Knights of Desire [Flights of Fancy 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (19 page)

Shane smiled inside. "I may have a few ideas on that one."

* * * *

Elsa was happy Admiral Q was back from vacation, but she was puzzled nonetheless. She was used to seeing him in his Lord Admiral of the Fleet uniform. Instead of the midnight black uniform adorned with the emblem of the empire and the five gold stars of his rank, Q wore a casual orange shirt covered with pink and white flowers. He looked like a tourist on a beach of some tropical paradise. She could almost picture him sitting in a beach chair, sipping at a drink with a little umbrella stuck in it...with her in a bikini sitting next to him.

The Admiral frowned a little. "This is all highly irregular, Captain Davis."

She snapped back to reality just as her daydream self was getting ready to lose the bikini top. "I know, Sir, but I think the idea has some value." Elsa swallowed, choking off the last of the fantasy. "These two men will give us some additional points of view on cultures we may contact in the future."

"That may be true, but the entire affair has been irregular from the start." He glanced down at some papers on his desk. "It's good the Emperor likes you. Kidnapping a king is not a good thing."

"I'll agree with that, but it all worked out in the end."

"Perhaps. Admiral Reeves and the Emperor like your style, and if the truth were told, so do I, but the Senate is less than impressed." Q pushed the papers aside. "But since this is purely in the jurisdiction of the Emperor as both safety of the Empire and first contact, the Senate doesn't count."

Elsa nodded. "So what about keeping these two knights on
Daedalus
?"

"It's your ship, Captain Davis, and I won't tell you how to run it, but I will remind you that you can't go around the galaxy picking up passengers along the way. First,
Daedalus
is one of His Majesty's Fleet ships and not a taxi. Second, you have only so much room."

"I understand, Sir."

"I wonder about that."

She couldn't help herself. "How was your vacation, Admiral?"

"Boring." He waved his hand. "Despite being with humans for all these years, I have yet to grasp the need for going someplace and being unproductive for two weeks a year."

"Perhaps you need to find someone to be unproductive with."

"Maybe you're right, Captain." He stared at her for a few moments. "Carry on."

* * * *

Shane watched Clemmons and Landis closely as they sat in the ship's nightclub talking to Talbert.
Daedalus
would make the jump to hyperspace soon, and it was disturbing to most people the first time they experienced the event. She understood only the basics of string theory that made the hyperspace motors work, but it had something to do with the concept that, for a few picoseconds, the ship was still in normal space while it exceeded the speed of light. At that instant, the mass of the ship went literally to infinity, and the rest of the universe tried to fall in on it. The first time she made the jump, Shane was nauseous for three days.

Talbert lifted his glass. "To Sir Landis and Sir Clemmons. You may not believe it, but you'll make valuable additions to our crew."

Clemmons clinked his glass to Talbert's. Their English was improving by the day now that Shane could spend all of her time teaching them. "Our thanks for your faith in us, but I really don't see how." He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed the back. "Other than to be with this amazing woman, I can't see what we can do to earn our keep."

Landis reached across in front of her to pat Clemmons's hand. "We've been all through this. We now know what it's like for these people and their Empire to show up without warning. We can, perhaps, give some insight into that cultural shock on other societies."

"Oh, I know that. I'd rather just be with Shane."

Heat spread across her face. The three had hardly been out of their cabin for the past month, but it was time to get back to work.

Talbert laughed. "Trust me, you're needed."

The ship's bell rang three times, signaling ten seconds until jump. Shane squeezed her men's hands. "Get ready. We're making the jump now."

Landis stood and raised his glass. "To Shane and Clemmons, the loves of my life. And to Anna, may she follow us in our adventures." He smiled. "And to James the First, by Grace of God, Emperor to Mankind."

Everyone at the table stood and raised their glasses. "God save the Emperor."

Daedalus
became infinitely more massive than the rest of the universe, but only for a split-second. Then she vanished from normal space to enter the realm of the tachyon and other bizarre constructs of string hyper-spatial theory, moving at speeds Einstein, Hawking, and Newton only dreamed of on her way to the future.

KNIGHTS OF DESIRE

Flights of Fancy 2

THE END

WWW.MELODEEAARON.COM

Melodee was born in 1971 in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri. Anyone who has ever watched the Beverly Hillbillies will know that the Ozarks is absolutely awash in storytellers. One of Melodee's earliest memories is sitting in the front porch of her great-grandma's house listening to the old woman tell stories about the old days.

"Fanny" by name, great-grandma could remember the days before airplanes. And she talked about men landing on the moon. The stories blended modern technology and society with old values and down-home common sense. The blend didn't always coexist perfectly.

Be that as it may, coming from a long line of storytellers, Melodee soon tried her hand at the craft. Writing stories in grade and high school that often invoked the ire of her teachers, she was never able to fit into the mainstream of "proper" literary attitude. Even non-fiction work drew the attention, all negative, of her teachers and school administrators. A paper she wrote in 7th grade supporting the death penalty by means of public hangings for sex offenders gained her three days off from school.

Attending SEMO University, Melodee soon came to the attention of several frat houses for her habit of reading Penthouse Forum in the school cafeteria. She also came to the attention of the dean and, eventually, the chancellor. After three years of study, a year off to work at Steak 'n' Shake waiting tables, and another year of school, Melodee finally received her degree in Liberal Arts.

Because of being a voracious reader of science fiction, most of Melodee's stories took on a sci-fi spin. She has sold, under several other names, a number of short stories and articles that have appeared in magazines and Internet publications. In addition, she has a good list of print novels published.

In 2005, Melodee turned her attention to erotic romance. This seemed a logical step since all of the stories she writes have a romantic element in the plot. The addition of erotica to the mix simply leaves the bedroom door open.

Melodee lives near San Diego, California now in a small town whose claim to fame is that it is the former home of Dennis the Catman. The high desert is an interesting place. Between getting about 4 inches of rain a year, the annual wildfires, the occasional 16+ inch snowfall, and 100+ degree heat, it never gets boring! But it's never really green.
 

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