Page 13 of The Quoram Effect

Chapter Six

Meandering through the crowd, I sauntered over to the governor’s advisor. Giving me a double take, Marla feigned her surprise, then smiled. “Oh, hello.”

“Hi.” My eyes flicked to the provocative red gown she was wearing. The drape of expensive silk barely contained her plump breasts, making my dress appear conservative in comparison. Stifling a frown, I considered if the sparkling gems hanging like teardrops around her neck were artificially made or the rarities from the mines of Arithium Asteroid. Either way, I wanted to slap her for her pretentiousness. “Do you come here often?”

Her smile grew with coyness. “Are you hitting on me?” She was either a naïve drunk or pretending to be. “Oh my, is that…is that why you rejected the…are you gay? If you are, that’s absolutely fine—”

“Look lady, you can believe whatever you like, but right now, I need to escort you back to Delta Ring. Alpha Ring is not safe for you.”

“This bar seems nice enough.”

I stared at her, questioning her intellect. Was she messing with me? “This establishment is not one that caters to, or tolerates, government officials. And even if nobody here recognises you, your outfit screams money and stature.” Not to mention this establishment was run by Puran sympathisers.

For a moment she sobered up, sweeping her bright eyes over my face. “Then why are you here?”

Lowering my voice, I leaned closer. “Meeting a friend.” It was a plausible lie. I wasn’t wealthy, and out of uniform, I fitted in.

She smirked from behind her cocktail. “So, you do have a life, Ms Harthwaite. Zuli implied you are a work-a-holic.”

What the…? How the hell did she know that?

“So, who’s the lucky guy?” Marla eagerly scrutinised the bar’s guests. I prayed Torz was still concealed behind the alcove curtain.

“Nobody you’d know.”

“Oh.” She giggled, pinning me with a teasing stare. “What does Commander Benoit think of your new beau?” Her words made me flinch.

“Why would he care?” I mumbled, plucking the glass from her slender fingers. I’d had enough of this idle chit-chat. It was time to get her out of here.

Placing her half-empty drink on the bar, I grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the exit. To my surprise, she didn’t protest half as much as I expected.

The combinedclick-clackof my stiletto heels and the tottering of hers pounded the grey metallic tiles, the sound bouncing from wall to wall, annoying my eardrums the further we travelled along the main corridors towards the central tower connecting all four rings of the Argentum. When we arrived at the elevators, door three pinged open and two Beta Ring security guards stepped out. I recognised both of them, but neither one acknowledged me as they passed. With my hair hanging loosely around my shoulders, and wearing a sexy dress and heels, I was unrecognisable.

I was invisible.

Marla eyed the two young men, soaking up their muscular physiques. She hummed her approval as I dragged her into the metallic lift. I was starting to think shewasdrunk…and horny.

“Tell me, Lieutenant,” she slurred, propping herself up against the circular railing. “Why did you reject him?”

“Who?”

She laughed. “Commander Benoit, of course.”

Selecting Delta Ring, Level Five, and initiating the lift doors to close, I suppressed a groan. I was at the end of my tether with people asking me the same damn question.

“Or did he rejectyou?”

“It’s none of your business.”

“But it is.”

I snapped my unappreciative scowl her way, and with a condescending sweetness, she smiled.

“Zuli wants an insight into why the general desire to live on Quoram isn’t coercing Damson couples to accept their bond.” She straightened her pose against the wall, inspecting her manicured nails. “There must be a reason, right? Why so many refuse it. It’s everyone’s dream to live there.”

I stared back at the numbers scrolling on the door panel, the artificial gravity shifting its pull as we zoomed up the elevator shaft. “I’m sure everyone has their reasoning,” I mumbled, thinking of Torz and the look of horror he’d given me the night the magic tried to take hold.

“Well, if I find my Damson, Iwon’tbe letting him go.” She tittered. “Especially if he looks like Commander Benoit.”