Ellie Quin Book 3: Beneath the Neon Sky Read Online Free Page B

presumably enjoying the freedom of being off the leash and away from her sugar-daddy.
    The last passenger was an old man, probably in his mid-sixties by the look of him. He hadn’t said a great deal so far, but had gazed with an obvious pleasure at the chaotic comings and goings of vessels great and small from the port, and the intricate web of geodesic metal struts that lined the outside of the dome. Ellie suspected he was an old time colonist coming out one last time to see how much the world had changed.
    She dressed quickly in the uniform that Jez had picked out for both of them to wear. For once it seemed Jez had been able to exercise some degree of restraint over her more flamboyant taste in clothing, and had selected some navy blue, form-hugging neoprene polo-necked tops, white miniskirts and navy-blue leggings for them to wear. She had also picked out some clothing for Aaron; crisp clean white slacks and a navy blue blazer with white braided epaulettes. But Aaron wasn’t playing ball. He had resolutely refused to wear them, and showed no signs yet of weakening, despite Jez’s constant badgering and nagging.
    Ellie ducked and looked into the mirror beside the FoodSmart. She smoothed down her lank and lifeless mouse-brown hair and quickly applied a little liner and lipstick, still feeling a touch self-conscious at the thought of wearing cosmetics. She definitely enjoyed seeing her face transformed into something that looked prettier, more glamorous like Jez, but it still felt…bogus, like she was a child playing at being all grown up.
    Ellie took several steps to the aft of the cabin, to a door in the bulkhead that led down into the cargo hold – now known as the
Passenger’s Suite
.
    She opened the door and let herself in. The glow strip on the ceiling was turned down, and most of the pale illumination in here came from the growing light of dawn streaming in from the two wide viewing windows.
    Curtains…we’ll have to install some curtains for the next trip.
    She looked around the suite. She couldn’t see anyone up just yet. The couches, arranged in a semi-circle facing one of the windows, were all closed and being used as individual sleeping pods. She tiptoed quietly in, walked silently across the carpeted floor towards the FoodSmart and started to prepare breakfast.
    *
    Aaron awoke from his fitful sleep as the smell of freshly made coffee drifted up into the cockpit from the hold. He also detected the savory smell of grilled fagurters and toasted wheat sheets. Ellie must be up already and tending to their guests, he decided. He stretched in his seat, his legs long enough to reach across and nudge the armrest on the co-pilot’s seat next to him.
    The jimp, curled up on the seat like a lap dog, stirred briefly and muttered something unintelligible and then was still once more. Aaron wondered whether the creature was dreaming. He wondered if
any
of the thousands of different models of genetic products out there actually dreamed. He cast a glance sideways at him….
    Him?
    Ellie’s incessant campaign to
humanize
the jimp was beginning to take a hold. But it wasn’t a good idea really. The jimp’s license expiry was only a few months off. That was why Aaron had been able to buy him so cheaply. When it did expire, the pigment in the manufacturer’s logo on his –
it’s
- head would change color to red, and Harvey would very soon after curl up and die. Ellie was going to find that quite hard to deal with if she continued treating the thing like a surrogate child.
    Aaron heard Ellie greeting one of the guests with a chirpy
good morning
.
    He was relieved not to have to interact with the passengers. In fact, so far he hadn’t once stepped back into the hold to meet any of them, despite a couple of polite requests from one of the couples to meet
the ship’s Captain
. He really didn’t envy Ellie’s and Jez’s role; having to mix it with them, cater to their every whim. Piloting, he had assured both girls,