FreedomofThree by Liberty Stafford

which blazed to the point of dire indigestion. What Talia did not realise, or was not ready to recognise, was the fact that her mother had never been so attentive towards her as in this moment. Uno had fluffed pillows, fetched water, fussed and mithered, and that was why Talia’s lake of tears would not stop filling.
    “Our time is at hand,” the black queen would promise in the folds of the pretty pink princess bedroom. “He will be found and I will punish him. I spoke to a very interesting man who runs a bounty hunting operation. Very primal, I know, but desperate times do call for such measures.”
    “I don’t want him back!” Talia would sob. “I hate him!”
    “Of course,” Uno soothed with her sandpaper like voice. “That is often the way of things. I couldn’t stand your father at first.”
    “Really?” Talia was unnerved by this most unexpected news.
    “Of course. Marriage is a funny thing. Don’t even try to understand it. I never could. Thinking about it only causes pain. I find a much better way of dealing with those emotions is to channel it into something different. Something like finding your enemies. There’s always some problem or other to deal with, my precious. Let me show you effective ways of solving such problems. I’ll be your guide in such a nasty world.”
     
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Twelve
    Travelling In Style
     
     
    Raniko’s choice of space travel was, like the rest of her fine lifestyle, elegant and glamorous. Even from the outside, The Opulence was obviously something special. Oval in shape, except above the cockpit, where the metal was moulded into the head of a jaguar. Most spacecraft tended to be white or bare metal. The Opulence was golden. Not pure gold. If she had remained modelling, it would certainly have been, but not now. Now she had to make sacrifices.
    Inside the ship, its interior resembled a hotel penthouse. Entering through the side door, there was a large living area, the round room skirted with suede sofas, soft sheepskin rugs, a wide screen television, full surround sound and tropical fish tanks, all in a colour scheme of coffee, cream and amber, studded occasionally with diamante. Off this leisure space, were two bedrooms, slim but gloriously furnished with bronze satin bedspreads and golden sequinned scatter cushions, the master bedroom having a large dressing table. The bathroom had a Jacuzzi bath, of course, and even the prisoner’s quarters had a beautiful bedspread, only single, and a leopard print rug.
    Up front, the cockpit ran the same colour scheme, each chair in velvety cream suede, piped with orange cotton and embroidered diamante leopards prowled each back rest. Hudson Brody had laughed to the point of urination when Raniko made her purchase and first glided into his docking bay, so proud of her baby, for which rudeness she had stamped upon his foot. Raniko had travelled miles to an auction for The Opulence, owned previously by a super model with a penchant for big cats, which suited Raniko just fine. Even though the docking bay droids had their work cut out keeping the fish fed and the golden taps shining, she still considered her purchase a bargain.
    She slid the jewel encrusted handle into forward gear, escaping in The Opulence towards the Jendo system, setting a course for Kirslar and in particular a resort named Botanica.
     
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Thirteen
    Employee Of The Week
     
     
    Moving to Botanica had definitely been one of Devon’s better choices. His apartment on the ground floor was a basic room but, by his standards, was on a par with the palace dojo. Within several days, he had a bank of clients queuing for his services. Rich women mostly, on long holidays for perhaps a few months while the cold periods on their own planets passed by.Odd times, he would get a male tennis player or swimmer visiting for a sports massage but there was another masseuse who specialised in sporting injuries so Devon tended