Panacea (3 page)

How different would she be once she had recovered from her time in the tank?

* * * *

Lynni got up and headed to the lav. She stumbled against the wall but made it to the necessary in time.

It appeared that her body had recovered from the weeks without food, and it was practicing processing her dinner.

She splashed water on her face and wobbled back to bed. Well, she tried to. She opened the lav door and smacked into Leko so hard that she bounced backward.

He caught her.

“You are not to go anywhere without me.”

She prodded him in his fabric-covered metal chest. “You are not following me into the lav, bathroom or necessary. It doesn’t matter what you call it, I crap alone.”

If he was living, she was sure that he would have blinked rapidly. “Understood.”

Lynni thought she could hear a smile in his voice.

She was sweating and wobbling, but she kept her back straight. “Now, I am returning to bed. You can help me or get out of my way.”

He made a noise similar to a chuckle and took her by the elbow, supporting her as she made her way back to bed.

To her surprise, he went to the dispenser and got a container of water for her. “Drink this before you sleep again. Dehydration is dangerous at this stage.”

She made a face but drank the water.

The next morning, the doctor gave her a clean bill of health. She was free to travel.

The huge fist coming at her head was her indication to duck, so she did. Being trained in evading combat was a weird thing to do, but she welcomed it as a way to spend the boring days as they spun through space.

She grabbed the arm as it shot through where she had been standing, and she used it to swing up until she was sitting on his shoulders with her thighs around his neck. The cameras were wedged against her abdomen.

He tried to grab her, but she moved to ride his shoulders like a child. He couldn’t pull her off, and he would have to kneel to get rid of her.

“Well done, Ly. You are definitely mastering the basics.” He stood and walked around the exercise space in the centre of the ship. She hung onto his head and rode along.

He chuckled. “Are you going to get off?”

“I am not sure how to manage it.”

“I am content to wait until you figure it out.”

“Of course you are. We have been training every day for the last two weeks. Are we there yet?”

“We should be on approach. How are you feeling about landing on Lrrko?”

“Pretty good. I know I can take care of myself, thanks to you.” She got a sly expression on her face that he couldn’t see. “Are you looking forward to being in your own body again?”

The bot under her thighs went completely still. “I don’t know what you are referring to.”

“You are an actual person in a robot body, somehow.” She braced her hands on his head, pushed up until her body weight was balanced on her palms, and she brought her legs free until she could drop to the ground behind him.

He was still frozen in place. She came around and waved her hand at the camera. “Hello?”

He reached out and pulled her to him. “Why would you say that I am not robot?”

“You make certain noises when you are rubbing me down for the night that sound almost painful. The last time I heard those sounds, the man with me was the one making them.”

He nodded. “I see. Well, yes. My body is on Lrrko. I will be up and around within a day of our arrival.”

“So, why the bot?” It seemed perfectly natural to be pinned to him.

“So that there would not be any suspect activity while you were travelling with me. We also use these bots when we travel to worlds where we cannot breathe. They are the same size as the average Lrrko of the active fighter class, so when we are in our cloaks and uniforms, few—if any—know the difference.”

“So, the Lrrko are truly a race of assassins?”

“We prefer to consider us a species who fills a certain need that other societies have. We also do a little retrieval work and hostage rescue.”

“For a price.”

“Of course. These shuttles don’t buy themselves.” He chuckled.

She nodded. “I suppose that the Terrans will get to that point as well. Finding something that the other races want, I mean.”

“They already have. Once Terra is no longer a protectorate, their population will be hired out across the Alliance and the Imperium.”

Lynni thought about it and what it would mean in the long term. “I guess that there are those who would never leave home.”

“And it will be up to them to keep the population up as more and more of them head into the stars.”

The future of humanity just swam in front of Lynni’s eyes. “That... That is something I can’t even imagine.”

She was suddenly very afraid for her people.

He stroked her back but kept his grip on her arm. “Do not worry. Your genes will be in the Lrrko by then, and they will be honour bound to defend their own if any need help.”

“Oh, good. Well, if other species have the same sort of thing, Terrans might just make it for a few more hundred years.”

“I am sure that they will be fine.”

She nodded and sighed. “So...”

“Yes?”

“Are we there yet?”

He let out a sound reminiscent of a sigh, and she grinned.

He let her go, and they settled in the cockpit, with the surface of Lrrko just hours away.

Leko sent in clearance codes for a vast number of checkpoints. Lynni guessed that if you engaged in black ops for a living, you might want to make sure that no one unexpected showed up at your home.

She was just hours from seeing Tyanni again, and she could hardly wait.

When they were requesting final clearance, she nearly squealed.

“So, are you ready to meet the Lrrko?”

She made a face. “I suppose. The true question is are they ready to meet me?”

He laughed. “I sincerely doubt it.”

“So, when we land, I have to talk to the elders?”

“And take a trip to medical for full scans. Splices have only been something whispered about when we talk about the ancients.”

“So the chimera activity was frequent?”

“The two genes in one body? No. It was as extraordinary then as it is now. Does it happen much on Terra?”

“Not particularly. It might be more common than folks think, but until they go in for medical issues and get scans done, no one knows. Just like the Alliance, we don’t individually scan all parts of the body for differing genetic signatures.”

He nodded. “Fair enough.”

“I am guessing that genetic patterns are fairly important on Lrrko.”

“They are the backbone of our society. We live and die by what they decree for us. Yes, we do full scans.”

She sighed. “Well, I look forward to meeting you in person and doing what I can to forward your—our species.”

“I look forward to it as well. Despite the bio-feedback, touching your skin is something I would rather do with my own hands.”

Shock rippled through Lynni as they passed through the final checkpoint. Why hadn’t she thought that that might be the outcome of having her own Familiar?

As they approached the city, Lynni bit her lip. “So, do you think that Tyanni knows that Brex isn’t a robot?”

An odd strangled sound came from him. “You can be sure that she is aware by now. I will be regaining my body as quickly as I can, so I am sure that he did the same.”

“But she won’t know that I know.”

“No. We are under orders not to disclose it until our females are safe on Lrrko. It was not my fault that you figured it out.”

“You don’t have the reactions of a robot. Hopefully, the other males are better actors.”

He glanced toward her, and she knew that if he was in a form with a face she could read, he would be glaring.

She had a hard time not laughing her butt off, but the excitement of seeing her sister again was building.

When they made the landing site, she was forced to wait for Leko to make the first move.

He left the shuttle ahead of her, and she saw Tyanni standing next to a huge male that had the same physique as Leko. It was as if they had been chosen for their type.

The crowd gathered was shouting and cheering, but when they saw her, they fell silent.

Lynni didn’t care about the guys right now. She squealed and ran to her sister, hugging her and spinning her around before Ty did the same in return.

“Oh my lord, you look gorgeous, Ly. I had no idea that you would look so stunning when you were finished.”

“It is good to see you with some muscle mass, Ty. I was terrified that I would find you being hauled around by Brex for the rest of your life.”

The girls giggled and hugged again. Ly felt like she was a teenager with her sister once again.

Ty started to lead her away from the shuttle, but Leko stopped them.

“Bride Tyanni, I know that you have missed your sibling and she has missed you, but we need to get her to medical for a check.”

Tyanni scowled at his metal face. “Fine, Familiar Leko. Take care of her.”

“It is my duty and my will.”

Lynni had a hard time not laughing.

She gave Ty another hug and grinned. “I will see you later, Bride Tyanni.”

“Right back at you, Bride Lynni.”

Ly rolled her eyes but followed her Familiar to a weird kind of motorbike-shaped thing on a platform.

“What is this?” She straddled the seat, and he climbed on after her.

His arms easily reached around her. “It is called a Riot Runner. They are used for quick entrances and exits and have a number of capabilities.”

He lifted off, and they flew across the city.

“Where are we going?”

“We are going to see the elders and then medical.”

“Why are we going in that order?”

“Because the elders want to see you.”

She looked at her hands. “Of course they do.”

“Your voice changed.”

“I am just becoming used to the idea of being a freak.”

“You are not a freak. You are a spectacular anomaly. We are delighted that you are one of us. The doctors will tell you the same.”

She nodded and swallowed. She was in for it now. This was the actual alien world with the actual aliens... and she was one of them.

The council of elders stared at her before looking at each other.

“Lynni Nikkelson of Terra, Lrrko bloodline?” One of the men asked her at last.

She made a face. “Yes. Tyanni is my sister.”

They looked to Leko. The man asked again, “Is that correct?”

He nodded. “I saw them together at the Terran medical base. They are siblings. The dramatic colouration that you see here was a result of our genetic enhancement.”

The elder scowled. “We did that?”

Lynni held up her hand. “On Terra, it is called a chimera. I was initially two infants that merged into one. Oddly enough, in my case, I was apparently split down the centre.”

She gestured to her face and shrugged.

“What caused the discolouration?”

She repeated what she had read on the screens before Leko could. “Because the dose was keyed to my pale side, my dark side was a close but inexact match. It caused the pigmentation change.”

Leko stepped to her side. “I am sure that medical will provide you with a full report.”

The elder nodded. “That will be for the best. Bride Tyanni has created a supplemental contract between the Terrans and the Lrrko that will be more beneficial for you. It will be sent to your quarters.”

Lynni grinned. “Yeah, that sounds like Ty. I am amazed she didn’t take your shirts in the bargain.”

The elder she was looking at blinked and shouted a laugh. “There is the resemblance that she said we would see.”

Leko sighed. “Please come with me, Bride Lynni. I will take you to medical.”

She smirked at the formality but let him escort her out of the elders’ council room.

Once outside, she asked him, “Do they just sit in that room all day?”

He paused and shook his head. “I really need my body now. That required a belly laugh, and I really need my body to enjoy it.”

“Sorry. It was a legitimate question.”

“They have other duties, but when they know that they are needed or when they have demanded someone show themselves, they will be there.”

“Oh good. So, now I have a medical appointment?”

“Indeed. You will be assessed, and they will try and gauge when the harvesting of tissue can be commenced.”

Lynni frowned. “How much tissue?”

“We will discuss it with the medics. Come on.”

They returned to the runner and whisked through the sky once again.

Once they were inside the medical centre, she asked, “Do all medical bays around the universe smell the same?”

He let out another huff. “It is possible. I haven’t been in them all. Lrrko are not usually welcome.”

“Ouch. Fair enough.”

Medic Alveck looked a lot like the live-tissue version of Brex that had been next to Ty. He hadn’t spoken when they landed, but his features were burned into her mind. His focus on Ty had meant only one thing to Lynni—he was her sister’s lover. Talk about Familiar.

“You are related to Bride Tyanni?” Medic Alveck looked a little surprised.

“I get the feeling I am going to have to answer that question a lot. Yes. We are sisters, born less than a year apart.”

He looked a little embarrassed. “Pardon me. We don’t get a lot of natural siblings here.”

“It is not a problem. Now, tell me what I need to do, and I will do it so that I can look around. This is my first time on a new world, and I am intensely curious.”

“Right. Well, come with me and we will put you into a gown that won’t interfere with our scanners.”

Five minutes later, she was pattering around after Medic Alveck with Leko right behind her, watching the medic’s every move.

“So, if you could settle and scoot upward on this platform that would be good.” Alveck smiled softly.

She wiggled into position on the wide exam bed that was designed for creatures far larger than she was. The scanner was a thick band that moved over her from head to toe, and she tried not to tense as her body felt the urge to escape the small confinement.