Broken Protocols (5 page)

“Hey.” Milo tried to reach up and snag them away from Levi.

But Levi held them out of reach. On a hunch, he put them against his eyes and gazed through them. Two young lithe females cavorted in front of him with come on gestures, enticing him to join them.

“Hell, Milo.” He tossed the VR set down on his brother’s chest. “This is hardly the time for a sex romp.”

“Hey. It’s always time, bro.” Milo went to put them back on his face when Levi grabbed them again and tossed them across the room.

“Damn. Get serious.” Levi planted his hands on his hips and glared at his brother. “We have a problem here. A big one. You know she’s sick, right. Like she could be dead by morning.”

“Nah. She’s fine.” Milo stood up and stretched and sidled over to where his goggles were. “I’m going to head to bed now.”

“Touch the goggles and I’ll lose them permanently the next time you are out of the room.”

Milo froze. “Hey, that’s not fair. I do some of my best thinking when I’m sex…in a playful mood.”

With a snort, Levi shook his head. “Like hell. You say you do your best thinking as an excuse to do whatever the hell you want.” He reached his brother in seconds, grabbed him by the shoulder, and gave him a shake. “Stop kidding around. We have to solve this problem.”

Milo cringed and stepped back out of his brother’s reach. “We don’t have a problem. I brought her here for you. Therefore, you have a problem.” With that, Milo snagged his goggles and walked out of the room.

For him? Levi stared after him in shock. And once again brought up the question of Dani’s identity in relationship to the photo.

But his brother was gone. Walking away from something he didn’t like. Didn’t want to deal with. Dumping the problem on someone else’s shoulders. In this case – his.

Being sixteen forever was getting old. At least for those that had to live with Milo.

Levi tilted his head back and closed his eyes, waiting for the anger to drain and some reasonable next step to rise up from the depths of his own impressive brain.

Bottom line, she was hurting. And he was indirectly responsible. How could he help her? There really was only one way. She needed a medical pod. And fast.

That meant Johan. His long time friend walked a fine line between legal and illegal business activities. So far he was doing well with it. They both had a hatred for the Council and the multitude of government regulations that were being stuffed down their throats.

He glanced at the time. Maybe, just maybe, Johan hadn’t started partying yet.

It was worth a try. In person or by com? Com would be faster.

He punched in Johan’s name. And closed his eyes briefly when Johan’s face filled the screen. “Hey. Glad I caught you.”

“What’s up, Levi?” Johan’s bright inquisitive grin popped out. “Looking to hook up tonight? I’ve got some prime flesh coming by soon.”

“No. No. I’ve got some of my own here, but she’s sick. I was hoping to use your unit.” He waited a moment, and then in a quiet voice, added, “Please.”

“Sure. No problem.” Johan nodded agreeably. “You know the code. Go for it. With any luck, I won’t need it tonight.”

Levi wiped a shaky hand across his forehead. “Thanks, Johan. I won’t forget this.”

“No big. If she doesn’t pick up and you’re still looking for some action, there will be plenty here all night long.”

“As usual.” In an effort to appease his friend, he added, “We’ll see. I might pop by later on.”

“Pod is empty now so go for it.” Johan’s face blinked out.

As he closed his com, Levi wondered about the sensibility of waiting until later. But how would he get her up there when she was out cold? Levi walked back over to where Dani slept. He frowned at the critter guarding her. How could he get her up to the healing pod without that?

Then the critter dropped its head on Dani’s chest like the weight of his head was too heavy to hold. And he realized that the critter had endured just as harsh a trip as Dani. It probably needed the healing pod, too.

That could really be tricky. He could use the elevator to get them all up there and the healing pod had a room all to itself, but would the critter cooperate? Would Dani stay asleep for this?

It would be best if she did.

He really was out of options. And out of time. He opened a cupboard and pulled out a wrap. With some difficulty, he managed to wrap the two newcomers up. He lifted them both into his arms, more disturbed than he realized when neither moved. Maybe they were badly injured internally. His gut twisted. He should’ve done this earlier.

He raced outside his apartment. “Stealth mode on.” The elevator swooped down, encompassing them all. “Johan’s healing pod.”

The cube took off silently.

They’d made it this far. He hoped the rest would be so easy. The elevator delivered him outside Johan’s pod room. He stepped in, relieved to find the room empty and the pod open. He laid his lightweight burden down gently, realizing as he did so how delicate her frame was. Even the critter was light for all that he looked big and bulky. He carried so much fur and the face appeared to have been flattened in the birthing process, but as far as actual poundage went, it had nothing.

And maybe muscle and bone density loss was a side effect of the time travel. He didn’t know if the pod could heal that. It was a little out of the generic pod’s scope.

He walked over to the door, closing and locking it behind him. Then he turned his attention to the two comatose patients on the table. He closed the lid on them, blanket and all, and walked to the diagnostic table. “Start scanning,” he instructed the computer.

The machine made a weird beeping sound, then said, “The blanket and outer clothing of the patients must be removed.”

“Scan patients in the condition they are in,” he said.

“We cannot,” chimed the robotic voice. “Something is stopping the scan from initializing. Please remove the blankets and outer clothing.”

“Damn.” He returned to the pod, opened the lid and with difficulty, he managed to tug the blanket free. Dani was wearing pants of some stretchy material and a short sleeve shirt. He didn’t want to remove it if he didn’t have to. “Start scan.”

The beeps picked up and a blue laser light started at Dani’s head and swept down to her feet. He breathed a sigh of relief. Good, it worked with her dressed. “Scan results?”

“Patients are experiencing extreme reaction to the atmosphere. Muscle weakness, rapid heart rate, and irregular breathing indicate reaction to high stress.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” he muttered. “Is she going to be all right?”

“Patient is exhausted. We are giving her high doses of vitamins and lowering her vital signs. Sleep is paramount. Her body has undergone a great shock. We are adding her condition to our database.”

“No,” he snapped. “Cancel that. Do not add her condition to the database.”

“It is protocol,” stated the computer. “This is a condition we have not encountered. It must be added.”

“Shit. Shit. No!” he said urgently. “Do not add at this time. Should the patient not recover quickly, then it can be added. Everyone reacts to stress differently. This is hers.”

“This is most unusual.”

“Yeah, that’s me.” Levi walked over to Dani. “What about the critter? What is its condition?”

“He appears to be suffering the same muscle weakness as the woman. Also the same increased heart rate.” The computer stopped, then added. “Interesting.”

“Do not add this to the database,” he snapped.

The robotic voice spoke again. “We must. It is protocol.”

Frustration rolled through him. “And yet like the woman, the critter will likely be fine.”

“If that is true, why did you bring them here?”

And what was he doing, arguing with a healing pod? Computers had taken over his world. They now argued and chastised and nagged like an old wife.

“I wanted to make sure that there was no internal damage,” he muttered.

“We did not scan for that.”

He stopped and turned to look at the console. “Why not?”

“You did not remove her clothing. We could not go through all the material.”

“That’s crap. Of course you can.”

“We do not know this particular blend of materials. We must add it to the databank.”

He was going to pull his hair out. “Do not add it to your databank.”

“We must. It is—”

“Protocol, yeah, I know.” He walked over to the pod. “If you are done with the booster shot, I’ll take off her shirt and pants then you can do a deeper scan.”

“Acknowledged.”

At least that wasn’t breaking protocol. He opened the pod and tugged her boots off her feet. Then opened the closures on her pants and tugged them off. He swallowed at the sight of the purple underclothes. Yeah, lingerie hadn’t changed much in the last couple of centuries. It was as sexy back then as it was now. Walking to the side of the pod, he opened up the buttons that held Dani’s shirt closed and spread the material apart. He could feel his own heart rate race at the sight of her firm breasts rising from the matching purple bra. Crap, he felt like a pervert.

But she was something.

“Can you do a complete scan with her like this?” He rearranged the critter down the long lean length of her, its head resting against her ribs. If she woke to find the critter dying or missing, then there would likely be hell to pay.

“We can.”

“Good. Then please complete the full diagnostics.”

The pod lid closed and the blue laser light swept slowly down the length of the bed. Then it reversed all the way back up.

“Scan complete,” said the computer.

“And the scan results?” Levi asked.

“The patient has no severe internal damage. There have been some recent adaptations to her physical body that we have not seen before.”

There was a hum. “We have added that information to our database.”

“No,” he shouted. “Damn it, don’t do that.”

“It is protocol.”

He dropped his forehead against the glass top of the pod, wanting to smash his fist against the smooth unyielding surface. “And what of the critter?”

“The same odd changes have also recently been done to its body. We have added this information to the database.”

He didn’t bother arguing. He’d try to wipe the memory after he was done. “What kind of changes have been made?”

“We do not have a scan from before these changes in order to be able to say.” The robot was not being helpful.

“Right. Then how do you know changes have been made?”

“There are signs of new tissue,” continued the computer. “Signs of healed muscle and skin. The DNA has been altered.”

He swallowed on that last bit. Milo had said that wouldn’t happen. Then he’d probably worded it in such a way to avoid an outright lie and still not tell the truth. “Are these changes dangerous?”

“Not that we can see at this time.” There was a series of monotone clicks as if the console was shutting down.

“So is she healthy?” Levi asked urgently before it turned off. “Good to leave.”

The clicks paused. “She is exhausted. She must rest for 24 hours minimum.” The robotic voice stopped as if considering its next words, before adding, “Maybe longer.”

He didn’t want to consider how this console’s actions imitated human thinking. “And can you help her do that?”

“It is done.”

With a sigh of relief, Levi opened the pod, gathered up her clothing, and wrapped both Dani and the critter in the blanket, along with her clothes. And stepped out into the hallway.

Just as she woke up.

D
ani let her
eyes drift open. Heavy and unwieldy, they didn’t want to obey her orders. But the juggling woke her up. The sensation of being carried. Only to find she was tucked up against a man’s chest, carried like a precious child.

She’d been sleeping so sound, then nightmares had kicked in and she’d surfaced feeling like she’d been through the worst night of her life.

As the memories drifted in, she wondered if she had.

Except for the male carrying her. Levi. His name drifted through her consciousness. He smelled so wonderful. And the strength, the ease with which he carried her…he wasn’t even breathing hard.

His heartbeat pounded under her ear. Slow, steady, and strong.

She sighed happily. She didn’t know who he was or where she was, but this part was good.

Until the pain penetrated her consciousness. Everything ached. Had this person hurt her? Was she in danger? It didn’t feel like it. But then…

Her body was jostled again…and that set parts of her to hurting in the worst way. Bones ached. Joints throbbed. Muscles burned. She tried to shift away from the pain. She moaned.

“Easy, Dani.” Lowering his head slightly, Levi whispered, “Take it easy, we’re almost back. Just lie still.”

“Where,” she murmured. “Back where?”

“Back to bed. I took you to the healing pod. It should have helped.”

“I hurt. Everywhere.” She shifted her legs restlessly. She wanted it to stop. “Put me down.” Then her voice broke at the pain. “Please.”

“Shh. It’s all right. You’re going to be fine. We’re almost home.”