the collision, and
I knew immediately I had to be stored somewhere, trapped. Honestly, I was in a
state of absolute panic for days, and then I started building my own little
world which was good for a time, and then I started to break down again. It
took a while.]
    [You're home now Regan, this will go well
and everything will seem in a different light in time. The way you feel now, it
too will pass.]
    [I hope so Hilary, I really do.]
     
    * * *
     
    Saucer Ham opened his eyes to a room he
didn't recognize, but to a Regan he most assuredly did. She looked a little
older now of course, six years older, more drawn and almost battle hardened, or
so it seemed. Nevertheless Ham took his time drinking in the sight of her, the
small creases at the edge of her mouth, the small laugh lines at the corner of
her eyes, the extra muscle definition of her arms, and that beautiful smile,
for him. They looked at each other in silence for a few seconds and he could
see the love in her eyes.
     
    "You searched for me . . ." She
stood from the bed to go to him where he was seated at the desk and in that
fraction of a second he became aware of hands for the first time, and the tangible
sense of a torso and legs. He raised the arms to marvel at them and then
touched the android hands to his face in wonder as Regan knelt at his feet.
    "You amazing man, all that time you
were searching for me and you never gave up." He could see a tear in her
eye. "To think I have a partner, a friend who would never give up on me
like that. Thank you Ham, thank you so, so much."
    "You wouldn't have given up on me
either." He replied.
    "Don't diminish it Ham, I let you down
back then by not talking to you, and not taking you into my confidence. This whole
thing was of my making and I am so sorry for the consequences and what they
meant for you."
    A look of concern came over his face as he
considered her words. "And there have been consequences for you Regan,
this is not going to be easy for you, you know that; you need to prepare
yourself."
    "I will Ham. Somehow I feel that with
you beside me I can get through anything, even this." She looked up into
his eyes and smiled.
    "I will be there for you babe, always,
and you are right, you can get through almost anything. I can tell you - you're
an amazing woman."
    She hesitated then, with just the slightest
change in her expression giving indication that she had something to share,
something important. He tensed slightly, wondering what it was and as he did so
marveled again at the tangible sense of 'being' that he felt from the android
form.
    And then she began.
     
    "Ham, since you left to search for me
the nature of our relationship has . . . how shall I put it? It's changed . . .
it's developed from what you will remember, it's different now."
    He looked at her questioningly; cocking his
head without thinking, and realizing immediately what he'd done he tried it
again, repeating the action before asking, "In what way “developed”?"
    Instead of explaining she stood, and tugged
at him with her hands to help him rise unsteadily. In that moment of standing he
looked down for the first time and realized he was naked. She didn't comment as
she gently drew him to the bed and sat him there before stepping back to
release the nub of her suit and stripping it in one practiced motion before kicking
it away. His android form began to shiver immediately at the sight of her, and
she waited a moment longer before joining him on the bed, lying beside him and
then pulling him down to her.  She whispered in his ear.
    "Ham . . . my man, we are going to
take this slowly, there is no hurry. We do have a lot to talk about and we have
all the time we need, but first I have something