Panacea (4 page)

“Well, you are not in cycle as your sister was, which is better for your adaptation, but it looks like you are a week away. The additional ovaries are completely fine. Your body is tolerating the additions just fine.”

He was using the word fine a lot.

She leaned up on her elbows. “Did you say
additional ovaries?
”

“I did. You now have a total of four ovaries that will provide us with a harvest of eggs to use for our clone production. Of course, as your Familiar, Leko’s child will be the first that is grown to gestation.”

“Oh, I was wondering how he got paid to hang out with a pain in the ass like myself.”

Leko crossed his arms, and she could feel the scowl he couldn’t express. “It was an honour to be chosen to be your Familiar, Lynni.”

She grinned. “Tell me that when you have your skin on and we are doing evasive training again.”

Alveck helped her sit up, and he said, “You are extremely fit and in excellent health all around. With you being a splice, I can say honestly that we are looking forward to your first harvest.”

She wrinkled her nose. “So, after Leko, who gets to have at my eggs?”

“The strongest genetic partners. If I can take some samples now, we can begin creating a roster of the most likely candidates. The elders will have final say, but I believe that your sister included a clause in the new contract for that. You may have a vote on who gets to start with one of your eggs.”

She rubbed her forehead. “That sounds so weird. Where are the babies... um... grown?”

Leko answered. “In the same building as the council of elders. Why?”

“I would like to see what the future of my eggs holds.”

He nodded. “We can go there next. You have the clearance.”

Alveck blinked. “She does?”

Leko nodded. “She does. Actually, instead of going there next, I will show her to her quarters and change, and
then,
I will take her to the gestation hall.”

Alveck blinked. “Right. Well, I will just take the blood and tissue samples, and she can be on her way.”

“Excellent. We have an agenda to take care of. She needs to greet her new world.”

Alveck nodded, and he got the equipment he needed, drawing the blood and taking a scraping from the inside of her cheek.

When he was done, Lynni smirked. “Now, do the other side.”

He blinked. “What?”

“Two different genomes, remember?”

Alveck appeared very out of sorts. “Oh. Right. Of course.”

Lynni tapped him on the arm and waited until he made eye contact. “Are you all right?”

“Yes. I mean. I have never met a splice before, and it is so fascinating that I am terrified they will remove you from my care before I have even begun to learn how such a thing is not only possible, but how you are so very... normal. We have been told that the splices were mad.”

“I get irritated now and then, but I have never been insane if that is what you are getting at.”

Alveck blinked. “How do you know?”

She kept her voice dry. “I am fairly sure that my sister would tell me, she doesn’t hold much back.”

Alveck paused for a moment, and then, he grinned. “I am sure you are correct. Lady Tyanni is definitely a woman who will speak her mind.”

“Right. So draw the blood, scrape the cheek and let me go visit my new quarters.”

He quickly got the second set of vials and labelled them for the second side. When he had what he needed, she was dismissed with a smile.

She slid her hand around Leko’s metal bicep as they left. “So, you knew he would think I was crazy?”

“It was a possibility. To balance the two genetic patterns in not only your body but your brain takes a tremendous amount of luck.”

“I feel that luck every time I look at my sister. She is all the luck that I need.”

There had been months, weeks, when she was unbalanced, when her mind was split in two and two impulses had fought for supremacy, but Tyanni had gotten her through it. No puberty had ever been as dramatic in her entire family line.

“Damn. I forgot to get my bag from the ship.”

“The security team will have brought it to your quarters. They had to go through it anyway.”

“Right. Well, I need to see where I am going to be living. Shall we?”

“Yes, Bride Lynni.” He inclined his head.

She snorted and got on the runner, waiting for him to take her to her new home.

While she looked around her new quarters, Leko set himself in the charging unit.

She opened her bag and unpacked her few garments. The bodysuits were all the same. Sleeveless and form fitting, she looked like a superhero with built-in makeup. She just didn’t have the powers.

In the silence, a yawn snuck up on her. Looking over at Leko in his charging station, she headed to bed for a quick nap.

It usually took him over an hour to charge, so she had time to recover from the stresses of the day.

Tyanni was fine. Lynni’s expression was a smile as she curled into a ball on the huge bed.

It was the stuff that dreams were made of.

* * * *

Leko sat up and removed the life support. The medic on duty rushed to his side and sealed the small ports for nutrients and sedation.

“Sir, you are awake early. I didn’t realize you had arrived.”

“This afternoon. My Bride was aware that I was not a bot, so there is no reason to remain separated.”

“You do not fear for her physical self?”

“She can take care of herself. She is a true Lrrko. In fact, she might be two of us.”

“I don’t understand.”

Leko chuckled, and the younger male looked surprised. “You will understand soon enough. It is hard to keep a straight face with Bride Lynni around. She has this way of looking at things.”

The tech looked a little uneasy. “I have heard things about her.”

Leko started to walk to the showers. “Yes?”

The other man trotted behind him. “I have heard that her skin is different.”

“It definitely is. She is a splice. A naturally born splice.”

“How can Bride Tyanni be her sister?”

Leko snorted. “Apparently, that is the joy of natural selection.”

He took a solar shower and went to his locker. His standard Selector clothing had been replaced with the uniform of the Familiar. The rich blue sleeveless tunic with the silver piping on the edges fit him like a second skin. Feeling the clothing on his skin once again was a blessed relief.

Splitting consciousness was a skill that all off-world operatives were taught. He had gone through the training when he was a child, just as all of his class had. He never expected to use that skill. He had been trained to analyze the actions of others.

With his boots and trousers in place, gloves on and the standard weapons of his new position strapped to his thighs, he was ready to meet Bride Lynni face to face. He pulled on a cloak and left the med centre, walking through the streets of the city.

It felt good to be on his own feet again. He didn’t know how the agents and officers managed to lock into their bot bodies and stay in them for months.

Leko felt odd walking up to the Bride house. He checked himself through security and ended up striding through the halls that only Brex was privy to until this moment.

He walked up the stairs and headed to Lynni’s quarters. The door opened silently at his approach, and he slipped into the quiet space, looking toward the bed. There was a curled lump under the covers, but he couldn’t see breathing. His senses went on alert as he looked for Lynni in the shadows.

He should have been looking in the light.

* * * *

Lynni felt him coming up the hall. The vibe coming from him was definitely Leko. She slipped out of the bed and mounded up the pillows into her normal curve under the sheets.

Hiding in the shadows was possible, but she chose the other option. She stood against the wall, in the beam of light, and her skin did a weird thing. It reflected the light and made her invisible. She couldn’t see her own hand, but her right side was still hot pink.

She was partially invisible.

She watched through narrowed eyes as the door opened and the figure in the cloak entered. The door closed behind him.

She saw him look toward the bed, and she could feel the change in him as he realized she wasn’t in it. His hood turned toward the shadows, and she remained relaxed as his gaze searched for her. When he stepped in and his back was toward her, she moved with the techniques that he had taught her. She kicked the back of his knee, and when he went down, she wrapped an arm around his throat. “You didn’t knock.”

He bent forward, and she went over his head, landing in a deep crouch. She whirled to face him, and he pulled his hood back.

She had to comment on his new appearance. “Wow. You are... more colourful than I thought.”

His hair was a deep blood red, and his eyes were a vivid blue. The mahogany of his skin was a strange contrast to his bright eyes. It was nearly creepy, but she was fascinated instead of repelled.

“You are naked. It is cool in here.”

She didn’t need to glance down. She could feel her nipples tightening.

She didn’t turn her back to him but stood and backed away, sliding her bodysuit off the edge of the bed and into her hand.

Keeping eye contact, she squirmed into her clothing and closed it.

“That was fascinating to watch. May I say, it is nice to see you with my own eyes.” He smiled slightly.

It was a crooked smile and a welcoming one. She took a step toward him and then another, finally ending up in his arms with his heart beating under her ear.

She held him tight, the warmth of his muscles flexed under her hands. She felt tears run down her cheeks, and she carefully blinked them away. She didn’t want to sniffle all over him.

“Hello, Leko.”

“Hello, Lynni.”

She chuckled, and a small sniffle came out. She held him in silence until he began to stroke her spine like he did after their workouts.

“So, can we go to where the little Lrrko are spawned?” She tried to change the subject from the strange intimacy with his flesh-and-blood body.

He chuckled, and she heard it in her bones. “Yes. We can definitely go and look at the younglings.”

She smiled brightly and looked him over. “Do I get a neat cape like that?”

“There is one for you in the wardrobe. I trust you can take care of yourself, so don’t forget to put the knives on.”

She reluctantly released him, and he went to the wardrobe. He pulled out a harness with sticks and a dark mass of fabric.

Lynni stood in place as he wrapped the leather around her hips and thighs. When he slid the shock sticks into place, she looked at him with a grin. “Most guys wouldn’t give a girl weapons on their first day out.”

“I am not most guys. I am your Familiar, and your safety always comes first. Your work on the ship was excellent, and you have a knack for the moves that you need to defend yourself.”

She smiled. “That I do.”

He nodded. “So, how did you hide from me when I entered the room?”

“I honestly have no idea. I just got the idea to hide in the light, and my body did the rest.”

“Can you show me?”

“Later. Now, I want to see how the Lrrko come into the world.”

He nodded. “Right. I don’t know if there is a decanting today, but we can see the canisters.”

“Excellent. Well, lead on.”

With a flourish, he wrapped the cloak around her, and it hid the batons on her thighs. He nodded and gestured for her to leave her quarters.

Lynni headed into the hall, and Leko came up behind her. He put his hand on her back and steered her up to the roof where the runner from earlier was waiting.

She settled in place, and he wrapped his arms around her. It was amazing, the dimensions of his body were the same, but the feeling was very different.

They rose in the air and crossed the span of the city, the folk below were tiny, and many of them were wearing the same kind of concealing fabric that Lynni and Leko were sporting.

Cloaks were all the rage on Lrrko.

They cruised across the sky until they got to the council building. He landed them on the roof and escorted her through security and into the building once again.

This time, instead of stopping on an upper floor, they paused and a pad for a palm print lit up.

“Put your palm on that pad. You have the clearance to see the gestation area at any time. It was one of your sister’s stipulations.”

She smiled and pressed her palm to the pad. The elevator resumed its course, and it paused on a floor with no number.

The doors slid open, and a very startled tech stared at them as they exited the elevator.

“Familiar, we weren’t expecting a visit.”

Leko chuckled. “She is the new Bride, and she wanted to see the gestation facility. Here we are. She would like a tour.”

Lynni pulled her hood back and smiled brightly. “Yes, please.”

The tech looked at her and jolted. “Right. Of course. I will call someone.”

They waited near the elevator, and she gave Leko a sideways glance. “Why can’t you show me around?”

“I have never been in here before. This level is highly secured. If not for your clearance, we would not have been able to get in here.”

She nodded. “Right. I didn’t think of that.”

“There is no reason you should have. You have been on the surface for less than four hours.” He quirked his lips again. “Give yourself at least thirty hours before you can expect to know everything.”

She laughed and was still smiling when a physician in a pale-green bodysuit came toward them.

“Hello, Bride Lynni. I am Dr. Jimkol, head geneticist on Lrrko. May I express my gratitude at the willingness of you and the other Terrans who are coming here to help us?”

She inclined her head. “Your thanks are not necessary. After the treatment, I am no longer acceptable to my own kind, so it is just as well that I am here.”

He blinked at her candour. “You are now with your own kind. It just took the genetic enhancement to bring your true self out.”