Free The Enclave (The Verge) by H.M. Clarke

don’t look it.”
    “What are Spacers supposed to look like?  Big, large, hairy and butch?”
    “No, of course not, it’s just…” Joshua stopped as he dumped the wash cloth in the water bowl and removed the sutures from the medikit.
    “Just What?”  Any thought she had of calling the Adelaide or meeting the police had evaporated.  Even with all she had been through tonight, it was just nice to sit down and talk to someone without them expecting anything of you.
    Joshua looked embarrassed.  “It’s just that you don’t expect a woman who looks like you do to choose to be a Spacer.”  Joshua quickly plastered the sutures over the wound, applied the spray bandage and sat back.  “You look like you should be an actor or celebrity.”
    “Bet you say that to all the girls.”  Katherine smiled.  She felt flattered.  “So what do you do for a crust?”
    “I’m an Administrator, which is really a fancy name for dogsbody.”  Joshua closed up the medikit.  “Would you like a drink?  Coffee, water, tea?”
    “A coffee would be nice.”  Katherine flexed her forearm, the sutures held the cut securely.  “You did a good job with this Joshua,” she said as he went to the meal counter to put the kettle on.
    “Thanks.  Do you take two sugars and milk?”
    Katherine nodded and leaned back into the couch.  A feeling of euphoria washed over her, the adrenaline high had reached its peak.  She always felt this way after a close run fight.
    Once the kettle had boiled, Joshua made up two cups.  On the way back to the couch, he paused to look out the only window. 
    “Is there anyone there yet?” Katherine asked.
    “Yes.  There are two officers out there.  They look to have everything in hand, they’ve bought a van with them.”
    Joshua came and handed her a mug and then sat down beside her on the couch.
    “Do you still want to go out and talk with them?”
    Katherine shook her head.  “I’ll let it pass.  Anyway, I don’t think that group will be out ambushing anyone again in a hurry.”
    Joshua took a careful sip of his coffee.  “So.  What brings you to this ass end of the universe?”
    “I came looking for someone.”  Katherine tasted her own mug before placing it on the table.
    “Husband? Boyfriend?”
    “No. Nothing like that.  But it is still a personal matter that I don’t want to talk about.”
    “I didn’t mean to intrude.”
    “Don’t worry about it.  It’s a bit of a raw subject for me at the moment.”
    Joshua took another sip of his coffee and put the mug down beside Katherine’s on the table.  “I can take you to wherever you’re staying.  I won’t have you going back to your hotel by yourself.”
    Katherine looked across at her host.  He was attractive and if she had read his signals right, he was attracted to her.
    “I don’t want to go back.  At least not yet.”  Katherine smiled and leaned forward and ran her fingers lightly along his arm.  She would never see him again.  He was perfect.
    He gave her a tentative smile; Joshua knew exactly what she meant.  He leaned forward and brushed her cheek gently with the back of his fingers.  “Are you sure?” he asked softly.
    Katherine said nothing, just nodded.  She moved closer and kissed him gently.  He hesitated a moment but soon was kissing her back.  Then they were fumbling with the fastenings on each other’s clothes.
     
    Pain racked her body, making her back contort and arch, her arms and legs pulling at the restraints.  Collapsing back against the table, she drew ragged breaths from between clenched teeth.  The man in white approached her again, this time holding a scalpel and clamp, his assistant appeared at her head and checked that the brace and restrains were firm and then they locked a new res traint over her torso.  The man in white then took the scalpel and began to cut into her chest.  She screamed.
     
    Katherine jerked awake, breaking into a cold sweat and shaking.  She