Page 66 of The Fall

Relief washed over her, but that wasn’t what she was asking. “Not about that. About your aunt. She hates you?”

“Yes.” Lusa paced the room waiting for a connection. “But we still work together. Like you and Chalice.”

Kerr could understand that. Lusa sent and received several messages while Kerr allowed herself a few more moments to admire Lusa in her state of undress.

Yanking her monocle off suddenly, Lusa swore.

Kerr ran the tip of an artificial finger across her teeth. “What?”

“I might not have an aunt when I get back.”

“Alana?” Kerr asked.

“A different aunt. Alana is on her way.” Lusa dug around in her rucksack.

“Okay, slow down.” Having flashbacks to the way Chalice would barge ahead with plans she never had time to explain, Kerr tried unsuccessfully to calm herself. “I need you to tell me what’s going on.”

Lusa softened. “I’m sorry, I got carried away, but I had an idea and we need to move quickly.”

Chalice never apologised to her. Her breathing eased.

Noticing her distress, Lusa took her hand. “We need Model 2 to get Pinga. And Chalice. To do that, we need a specific type of DocPod. We know exactly where one is, we just need to get it.”

Kerr’s stomach dropped. “There’s no way we can get past the Styx. How is your aunt going to fix that?”

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Lusa squeezed as much reassurance as she could into her hand. “I went after Pinga unauthorised. My aunt let me use her bike, which is how I got here and why they’re probably going to kill her. My other aunt is already on her way here on a rover with fuel. It’ll take her another day to get here, then she’s going to take the transport Pinga stole and collect a rescue team. But.” Lusa paused for dramatic effect. “While she’s here, she can help us get the DocPod the Styx left at the docks. No-one called off the delivery. If we’re lucky, we can get Pinga first and stop a gang war before it starts.”

Kerr squealed in delight and threw her arms around Lusa’s neck. Lusa only indulged her for a moment before throwing her off. “We need to go now. Otherwise, we’ll miss Alana.”

Finding some clothes, Lusa put on her TacPants before turning back to Kerr. “The rest of my things are on the bike. Do you have anything I can wear?”

Staring at the obscenely beautiful topless woman towering over her, Kerr salivated at the way her muscles flowed and rippled uninterrupted by mods or prosthetics. And then her…

“Yes these. I need to cover these,” Lusa pointed at her breasts.

Kerr’s eyes refused to budge.

“Because otherwise this happens.” Lusa directed her point to Kerr.

Shaking her head, Kerr hunted for the largest top she owned.

“It’s like you’ve never seen tits before,” Lusa muttered with a note of amusement.

“In my defence,” Kerr held out a top “They’re fucking amazing.”

Blushing, Lusa snatched the top. “And you say that to every pair of tits you’ve seen, I’m sure.” Kerr found it impossible to believe that Lusa didn’t know her breasts would be the most expensive design specs on every DocPod model that could make them.

Lusa writhed her way into Kerr’s artfully distressed baggy boyfriend-cut shirt, but it was so tight across the chest that she looked even more scandalous than she did topless. Kerr kept catching herself flicking her eyes across her body. It wasn’t nearly as subtle as she had hoped.

“Are you recording me?” Lusa found her jacket.

Watching her pull it on over the shirt that was now so stretched out, she’d never be able to wear it again, Kerr admitted, “I am now.” She raked her teeth across her bottom lip. Perhaps she would stuff it and use it as a pillow until Lusa’s scent had faded. It would either prolong the heartbreak or lead to some very pleasant dreams.

Lusa breathed a laugh and zipped up the jacket. “Now that you’ve finished eye-fucking me, hurry up and pack.”

“Where are we going?”

“Ever been camping?” Lusa threw the rucksack over her shoulder.