Necropath by Eric Brown Read Free Book Online Page B

her sister and made her do things to him that Sukara
could not believe that anyone would want done to them, or that her
sister knew how to do.
    Later, out on the street with a fat roll of baht
between them, Sukara had stared from the money to Pakara. "How
could you?" she asked.
    "He was okay. He was gentle, like daddy."
    And Sukara had felt shocked, and then envious of
the strange affection that their father had shown Pakara.
    Sukara stood beneath the drier and combed her
hair. She slipped back into her skirt and T-shirt and found her
sandals. On her way to the room she used with the Ee-tees, she
stopped at the bar and picked up a wrap of yahd from Fat Cheng.
Hurrying down the corridor, feeling a tingle of anticipation at who
the Ee-tee might be, she rubbed the yahd into her gums. The drug gave
her a pleasant dislocated feeling and also helped her stay sober.
Some of the Ee-tees could not drink Terran alcohol, and Sukara amazed
them by drinking bottle after bottle of ice-cold beer and still being
able to touch her nose with her fingertip.
    She knocked on the door, then opened it and peeked
through. Her heart was hammering with the effects of the drug. The
Ee-tee was sitting on the chair near the window, looking out at the
rippling play of lights on the water. From this angle she could not
tell who it was—just that it was an alien, for which she was
grateful. Sukara preferred going with aliens—they were kinder
and more gentle than human men, never beat her up or treated her
roughly—but some of them were disgusting, strange shapes and
stranger textures, creatures she had to force herself to go with.
    "Hi there!" she said with forced gaiety
as she stepped into the room.
    The Ee-tee turned. "Su, so pleased. Together
after one Terran month. Much has happened. Let me tell you. So
pleased."
    She hesitated. "Dervan? Is it... Dervan?"
    "Of course. Dervan. So pleased."
    Sukara smiled. Dervan looked like a human being
might look if they lived for three hundred years. His skin hung in
pink wrinkled folds, and he was completely hairless; his nose was
almost nonexistent, his mouth a mere slit, and his eyes pink like
those of an albino. Sukara forgot where he came from—she was
never any good at remembering details—but she did know that he
was an important member of a voidship crew that landed at Bengal
Station three or four times a year. Two years ago he had visited
Bangkok on leave, and had found himself in the Siren Bar. None of the
other girls had gone near him, and Sukara had felt sorry for the fat,
ancient-looking alien. She had joined him and soon found herself in
fascinating conversation with the weird Ee-tee. He had told her of
far planets, distant suns, and Sukara had listened wide-eyed. "But
there is another way I can show you these wonders."
    He had taken her back to the room and made love to
her, but a love unlike any Sukara had experienced before. For the
first time in years it had made her feel wanted and appreciated.
    "Su... so little time, this time. Two hours.
A flier waits to take me back to the Station."
    "Oh. I’m sorry. I’m sorry I was
late."
    He arranged the folds of his robe across his lap,
patting his knees with a pink hand more like a webbed claw. Sukara
kicked off her sandals and climbed on to his soft, wide lap, leaning
her head back against his chest. She felt herself sink in. His arms
enfolded her. From beneath his robe, she felt the gentle movement of
his ancillary arms, his pseudopods. She closed her eyes. She found
the experience pleasurable now, but at first the ‘pods had made
her a little queasy.
    She felt something warm and soft slide across her
belly, worm its way beneath the waistband of her skirt. She opened
her legs to accommodate the tentacle and felt it squirm into her
vagina. At the same time, others slipped beneath her T-shirt, wrapped
themselves around her torso. Finally a pseudopod up between her
shoulder blades and attached itself to the back