Free Deserter by Mike Shepherd Page B

something.”
    “Or outgrows their swimsuit. Have you seen the list of mealtimes available?” Jack called from the other room. The thought of kicking back and enjoying the pampering had a surprising allure. As a Longknife, she’d never wanted for anything, but Father had no use for ostentation. “It costs votes.” Early in her teens Kris made it a matter of pride to make do with half of what Mother needed. What would it be like to really soak in this Princess thing? Kris returned to the living room, putting the seductive bedroom behind her. Jack had Abby’s résumé on-screen.
    Abby shrugged as she eyed the simple page that held her life story. “Looks impressive up there all big and the likes.”
    “You got your degree, in what, marketing?” Jack said. Kris was busy doing basic math. Abby was thirty-six. That made her a good eight years older than Jack, who would stay six years older than Kris until next month’s birthday. Hmm, even if Jack likes older women, Abby is way too old! Isn’t she?
    “I worked my way through college baby-sitting elderly folks, wiping their noses, and their butts if necessary. I thought the height of job elegance was standing at a counter all day, helping women find their true colors and accessorizing.” Abby made a face. “My first client hired me after her grandmother died.”
    “Your last client died,” Jack said. Kris ducked back into her bedroom, realizing this had become a private conversation.
    “I believe the police decided it was a shareholder’s revolt that got personal.” Abby undid one of her long sleeves and pulled it up to display entry and exit wound scars. “Way too personal. This was verified by your service when I was hired.”
    Jack turned to Abby, fixed her with an unblinking gaze. “Earth flatfoots did the full field. All we got was their report. My bosses accepted it. I’m still thinking about it.”
    “Think about it all you want, but I’ve got a job to do, and I’m going to earn my pay.”
    “The pay’s good around Longknifes, but it can present you fascinating challenges way beyond what they told you when you took the job. Where will you be when the rockets fly?”
    “Where any smart person would be, going in the opposite direction. I’m a body servant. If it gets to that, I intend to be around to identify the body. That what you wanted to know?”
    “No problem, ma’am. I’ll call for backup elsewhere.”
    “You got that right.”
    Kris cleared her throat as she entered the room. “Nelly says I have dinner with the Captain tonight. Abby, you have any suggestions for what to wear?”
    “How about that outfit you skipped last night? You won’t have mother issues this time. Why not dazzle the ship with a real Princess.”
    “Go for it,” Kris said. Why not let her cruise mates take her for all that glitter. Could come in handy, and who knows, I might understand more about why Mother is the way she is.
    Two hours turned out to be just enough time for Abby to put a Princess together, and the experience did give Kris a few thoughts on why her mother was always late. The surprise was that Kris enjoyed it; her life had held few such sensuous experiences. Abby told Kris to just relax in the bath. Kris did, losing herself in warm water, jets, aromas, and all, drifting into a place with no pain and fewer worries.
    Then Abby introduced Kris to a facial. Lieutenant Kris Longknife refused to believe there could be any tension left in her after the bath. Ten minutes later, after Abby finished on Kris’s face, whatever dour worry lines the Navy wants a good Lieutenant to display had vanished from the Princess’s visage.
    Before Kris could mar the miracle with worry lines for the strapless gown, Abby introduced her to a push-up bra. “You’ve never had one of these,” the Earth woman said, eyeing Kris like a certified alien.
    “No.”
    “Your mother didn’t show you?”
    “No.”
    “You didn’t read about them in a women’s magazine when you