The Winter War Read Free Page B

T-shirts, a couple of leotards,
lots of tanned, fit bodies with sheens of sweat, and everyone had a
set of plugs in the back of their skull connected to implant
computers.
    Ella was exercising partially
because she thought she had let her exercises slide during the
mission. Aneka had been teaching her some self-defence and she had
been using their neighbour Dillon’s weights to beef herself up a
little. Aneka had been a little surprised at how well-toned Ella
had looked when they met again above Eshebbon. Of course, at the
time she had been more surprised by the sudden gain of two or three
cup sizes, but Ella had been a lot fitter too. Aneka suspected that
she had been so enthusiastic about the exercise then to distract
herself from Aneka being away, and right now the exercise was a
distraction from sex.
    Aneka had to admit that the
little redhead was doing well. Lying on her back she was bench
pressing a hundred kilos in a steady rhythm, following up from a
set of rapid, low weight reps earlier. Clearly the physical effort
of shifting the weight was taking its toll, her skin was beaded
with sweat, her expression was fixed and determined, and the
muscles in her arms, chest, and shoulders were bunching noticeably
as she pushed the bar upward. Truth be told, Aneka was thoroughly
enjoying the view even if the idea was to keep Ella’s mind away
from that kind of thing.
    They had, in fact, attracted a
small audience. Four or five of the gym users had migrated to
closer equipment, and two men and a woman were simply standing
watching. Aneka was unsure whether they were watching Ella pumping
iron or watching her spotting for Ella, but she was moderately sure
that none of them was watching the pretty girl with the big breasts
straining and sweating. As far as she could tell, none of the
Citizens had a libido worth a damn.
    In a way it was kind of
refreshing after spending a few years in a society that considered
sex to be a recreation to be enjoyed at every opportunity. The
Citizens thought of intercourse as a chore, something assigned as a
task when there was a need to replace lost population. At the very
best they viewed it as a last-gasp alternative to their
entertainment of choice; they were pretty much all addicted to what
they called cyber-drugs. Aneka had seen them pushing small,
coloured plugs into the data slots on their necks, but knew that
these pastel-coloured ones were the equivalent of taking a mild
sedative compared to the bold-coloured ones which were roughly the
same as mainlining heroine.
    Right now, through an interface
between Aneka’s internal computers and Ella’s implants, she could
tell that Ella’s body was coursing with endorphins. That was
providing a palliative to the longing she had for the direct nerve
stimulation to which she was addicted. She was trying to break that
addiction, but the Citizens watching her were hooked with no desire
to get off their drug of choice.
    Ella pushed upward on the bar
she was holding and Aneka saw her brow furrowing, the look of
intense concentration, and the slight tremble in her arms. ‘That’s
enough, love.’
    ‘One… more,’ Ella grunted, and
started to lower the weights again. Her arms gave out halfway down
and the bar landed in Aneka’s palms, stopping instantly.
    ‘No, I think that’s enough.’ The
bar went up and was dropped onto the rests as though it weighed
nothing. Aneka noticed the Enforcers looking slightly impressed,
though she was not sure whether that was as a result of her display
of strength or at how well Ella had done.
    Ella, however, pouted. ‘I
could’ve managed another.’
    ‘Before or after the bar crushed
your larynx?’
    ‘After, obviously.’ Ella sat up,
grabbing a towel to wipe the sweat from her face before it got into
her eyes.
    ‘There is a security alert at
the surface entrance,’ Al said before Aneka could respond. ‘I
believe you should see this.’ A window appeared in her vision field
showing security camera images.