Aneka Jansen 5: The Greatest Heights of Honour by Niall Teasdale Page A

a fair amount of squirming after about ten minutes in the building.
    Aneka spotted crimson hair moving through the body piles and flagged the location through to Ella. The couple moved in perfect synchronisation toward the woman in the translucent red swimsuit and red, thigh-high boots. The woman glanced in their direction, flicked her hair, and moved away from them, deeper into the room where the light was a dull red and visibility was restricted to only a metre or so for most people. Aneka could see perfectly well, and Ella’s cybernetic eyes were better in the dark than natural ones would have been. They followed the woman through the islands of cushions until she lowered herself onto an almost empty one. Then they lay down on either side of her, hands sliding up her body, faces close to hers.
    Of course, the closeness just facilitated conversation. ‘Secretive meetings should always be conducted like this,’ Winter said, a smile tugging at her lips.
    ‘I admit it has a certain weird something,’ Aneka replied, ‘but pretty soon Ella’s going to be swallowing your tongue, so you’d best talk fast.’
    Winter gave a slight nod of acknowledgement. ‘Your report on the Herosian assault on Farrington’s World was received by the Administration. Dowler would have had a significantly easier time dismissing it if it were not for the data Aggy retrieved from their computers.’
    ‘That was why we sent it.’
    ‘Yes. It worked. Elroy and Ollander are both on Obati Four screaming at the tops of their lungs and the Herosians are trying their best to manufacture reasons why it was not some government conspiracy. This Rear Admiral Sh’Shanis, not a man noted for his tolerance actually, has had a psychotic break according to the latest reports. They are trying to hunt him down to bring him to justice.’
    ‘With no luck, I assume?’ Someone was sliding a hand up Aneka’s right thigh. She ignored it.
    ‘Such a surprise.’ Winter’s eyes twitched. Ella was kissing her neck in what appeared to be quite a distracting manner. ‘I’ll keep monitoring, but you’ve lit a fire under the Herosians. They were not expecting you to leave that planet in one piece, let alone bring back evidence they would need to counter. They won’t come at you directly, that would just cause a bigger political incident, but they might try something. Your partner really knows what she’s doing, doesn’t she?’
    The hand on Aneka’s leg had moved, sliding between her thighs. She figured she had a couple of seconds before the owner took her lack of reaction as an invitation. ‘She’s exceptionally good, yes. I heard about the problems back on New Earth. You got the warning through?’
    ‘I did. I’ve had no reply, but there have been reports that the attacks there have stopped. They had a plan to deal with the problem, and it apparently worked. They destroyed the “pirate” vessel which was attacking their shipping.’
    ‘Destroyed it, that’s a…’ She stopped as two fingers slid into her. The invitation had been accepted. ‘That’s a shame. Our neighbours have noticed us.’
    ‘And Ella’s hands are getting very insistent. I’ve nothing else to report. You?’ Aneka shook her head. The probing fingers were starting to stroke quite firmly. ‘In that case I think we should get on with enjoying our cover story.’
    Aneka shifted her thigh to give her unknown partner easier access. ‘I don’t think we’ve much choice,’ she said softly.
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    Aneka looked back at the bed where the two redheads were still asleep. Winter’s body was manufactured to be sexy, exotic, voluptuous, but Aneka thought her own little redhead looked better.
    Ella was on her back. Aneka had warned her that getting her breasts enhanced would mean sleeping on her stomach was never going to happen again. Her pale skin never held a tan; now it was a marked contrast to the black of the Nusilk sheet she was lying on. Her red hair had grown out a