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  He sighed and rubbed his chin against her ear. “Three thousand or so. Eternity without purpose is a burden.”

  “And life without purpose is just existing.” She chuckled. “That is the idea that got me here.”

  “What?”

  “I was back on my home world and the Alliance asked for volunteers to leave the Earth and try their hands at blending in with the other species in space. I signed up, didn’t think I had a chance and ended up getting an interview.”

  “You charmed them with your personality?”

  “No, I spoke frankly and passed all of the navigation exams. My mind registered as suitable for extended solo periods in space, and I have a fixation for adherence to the job at hand that made me ideal for a courier position. I have chased dawn on three dozen worlds, and now, I am on a planet where the light doesn’t move.”

  He chuckled. “I have been meaning to ask you, why do you measure things in twelve when you have ten digits?”

  She leaned back, “You know, it is a good thing I looked up the answer when I still had access to my history. Twelve is used for commercial goods because it can be divided easily into two, three, four or six. It is a bit of Terran trivia that I treasure.”

  Harmony wrinkled her nose at the alliteration.

  “So why do you use it to count?”

  “I learned how when I was a child and since foodstuffs are one of the first exposures to numbers, I counted eggs. On Earth, we sell eggs by the dozen.”

  “What is the name of your home? You say Earth and then you say Terran.”

  He wrapped an arm around her waist and turned her so that they both looked out over the city.

  “Our planet is called Earth, but the Alliance has designated it as Terra. Ironically, both words mean dirt.” Harmony smiled.

  “My world was called Kell. It also means dirt. I think most planets have that distinction.”

  “Kell. I have never heard of it. Which sector was it in?”

  “I don’t know. We had only begun our spaceflight, and I was one of the first pilots to leave our world. The storm took me, pulled me in and I woke up two years later with Drennor walking me through my first breaths on this world.”

  She blinked. “Ah, so it is a world! I was wondering. We are fixed to the rift, so I had a little trouble figuring what we were standing on.”

  Harmony glanced down and saw the bluish shading of his fingers on the curve of her waist. It was the blue that separated her mocha skin from his, but it was enough of a difference to make her shiver.

  “We call it a planet, but there is no way to explore it without being dragged into the rift.”

  His fingers slowly caressed the curve of her waist down to her hip.

  She sighed and leaned against him. “Changing your mind about the more interesting aspects of my rehabilitation?”

  “I am engaged in an innermost debate.”

  Harmony snickered. “Let me know who is winning.”

  It was half an hour of watching the city and the rip in the sky before he turned her in his arms. “Promise me that you only want me for my body.”

  Laughing, she looped her arms around his neck. “I swear. At this moment in time, I only want you for your body.”

  He kissed her, pressing her back and almost out the window. She was glad that she had no fear of heights, because they twisted together for quite a while, bodies pressed and mouths battling.

  She dragged one leg up and looped it around behind his back, pressing up and against him. The metal covering her sex pressed into her, and she rocked her hips into his rhythmically until a quiver started inside her and spread outward.

  Harmony moaned her release into his mouth, and he pulled back sharply. He leaned her against the interior wall while he pulled at his clothing with graceless haste.

  She caught her breath as the strange musculature that she had felt was now exposed to her greedy gaze. Even during exercise, he kept himself covered.

  She moved toward him and pressed her hand to the wide band of pectoral muscle, feeling it jerk under her touch. Harmony took her time, examining each ridge of his torso and ignoring the sharply tipped column of his cock.

  When she had explored from his shoulders to the taut expanse of his lower belly, she reached behind him and stroked her hands up his back, bringing her body into full contact with the skin she had just caressed. “Sorry if the suit is cold.”

  He laughed and slid his hand between her thighs. He did something with a quick motion, and the next instant, he was sliding his fingers into her.

  “It feels hot enough to me.”

  Nero leaned in and pressed his lips against her neck, nibbling up to her ear and then shifting sides.

  She shivered and leaned her head to the side to help him find the spots that used to drive her wild. She may have a new body, but her hot spots seemed to be in all the right places.

  Harmony didn’t know how but he managed to hit her erogenous zones even with the metal wraps in place. Her body got hotter, and she reached between them to grip his cock, stroking him until he groaned.

  “Harmony, please. If you keep doing that, I won’t get inside you and that is really where I want to be.”

  She reluctantly released him, but her hand still hummed with the heat of the contact. She didn’t have time to dwell on it; he pressed her up against the wall and lifted her until he could line up their bodies. With one swift move, he set the head of his cock in place and drove into her.

  She screamed and clawed at his shoulders. “Son-of-a-bitch!”

  Nero froze. “What?”

  “Brand new body, I was back to being a virgin. Damn, I forgot how much the first time hurt.”

  Her channel throbbed in pain. He wasn’t small and the angle they were at made his entry extremely deep.

  “What can I do?” His concern showed on his face.

  “Can you stay still for a minute?”

  She reached between them and around the metal of her suit. She stroked her clit until her body relaxed and the pain faded.

  She was just about to tell Nero that it was okay when he started to move. She heard him say, “Two, one,” the moment before he thrust gently and she laughed. He had counted down from sixty.

  Her laughter faded when a moan worked its way out of her throat. He rocked and she groaned. She moved her fingers on her clit furiously, and as he gritted his teeth and grunted, she gasped as her orgasm tightened her sore flesh around him.

  She could feel his cock pulsing inside her, and it helped some of the soreness ease.

  His eyes were closed as if his entire focus was what was going on inside her.

  The ache inside her vanished as her aftershocks grew less frequent and finally ceased. Her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist supported her, as did his weight pressing her against the stone.

  Whatever his body was doing slowly halted and he withdrew from her, supporting her as she put her legs back on the floor. “I am sorry, Harmony. I didn’t realise…”

  She chuckled weakly. “I didn’t either. It never occurred to me that my untouched state would recur with the regeneration. That little bit of skin was a bit of a surprise.”

  He snorted and helped her stand straight again. She had pink and red trails slowly making their way down her inner thighs, but she didn’t regret it.

  “I need to tidy up a little.” She looked down and ran a shaking hand over her scalp, looking for the hair that had yet to show up.

  “Wait while I get dressed if I can manage to work the closures. I believe that I tore a few of my garments.”

  Without saying another word, he reached between her thighs and the silver covering snapped shut.

  She looked down at his hand. “How did you do that?”

  “I know the secret handshake.” He winked and kept trying to put his clothing back on. It was a lost cause. One fastener held the trousers, the tunic hung open and the vest had parted at one shoulder.

  She giggled and had to admit th
at her suit was a lot better. The metal and exertion made her skin glow.

  The singing in her mind was now a sated hum. Whatever it got from their joining had definitely relaxed it a little.

  “This is all I can manage until I reach my quarters. Shall we leave?”

  She looked around her at all the portraits of those who had been driven mad by the song. They certainly got an eyeful. “Well, there is nothing else for me to expose here, so certainly, let’s be off.”

  He chuckled and put an arm around her waist. “I will use your beauty to disguise my dishevelment.”

  They began their way down the stairs. “You are very disheveled.”

  “And you are extremely beautiful. It is quite the camouflage for my poor form.”

  She felt heat in her face, but she counted on her skin tone to hide the telltale blush that had so often given her friends’ thoughts away.

  Their walk down the steps was slow due to her aching thighs and his loose clothing. It was nearly a battlefield promenade, both moving with care that was exaggerated by the other’s vulnerability.

  She dreaded meeting another of the restored, but Nero took them through back routes that kept them out of the public eye. At the restoration building, they slipped up the stairs and tucked themselves into their respective quarters. A quick kiss parted them, and when she was in her own rooms, Harmony leaned against the door and smiled. It had been a productive day.

  Chapter Five

  Two days later, she was working with the mirror image of herself again when it suddenly changed posture and went on the attack.

  Harmony ducked and tumbled away from her own fist, regaining her feet and blocking the next strike. She turned the tables on herself, punching, kicking her shin against the thigh of her opponent and working until her own body was surrendering to her.

  “I believe that peer sparring is over. It is time to allow the computer to upgrade you.” Nero was leaning back on the bench with his elbows back, watching her progress.

  She stood up and the hologram did the same, it bowed, winked and disappeared.

  Harmony gave him a dark look, and she stomped back over to the terminal. She requested a more fitting sparring partner, and a slim male of some unknown species appeared wearing a black bodysuit.

  She stepped back into the sparring area and faced her opponent with a three-quarter turn. It was time to get serious.

  She attacked and he responded; they fought until she was covered with bruising, gleaming with sweat and he was down on the ground.

  It was the first day of upgrading but hardly the last. The weeks flew by with her increasing her speed and stamina in the ring and in Nero’s bed. When she asked for a better fight partner and Nero himself appeared in hologram form, she knew that her training was almost done.

  “If you can kick my holographic butt, please do so, but be careful, I am faster than I look.”

  She nodded. She had seen him in action with his own sparring partner. The blurring was intense.

  It was very peculiar to face off against a lover and to gather the determination to attack, but she faced him and waited.

  The slightest shift in posture gave her the warning that she needed. Instead of meeting the attack, she dropped to the ground and swept him off his feet, using her legs to pin the long swath of his hair down under her.

  She raised her fist to hit him and the hologram disappeared.

  Nero applauded. “Well done. You have been paying attention.”

  Harmony got to her feet. “You can’t build up speed if you are on your ass. It was a guess that it was a good tactic.”

  He chuckled. “Very good. Now, have some water and let’s plan your next phase of training.”

  She wrinkled her nose but followed his advice. “Where does the water come from?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t actually know. It seems that the plumbing we use was designed far before the city was what it is today. The water is sweet and clean, we test it now and then. It has little to no association with the glowing rivers and waterways.”

  Harmony drank and swallowed slowly, letting the cooling liquid do its best for her. “So, it is a planet under us then. This tastes like glacial melt water.”

  “It is possible. We do not have the craft to explore our own environment. The catcher’s ship is the best we have.”

  “Who maintains the ship?”

  He shrugged. “It falls under the same area as the water. The ship goes into its hangar, and every time it comes out, it is repaired and ready for action.”

  “That is strange.”

  “Very. Some of us have postulated that it is some kind of nano machine, but there is no way of really telling. The ship disappears when it is not needed.”

  She thought of the old tales of the Flying Dutchman but didn’t bother informing him of the old myth. In this case, the disaster had already occurred when the ship sailed toward it.

  “You are going to have your final check in restoration today. Tomorrow, you can go and get your assignment. I have to say that it has come so soon, I am a little surprised.”

  She laughed. “It feels like it is time to me. I will miss our private time, but I am desperate for a job to do. I have never been this idle.”

  He sighed. “I know. I have to say that I will miss having a lover. It was something I had not thought to feel again.”

  Harmony jolted. “You mean we can’t continue on?”

  “Not if you are assigned out of the medical zone. Catchers, retrievers and restorers are the only beings authorized to be in this area night or day. Tomorrow, you may be across the city learning to weave.”

  She blinked. She had never considered a life in space where she could not fly. To fly was the only thing that set her at ease and brought her joy when everything else was overwhelming her. To think that it could be stolen from her was something that affected her mood for the rest of the day.

  Her body was integrated, and Nero had been unable to find and trigger her hair to grow again. She was going to have to invest in headgear.

  Aside from that, he pronounced her fit, restored and ready for work.

  That night, instead of exploring just how flexible she had become, Nero held her in her bed and slipped into her from behind, rocking softly against her until she shivered in his arms and he groaned in his own release.

  The rest of their nightly rest was spent twined together, holding off the advancing clock and hoping for a joined eternity.

  Even the song in her mind could not calm her enough to rest.

  Her legs trembled as they left the medical zone and headed toward the great building that echoed with time and emptiness.

  Nero was at her side, holding her hand as they walked up the steps, past the baroque archways and into the slick marble and gold halls.

  “Stand in the centre, on the podium and embrace the light that will scan you. Around the city, your new standing will be announced via the com systems. Your mentor will step forward within a few hours.” He nodded and kept his head high, his tone professional.

  She knew that this was hard for him. It was hard for her. They had started a relationship based on her attraction for him, and now, they were firmly enmeshed. She couldn’t think of a day without him, but now, she was facing eternity.

  Harmony kissed him quickly and then stepped onto the platform. The song in her head swelled, and she swayed as light came down to surround her, filtered through a prism lodged in the ceiling of the ancient building.

  Her skin warmed as the beams cascaded over her and a touch on her mind made things very clear. A bell rang out, and the word Catcher appeared on the screens under her face.

  She was going to fly again. A delighted grin spread over her features, and the metalwork surrounding her melted away and disappeared. Naked as the day she was born, she stood in the light and simply breathed slowly with the joy of flight dangling in her future.

  In front of her, a panel rose out of the floor displaying a wardrobe that opened to show he
r her new clothing. Harmony stepped forward and put on the tunic and trousers of black with gold trim, followed by the long white vest with gold trim. She was now the embodiment of the rift and the knowledge hummed in her veins.

  The boots were a little loose, but she wiggled her toes in the covering and smiled. She had a place, a rank, once again. It had hurt her to be so untethered to the world and purposes around her. She needed something to do other than see to her own recovery. Boredom was the gateway to madness.

  Dressed, released from her metalwork, she turned to Nero, but he was gone. He had delivered her and his role was done. Whatever happened next was on her.

  Harmony paced for two hours before her catcher arrived. He had his companion in tow, and it was obvious that they were a couple.

  “Harmony?”

  “Yes, Catcher.” She inclined her head.

  The man with him was dressed as a guard and eyed her suspiciously.

  Her mentor inclined his head. “I am Catcher Rhennal; this is my companion, Yorvik.”

  “I am pleased to meet you both.” She straightened. “Can you show me to my new quarters and then give me an orientation as to what and where I will be performing my duties?”

  Rhennal blinked and Yorvik smiled slightly.

  “It is normally customary for the new recruit to share quarters with the mentor.”

  Harmony waved that off. “It is not necessary. I am content to set a schedule for instruction and to spend the rest of the time on my own. I do not intend to cling or be a burden to you. Yorvik need not have worried.”

  Rhennal barked a laugh and his companion blushed. “You could see that, could you? He was terrified that I would discard him when a female came within my grasp.”

  “Try grasping me and you will pull back something broken. I have a lover, and you are not him.” She smiled brightly.

  “Well then, let us begin your training. Something tells me that it will not take long.”

  She winked at Yorvik. “Not long at all. You will be able to resume your life, possibly with a little more free time.”