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Logan sat looking at the terminal, the blinking input request gently lighting up the darkness around him. He had been staring at it for a few hours now, his mind twirling around the feasible search parameters seeking the best solution. The pale sky of the evening had given way to the black of night. A bright-colored sign flared to life, sending neon yellow light shining into his room.

“Fucking damn it!” He blurted, the blinding light shaking him out of his concentration. “Blinds… Blinds!…. Close Blinds!!” he repeated, getting slightly agitated. There was a slow whirr as blinds began to stem the invading light. “Damn, VIs never listen when you need them,” he wondered.

Virtual Intelligence had been around for centuries, an offshoot of research into true AIs. They were capable of simple tasks or complex processing and problem-solving given a specific data set to work with. They were specifically labeled and marketed as unable to learn or develop beyond the particular fields of data provided. The United Colonial Government closely monitored their manufacturing and development; no one wanted another Artificial Intelligence uprising. VIs were everywhere and used in just about every avenue of life, including the crappy VI that refused to close the blinds when he asked. You get what you pay for, though, and he didn’t think this was the best model, probably not, considering where he was staying.

Logan got up and headed toward the fridge for a drink. He had been on Bendraar for three weeks without finding his target. Logan was usually able to wrap things up in a week or two and submit a report to get payment. Being paid per job was certainly not ideal, especially since he was meant to be a government employee. Funds were getting a little tight

Being an auditor, at least one at his level, was not glamorous work; but there were upsides. Auditors got to travel and see quite a few different worlds, free transport on any naval vessel going in the direction they needed, access to relatively decent health care, and a permit to carry a weapon even in usually restricted areas if needed. They had an extensive job description. There were auditors for almost everything one could think of, but most jobs fell into two general categories: death and taxes.

If a medical drug harmed or killed people, an auditor would probably eventually show up at the business’s headquarters to review their files. If they were also dodging taxes, they could expect a handful of less friendly auditors to help find out the issue and fix it. Usually forcefully. It’s fair to say the UCG cared more about tax dodging than medical malpractice, but it would probably depend on who got hurt and how influential they were.

Auditors functioned like investigators with some enforcement duties depending on the level and type of case they were working on. Local law enforcement and auditors usually didn’t get along; almost anything involving government funds or activities fell into an auditor’s jurisdiction.

Logan grabbed a Vortex seltzer from the fridge, opened it, and walked back to the terminal. The gentle fizzing of the cold drink made him realize his thirst.

He had been searching for one individual, a construction foreman named George Kraz, who had been skimming credits here and there from planetary government construction jobs. His activity was quickly noticed but buried under a list of higher-profile cases.

The UCG was massive compared to the severity of the infraction; in fact, the Government’s budget was padded to profile for small levels of corruption and pocket-lining. There wasn’t any time or resources for the USG to go after everyone guilty of corruption, so it tended to look the other way for minor infractions and hoped an auditor would eventually get to it.

The Colonial Audit Service was created during a time of turmoil. The scars of the Artificial Intelligence uprising were still healing, and there were constant skirmishes with the Stex as Earth struggled to form colonies beyond the core worlds. Government oversight was stretched thin as it struggled to control the corporations, widespread corruption and crime on distant planets. That was almost 500 years ago.

In the last few months, George had seemingly been desperate for credits. The amounts he had taken and tried to hide rose sharply, bumping him up in the proverbial auditor queue as soon as the discrepancies were noticed. Subsequently, the file landed in Logan’s hands.

Logan’s issue was that he couldn’t discover him. He was confident George hadn’t made it off-world. None of his credit accounts had been touched in over two weeks. No prior payments or transfers led back to anything shady. At least not shady enough to indicate he was smuggled off the planet.

The blinking input request still gently flashed, waiting for the string of words that would lead Logan to his target. He drank his seltzer, the carbonated water swirling into a vortex as he lifted the bottle. An interesting branding trick that worked; people loved a gimmick.

He had visited George’s office, apartment, known hangouts, and the past ten construction projects he had either worked on or been involved with, even slightly. It’s like he vanished and decided he didn’t need the credits anymore. Or he was dead, and Logan was chasing a ghost.

Logan sighed and sat, pulling up George’s recent communications and going over them the third time. They were a little disjointed and showed an onset of paranoia and fear as the date of his disappearance approached. Mentions of ‘hearing them’ and ‘they are coming for us’ became more common. George was afraid of something, but it wasn’t clear what.

A general search showed a slew of new missing person reports across the planet in the last 30 days, probably raising an eyebrow somewhere, but George wasn’t one of them. Looking at the communications again didn’t spark anything. Logan hoped to notice something he missed, but nothing was popping out. The input request blinked calmly at him.

Foundation repair, ventilation system installation, mag-lev tunnel construction, and lift repair were on the list of the last projects George had overseen. These were unimportant except for the extension of a mag-lev train track section and the corresponding tunnel on Level eight of the tower block Logan was currently in. He typed a few phrases into his terminal, and after a moment of searching, it returned the pre-construction diagrams of the tunnel and the current technical readouts. Taking both, he tossed them in the air, materializing as a 3D representation overlaid on each other.

A conveniently small device, the terminal was an auditor’s best friend. It was Logan’s link to the Colonial Audit Service database anywhere in Colonial space, providing access to specific local systems and services if required. It was capable of projecting information and 3D data manipulation.

He had looked at the schematics before, searching for inconsistencies or additional sections that may have been added as a hideout, but everything lined up perfectly. The tunnel ran through a pre-planned section on Level eight to house a mag-lev track when this block was built. Temporary supports were placed in the tunnel’s location until construction began, but the surrounding walls were almost three thousand feet of solid Durasteel to support the tower spire above. There was nowhere to hide; Logan was sure of it. He looked them over again for a few minutes before pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. Where the hell had George gone?

A light chime from the Glass on his wrist pulled him from his thoughts. At first, he wondered it must have been Mera, his Colonial Audit Service handler asking for another update since he was running behind schedule. He was surprised to see Lilith’s name on the call.

The Universal Glass Door Communications Device or ‘Glass’ sat comfortably in a special holder on his wrist. It could also be conveniently held in hand and was about as thin as a piece of glass, if not a smidge thicker.

Logan accepted the call and was immediately treated to the lovely, if a little gaunt, face of Lilith smiling at him from the communications window projected in front of him. The window allowed the viewer to see above the collarbones of the person they were talking to.

“Good timing! I was about to rip my hair out,” he joked. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Lilith smiled back at him. “I concluded some business and noticed you were available for a direct connection. I thought I would see what you were up to. It’s been a while.”

The top right of his window showed this to be true; they were on a direct rather than a costly interplanetary connection. She was on Bendraar.

“What are the odds? It certainly has been a little while. I’m currently on a job and hit a wall.” Logan gave her a weary smile but attempted to show he was pleased to hear from her.

“How about I save you and your precious hair, and we grab a bite to eat? It would be nice to catch up.” Her smile never seemed to fade even as she spoke.

Lilith was a fairly attractive woman. She had dark purple hair that fell past her shoulders, framing her oval face, fair skin, and slightly mismatched lips, with the top being a little larger than the bottom. What drew attention to Lilith was her eyes, soft violet, like clear polished amethysts that almost sparkled. The top of her breasts was visible at the bottom of the window. Logan blinked quickly and looked back up at her.

“That sounds like a great distraction. Did you have somewhere in mind?” Logan blurted out.

“I’m sort of in the mood for noodles. I know a place on Level six near Benton Plaza. It’s a bit of a hole in the wall, but they serve good stuff,” she said with a slightly inaudible laugh.

Logan sighed; she had noticed where he was looking. “How does thirty or forty minutes sound? I’ll have a quick shower and meet you there.”

“Perfect. I’m looking forward to it. I’ll send you the navpoint.” She gave him a big smile and waved as the call disconnected. His Glass chimed, showing an attached address for a shop called ‘Oodles of Noodles.’ He rolled his eyes.

Logan stepped into the shower and let the hot water run down his body. He was average in most methods, maybe a little under in others. Standing at five feet six inches, Logan was marginally shorter than most men but never let it bother him. His height never stopped him from doing work; if anything, it was an benefit as people usually underestimated him. He was a little rugged-looking with a square jaw, a clean-shaven face and slender enough with broad shoulders and a little pudge here and there. Overall, he was in decent shape.

After showering, Logan looked in the mirror. At 32, he didn’t look his age. His dirty-blond hairstyle was an undercut, longer in the front and shorter in the back, with a styled fringe on the left. Green eyes looked out from his face. He wondered it might be time to grow the old beard again. He hastily dressed in comfortable clothes, grabbed his jacket and terminal, then headed out the door.

Benton Plaza sounded nice, but it was a pretty name slapped on an enclosed square below one of the large towers that defined Bendraar’s capital city. It was up five levels in a different block than he was. It would probably take him 20 minutes to get there using the transit system. The trains were incredibly fast, but they often sat at the station for a few minutes before racing to their next destination.

From the elevator window, as he slowly ascended a few levels, Logan could see the layers of the lower city nestled below the tower spires that defined each block. Rows of apartments went down roughly forty levels before ending at a metal slab that housed this block’s core systems. Ventilation tunnels, power conduits, water processing, and other systems wound their way through each tower spire before diving into the slab that supported the block above it.

Bendraar’s capital wasn’t that deep compared to other planets. The spires of Corvella sat on top of almost a mile of metal mazes and buried corridors. Corvella, however, had been a core world since the first days of colonization. It lay well within the core sphere and had a population of almost 12 billion. The urban sprawl covered nearly the entire planet, a trait of many heavily populated core worlds whose sole purpose was housing.

By comparison, Bendraar was a shadow, having close to eight hundred million people, with almost one-third of the planet dedicated to automated farming. Bendraar’s location on the edge of the Outer Sphere meant that it was one of the last to be colonized during the expansion in 3234. It took almost a hundred and twenty years to get where it is.

Logan stepped out of the elevator and headed towards the mag-lev platform. Despite the open-air side of the block, the wide corridors felt cramped to him, the metal pushing in from all sides. The mass-produced human architecture was not the most impressive since it took a long while for colonies to develop their own style.

The train quickly delivered him to the correct block and finding the restaurant was easy, thanks to his Glass. Oodles of Noodles sat on a side street off Benton Plaza. Lilith’s description was accurate; it was a hole in the wall, but it looked cozy and inviting.

As he examined the interior, he heard the gentle clicking of someone in heels approaching. Turning, he was greeted by the gorgeous sight that was Lilith. Even without the high-heeled boots, she was probably taller, not that it bothered him.

Standing at five foot, eleven inches, she wore a lovely black and green off-the-shoulder dress, making the purple of her hair and eyes more striking. The dress hugged her upper body with a low neckline showing off her firm-looking C-cup breasts then flared out from her waist to just above her knees. She was overdressed for a noodle shop.

Logan looked at her for a moment, a little stunned by her appearance, but quickly noticed the slightly gaunt features he saw when she called. She seemed somewhat malnourished. He remembered her being less thin and began to worry.

Lilith had the fragrance of fall, and Logan was quickly reminded of sitting around a fire on a slightly chilly autumn evening with a cozy blanket. Not wanting to be rude, he smiled at her and, as they met, opened their arms for a quick hug. The height difference meant he was a little closer to her neckline and treated to a nice view as she stepped into his warm and comforting.

“It’s really good to see you again,” she said warmly. As they parted, her violet eyes sparkled at him. “How long has it been?”

Logan stood back, observing her again. “Probably two years or so? On Astera Prime, I think.”

“That’s right. I think you were after someone who faked their death.” Her eyebrow slightly arched as she tried to remember.

“You would be right; he was trying to avoid paying parking fines.” Logan chuckled slightly. “That was one of the last Class five cases I worked on. Recovering parking fines hardly paid anything. I mostly take Class three cases now. It pays much better.”

“Being a glorified traffic cop certainly didn’t suit you. Why don’t we eat?” She gestured to the open doorway.

“Absolutely. I’m famished. Ladies first.” He offered his hand to her.

“What a gentleman!” She said with a slight laugh and a little eye roll as she took his hand, and they proceeded into the restaurant.

They sat in the only booth, crammed into the back. It offered more privacy than the few open tables that filled the small space. The aroma of cooking meat and vegetables swirled around them.

“You know, I don’t think I’ve had anything to eat all day,” Logan pondered as his stomach growled in agreement.

“This place has amazing noodles, not to mention the dumplings,” Lilith said as she pulled the menu up on her Glass.

“Dumplings, you say?” He unconsciously licked his lips. It was hard to say no to meat and fried dough.

Getting actual Terran animal meat could be difficult, depending on the planet, not to mention expensive. Logan ordered a bowl of noodles with a chicken substitute, some type of fried pork-like dumplings, edamame, and other starters. He hoped Lilith would be willing to distribute since she ordered a bowl of noodles with nothing on it.

“It hasn’t felt like two years. What have you been up to since we last met?” Logan asked, starting to dig into the quick-to-arrive appetizers.

“I do odd jobs for smaller corporations still willing to hire me. Steepler Interstellar hired me to advise and deliver a package to a subsidiary here on Bendraar. Pretty boring stuff.” Lilith hesitated for a moment. “I was fired from my job maybe four months after we last met on Astera Prime. I’ve been bouncing around since.”

If he remembered correctly, Lilith was an attaché for Deckland, one of the leading corporate security firms. She had a knack for strategy and management. Lilith and Logan met five or six years ago when Logan became an auditor. At the time, she was a low-level employee at Deckland he interviewed for a case. A target turned violent, and she decked him, so she started working for the right business. They had coffee and became fast friends. Over the years, they had met frequently, and their relationship took on a sexual nature, if not an emotional one.

“I’m surprised they would fire you. You were hands down one of the best,” Logan said as he popped an edamame in his mouth and pulled the beans out.

Lilith sighed and reached for the appetizers. “It’s not something I’d like to talk about. There were fuck-ups, and someone had to take the fall. I got shafted,” she said, frowning.

Logan watched her for a moment before pushing more food toward her. “Drown those frustrations with the joy of food, for food rarely disappoints!” Logan tried to sound supportive while keeping a straight face.

Lilith looked at him questioningly. “That was awful.”

The dumplings arrived at the table, filling the space between them with a mouthwatering aroma.

“Awfully good timing. I never said I was funny. I’m sure I saw that in an advertisement somewhere,” he joked.

Lilith smiled pleasantly and picked up one of the dumplings, waving it at him. “Enough about me. What about you? You said you’re mostly in Class three cases now?”

Logan suppressed a scowl. It seemed like she was deflecting, but he didn’t want to press her. “Yeah! I got a few good Class four cases after we last saw each other and managed to snag a few Class three jobs no one else wanted. I’ve been working those ever since.” He reached for a dumpling and wolfed it down. His stomach did what felt like a dance of joy; they tasted incredible.

The noodles didn’t take long to arrive, and they enthusiastically dug in. He spent the better part of an hour catching her up on his life, and their conversation quickly fell into what felt like a ordinary rhythm for them, unaffected by their time aside.

Whenever she looked at him with her amethyst-like eyes, the pools of clear and polished purple reflecting the world around her, Logan couldn’t help getting lost in them. Her smile and laugh only drew him in further. He had genuinely missed her business and wished she had responded to him the few times he had reached out in the past two years.

It had been a little while since Logan had slept with anyone. He felt the heat of desire starting to rise as he continuously took her in.

“Where are you staying?” Lilith asked as she scooped up the last of her noodles.

“Block 55, Level 11. It’s a small single apartment I’m renting. Not the best, but it’s cheap, which is good, considering this case has taken longer than it should,” he said.

As Logan looked up from his empty bowl, he stared at the exposed skin at the crest of her dress for a moment. His eyes wandered briefly, following the line of her collarbone to her neck and face, where she was waiting for him.

“Hopefully, there will be more than you ogling me.” Lilith smiled at him and gave him a seductive glance.

Logan was lost for words, having been caught checking her out. “I think that could be arranged,” he chuckled and smiled in return.

Lilith’s mouth curled into a provocative smile as she pressed her arms together, causing her cleavage to peek out before laughing and reaching for the last dumpling.

Logan tapped at his Glass quickly, paying the bill before she could protest. They usually fought over who would pay, but this time he was adamant he would have victory before the first shot was fired. Savoring the last dumpling, Lilith presumably didn’t notice, eyes closed, gently humming in contentment at the unique flavor satisfying her hunger.

“We probably should have ordered more. Those dumplings were amazing regardless of whatever pork-like substance they used as a replacement,” he mused. “Maybe next time.”

Opening her eyes slowly, she nodded in accordance as she ate the last dumpling. “Sounds like a plan. However, I believe it’s time for dessert.” Lilith tapped on her Glass. “You bastard! When did you pay?” She glared at him and raised an eyebrow.

Standing up and playing innocent, Logan looked off into the distance. “No clue what you’re talking about, but the early bird usually gets the worm, no?” Offering her a mischievous grin, Logan touched her hand gently and gave it a soft caress. Lilith shook her head and stood, giving his hand a quick squeeze as she did so. They walked to the restaurant’s doors. “I believe that means I’m winning now, but who’s keeping count?” He asked over his shoulder while picking up the pace and expecting some lighthearted retribution.

“Get back here, mister!” Lilith bounced after him with a genuine sound of happiness undercutting her mock indignation.

The trip to Logan’s temporary apartment was a pleasant one. They chatted and didn’t waste much time getting extra flirty despite being in public. There was building anticipation that felt like static between them. Once through the apartment doorway, he put his hands on her waist, feeling her body under his grasp.

Lilith rested her hands on his shoulders and let out a faint sigh. “I’ve missed how your hands feel on me,” she murmured. His touch sent little shivers across her body.

Logan pulled her against him. She looked at him longingly as their lips touched and began to kiss; it quickly became more than a little peck as their tongues intertwined. Lilith leaned into their kiss, and Logan wasted no time moving her to the table, where she sat, wrapping one leg around him without breaking their stride.

The kisses grew more desperate as their hands wandered across each other’s bodies, Logan’s jacket falling to the floor. She tried to undo one of her boots, but he stopped her. Their eyes locked on each other as they shared a hungry look.

“I think you should leave them on,” he said, releasing her hand. He felt the surface of her boot, the texture of which felt almost like genuine leather. “You look fantastic in heels.” He smiled and then kissed her again.

Lilith moaned as her hands resumed their exploration. He stroked his thumb across her cheek before continuing his kisses down her jaw to her neck. She wrapped her arms around him, loud breathy sighs escaping every time his lips made contact with her flushed fair skin.

Logan gave her a tender kiss before picking her up and taking her to bed, where he sat her on the edge. He stood in front of her, took her chin in his hand, and they gazed at each other. Her red lips parted and appeared so inviting.

Logan could see the swell of her breast with every breath as he caressed her chin and stared into her eyes. “You’re beautiful,” he said quietly, the words slipping out as if meant to be a wondered. Lillith blushed, her cheeks reddening as she bit her lip.

Lilith moaned as Logan played with her hair, slightly pulling as he did so. Her eyes caught the prominent bulge in his pants, and she grasped it mischievously. She looked up with a wordless question visible on her face. The hair Logan had been playing with fell gently back around her face framing it perfectly as he let go, nodding as he started to play with it again.

Lilith put her hands on Logan’s pants with a need in her eyes. “Go ahead,” he said firmly. “I want to see it in your mouth.”

Licking her lips in anticipation, she pulled his pants off and liberated his cock as it pulsed for her attention. Her hand gripped the semi-hard member, bigger than average but not massive. Logan grabbed her hair as she leaned forward, engulfing his phallus in her warm mouth. She looked up at him, amethyst eyes sparkling with desire and enjoyment.

Lilith’s tongue played with his cock, encouraging it to erection, and it willingly complied. Logan could feel her mouth get snug around him, and the back of her throat felt closer. She slipped her mouth off his cock and released a low moan. Logan popped free, and Lilith’s mouth hung slightly open.

Logan clutched her hair tighter and pushed his cock toward her mouth. Lilith’s lips parted as she leaned into his grip, welcoming his hardness. Logan watched as she swallowed him to the base in one easy stroke. The silky feel of her around him felt amazing. “You look so pretty with me in your mouth,” Logan growled.

Lilith could only sigh in response and licked the underside of his shaft with her tongue. Her hands rested on her breasts as she squeezed them through her dress. From his angle, Logan could easily see the soft flesh hidden beneath.

He used her hair to slide her up and down his length, careful not to pull hard. She was relaxed and let him take the lead; she liked the feeling of him using her. “I think you should put in a little work here,” he said in jest, letting his cock rest in her mouth.

Lilith happily sucked, working her lips into a tight seal around his erection, lazily moving up and down, savoring the feel of his hard warm cock. Logan moaned in pleasure as her mouth pulled him in. Logan eased his hold on her hair, and it slipped through his fingers. Lilith sped up her sucking causing wet noises to emanate around his shaft.

“Your mouth feels so good, Lilith,” he said as he looked at her, her violet eyes had never left him. Logan groaned again with the enjoyment she was creating, and he thrust his hips forward, driving his cock deeper, bringing forth a loud whimper of pleasure from her.

Her hand snaked down and lifted the front of her dress to play with her pussy as she sucked him. He pulled her head off him and noticed, with her mouth still open, thin tendrils of saliva connecting them. “I think it’s time for the main course,” he said, pushing her back.

“I thought we had that earlier,” Lilith giggled. “What happened to the dessert?”

Logan removed his clothes and watched her intently as she shifted on the bed, spreading her thighs for him. She wore crotchless lacy black panties that easily showed how wet she was. “I’m already soaking wet; please fill me,” she said breathlessly.

“Someone came prepared!” He said, raising an eyebrow.

Lilith bit her lip and shook her hips invitingly, showing off her smooth pussy framed by the panties. Logan climbed on her and pulled the front of her dress down, revealing more of her fair skin and freeing her firm breasts. They jiggled, and after coming to rest, Lilith played with a nipple.

Logan couldn’t withstand the beautiful creature in front of him and quickly lined up his hard cock with her wet pussy. There was resistance, but she promptly stretched around him and seized his throbbing member within her silky walls. He could feel the heat radiating from her and the slick lubrication dripping on his head as he passionately pushed forward.

Lilith moaned as he entered her while Logan let out a low grunt at the delightful sensation surrounding his cock. Her canal fit like a glove, contracting as he began to pull out, not wanting him to go. Logan stopped with the head inside her and thrust forward, causing them both to moan in ecstasy. Lilith wrapped her legs around Logan and pressed him against her. The small buckles on her boots dug into his skin, making him growl at her.

“I love how you feel inside me,” Lilith whispered between breaths.

Logan began to pump firmly and rhythmically in and out of her enticing pussy. Their moans were loud and united as their eagerness overtook them. Lilith’s eyes rolled back into her head as Logan repeatedly buried himself in her. His fingers grazed down her neck, causing her pussy to clench hard around him. “I want you on top,” Logan spoke excitedly, giving her throat a light squeeze.

They rolled together, with Lilith on him. As she removed her dress, leaving her in only boots and panties, Logan looked at her in awe. Her purple hair was messy, her cheeks flushed red with desire, and her eyes were half open. “I want to cum inside you while you ride me,” Logan commanded as he gripped her thighs.

Lilith rode Logan’s cock at his request. Their hips met with the sounds of flesh meeting flesh. Logan ran one hand over her thigh and up her abdomen feeling the softness of her skin. The other hand found her clit and played synchronized with the rise and fall of her body. Lilith’s cries of pleasure got louder and breathier. Logan could feel her pussy constricting, bringing him closer to climax.

While her breasts bounced in front of him, he took one firmly, massaging it, then pinched and tugged on her stiff, sensitive nipple. “I’m gonna cum… I’m gonna cum..” she cried, one hand on Logan and the other tightly on her breast. Logan held onto her hand while the other dug into her thigh as he erupted inside her. With one final clash of their bodies, she ground against him as she came on his cock. Logan wasn’t sure when he last came this much or this hard, but it felt like he thoroughly filled her pussy with cum.

Lilith finished her climax, leaned forward and rested on top of him, her head sliding down to his shoulder. His softening cock fell from her pussy with a pop when she moved.

“That was spectacular,” Logan said, his hands gliding over her back.

Lilith hummed in agreement. “It’s been a while since I’ve had anything that good.” She nuzzled her face into his neck and shoulder, enjoying the feel of his taut body against hers.

“Likewise. We probably should have done this sooner,” he hugged her.

“You really filled me up, It feels good!” Lilith pressed her thighs together, feeling like her pussy got what it needed.

“It was hard not to,” Logan joked. “Watching you ride me was mesmerizing; you’re a fair-skinned goddess with beautiful hair.”

“I’m glad my beautiful hair got you off,” Lilith laughed, suppressing a snort.

“I also liked your taking charge,” she said.

Previously, their sexual adventures had been ‘vanilla,’ so hearing that made him feel good about this most recent encounter. “I’ll have to remember that next time. I’m sure there’s more I could do to put you in your place,” he joked, giving her butt a harmless smack.

“Mmmm… don’t tease me with a good time. I’m too tired,” she said, wiggling her body against him.

They lay for a while, enjoying being together. Their breathing slowed, and they relaxed against each other. Logan began to softly play with her hair, eliciting a sleepy hum.

“You can stay here tonight if you want,” he added, the tiredness of the last sixteen hours catching up to him.

“That sounds nice. Will you hold me?” She said, almost inaudibly, as she drifted off to sleep.

Logan rolled them over, put his arms around her and held her tightly as they fell asleep.

In the morning, after showering, they sat at the small table in his rented apartment and ate. An aerial service bot had delivered the food from a stall on a higher level.

Lilith sat next to him in one of his shirts and her crotchless panties. The shirt hung open, revealing the outer curves of her breasts. Logan had been distracted by her and not paying attention to what she was saying.

“Hey!” Lilith’s voice was accompanied by a light kick.

Logan looked up at her and blinked a few times. “Sorry, what were you saying?” He asked apologetically.

Lilith pouted and took a bite of her toast. Logan had made sure to order a decent amount of food, given she might not have been getting enough proper meals.

“I WAS asking if you thought this guy you’re after might have made it off-world since you can’t find him,” she said louder with a cocked eyebrow.

“I doubt it,” he said thoughtfully, “none of the financials add up. I asked a specialist to look, but nothing has been altered. He’s still on Bendraar somewhere.” He set the terminal down and pulled up his work from the night before. The overlaid pre-construction diagram and the actual layout of the mag-lev tunnel filled the room again. “I was searching for discrepancies between what was planned and what was built in case my guy added anything he could be hiding in.” Logan drank some coffee while he spoke. Coffee was the one plant that made it to just about every new world regardless of habitability. Terrans had to have their coffee fix.

“What about behind the walls?” Lillith asked, walking over to the edge of the floating diagrams.

Logan watched her stand. His shirt rested just below the top hem of her panties, so everything was on display. He shook himself lightly. “I considered it originally, but everything surrounding it is solid metal. Outside of some tight maintenance crawl spaces for power cables and other services, it is solid foundation blocks for three thousand feet in all directions to support the levels above,” he said, doing his best to keep his eyes above her waistline.

Lilith examined the diagrams closely. “Humor me. Can you access the plans for the surrounding support sections and display them around the tunnel?” She asked, with intrigue in her voice.

Logan pulled up the input prompt and let it blink at him a few times before smiling and entering the request for the diagrams. After a few moments, there was a chime; Logan took them from the projected display and threw them over the already floating diagrams. Everything was resized as the new data layer was added. The tunnel diagrams shrank, allowing the surrounding supports to be shown. “As I said, solid metal,” gesturing to the depicted metal blocks surrounding the tunnel in all directions.

“You also said he was adding charges for additional construction bot run time, right?” She raised her eyebrow, another question forming as she gazed at him with her violet eyes.

“Yeah, he was padding the construction report to help raise the costs so he could skim a little extra. Why do you ask?” He looked at her with curiosity.

“Well… what if he was running them to build something?” she asked in a leading manner.

“You can see that nothing additional was built. The bot’s run logs don’t reflect the extra time he was supposedly using them. I checked all those onsite.” Logan rubbed his face trying to find out where she was going with this.

“What if he deleted the extra time from the logs?” She faced him and put a hand on her hip, frustrated with how dense he was.

“That’s plausible, but again, nothing additional was built,” he said, frowning at her.

Lilith walked over and leaned on the table. Her pussy was next to him, and it was visibly wet. Logan arched an eyebrow and tore his eyes from it to look at her. She was getting turned on by leading him on like this.

She smirked. “You said it yourself; everything around the tunnel was solid metal… sooo… he wouldn’t be adding anything on, would he? He’d have to dig it out,” she said, subtly spreading her legs.

Logan blinked at her, the gears in his head starting to turn slowly. “But it’s solid Durasteel, and the sheer depth of it would make it hundreds of times stronger than any ship’s armor. It would take…” He trailed off mid-sentence.

“Months, right? Probably quite a few months, even with construction bots.” Lilith spoke confidently with an air of satisfaction. “He had been at it for a while; you said so yourself.” She smiled at him triumphantly.

Logan stood up and dressed. It was before him the whole time, but the sheer implausibility caused him to dismiss the idea from the beginning. Lilith was probably right, and he had to head back to the tunnel to search it again. As he was getting ready, he glanced at her. She was bent over the table, picking at some food with a big smile, her crotchless panties again framing her tempting pussy.

He pulled his jacket on and stood behind her running his hands over her hips and gripped them tightly. She moaned at his touch and wiggled her butt against him. Logan could feel himself getting hard; unfortunately, work came first. “You very much deserve a reward, but it will have to wait until I finish my investigation,” Logan said, gripping her hips again.

Lilith seductively looked over her shoulder at him. “Are you sure you can’t stay and reward me now?” She ground her pussy against his hardening dick. “I can put the boots back on if you’d like,” Lilith said.

Logan imagined her bent over the table full of his cum but willed himself to move away from her. He smacked her behind, causing her to giggle.

“Oh, how I would love to, but regrettably, I’m behind schedule already, and duty calls,” he said as he slotted the terminal back into his Glass.

“Perhaps you’ll still be here when I return?” He asked, pausing at the door.

“Perhaps…” Lilith said coyly, batting her eyes at him. She stood up and leaned back against the table, demonstrating what he would miss as he stepped through the doorway.

End of Chapter 1

I’m still quite new at writing science fiction stories and chapter 1 of my series was an interesting write.

If you enjoyed this chapter or are curious for more you can discover the rest of my writing on Literotica: [

NSFW: yes

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