Steel Beneath the Skin

by Niall Teasdale

  ‘Never heard it called that before.’

  ‘I’ve a thousand years of sexual technique to catch up on.’

  ‘Lady!’ Dillon gasped. ‘Believe me, you’re doing just fine.’

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  ‘I knew he’d want to fuck your tits,’ Ella slurred as Aneka carried her up the stairs to their apartment. Ella’s clothes were clutched in Aneka’s hands, while Aneka’s dress was now a choker. The result of Dillon’s recent and final act was dripping from Aneka’s chin onto Ella’s stomach. The redhead did not appear to notice.

  ‘I’ll take a quick shower when we get in.’

  Ella giggled. ‘No, we’ll take a longer shower.’

  ‘Haven’t you had enough for one evening? We’ve got work tomorrow.’

  ‘Please,’ Ella wheedled, ‘just one more come before bed?’

  Ten minutes later, as Ella’s climax smashed through her and she danced and writhed on Aneka’s fingers, Aneka whispered, ‘You’re so going to regret this in the morning.’

  University of New Earth.

  ‘Ella looks a little worse for wear,’ Gillian commented. She had taken Aneka out into the courtyard which formed the centre of the Admin building for a break from interviews.

  ‘Dinner and orgy with the neighbours last night,’ Aneka replied handing over one of the paper cups of coffee from the shop in the corner of the quad. ‘She’s hung-over and tired. She insisted I get her off one last time in the shower before we went to bed.’

  ‘Sounds like Ella. How did the evening go?’

  ‘Well, I didn’t make any notable social mistakes. Kate and Dillon seemed happy enough.’ Her lips twitched. ‘We can probably send you the video footage if you want to check my technique.’

  ‘I may take you up on the offer,’ Gillian replied smoothly. ‘However, I was more concerned about your reaction to being in a social situation with someone who does not know who you are.’ She sipped her coffee. ‘We have the dinner in a couple of days. Do you think you’re ready?’

  ‘If I say yes do I have to titty-fuck the Dean?’

  Gillian made a strangling noise and spat coffee over an inoffensive plant. ‘No,’ she said, and then coughed a few times. ‘No, I don’t believe you’ll be required to do that.’

  ‘In that case, I’m probably about as ready as I’ll get. The story is I’m from Old Earth, not used to this place yet. That’ll cover most gaps.’

  ‘True,’ Gillian agreed, ‘but we have got a few people coming you’ll want to look out for. I got the list from Barriman’s office earlier this morning.’

  ‘Look out for and avoid, or look out for and talk to?’

  ‘Mostly the former. The ambassadors from the Herosians and the Torem are coming. The herosian is likely to be hostile. You were found on a xinti ship which is acceptable to most jenlay, but the Herosians…’ She sighed. ‘As soon as they heard about the ship they requested it be turned over to them for “summary destruction.” I suspect they are attempting to get you turned over to their custody as it is, and they haven’t been told about the data we recovered.’

  Aneka’s nose wrinkled. ‘The more I hear about the Herosians, the more I like the Xinti. At least they were honestly sociopathic.’

  Gillian bit her lip to avoid laughing. ‘The torem ambassador is okay, but if you let him corner you he could bore you to death, and all torem are telepaths. He may notice you’re thoughts are very silent. There’s a man he’ll be trying to avoid, Wallander Smart. He’s the current head of a religion based on the torem faith…’

  ‘Whoa, hold up, Doc. “Religion?” I thought you’d got rid of them all. I never noticed anything in the tutorials about religions.’

  ‘We still have a few. The Children of the Universe follow the tenets of the torem faith, more or less, and Smart has a tendency to suck up to any high-ranking torem he can lay his lips on the butt of. About the biggest contribution the Children have made to society as a whole is providing us with “Vashma” as an expletive.’ She seemed to consider the analogy for a second. ‘Not that torem have much of a butt. Smart is probably coming because he wants to see Ambassador Adjaxis, but he may have some idea about converting you, or something.’

  ‘Sounds wonderful.’

  ‘Boring, but not dangerous. Try not to push him through a wall, no matter how much the rest of the room would applaud you.’ She frowned and pulled out a PDA, unrolling the screen. ‘Yes, Barriman is bringing his partner…’

  ‘I thought he was into robots?’

  ‘He is, but publically he’s given that up and he took another partner about five years ago. Try to avoid looking surprised at the apparent age difference.’ Aneka had told Gillian that age could be an issue in relationships back in her time, mostly as a joke since Ella was so much older than she was. ‘There’s every evidence that she allowed the formal partnership just to get at his money. He, of course, wanted the appearance of normalcy.’

  ‘Let me guess, cute, blonde, substantial chest, not so bright?’

  ‘Actually, yes. Publicly anyway. I suspect she’s a lot smarter than she likes to appear.’

  ‘Huh. The more things change… Anyone else I should be careful of?’

  ‘Charles Hunter and his partner, Andromeda Parry. He’s the leader of a lobby movement called Humanity First. They believe that jenlay should leave the Federation and go out on their own, and they’re likely to see political capital in gaining your support.’

  ‘Really? Why?’

  ‘They go on a lot about “genetic purity” and finding the “best human material” to further the race. They prefer to use the old name. You’re an original, Old Earth human, perfect for their cause.’

  Aneka laughed. ‘If only they knew.’

  ‘It’s probably better if they don’t.’

  ‘Amen to that.’

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  The Grand Hall of the university was a two storey high room with a vaulted ceiling. It was a big room, a very big room, and Aneka felt somewhat dwarfed by it. It was also full of people, which was pretty daunting even if the majority of them were jenlay.

  The Dean was a cleverer man than he appeared, it seemed. Rather than a sit down dinner, he had arranged a buffet spread across four huge tables at the sides of the room. This allowed Aneka to get away without eating, while telling everyone she met that she was either just about to grab something, or had just had a huge plate of some random foodstuff. Not that eating was a problem, she just did not really like half the stuff they had to eat.

  Ella had taken them out shopping the night before, thankfully knowing exactly where to get suitable dresses for the evening. She had picked what she called a cocktail dress, though Aneka would not have described it that way. Almost indecently short, it was bright red, opaque on the left side, and almost transparent on the right. The divide was carefully angled so that her genital area was covered, but that still left one breast on display. Aneka had wanted something long, and got it. Her gown was a silver, translucent material; a very fine metallic mesh. It fell from her left shoulder over her breasts and back to her right hip where it was connected to the skirt by a silver flower over her right hip. The skirt itself was long, but split all the way up to the flower. Six-inch, stiletto heels in metallic silver completed the outfit. Ella had decided to match her height, more or less, and so she had gone for insane platform pumps in red.

  Aneka had been quite sure they were enormously under-dressed, until they met up with Gillian. She was wearing something like a sari in cream. The cropped blouse with capped sleeves had delicate, gold embroidery, and there was a similarly decorated scarf which fell from her left shoulder and looped around her right leg. The long skirt which was usually worn with such an outfit was, however, missing. The only thing concealing Gillian’s body below her ribs was the scarf. And everyone else was dressed in similar outfits. Men with muscles wore translucent shirts to show off what was beneath. Slimmer men wore fitted suits which complimented their figure and they tended to be stressing
that they had other attributes the women might find appealing. The Dean could be seen threading through the crowds, resplendent in a mesh shirt which showed off a muscled chest. His partner was, indeed, short, blonde, very attractive, and wearing a vacant smile along with an outfit composed of various strategically placed feathers.

  The weird thing about it all was the lack of sexual tension. If Aneka had arrived at a party with so much flesh on display in her time she would have assumed she was going to bed with someone. Here it seemed to be a simple case of everyone displaying their best features. She was in a room full of peacocks. If she had to admit it, her own plumage was pretty damn good too.

  ‘Are you enjoying our little party, Miss Jansen?’ Speaking of plumage… Aneka turned to see the Dean and, considerably shorter, but with significant presence, his feather-clad partner. Her outfit consisted of an apron of glistening blue-green feathers which covered her privates and two fronds of feathers which cupped the lower slopes of her breasts, barely concealing her nipples. It was hard not to look.

  ‘It’s… interesting.’

  Ajax smiled. ‘This is my partner, Lidila Montana. Lidila, this is Miss Aneka Jansen, our visitor from the past.’

  Lidila turned a bright smile on Aneka, and she got a good look at the woman’s eyes. Intelligent, sharp, far brighter than Aneka had expected. ‘This must all be very different from the world you’re used to, Miss Jansen.’

  ‘Aneka, please. You certainly wouldn’t get away with dresses like these in my time. Not at a gathering like this.’

  ‘You look… absolutely gorgeous.’ There was a hint of hostility in her tone and Aneka wondered whether Ajax had been eyeing her a little too avariciously from afar.

  ‘We’ll be making a short introduction to the assemblage shortly,’ Ajax said a little too quickly; yes, he had noticed his partner’s reaction. ‘It would be good if you could say a few words…’

  ‘I’m a soldier, not a politician… I guess I can say, uh, something.’

  ‘Excellent. I’ll make the arrangements. Coming, Lidila?’

  He walked away and she followed him, giving Aneka a glance over her shoulder before putting her arm around her partner’s waist. Well, she could keep him. Springing a speech on her did not put Barriman Ajax on Aneka’s Christmas card list; not that she was going to be writing Christmas cards. If she had had notice she could have… Actually, she would have fretted about it and failed miserably to write something, and ignored anything she might have written anyway. It was probably better that she just had to wing it. That was what she usually did.

  ‘The Dean told you about the speech then?’ Gillian said as she stepped up beside Aneka.

  Ella appeared on the other side, handing Aneka a glass of wine. ‘You should at least hold something to drink.’

  ‘Thanks’ Aneka said, taking the glass. ‘Yes, he just mentioned some speeches. I’ve just been cursing him silently, but in practice it just means I have less time to worry over it.’

  Something like an electronic version of a spoon being struck against a glass drew everyone’s attention up to a small podium which had been erected in a corner of the room. Ajax was standing up on it, waiting for the sound to die away before speaking. There was no microphone Aneka could see, but his voice was still amplified before it was broadcast out to his audience.

  ‘Ladies and gentlemen, as you will all have heard by now, one of the University of New Earth’s archaeological expeditions out into the old human territories made a discovery which surprised everyone concerned. The Jenlay home world was lost a thousand years ago at the end of the Xinti War, as much else was lost. When we found this world, we named it “New Earth” in memory of the world we once lived on, but we never thought we would ever have a piece of that world with us again.’

  He paused, looking out across the crowd to check where Aneka was. Knowing what was coming, she started forward. ‘A woman from our past was discovered in stasis aboard a xinti science vessel, derelict in space since before the war. Tonight I have the exceptional privilege of introducing you all to Miss Aneka Jansen, native of Old Earth.’

  He had timed his introduction well; Aneka stepped up onto the podium beside him just as he finished, enveloped by the sound of the applause. He smiled at her and shook her hand, and then backed off the stage to let the audience get a good look at her. She spotted various cameras looking her way; certain specific members of the media had been invited to attend. Aneka swallowed hard and fixed her face into a smile.

  ‘I don’t know whether you still use this phrase, but… “Unaccustomed as I am to public speaking,” thank you for that welcome. I really am unaccustomed to public speaking. Back home I was a soldier and I didn’t have to make speeches, I just had to get on and do. That’s pretty much what I want to do now I’m here. I spent over a thousand years asleep and now I’d like to get on with my new life here on New Earth.’ She raised her glass, which seemed to surprise everyone. ‘A toast. To the future, it seems like a nice place.’ There was some laughter and a chattering of replies from various people around the room. Aneka tilted her head. ‘You guys don’t have toasts anymore? Okay, Old Earth custom we’re bringing back for the occasion. Really easy. I call the toast, you guys repeat it, and we all drink. It’s a little like your celebration of First Day, but easier to remember. Ready? To the future!’ This time she got a proper response out of the audience and she saw people lifting glasses. So far so good.

  ‘Miss Jansen,’ someone at the front called out, ‘everything must seem very different for you after coming out of stasis. How are you adapting?’ Aneka’s hearing localised the sound and she tracked it to target; an attractive man in a black mesh shirt who reeked of reporter. Aneka’s gaze flicked to the Dean, getting an encouraging smile in return. Bastard wants me to field questions too…

  ‘Honestly, there’s not that much difference. You have great advances in technology, you live on a different world, and have aliens for next door neighbours, but you’re still fundamentally human, if you’ll forgive the old term. Since I’ve been here I’ve seen compassion, love, trust, and also hatred, prejudice, and distrust. You have terrorists and criminals just as we did. I’ve had to adjust to the technology and the sex life, that’s about it.’

  ‘Surely,’ another male voice said from off to Aneka’s right, ‘you find the rather decadent nature of our society something of a let-down?’ Aneka had done a little research since talking to Gillian; this man was Charles Hunter, one of the few men in the room with a powerful-looking body and an opaque shirt. ‘Back in the old times people were harder working, more…’

  ‘Well, some had to work harder, and others didn’t,’ Aneka interrupted. She could see him starting up on a full diatribe and wanted to head it off. ‘I don’t see that as changing any either. I’ve just come back with the crew of the Garnet Hyde from a trip out beyond the Federal Rim. That was pretty hard work and I didn’t notice anyone shirking their duties. You have more leisure time than we did, on average, but the average person back on Old Earth didn’t want to have to work. Now your lives are far longer and you can probably get to do what you want with your life. Every man and woman back home would wish to be in that position.’ She noticed Hunter’s eyes narrowing; he did not like that reply, but any rejoinder would have to wait since another reporter was bucking to have a question answered.

  ‘I understand that you’re helping Doctor Gilroy to correct some of our misconceptions of Old Earth,’ the woman, dressed in what appeared to be silver cobwebs, said. ‘Can you give us an example of something we’ve had wrong all these years?’

  Aneka grinned. ‘Elvis. He was called “The King,” but he never was one.’ There was a rumble of laughter. ‘I think the thing you have most wrong is the generalisations. You’ve lost the details so you have tended to believe that the details you have applied to everyone and everywhere. So, you’ve heard of “King Elvis” and where there’s a king there must be monarchy. So we lived in a monarchy. Actually, there were very few true
monarchies left by my time. The most powerful country was a representative democracy, the most populace one was communist. I came from a country called England and our head of state was a queen, but she was essentially a figurehead and the country was ruled as a representative government. But if you want to know more about that kind of thing you need to talk to Doctor Gilroy.’

  ‘And I think that’s all we have time for now,’ Ajax said, smoothly stepping in beside Aneka to stop the questions. ‘Miss Jansen will be here for a while so that you can talk to her. Just remember, she is a trained soldier so let’s not get her annoyed. We’re here to welcome her to her new world.’

  Uh-huh, that’s so going to work…

  Aneka headed off from the podium to the sound of hands clapping enthusiastically together. More hands patted her on the shoulders and arms as she filtered through the crowd toward Gillian and Ella. The hands did not stop at her arms, however, and she was starting to feel grumpy about the number of hands sliding over her behind when the path in front of her suddenly parted and she found herself looking at her first ever herosian.

  Ashipha D’Jarnis was around the same height as she was, but very powerfully built. His body was all smooth muscle hidden beneath dull, brown, scaly, more or less snake-like, skin with various bony protrusions. His belly was a paler colour than the rest of him. He had slightly elongated feet and was balanced on his toes. His face was humanoid, with thick lips, slightly darker than the scales on his face, and an elongated jawline, his nose flattened and barely more than a couple of holes below his eyes, which where red, but did not have slitted pupils. They faced forward; predator’s eyes. His ears were narrow and pointed, angled back from the sides of his ridged skill. Just like many Earth lizards, he had a forked tongue which flicked out a few times as he looked at Aneka, tasting the air for scents. He was dressed in traditional herosian garb, a black sarong-like skirt with a silver belt, and a pair of metal bands around his thick biceps, silver with gold trim. It was his hands which caught Aneka’s attention, however; they were powerful with thick fingers ending in long talons.