Doctor. The Food Producers breed them in cycles. We should have our next shipment in another moon cycle.” She handed him a plate full of lasagna.
“Another moon cycle,” he grumbled as he turned away with his meal.
After more than a moon cycle preparing meals for the intelligentsia in sector one, Crystal was coming to know quite of few of them by name and their favorite dishes. She was glad of the friendly faces greeting her across the service counter because working in the kitchen with Bad Attitude Fisher was wearing on her nerves.
Thank the stars, she had Henri and Stepho to return to every night. They knew how to get her mind off of her moody sous-chef, who hadn’t taken too well to her calling an end to their intimate relationship, but a part of her missed the challenge of being with Fisher. She was different with him than she was with Henri and Stepho.
With Henri, she could give over to her submissive side and relax into his control, which was a welcome relief from always trying so hard to prove herself in her military life. Whereas, Stepho brought out her softer side as she reacted to his sensitiveness. He was acutely responsive to the feelings of Henri and Crystal—when he wasn’t absorbed in his single-minded research mode.
Then there was Fisher. In all honesty, she enjoyed their sparring. She liked that she was able to be her strong self with him. She didn’t have to hold back on the rougher side of her personality. He met her squarely in the same place.
If only she could have all three of them…
“Oh no, Crystal,” Doctor Bella, mathematician extraordinaire, groaned as she stepped up to the counter for her plate, pulling Crystal out of her daydream. “Not pasta again. You’re making me fat.”
“Ha! Not a chance, Bella. Besides, I don’t think those three brawny mates of yours would mind a little extra meat on your bones.”
Bella grinned conspiratorially at Crystal. “I’m afraid they won’t let me leave the bed if I get any curvier.”
“Well, hellitude then. Let me give you a double serving.” Crystal laughed with her new friend, who’d managed to get the Council to agree to her mating with three members of Fourth Quadrant’s special security force after the men had acted as her bodyguards during the initial OAS attacks.
Their mutual friend, Doctor Anna, had also been mated with three members of the military, but the Council had assigned them before the attacks when they’d heard rumors of the possibility of danger. The Council had hoped to keep their elite bio-researcher safely protected by three high-ranking Generals. The men had brought Anna to Fourth Quadrant, where Crystal had met her and helped introduce her to the Food Producers. Anna was working on some theories on the link between whole foods and increased fertility rates.
“Stars, no!” Bella pulled her plate away before Crystal could add a second slice of lasagna. “I enjoy my work too much to be tied to the bed.”
“Oooh, now there’s a delicious thought,” Crystal teased.
Bella chuckled as she turned to leave the line. “You’re a bad influence,” she murmured as she walked away.
Crystal wondered if there was any validity to the whispers that Bella and her three military mates were involved with the Pro-Freedom Movement at a key level. Her stomach soured as she considered turning her friend over to the Council.
How could good people like Bella, Henri, and Stepho be on the wrong side of this conflict? And how could Crystal live with herself if she caused the deaths of other good people like them and later learned that she’d been working for the wrong people?
Chapter Five
“ What’s going on out there, Fisher?” Crystal waved at the growing crowd in the cafeteria. It was exactly halfway between the midday and evening meals, a time when the cafeteria was usually empty, except for a few people who liked to take a break from work and talk over a hot beverage from the self-service
“Another moon cycle,” he grumbled as he turned away with his meal.
After more than a moon cycle preparing meals for the intelligentsia in sector one, Crystal was coming to know quite of few of them by name and their favorite dishes. She was glad of the friendly faces greeting her across the service counter because working in the kitchen with Bad Attitude Fisher was wearing on her nerves.
Thank the stars, she had Henri and Stepho to return to every night. They knew how to get her mind off of her moody sous-chef, who hadn’t taken too well to her calling an end to their intimate relationship, but a part of her missed the challenge of being with Fisher. She was different with him than she was with Henri and Stepho.
With Henri, she could give over to her submissive side and relax into his control, which was a welcome relief from always trying so hard to prove herself in her military life. Whereas, Stepho brought out her softer side as she reacted to his sensitiveness. He was acutely responsive to the feelings of Henri and Crystal—when he wasn’t absorbed in his single-minded research mode.
Then there was Fisher. In all honesty, she enjoyed their sparring. She liked that she was able to be her strong self with him. She didn’t have to hold back on the rougher side of her personality. He met her squarely in the same place.
If only she could have all three of them…
“Oh no, Crystal,” Doctor Bella, mathematician extraordinaire, groaned as she stepped up to the counter for her plate, pulling Crystal out of her daydream. “Not pasta again. You’re making me fat.”
“Ha! Not a chance, Bella. Besides, I don’t think those three brawny mates of yours would mind a little extra meat on your bones.”
Bella grinned conspiratorially at Crystal. “I’m afraid they won’t let me leave the bed if I get any curvier.”
“Well, hellitude then. Let me give you a double serving.” Crystal laughed with her new friend, who’d managed to get the Council to agree to her mating with three members of Fourth Quadrant’s special security force after the men had acted as her bodyguards during the initial OAS attacks.
Their mutual friend, Doctor Anna, had also been mated with three members of the military, but the Council had assigned them before the attacks when they’d heard rumors of the possibility of danger. The Council had hoped to keep their elite bio-researcher safely protected by three high-ranking Generals. The men had brought Anna to Fourth Quadrant, where Crystal had met her and helped introduce her to the Food Producers. Anna was working on some theories on the link between whole foods and increased fertility rates.
“Stars, no!” Bella pulled her plate away before Crystal could add a second slice of lasagna. “I enjoy my work too much to be tied to the bed.”
“Oooh, now there’s a delicious thought,” Crystal teased.
Bella chuckled as she turned to leave the line. “You’re a bad influence,” she murmured as she walked away.
Crystal wondered if there was any validity to the whispers that Bella and her three military mates were involved with the Pro-Freedom Movement at a key level. Her stomach soured as she considered turning her friend over to the Council.
How could good people like Bella, Henri, and Stepho be on the wrong side of this conflict? And how could Crystal live with herself if she caused the deaths of other good people like them and later learned that she’d been working for the wrong people?
Chapter Five
“ What’s going on out there, Fisher?” Crystal waved at the growing crowd in the cafeteria. It was exactly halfway between the midday and evening meals, a time when the cafeteria was usually empty, except for a few people who liked to take a break from work and talk over a hot beverage from the self-service
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