Samael's Fire Read Online Free PDF Page A

blanched.
    “Hold your water. You got lucky. She stayed at the V for some R&R.”
    Vacation Station.   Most Coveted Destination Not On Earth   was its false motto .   This was the actual most coveted destination not on earth. The I—the Imperial Space Station.
    Geraldo seemed highly relieved that seven-foot-tall, muscle-bound, no-nonsense Rani was taking R&R on the V. He relaxed and turned his attention to Char, openly examining her as if he was evaluating a horse.
    If Rani didn’t like this unctuous little man, then Char liked Rani more.
    “Excellency.” Reynaldo waved at two servers, a male and female, motioning them to the table. “Allow us to celebrate.”
    The servers set down trays loaded with food. They were dressed alike as someone’s fantasy of sex slaves. If you could call it dressed. Naked but for leather belts and harnesses and short leashes hanging from their chokers. At first, Char thought they were shaved, but they must be mutants, naturally hairless, bald and without eyelashes or eyebrows or any other body hair. Like Rani, they hadn’t gone ghost. Not yet, anyway; the male was dangerously thin.
    Supposedly, mutants were not allowed off planet. Mike avoided her questioning look, and the others didn’t seem to think anything was amiss. Certainly everyone accepted Rani being in orbit.
    Geraldo pulled the female server to him and buried his face in her stomach. He ran his hand over her backside and moaned a little as he squeezed her cheek. He stuck his tongue into her bellybutton. Char looked away, only to realize scenes like this were happening all over the bar.
    This was why she’d always resisted coming up here. She would never be one of the sophisticated people.
    Reynaldo sighed. “Not now, Geraldo.”
    Geraldo tweaked one of the server’s nipples and pressed his thumb against the credit unit on her belt to give her a tip. “Run along then.”
    Jake’s face was a blank, but Char felt certain he’d be glad to join Rani in squishing Geraldo like a fly. Good. She’d help.
    Mike seemed unperturbed. He tasted the champagne offered by the wine steward and pronounced it acceptable. “To   Sanguibahd.”
    The trays were loaded with fresh fruits and vegetables and dips and sauces. Char’s mouth watered. The colors alone were exciting—bright reds, greens, and yellows. It was ages since she’d had anything from hydroponics. Store-bought food was so bland, sometimes she’d go for days on protein drinks and lattes and vitamin pills.
    “Delicious.” She bit into a red-orange cherry tomato. “I can taste the nutrients.”
    “We stock from orbit when we can,” Jake said. “Food up here beats anything grown in the ground.”
    “I’ve always wanted to see the new hydroponics annex.” The thought of it brought Char’s old life back.
    “I’ll run you over there after dinner.” Mike ran his fingers over her wrist.
    “You’re into hydroponics?” Jake looked surprised.
    Why shouldn’t he be? She’d given him no reason to think she was no more than an unproductive ornament, saved from the chaos below because she was related to Mike’s fiancée. Mike pulled his hand away abruptly, as if he again realized that she wasn’t Sky.
    “Char helped design the annex,” he said.
    “That’s generous,” Char said. “I was an intern. I was in my doctoral program working with the design team, but I quit the project before it was installed.”
    “Quit?” Geraldo practically sneered.
    “Char’s sister was with Tesla,” Mike said. “She’s been in mourning.”
    “Half the planet is in mourning,” Geraldo said. “And the other half soon will be. No one has the right to withhold their … gifts anymore.”
    “Artless, but true.” Reynaldo bit off half a cherry tomato and stuck his tongue in the other half. That guy had a weird fetish. “The survival of the human race might well come down to one woman’s refusal to give what she can. It’s what Sanguibahd is all about.”
    The two tipped