Necropath by Eric Brown

before. For the first time in years it had made her feel wanted and appreciated.
     
    “Su... so little time, this time. Two hours. A flier waits to take me back to the Station.”
     
    “Oh. I’m sorry. I’m sorry I was late.”
     
    He arranged the folds of his robe across his lap, patting his knees with a pink hand more like a webbed claw. Sukara kicked off her sandals and climbed on to his soft, wide lap, leaning her head back against his chest. She felt herself sink in. His arms enfolded her. From beneath his robe, she felt the gentle movement of his ancillary arms, his pseudopods. She closed her eyes. She found the experience pleasurable now, but at first the ‘pods had made her a little queasy.
     
    She felt something warm and soft slide across her belly, worm its way beneath the waistband of her skirt. She opened her legs to accommodate the tentacle and felt it squirm into her vagina. At the same time, others slipped beneath her T-shirt, wrapped themselves around her torso. Finally a pseudopod up between her shoulder blades and attached itself to the back of her neck. Sukara felt herself drifting off, but not actually losing consciousness. She had had dreams like this in the past, on the edge of sleep—lucid dreams, they were called—but never any as vivid as these. Dervan knew exactly what she wanted, and gave her fantasies to make her forget her circumstances.
     
    She was free and walking through tall blue grass on an alien world, with multiple moons in the sky and structures like castles floating in the air. Someone was with her—Dervan in essence, but in human form—and Sukara trusted and felt affection for this someone, and the feeling was blissful.
     
    And then she was swimming in the effervescent sea of a vast water world, nosed gently by creatures like dolphins who communicated by touch. Again, someone was with her, a Dervan-someone. Again, the experience was a delight.
     
    Dervan had told her, after their first union two years ago, that this was how people on his planet made love. The male lulled the female with mind dreams that stimulated his mate’s egg-producing glands, which the male then inseminated with a thick, green substance like jelly. The jelly bit was the only part of the experience Sukara had not enjoyed, once she had overcome the shock of the pseudopods—but after the first few times she had become accustomed to wiping the goo from her thighs.
     
    It had been one of her first experiences with an alien, and she had rushed out to tell the other girls how wonderful it had been. But their reaction had hurt and upset her. They did not listen, and turned their backs on her when she tried to explain. They told her they did not wish to associate with a girl who worked with monsters. And she had tried to explain that, although they might look like monsters, in fact they were gentle and caring. Only later did she come to understand the reason for the other girls’ reaction to her.
     
    Now the dreams came to an end, leaving her feeling dozy and relaxed. She opened her eyes to find herself lying on the bed. Dervan was sitting by her feet, stroking her leg. Something like a smile crinkled his wrinkled features. “So pleased, Su. Until the next time...”
     
    It was all Sukara could do to lift her arm and wave her fingers as he stood and eased his bulk from the room. Her eyes fluttered and she fell into a deep, dreamless slumber.
     
    Later she got up and showered, scraping the jelly-stuff from between her legs and examining the strange, circular sucker marks, like painless blue and yellow bruises, that dotted her belly and chest.
     
    She returned to the bar, hoisted herself onto a high stool, and sent a kid out to fetch her breakfast. She ate noodles and chicken with a refreshing cold beer. It was after midnight and the bar was filling up. Couples moved on the dance floor, jerking around beneath the multicoloured flashing lights. Girls drifted from table to table, chatting to customers;