Perfect (2 page)

Brex stepped forward, and Ty pressed her hand to the tank. Ly’s eyes opened, and she smiled. Her hand pressed against the interior of the tank and her other hand pointed to Ty.

“I know, I look great, right? You, on the other hand, look like you are caught between blush and mortification. What happened?”

Ly opened her mouth to talk and nothing came out. She tried to stamp her foot, but there was nothing under it.

Leko turned slowly. “The compounds used to activate her genetics into a more stable form had the effect of altering her pigmentation. She is now two-toned for life.”

Ly tapped her chest and smiled.

“No, Ly, it was not your turn for funny skin. It looks surprisingly good. Your hair got paler.”

Ly grinned and fluttered her fingers down her body.

“Yeah, they managed to grow my hair out as well. Well, you get some rest. I am going to do the same.”

She leaned against Brex’s chest and waved farewell as he carried her down a hall and to her quarters.

He opened the door and walked inside with a smooth gait. The early thudding that she had first heard must have been to let them know that the bots were coming.

“Do you have questions?” He settled her in the bed and arranged the sheets over her.

“Why do we have Familiars? I mean, why are you here?”

Brex hunkered down next to her, and his cameras flicked as he looked her over. “The Lrrko are still a violent race. We may be fading out, but we still have the basic need to propagate. Since there are no females left, we have been left trying to locate something similar. As yet, we have not found a female that will breed one of our kind. Cloning has saved us, but it is also the seed of our destruction.”

She could hear her breathing in the quiet of the room. “How so? My species doesn’t use cloning yet, so I don’t know what the outcome would be.”

“At first, we cloned warriors for hire. Our entire species was designed to battle. Fertility decreased amongst our breeding pairs, and soon, the cloning was all we had. A meteor struck, and it burned out all our electrical and satellite systems. The clones in tanks died, and all of the frozen samples degraded in the power loss. It took ten years before we could start again. The rest has been centuries of trying to keep ourselves alive.”

She yawned and snuggled in her bed. “I am descended from warriors?”

He stroked her hair. “No, Ty. There was a Bride ship from the lone Lrrko colony that was coming to us. It was attacked, and the women were presumed dead. I am guessing that you and your sister are descended from that crash.”

“Guess? You don’t know?”

“No. We won’t know until your first child is in a gestation tube.”

“So, I am really going to be a source for new genetic material?”

“As are the other women here.” He patted her hand. “Do not worry; I am here to protect you.”

His metal skin flexed and was warmer than the air around him. He wasn’t her temperature, but the coolness wasn’t jarring.

“Good night, Brex.”

“Good night, Tyanni.”

She closed her eyes, and the purple glow of his sensors was the last thing she saw.

Breakfast was a strange configuration of fruits and vegetables that all tasted weirdly familiar. She sat in the dining hall, and Brex stood over her, watching for any sign of a threat.

Ty pointed to the structure visible through a wide viewing window. “What is that?”

“That is Lunar Base.”

She paused. “Then, where are we?”

“They are calling it Restoration Base. It is being used for those Terrans who need to have their regeneration sponsored, like you.”

“The Lrrko sponsored the two weeks in the tank?”

“And getting the genetic specialists here so that your enhancements were installed in concert with the healing.”

Understanding dawned. “You are here to protect their investment.”

He paused and inclined his head slightly. “You could say that.”

“When does Ly get out of the tank?”

“She has another week to go. Her reaction has put her recovery back. Leko will watch over her, and you will see her when she arrives on Lrrko.”

That made Ty pause. “You mean that we aren’t going at the same time?”

“We leave tomorrow. She and the others will leave as they are ready.”

“Why?” she swallowed and pushed the rest of her meal away.

His hand gently pushed the meal back in front of her. “The Lrrko are a species on the edge of extinction. If you were in their situation, would you wait?”

She sighed and her stomach flipped nervously for the first time since she had agreed to do this. “I suppose not.”

“Then, eat your breakfast, we will see your physician, do some light physio and you will be fitted for your compression suit.”

“Are you sure that I should be doing all that after I eat?”

He chuckled. “Your physician has given authorization for you to begin eating solids.”

“I don’t even know what this is.” She prodded at the severely reduced pile of fruit and vegetables.

“Lrrko food. We thought it best for you to get used to what your body requires.”

“Why not Terran food?”

“Your physiology has been altered. This is what your genetics were designed to digest; this is what you shall eat.” The absolute dictate was stated in a flat tone.

Ty scowled. “Well, I am done.”

He looked at the plate, looked at her and appeared to be considering something. Finally, he nodded. “Well, in that case, get up and come with me.”

She frowned and stood, swaying slightly. When he tried to catch her, she smacked at the metal of his chest. “Let me do it.”

He had carried her into the dining area, but she walked out of it, her bare feet slow but steady on the metal floors.

She was still only wearing her medical gown, but it didn’t matter. Brex had already seen her naked, and he didn’t care. Hell, half the population of the base had probably been past her tank at one time or another in the last few weeks.

Dr. Grimwell’s gills flared open and closed as he ran the scans. He was either pleased or agitated. Ty hadn’t been able to figure his reactions out.

“You are doing well. You can resume a normal activity schedule but stay away from heavy protein for a few days. It isn’t because of your time in the tank but because of your two years unable to eat for yourself.”

The hint that he was giving her was that she would be uncomfortable when her colon had to go to work. It wasn’t subtle, but it wasn’t the worst medical warning she had gotten in the past few years.

“I will make sure that she is attended at all times.”

Ty scowled at him. “Not in the lav you won’t. There are some things a lady has to do for herself.”

He shifted back as if uncomfortable. “I am here for your safety and recovery.”

She poked him in the centre of the formed musculature of his chest. “Unless I call for help repeatedly, never disturb me in the lav.”

He nodded. “Understood.”

Dr. Grimwell looked between them. “Well, I am done here. You will need a check when you arrive at Lrrko, but for now, you are on the road to full recovery.”

Brex seemed pleased with the prognosis. “Thank you, doctor.”

She smiled. “Yes, thank you, doctor.”

She hopped to the floor and poked Brex again. “What is next?”

He looked at where her finger was prodding the metal. “This was not in your file.”

She shrugged. “I haven’t been able to feel anything for two years. It has made me a little more eager for physical feedback.”

“Ah. I should have anticipated that.”

She wrapped her arms around her body and looked up at him. “Can we do clothing first? I think a compression suit might give me the hug that I am craving.”

He paused, and for a moment, she thought he had blown a circuit. She had no idea what he was made of, but he seemed stunned.

“Um, Brex, clothing?”

“Of course. Tyanni. Come with me.”

He put his metal hand at her back, and she felt the distinct prickle of reaction to the touch. A cascade of warmth ran up her spine and nestled in her brain. He was so careful with her. It was sweet.

She let him usher her down the hall, past the dining area and into an area with small shops. He looked around, found what his sensors were seeking and walked her toward a shop with compression suits. The proprietor had four arms and an eye for colour. It was one big eye, right in the middle of his forehead.

“Before you go and try those suits on, come here.” Brex murmured it quietly.

She turned to him and took the metal fingers with her own. He pulled her against him and slowly enfolded her in a hug. Ty sighed. The only thing that would have made it better was a heartbeat, but the huge, caring arms around her made it pretty close to perfect.

When she relaxed and wrapped her arms around him, he made a peculiar sound and released her. “The proprietor is waiting.”

As Ty looked over, the man grinned and crossed his arms. “Don’t rush on my account.”

She sighed and released Brex. Her arms hadn’t been able to get all the way around the barrel of his chest anyway.

“Fine, let’s get this over with.”

Half an hour later, she was wearing a fitted suit that covered her new skin. While it covered more, she felt more naked than she had in the med gown.

In the shop, she tried on boots until she found two pairs that matched everything she had selected or that had been selected for her.

She added a pack of brushes and hair combs to the pile. Her new locks were definitely going to require attention.

“I will have this sent to your quarters, Miss.” The proprietor smiled and inclined his head.

Brex put his hand on her back. “We are now going to engage in a little physiotherapy and begin your training to be a woman of the Lrrko.”

“If there are no women, how do you know what training I will need?” She felt very clever for coming up with that.

“We have records, and we know what our kinsmen are capable of. The brotherhood of the Lrrko is stable; you are a new variable. Their reaction is unknown, so you will be prepared.”

She slowed down, and he matched her decrease in forward speed. “Am I going to be in danger?”

“No!” His word was intense. “No one will harm you. We were just not expecting to find any of your kind.”

“My kind?”

“A Lrrko female. You are the closest thing to a female of the Lrrko that has been seen in hundreds of years. It is my job to protect you.”

He nodded his head as he finished his statement as if driving it home. He had a lot of body language for a robot, but she supposed that he would have to be as close to living as possible.

“Come on. Let’s start your training. We will continue it on the ship.”

She followed him to the gym that seemed to consist of nothing but thick mats. Ty had a feeling that she was going to be seeing a lot of that floor pattern.

“Face me and let’s begin.”

She squared off against seven feet of metal and sighed.
I am so going to get my new ass handed to me.

“I am programmed for physical therapy. Just relax while I work on those muscles.” Brex’s voice was amused.

Ty was naked and face down in her bed. She turned her head to one side. “Fine. But no laughing at me.”

“I would not dream of it.” Brex’s hands stroked her back, and he began at her butt, working his way up her body.

She groaned but remained still. Three days in space on their way to Lrrko and she had active therapy every damned day.

To say that the Lrrko were physically active was a bit of an understatement. From what Brex had told her about the mysterious race, they were bred to be assassins, could walk through walls and spent time on their world in sport combat. When you had a bunch of bored guys together, combat was bound to ensue.

She asked for a file or something on the Lrrko, but there were none. The files had been destroyed when the Lrrko were working for a species named the Vorwings. The shame of their actions had led to them purging their history.

The Bride ship had survived in myth and legend, but the Vorwings had destroyed the colony they came from when their supply of assassins ran out.

The Lrrko on their hidden home world were the last.

As Brex worked out a knot in her shoulder, she asked, “How did the Alliance get a hold of you? How did they notify you that there were candidates like me out there?”

“We have a relay station in a nearby system. We filter anything that mentions Lrrko by name. They called us and we answered.”

His huge metal hands made quick work of her tight muscles and soothed the butt bruises that had been inflicted. She landed bottom first, a lot.

“So, you listen in and finally heard something you were interested in?”

“Definitely. There. All better. The bruises will fade by morning.”

He patted her butt and pulled her sheet up and over her. With a few moves, he arranged her so that she had her head on a pillow. When she was cozy, he stroked her hair and headed back to the cockpit.

“One more rest and we are at Lrrko. Enjoy your sleep.”

She settled in the bunk with a grunt. Like she was going to get any sleep after that.

Ty brushed her hair and put it up in combs. Brex had deemed the blood-red body suit she was wearing, suitable.

Nine codes had been used to get them past check-in stations, and now, they were settled on Lrrko.

“A crowd is gathering. Stay close to me. I will get you to the elder council safely.”

His words sent a trill of fear through her.

“You are mentioning safety again.”

“I know. It is important. The others will be coming after, but you are the first, and folks will be curious.”

What was left unsaid was that some curiosity would turn to aggression.

Ty hitched up her bag of clothing with the spare pair of boots over one shoulder, and she pressed herself against Brex. “Ready when you are.”

He opened the outer hatch, and the air of Lrrko rushed in. The smell of a gathering of men was unmistakable. She could hear them before she stepped out with Brex and saw her new home.