Page 2 of Temple

“I don’t have the receptive pads. Sorry.”

He sighed and stroked her cheek. “Pity. You are very soft and slick. Your sweat has sex pheromones through and through. It’s dizzying.”

“Oh. Sorry. I didn’t get a chance to shower today before the harvester competition.”

“If I can’t experience it at close range, I do thank you for the dancing.”

She smiled. “I thank you as well; it was—”

“Labourer, come with me.” The consort was next to her with a curl to her lip.

Sage pointed at her chest. “Me?”

“Yes, creature. You.”

Sage got up and followed the woman in fluttering silk to the Hmrain, who was talking with one of his ministers. The overseer turned his attention to Sage. “Ah, there you are. Labourer, you are being elevated to harvest work on the southern continent.”

Sage bowed. “Thank you, Overseer.”

“What species are you?”

Sage paused. “Terran. Urther. Of a dead world, Overseer.” It was the most polite way she could say it. “Species one thousand sixty-four.”

“Huh. Can you teach my companion to dance? You move very enticingly.”

Sage paused. “I decline with gratitude that you asked, Overseer. Dancing is not something I can teach.”

“Where did you learn?”

“The Education Station refined my movements.” She kept her head down. “It was another language to learn.”

He chuckled. “Yes, I can see that. Missal, you need to practice more. I will get you some vids.”

The companion nodded, “Of course, Overseer Thoreval.”

Sage waited.

“What is your sensual rating, Terran?”

Sage paused and took a few hundred points off her rating. “My mechanical aptitude is four hundred, but standard sensuality is around one-sixty.”

Missal inhaled sharply.

The overseer stood and walked to Sage, lifting her head with a finger under her chin.Fuck, Hmrain are huge.Out of all the species she had run into, the Hmrain were on her avoid list.

He eased her head back until he was meeting her gaze. “So, if I look up your file, those are the numbers I will find?”

“I don’t know, Overseer. I wasn’t told what my numbers were. I was simply sent here as a species prototype for you.”

“Why aren’t you my companion?”

“What?”

“I sent for Missal because I needed sexual relief, but if you are a one-sixty, you qualify for companion class.”

“I wasn’t aware. I was sent to assist in agriculture, not animal husbandry. Sex is not a high concern. I decided to become a farmer, not a companion.”

“That is an interesting thought process. Sit. Tell me about your world. It is dead, you say?” He led her to his table and put her in Missal’s spot. Not great.

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