A Station For Lilli: A Novella

By Grétar Hannesson

Charlies tries desperately to keep his wife Lilli from leaving the remote trans-Neptunian station he commands and going back to Earth. Even if that means sacrificing the health and happiness of his entire staff. They’re beneath his station anyway.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Grétar Hannesson
• Release date: May 14, 2016
• ISBN: 9781310363191

Grétar Hannesson

Game designer that sometimes writes. Sci-fi buff and love writing anti-heroes that you don't exactly like, but can relate to.

Book preview

A STATION FOR LILLI

Grétar Hannesson

Copyright © 2016 Grétar Hannesson

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved.

Table of Contents

Charles and Lilli

Expectations

Visitors

Accident

Consequences

Atrium is ready

Mistress

Realizations

Giving Up

Going Home

Thanks to Ethan Kincaid for editing and the entire Bonavista Writer’s Club for continued feedback and support through my attempts at scribbling things.

Charles and Lilli

Charles got up at 7am sharp, his melatonin levels perfectly reduced to rouse him during the lightest part of his final sleep cycle. Lilli was still sleeping. Before opening his eyes he ran a quick diagnostic and checked his messages while it ran. The brightly colored gauges and panels superimposed on his retinas told him that he had a message from the regional manager; he’d have to view that as soon as he’d get to the office. Physically, everything seemed in order. All neurochemicals were balanced, growth factors optimal and hydration perfect. He'd paid a lot of money for the latest round of body upgrades and he took great pains to keep everything in excellent condition. This far beyond Neptune, it would take a while to get assistance if anything went wrong.

The mauve silksteel that draped around their king-size bed warded off any light that might otherwise have disturbed their sleep. It was a cozy, climate-controlled cocoon, just for him and his wife Lilli. He could feel her warm skin still snuggled up against him in the darkness, and hear her soft, relaxed breathing.

Reluctantly he turned away and parted the deceptively light silksteel, sliding gently out of bed. His lithe and athletic body allowed him perfect poise and balance. He was quite fond of how it looked now. He had always gone for more muscles before, but there was something to be said for grace and agility. Lilli certainly seemed to like it, as well she should. He had scanned her brain specifically to see what would appeal to her the most. Charles had worried that he had been too literal, that she would realize what he had done, but she had never brought it up. In fact she seemed quite pleased. The only thing he missed about his old body were the massive quads. Big quads make you look powerful, leaderlike.

As he walked across the white carpet and stepped into the shower he wondered where his friend Colburn had his quads done. He’d somehow managed to hit the ultimate sweet spot between bulky and sleek. Charles had been impressed when he and Anna last visited them on the station. Around the pool he’d gotten a good look at all his body upgrades. They synergized so well that Charles looked like an amateur in comparison.

When he'd dried himself off, Charles sat on his meditation cushion and turned on his daily biofeedback visualization. He could do this while sleeping, but Lilli had encouraged him to take some waking time for it, and he had learned to like it. Despite all the tech involved it felt real somehow, natural. He felt a sense of expanded self-worth, but without having to work for it. If his position as the Director of this space station didn’t make him feel like a minor deity, the meditation certainly did.

Half an hour later he opened his eyes and re-connected with the room around him. Lilli was just getting out of the shower. Charles smiled as he ran his eyes down her naked body, admiring the pale skin and perfect, perky little breasts on her petite frame. Her chestnut hair was swept to one side and draped over her left shoulder. Her eyes were slightly darker than her hair, and her cheeks were perpetually rosy. She looked somewhere just under 30, and had for the last 25 years, ever since she actually was that age.

Don’t stare, darling. I feel like you’re about to eat me up. She covered her breasts with her hands and gave him a shy smile as she disappeared into her walk-in closet.

Charles loved the sound of her voice. Despite her French heritage, she spoke English flawlessly, with only the slightest hint of accent.

Do you know what time Carlotta and Frederic will be arriving? she asked while