Chapter 17
Clad in his armored suit, with the helmet firmly in his hand, Remy peered into the corridor. Finding no one, he pushed forward, leading Anders out behind him. The Lieutenant was in his own suit of armor, carrying his own helmet, though he wasn’t sure why.
“I told you, your doctor may have a secret room.”
“In another dimension?” Anders’ continued skepticism was an encouraging sign. If he had no concept of these interdimensional spaces, then it was a safe bet he was not in the loop concerning the experiments that might be going on. He wasn’t sure if Sadile was carrying out secret experiments as Ares had claimed their doctor was, but he had to check it out.
“I’m still not clear how we’re supposed to go to this other dimension.” Remy wasn’t sure himself. His plan relied on far too many suppositions, though he only needed a few of them to be true. He had seen the device Ares was about to use on the planet. It was hoped Sadile had one lying around the medical bay somewhere. If not, then he had to have plans for one somewhere. It was expected they could be found in the medical computer and used to replicate another with Sadile’s scramblers.
As they neared the end of the corridor and readied to turn the corner, Remy heard a door dematerialize behind them. To Anders it might have been one of his shipmates coming off duty or leaving for their next duty shift. But Remy’s curiosity could not be contained. He stole a glimpse over his shoulder, and to his delight, spotted Roxanne’s sapphire blue eyes stealing a glimpse of him.
Having been caught she returned to hiding behind the door. Remy would not let her go though. She was as much a victim as the miners on LX-925. Maybe she was more of a victim. At least the men on that world had the means to fight back against their injustice. They had scramblers and material to create weapons and defenses. They had a world to fortify around them. And they had a way to escape if they could crack their ship’s programming.
Roxanne had nothing but a tiny suite shared with her captor. Her scrambler was programmed with nothing but food and beverage choices. If she decided to leave Pittman, there was nowhere for her to go. Remy wasn’t sure if he could help her any more than he had Dirk’s men, but it wouldn’t stop him from going to her and to try.
“You go ahead,” he told Anders. “I forgot something in my quarters.”
Anders merely shrugged and went on. When Remy was sure he was out of sight, he went to the woman’s door and signaled. Roxanne answered quickly as if she had been ready for his arrival. She swept him inside out of public scrutiny.
“I knew you’d come back,” she flirted. “Pittman has been working a double shift and it’s been dreadfully lonely.” It was an admission that was blatantly obvious from the skimpy, frilly lingerie barely covering her nipples and lower parts. Either she had the same thoughts that were entering Remy’s mind that moment, or her limited world within Pittman’s quarters left her with no sense of modesty.
“Your boyfriend has an important job. He has to man the armory in case his commander wants to drop some bombs.” And he wondered if his language could become more suggestive. There was definitely something about this young woman that drove him crazy, as if those legs, those breasts, that face, even her voice weren’t reason enough to drive all troubles from his mind.
“And you look like you’ve come straight from the battle,” she noted tracing her finger through the grease in an s-shaped pattern across his chest. The girl tilted her head to find his eyes, playfully sweeping her hair over her shoulder and behind her head with her clean hand.
The strawberry scent lifted from her skin and tickled Remy’s nostrils. It was much stronger than during his last visit, as though she had freshened her perfume before luring him inside. It made him forget his armor was filthy with the scent of earth and sweat. Like those scents had done during his time down in that grimy complex, he hoped this more pleasant aroma from her would stick to his suit and remind him why he chose to protect this ship.
He found what looked to be a rag and wiped the grease from Roxanne’s finger. “I wasn’t actually in the fight. I was just talking to the people down there, to find out why they were so upset.”
She took the rag from Remy before her finger was cleaned. Then she touched the finger to his forehead and playfully traced something she thought looked like war markings over his wrinkled brow.
“If you had to fight though, would you?” It was difficult to resist her touch when she flashed her eyelashes as she asked.
“The UN believes in peace. I would only fight if it was absolutely necessary. And it would have to be really necessary.”
“Would you fight for me?” Her voice softened with each question, enchanting Remy with each word, each syllable. Coming from her mouth, it was like every letter of the alphabet had been designed strictly for his ears from her lips. “Would you fight for this?” When she pressed those lips to his, he melted within his own armor. They were softer and more enchanting to the touch than he had ever dreamed. It was like kissing a ream of satin dipped in honey.
She pulled away slowly, while her wide blue eyes pleaded for an answer. “Yes, I’ll fight for you if you want me to.”
He pulled her back for another kiss, only to realize the armor in his way. The grease all over the plating smeared across her chest, staining the delicate skin.
“I’m sorry,” he quickly offered. But Roxanne only brought her slim fingers to the mess and traced out her breasts with the slick goo. With a smile, she reached out to Remy and the fastenings holding the joints of his suit together. Accepting the invitation, Remy began removing the suit, piece by piece. Only briefly did he consider this another man’s room, and Roxanne another man’s girlfriend. His own manhood put those thoughts from his mind, and her slippery hands prodded him onward.
“This is not right,” Remy finally realized. He ceased the disrobing, considering his own feelings and what this woman was. Roxanne was not Pittman’s girlfriend. He understood her to be a toy that was conjured up for a few moments of amusement. She may have been programmed to be this flirty and forthcoming; Remy had no idea how all of this worked, but he assumed there had to be some kind of mind control involved.
If this was not her original personality, then Remy would be no less guilty for her sexual abuse as Pittman was. No amount of eye batting or lip puckering kept his arousal from vanishing. And it left Roxanne confused.
“Don’t you want me?”
“That’s not so easy to answer. Of course I want you, but I’m not sure you really want me.”
She chuckled at his uncertainty. To her, it should have been obvious how she felt. “Of course I want you.”
“I’m afraid,” Remy stuttered trying to be delicate around such a personal topic, “that you might have been brainwashed. These feelings and desires you have for me might not be your own.”
“Of course they’re my own. Whose would they be?”
“Maybe Pittman’s.” Roxanne’s innocent amusement disappeared into all-out confusion. “Maybe he somehow programmed your mind to be more open than you were born to be. I can’t do this unless I’m sure it’s what you want and not what some sex-starved lieutenant wants”
“Then take me away from here. Let’s go somewhere else and I’ll show you how much I want you.”
Remy was tempted. He wanted nothing more than to get this woman away from this situation, even if she wasn’t meant to be with him. He also knew that wasn’t yet possible. There was nowhere for her to go except to the surface of the planet. The middle of an impending battlefield was certainly no place for an innocent young woman. Still, her suggestion was a wonderful sign that she wanted to leave.
"I would love to get you away from here,” Remy admitted to her. “But you have to understand neither of us will be safe if you leave on a whim.”
“What’s the problem?”
“For one, Pittman can find us both on this ship. For another, if his commanding o
fficer finds out I’ve been sneaking around, he’ll probably do more than cut off my privileges. Before we do anything rash, I need to make sure I can keep you safe. Do you understand?”
“I think so.”
Remy started returning the missing pieces of his suit to his body. With Anders waiting for him, he couldn’t stay much longer. His liaison had already been more help than he could have hoped; maybe Anders had a solution for rescuing Roxanne next.
“I’m not abandoning you,” he assured her. “I’ll be just down the hall if you want to see me. Right now though, I have a friend to meet.”
Roxanne’s pouty expression perked up once again with his promise. “Then I will see you later, and maybe you will change your mind about me.”
“I hope so.” He kissed her on the cheek and fled from the room. In the privacy of the corridor, Remy sighed, trying to give his mind an imaginary cold shower.