Chapter 42

“Welcome back, my love,” Kirim greeted me with a smile as I picked up and swung the joyfully ‘Daddy’ shouting Kiria.

“Good to be back where I belong,” I replied before kissing her.

“Mummy missed you, Daddy. She cried some nights,” Kiria informed me.

“I missed you both too,” I answered as I cuddled them both in.

“I got so frightened when I heard about the battle,” Kirim confessed.

“They never really got near the bulk of the Imperial Fleets. The Gershonians were the ones to mix it up with the spheres.”

“Some super-secret weapon was used, according to the newsies.”

“A very big ‘gun’ or several of them placed where the spheres would have to pass. They didn’t expect them this time; next time might be different,” I explained.

“Aunty Cass! Aunty Hiqua!” yelled Kiria right in my ear as she spotted Cass and Hiqua emerging from another shuttle.

“Ouch,” I murmured as Kiria dropped to the ground and ran to them.

“I look forward to having you back in our bed,” Kirim informed me with a sultry smile and a smouldering kiss.

“I look forward to it too, my Lady. Pregnancy always did make you horny,” I chuckled.

“Mmmm, yes.”

Cass and Hiqua came up to greet us and exchanged hugs before leaving Kiria with us and catching a lift to their respective residences. I then bade Morano a farewell before we headed off to drop my stuff off and take the family for a meal.

“Morano is Meritocrat Vasuul’s son,” Kirim commented, mentioning the High Bureaucrat of Imperial Security who was Vilgra’s boss of bosses. Though Vilgra’s status was somewhat obscure with her being Herrick’s understudy. This was, I believe, a deliberate policy by Amantil and the AIs to make sure that there was always a recourse to a different higher authority as well as observers she trusted all through ImpSec.

“Is he now,” I mused out loud. “He doesn’t appear to have a very high regard for Imperial authority.”

“A lot of the sons and daughters of the senior Bureaucrats are the same, the Nobility, not so much,” Kirim replied as the lift arrived.

“He did his duty though without complaint, which is the main thing.”

“Good, as did you and no doubt Cass and Hiqua.”

“I think he’s a good man, just needs some of the naivety knocked out of him, though working in the medical centre will do that eventually,” I chuckled.

“I wonder if he’d like to try a stint in the Guardians as a coroner,” Kirim added thoughtfully. “He’d learn a few things about people, admittedly some stuff he’d wish he hadn’t.”

“Ask him. No doubt he’ll be back at the centre in a day or two.”

“I might just at that. It’s technically a good career basis if you can stomach it and will fast track him to full Healer status rather than provisional.”

“Good, now just where would you like to eat?” I asked.

“Mamma’s!” Kiria squealed.

“You sure?” I chuckled looking at Kirim.

“She always gives me extra meat,” Kiria giggled as Kirim nodded acceptance.

“Mamma’s it is then,” I laughed at my daughter’s priorities.

The following day I was up at Medical Resource greeting both Vilgra and Ashlann before going over who needed what done.

“We suspect Lendmenos Burring was deliberately infected with a genetic wasting disease,” Vilgra explained. “We’d like him cured as part of our investigations.”

“No problem, who’s the surrogate?”

“His wife, Lendmena Hirinis, volunteered,” Vilgra replied with a raised eyebrow.

“Seriously? And he’s OK with this?”

“He doesn’t know. He’s demanded a complete privacy screen and demanded that it be you so his wife doesn’t find out.”

“She wouldn’t be the one who poisoned him by any chance?”

“We don’t think so; we suspect it’s their son or possibly his wife.”

“No evidence?”

“Just circumstantial based on financial details. His son is close to bankruptcy due to his wife’s poor investments and support of the Cillort rebellion.”

“So why haven’t they downsized, sold off their dwelling and rebuilt their finances?”

“Pride and appearance mostly. It’s a Nobility thing for some of the traditional families.”

“And his father’s death?”

“Would promote him one rank and give him access to funds to clear the bad debt.”

“I see,” I nodded. “So why is his wife interested in being a surrogate?”

“Religion. Her family are Sabotinians. With them the male line of a marriage is supposed to remain pure and untouched except by the female line.”

“Boy, that must make for some awkward marriages, knowing the Upper Nobility.”

“It’s a weird religion which essentially reverses the gender roles sexually,” Vilgra giggled. “Means the women can discreetly play the field whilst the men have to remain chaste and pure. The prevalence of AIs makes it ... workable to a certain degree, though as you well know there are ways and means around it.”

“Yep, well, let’s get to it.”

“She’s through in treatment room one,” Vilgra pointed, though I already knew the way as the opening in the wall gave me a clue.

Lendmena Hirinis was a shrew like woman of indeterminate middle age who clearly did not qualify for rejuve as yet unless her husband was raised several ranks to Orliantomin. Still, despite her looks, she was worth a second glance for reasons that were not too obvious at first but seemed to be personality ... or that certain ‘something’ some women have.

“Salutations, Lendmena,” I greeted her.

“Greetings, Cure David,” she replied, pretty much scoping me all over.

“You know what is required?”

“Yes, and hopefully this will cure my husband and enable ImpSec to find out who did this to him,” she replied in angry tones.

“They will find out. They inevitably do, no matter how long it takes.”

“I hope so, though I suspect my son and his idiot of a wife have their hands all over this and that will break Burring’s heart.”

“You won’t know until the investigation is over and the perpetrators can be pulled in front of a Justice Table.”

“True, shall we begin?”

I leaned over and kissed her allowing the magic to flow and causing her to become rather flushed.

“Oh my...” she gasped out.

“All part of my skill set,” I replied.

“No wonder you Cures are in demand, despite the reputation some of you have,” she replied before kissing me.

Clothing rapidly came off and I discovered Hirinis wasn’t from the Empire as she had pubic hair. This naturally made her somewhat more exotic in my eyes, though nothing compared to my Kirim and the passion we’d shared the night before.

My lips and fingers wandered over her body as she gasped passionately at times and was rapidly coming to the boil as it were. Her own hands were simply caressing me as she enjoyed being at the centre of my attention.

“So good!” she moaned as her first orgasm exploded within her and I moved up onto the grav bed to mount her. “So, so good!” she gasped as I slid into her slick, tight channel.

“Enjoy, little lady,” I moaned as our bodies moved in tandem with each other, she seeking an energetic coupling in order to gain more orgasms before I would finally come within her.

“Harder, harder!” she almost screamed in my ear as I pounder her willing body before yelling out her delight as another wave of pleasure overtook her.

Soon enough though I could hold back no longer and with a groan of my own I released within her, causing her to have another spectacular orgasm before she collapsed to lie supine on the grav bed.

“Damn, I needed that,” she moaned.

“Well, it’s done. You just need to sort your husband,” I chuckled as I put my clothing back on.

“Yes, then vanish from the scene and pretend I don’t know anything about this.”

“Weird, but whatever works for you.”

“He’s the one being nice to me, trying to keep it from me. I’m not too bothered as it needs to be done and I needed a good fuck anyway,” she giggled. The attendants came in with her husband’s bed shrouded in a privacy screen.

I simply smiled and walked through to the observation room where Vilgra, Ashlann and a lot of flushed looking ladies were congregated.

“Well done, Dave,” Vilgra congratulated me. “I suspect some husbands and boyfriends are getting very lucky tonight.”

“Yes, I can see I’ve been missed,” I chuckled as a bunch of grinning ladies scurried out.

“You have, Dave,” Ashlann confirmed. “Not just amongst the female staff either. We have a waiting list for you.”

“Anything interesting?”

“No, just the usual upper level disease lottery winners. We try to weed out the ones spreading the various conditions, but they invariably lie or won’t tell us who they’ve been with.”

“Well, it’s their money and their choice,” I chuckled.

“True, more money than sense, some of them,” she nodded.

“How many this time?”

“Twelve, seven males, five females. No one of note, just all of them willing to pay the price to hide it from their partners and the media,” Ashlann grimaced as she generally disapproved of the current trend of libertines in the higher upper levels.

“Put half of my fees into the staff bonus fund and let’s get to work.”

“You sure, Dave?” she asked, quite shocked.

“I get ten thousand Royals per treatment. My living expenses are a twentieth of that, which includes Kiria’s school fees. So yes, I’m sure, plus you guys do a lot of the hard work for me whereas I get all the fun.”

“You’re a good man, Dave,” Vilgra piped up.

“I try. Now, who’s first?”

“Long day, my love?” Kirim asked as I finally exited the lift into our home.

“Yes, too many upper level drones thinking that I’m just some sort of utility as they play about in their lives,” I sighed.

“Yes, some of the stuff I get to deal with that filters down from Senior Inspector Minat via Leommir is shocking and would cause serious disquiet in the various levels below if it were ever to become public knowledge. There’s a massive disconnect between their social mores and incomes and the levels below them. They honestly believe money can cover up anything.”