Karen woke early the next morning and became suddenly aware of Lorleii’s arm draped across her chest and her leg entwined with her own. She took a short intake of breath and felt her heartbeat begin to race as she started to embrace the feelings she had for Lorleii. Karen had always struggled with her sexuality, throughout her 20’s she had had a number of male partners but nothing lasted long, partly due to her work always keeping her on the move, but it was mainly because she felt something was missing, something was not right. Her father had always like Daniel and had encouraged her to “settle down”, it would have been a smart move and the pair were close, at times, but it was nothing more than a good friendship, with occasional benefits. Now lying in bed with this women Karen felt right.
Karen stirred slightly, accidently waking Lorleii whom quickly withdrew her arm once she realised the position she was in.
“oh … sorry I must have… moved during the night…hope I didn’t give you a shock”
“No don’t worry, its fine … I was kinda enjoying the contact if I’m honest” Karen said as she shifted on to her side and wriggled in to Lorleii’s body.
“Is this okay for you?”
“It is for me K” Lorleii responded as she slide her arm around Karen’s body and drew her closer.
The pair spooned for a while. Karen enjoyed the warmth of her chest pressing against her back and was sure she could feel a heartbeat, the sound of Lorleii slow and steady breathing was comforting, she once again started to drift in to sleep…
BEEP BEEP BEEP … BEEP BEEP BEEP
Almost in sync both Karen and Lorleii released an exasperated sigh…. The alarm signifying the end to the relaxing embrace they were currently enjoying, a situation which was in stark contrast to the reality of the events that had led them to meet. Karen suddenly felt a pang of guilt, she was falling for the women she had been assigned to help, and she felt compelled to address the issue but was unsure on what to say… She rolled out of bed and turned to Lorleii, but could not quite face meeting her gaze…
“Look I can’t umm I’m sorry” she turned away and began to get changed and packed for the day ahead.
They readied themselves, awkwardly avoiding each other, a difficult task in the small box room, once both had changed and packed Lorleii broke the silence.
“Look I don’t want this to make things odd between us, I’m sorry if I came on a little strong, there’s just so much going on at the moment, I’m not sure even of my own feelings. I understand if you’re not comfortable with it and I know it conflicts with your work… I don’t want to cause you any problems, let’s just forget about it and move on… how about it K?”
Karen looked at Lorleii, she had been the picture of a calm, strong and confidant women, but now she saw in her a degree of uncertainty, the same uncertainty that had plagued herself for so many years. Karen took Lorleii’s hold of Lorleii’s hands
“It’s not that, it’s just a lot for me to handle and I think we need to concentrate on the case at hand, shame we met like this, and I agree let’s just see what today brings hay”
They waiting on the landing pad for the automated taxi, it arrived exactly on time. The craft was designed for short low altitude flights and was mainly constructed out of reinforced hardened glass. It provided OS&C guests with easy transport between locations on any given resort and offered great views on the way. After Karen had imputed the desired destination in to the navigation system the craft took off and joined the myriad of other vessels zipping across the pale blue morning sky. Lorleii spent most of the short trip with her face pressed against the glass.
“This place is beautiful… hard to imagine my mother may have come to harm here, it’s so peaceful looking… must be amazing working on this planet…” she mumbled, thinking aloud.
The taxi landed at the marina a short time later, it was located in the lee of the headland which the bar was constructed below. It gave good protection from the very occasional storm which sometimes grew from the combination of the warm climate and the shallow seas surrounding the island. Karen and Lorleii made their way along the main pontoon, moored at the far end was the OSC|Inquistor, she stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the luxury speed boats and yachts, unlike their sweeping lines and clean hulls, she was bulky and streaked with rust. A trio of OS&C scientists were busying themselves loading various boxes on-board.
Karen turned to Lorleii “I think it’s time we find out what the hell is going on, let’s hope we find something out there”
