The Ghost: A Horror Story

by Sanfour PRD

"How long has it been, sir?" the girl inquired. "One year," Shetland said. He did not need to qualify that; this was the Space Service Outprocessing Clinic Satellite Station, SSOCSS, where spacemen first put their feet on the ground. As the saying "Ssocss before sshoes." The term "satellite" referred to more than orbiting bodies; this station had never been off planet. She considered momentarily. "Please strip, sir." He glanced askance at her. "In your presence?" She smiled professionally, without either malice or humor. She was a perfect young woman in her mid twenties, marvelously symmetrical in more than mere figure. Her full breasts were not merely appealing in a sexual sense; they were somehow precisely right and in proportion to her overall body structure. Her brown hair complemented the neutral color of her uniform and was coiffed just so. Some finer hand than man's had crafted her to be subtly esthetic. That was of course why she had this position. Yet there was a single remarkable incongruity that loomed much more significantly than it should have, because it stood in such contrast to her physical one eye was a lighter gray than the other. Perhaps only a spaceman would have noticed. "It is the rule, sir. If you can't do it here, you will be unable to do it Outside. The Clinic will have to hold you for Leave Conditioning." "How long has it been, sir?" the girl inquired. "One year," Shetland said. He did not need to qualify that; this was the Space Service Outprocessing Clinic Satellite Station, SSOCSS, where spacemen first put their feet on the ground. As the saying "Ssocss before sshoes." The term "satellite" referred to more than orbiting bodies; this station had never been off planet. She considered momentarily. "Please strip, sir." He glanced askance at her. "In your presence?" She smiled professionally, without either malice or humor. She was a perfect young woman in her mid twenties, marvelously symmetrical in more than mere figure. Her full breasts were not merely appealing in a sexual sense; they were somehow precisely right and in proportion to her overall body structure. Her brown hair complemented the neutral color of her uniform and was coiffed just so. Some finer hand than man's had crafted her to be subtly esthetic. That was of course why she had this position. Yet there was a single remarkable incongruity that loomed much more significantly than it should have, because it stood in such contrast to her physical one eye was a lighter gray than the other. Perhaps only a spaceman would have noticed. "It is the rule, sir. If you can't do it here, you will be unable to do it Outside. The Clinic will have to hold you for Leave Conditioning."

251 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 11, 2021