Fennor paused and said, “Just a minute. Don’t leave.”
He came back with a smug expression. “I have a compromise, but you have to share this space.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously. Come on, lie back down. We will get you moving again.” Fennor oiled up his bright green hands, and when he was ready, she lay back down and kicked her sheet into position. She was moaning slightly as Fennor’s fingers dug into the scar tissue on her right arm. The footsteps and soft voices were dismissed. She was in a haze of pain as her body fought the massage.
“How long has it been, Styra?”
“About three months. I have been busy.” She grunted and kept herself facing downward as he straightened and flexed her arm to check the motion.
“Right. I will come back to that later. You are going to bruise.”
He carefully placed her arm at her side and covered it up. Fennor continued to work on her, but he paused. “I have to get some more of the medicinal oil.”
She nodded and sighed.
From the other bed in the room where another masseur was working on the other client came a familiar voice. “You have injuries.”
If her arm wasn’t completely numb, she would have slapped herself in the face. She lifted and turned her head. “I did. Now I have damage.”
“I see. Those are blade marks.” The captain was staring at her. In person, the purple of his skin was striking.
“Yeah, there is blaster scarring, too, which you might see when I roll over. So, you might want to avert your eyes at that point.” She swallowed.
“I have seen damage before.”
She nodded. “Right. Of course. I am sorry to have intruded on your stress relief.”
“I believe I should be apologizing. It seems that your need was far greater than ours.”
She blushed. “It isn’t a problem. I will be out of here as soon as Fennor has me mobile again.”
He leaned up on his elbows. “You had a day planned here?”
“Yes.”
“Then, enjoy it. We can stay out of your way.”
She looked at Gemb, who was working on the captain. He gave her a smile and a nod.
“Um, sure. If you don’t mind. That would be helpful.”
Fennor came back with the deep-heating rub, and he got back to work.
She placed her face through the cut-out in the bed, and she grunted, moaned, and groaned with every bit of therapeutic handling.
“Okay, Styra, roll over.” Fennor moved between her and the captain and held up the sheet so she could roll away from the intense silver gaze.
She flopped into position, and he tucked the sheet over her, and he started working on her arm.
The captain’s side of the room was silent. It was as if Gemb wasn’t able to work any of the tissue under the skin.
“So, are you and your ship staying long?” She glanced at him.
“A few more days. We are awaiting a personnel transfer.”
That made sense. It was common enough on Blue Station. They were in a great position for folk to come together from around the nearest six star systems.
Fennor tugged her sheet down and draped a shorter sheet across her breasts while he worked on the mess that had been made of her abdomen.
He was leaning up to look. “You took a point-blank blast to the torso.”
She nodded. “I am aware of it.”
“The scars are pale. How old were you?”
She grimaced. “Six. Raider attack. Out of a ship with two hundred people, I was one of nine survivors.” She anticipated his questions. “We floated into a shipping lane, and from there, I was brought to the med center here. I grew up on this station.”
He was shocked. “The station master raised you?”
“More or less. He hired a nanny for me and told me he would take it out of my future earnings.” She smiled. “I have a very thorough and strange education.”
“I see. I did not realize that Mr. Blue was so generous as to take in humans.”
She grunted as Fennor hit the knot that kept her from standing straight most days. Sweat appeared on her forehead, and she shook as she fought the urge to punch her therapist and run for it.
“You are in pain.” The captain’s voice was tense.
She gritted her teeth and nodded. “Yeah, there are issues with muscle attachments in the wrong place. They tighten up over time, and since I have been busy with work, I have left it too long. The price I pay for easy motion.”
Fennor muttered, “Almost done.”
The twang of the freed tendon was a bolt of pain that she wasn’t expecting. She shrieked, and tears ran from her eyes.
She sobbed for a minute, and Fennor went on to her legs, and then, he covered her up, patted her shoulder, and said, “Take the time you need.”
She nodded and slowly let the aches and pains become her body again. She swallowed and glanced at the captain, he was on his back now, and his expression was completely appalled.
She wrapped the sheet around her and waddled over to where she had her robe. She slid her arms into it and let the sheet drop. She returned the sheet to the bed and bowed toward the captain. “I am sorry for disturbing your time. Thank you for your patience.”
She left via the back door and headed for the sauna. She changed her robe for a wrap as she heard masculine voices coming from the sauna.
When she opened the door, the six men went silent, so she chuckled. “Apologies. As you were.”
She found a corner and sat as comfortably as she was able, slumping down onto the seat with her hands loose in her lap. She kept her eyes closed, and gradually the voices resumed their discussion of the trip to the entertainment center. Apparently, they had all had a very good time. They didn’t remember much except thrills, danger, and then satisfaction, but that was the effect of the center. No one remembered how the adventures turned out, except for folks like herself who had to remain cognizant of everything before and after. There were only a handful of women on the station who had that training, but she was one of them.
When they started speculating on the adventure that the captain had had, she kept herself as still as possible. Apparently, he had come out of it energized with a smile on his face that both intrigued and chilled them. He tended to wear that expression when he was trying to out-think an opponent.
She suddenly wasn’t getting the benefit from the sauna that she thought she would get. The hot tub held far more appeal.
She quietly got up and slipped out of the sauna, turned toward the hot tub, and froze. There was a wall in the way, and it was breathing.
She looked up and met his curious expression. “Excuse me, please.”
“Where are you going?”
She smiled. “Just a hot soak. The jets might be kinder to me than passive heat.”
He paused and nodded. “I will accompany you.”
Styra’s eyes went wide. “It is not necessary. You... your men... um... I have nothing.”
He smiled, and a low chuckle emerged. “Good. It is settled. Which way do we go?”