Overdrive by Phillip W. Simpson

“There you have it. The little lady herself," he said
proudly. “Isn’t she wonderful," he gushed. “We’ve got 30 StarCruisers in
our Hedonist fleet now, and she’s by far the most popular.”
    Tarquin gave him a
toothy forced smile. “Yeah, she’s great."
    Walter was
seemingly satisfied with the response. “Right, now then. Here we are. Electric
Blue." He clapped his hands again. The lift doors opened to reveal a
corridor painted in that same color. A group of young woman chorusing “Hi
Walter” and dressed in skimpy red leather devil outfits pushed their way into
the lift giggling. The three men squeezed past and into the corridor. Logan
loitered, throwing smiles over his shoulder at the girls.
    “I take it they’re
dressed for the ball tonight?," Logan enquired of Walter.
    Walter pudgy face
was again adorned with a cheery smile. “No, I don’t believe so. That’s their
everyday ship board attire. I think they’ll be coming up with something a bit
more creative for tonight’s activities. You both really should look at
attending."
    Rounding a corner,
they emerged in a square courtyard surrounded by seats. Most of the seats were
taken by a variety of passengers in various states of undress and some in the
advanced stages of foreplay. Blue shrubs were dotted here and there. One larger
shrub sheltered a recumbent form, happily snoring and surrounded by beer
dispensers. The walls were covered with murals depicting complicated and highly
technical forms of fornication. Walter stopped outside a door facing the
courtyard.
    “This is your room
Mr. Pope. Your room is next door, Mr. Compton-Burnett. As I said, if you change
your mind about the Ball tonight, let me know. Shipboard time is currently 5pm.
The ball is set to start at 10pm. I’ll be happy to provide advice or a costume
if your coverall’s aren’t sufficient for your needs." Walter paused for a
moment and realizing that his new passengers were unlikely to respond, decided
to make himself scarce. With a wave, he set off back down the corridor.
    Logan fired the
code into his door and walked into his room. Tarquin followed him in and set
his now largely empty bag down on the floor. The room was dominated by a large
AG bed. A comfortable looking leather chair with enough room for three people
and equipped with straps, filled one corner. The walls and ceiling were covered
with full length holographic screens currently depicting a woodland scene. Some
of the animals looked to be fornicating. Logan ordered the wall to switch
itself off and went to sit on the bed. He eyed his sagging bag remorsefully.
    “Wasn’t much point
bringing a bag in the end”
    Tarquin favored
him with a grim smile. “I’ve still got a few aces up my sleeve and there’s lots
more where that came from on my ship."
    “I’ve got a
nagging feeling we’re going to need it.” Logan stood up. “Let’s find Felix.”

Chapter Three
     
    Hedonism. The
pursuit of pleasure. Most people defined pleasure as something they enjoyed.
This could be as varied as nailing your testicles to a table, examining with
relish the large chunk of ear wax just removed from said orifice, shagging your
boss’s partner behind their backs or just being naked in completely
inappropriate places. For the large majority, participating in pleasurable
activities was something that they’d like to make a permanent vocation. One
world had. Revel.
    Colonized in 2600,
the planet was a veritable paradise. The first settlers had come to the
conclusion that work was a load of arse, and frankly, should be something that
other people did. To this end, they created the Hedonistic Pleasure Society. In
all fairness, the population did actually work but that work was obviously
geared towards pleasure. Revel rapidly gained a reputation for a place to go to
have fun. Mostly fun that leaned towards sex. Almost nothing was sacred or
frowned upon, a place where you could live your fantasies and do what you
normally couldn’t