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  “I don’t care about the law.” Mei-Li was trying to edge away from him but with her back already to the wall, she couldn’t get far. Still, she tried, sidling to one side.

  “You had better care about the law,” Six told her. “If you are not mindful of it, you will be purged. I cannot let that happen.”

  “I don’t know what that means and I don’t care,” Mei-Li said wildly. “Look, stay away from me. Just stay away!”

  Suddenly she felt a pricking sensation in her right leg. Looking down she saw that Yipper had stuck her with his long, pointed tongue again. The moment he withdrew and skipped away, her entire body below the waist began to feel weak.

  “What the…what did you do to me?” she gasped, grabbing at the wall for balance as her legs wobbled.

  “I have given you a mild paralytic yes I have, yes I have.” The Tolleg was peering at her anxiously. “You were becoming too upset, so you were, so you were. I did not want you to hurt yourself trying to run.”

  “Of course I’m upset! You’re talking about sawing off my perfectly good arms and legs and giving me robot parts. I’m not freaking Darth Vader—I’m a social worker!” She tried to scoot a little further to one side but to her horror, her legs gave way and she slid down the wall and landed on her butt on the pure white floor.

  She tried to move her feet and legs but they just lay there like lumps of clay, completely unresponsive. The top half of her body still seemed to work but what good was that? What was she going to do—drag herself away? Her stomach felt like she’d swallowed a lump of ice as she realized there was no way out of this situation—she was stuck.

  “All right,” Six said, bending towards her. “Now perhaps we can talk about this in a rational manner.”

  “Rational? There’s nothing rational in what you want to do to me!” Mei-Li protested. “Stay away from me! Stay away!”

  “I cannot.” His deep voice was implacable. “This is something which must be done. You must have an enhancement.”

  “But…but I…” Mei-Li shook her head, unable to continue.

  Suddenly it was all too much. She was hungry and tired and scared to death and she’d had an incredibly long and stressful day. She’d been through a hostage situation with one of her clients, had been attacked, wounded, abducted and taken to a whole new galaxy. Somehow she had managed to take all of that in stride. But this enhancement business was one thing too much. Though she didn’t want to show weakness, Mei-Li could feel the tears coming to the surface.

  “Oh God,” she whispered brokenly as the sobs shook her. “Please…please no.”

  “Mei-Li?” Six had been crouching over her but now he sat back on his heels, a look of consternation on his face. “Are you…well?”

  “Of c-course I’m n-not well!” She could barely talk for sobbing. “I d-don’t want to be cut up! My m-mother died during surgery. And I d-don’t want to lose my arms and l-legs.” She looked at Six pleadingly as tears filled her eyes and ran down her flushed cheeks. “Please don’t do this to me—please.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Six stared at her, his heart throbbing fiercely for some reason. Moisture welled from her eyes and ran down her face—tears, wasn’t that what it was called? Six wasn’t completely sure but he did know that the moisture signaled great distress. Mei-Li was feeling about as intensely as anyone with emotions could right now and none of her feelings were good.

  I am the cause of her distress. The thought caused his heart to ache even more though he did not know why that should be. Or why her tears should affect him so strongly. When he had seen the Earth girl Tess crying, it had been a mere curiosity to him. Her negative emotions hadn’t bothered him in the least. But with Mei-Li, he could barely stand it. He wanted desperately to allay her fears and calm her but he didn’t know how.

  “Please,” she was saying through heartbreaking sobs, her slight shoulders shaking. “Please, don’t cut me…my mother died that way. Please.”

  Mother…her mother… Six had a sudden flash. Blood caked dark red around Mere’s mouth, her voice almost too hoarse to hear. “You have to take care of your sister now, Jax. Pere and I aren’t going to make it. Take care of her—get her to the medical barge. Save her…you have to save her.”

  “I’ll save us all—you’ll see if you’ll just hold on. We’re almost there. Please, Mamere! Please don’t die…don’t go…Don’t—”

  No! Six blinked, pushing the old memory away by sheer force. He looked at Mei-Li again. She was slumped against the wall, her head hanging low. The waterfall of black silk that was her hair obscured her face so he couldn’t see her features but he could still hear her crying. Her entire, slight body was wracked with sobs.

  Her distress was too great—Six couldn’t bear it anymore! He had to help her somehow—had to make the pain she was feeling stop.

  Swiftly, he scooped her up in his arms and pulled her close to his chest. He didn’t even know why he was doing it, only that it felt right to hold her to him.

  “No!” She beat at his chest ineffectually with her little fists, her eyes wild with fear. “No! No, you can’t—you can’t.”

  “Be still,” he said, more roughly than he’d intended. “I won’t harm you, Mei-Li. And I won’t allow anyone else to, either. This I swear.”

  She looked at him mistrustfully. “But I don’t want—”

  “I won’t let Yipper or anyone else cut off your arms or legs,” Six promised.

  “You…you won’t?” Her breath hitched in her throat. “But I thought…you said I had…had to have…”

  “If you do not want a full extremity replacement prosthesis, you do not have to have one. No, you don’t, no, you don’t,” Yipper put in quickly. “I am sorry if you thought that was the only option. Because it’s not, no it’s not!” He, too seemed distressed by Mei-Li’s tears.

  “Well then what…what are you going to do to me?” she asked, swiping at her eyes. Her oculars had fogged over with the force of her tears and she had to lift them to accomplish it.

  “Nothing tonight,” Six said firmly. “You’re too tired and are having too many negative emotions right now. You must rest and recharge. I will take you to the guest quarters and we will speak more of this in the morning.” He looked at Yipper and the little Tolleg nodded.

  “Rest is best. Yes, it is, yes, it is.”

  “Good. Then we’ll see you in the morning. Call down at have them get a room ready for us.” Six turned to go but Mei-Li sniffed and shook her head.

  “Wait—if we’re going someplace else I want to walk. But I still can’t feel my legs.”

  “The paralytic will wear off shortly. Yes it will, yes it will.” Yipper nodded confidently. “There is a sedative as well to help you sleep. It should kick in shortly. So it should, so it should.”

  “But how will I get around until the drug wears off?” she asked.

  “I will carry you,” Six told her. “It will not be a problem—you weigh scarcely more than Yipper, I imagine.”

  In truth, he would have wanted to carry her even if her legs had been working. Her distress called to him somehow—made him wish to hold her close. To comfort her, though he scarcely knew how to go about it.

  She still tried to protest but Six refused to listen. He took her away from the medical area, taking a different route from the lift in order to keep from startling her again. The minute they left the stark white surroundings of Yipper's Enhancement Area, he could feel her relax in his arms. The tears were not coming from her eyes anymore, either, he saw with profound relief. He had never felt so helpless in his life as when she was in such distress and there was nothing he could do to help her.

  Oh yes you have, whispered a little voice in his head. You know all about helplessness, Six…or is it Jax?

  Six pushed the errant thought away and concentrated on Mei-Li. She was looking around, her eyes still wide and uncertain behind the black framed oculars. Apparently the sedative Yipper had spoken of wasn’t working—or maybe i
t just wasn’t in effect yet.

  Six found himself wanting to reassure her but he didn’t know what to say. He wished he could tell her that she didn’t have to have an enhancement but that wasn’t the case—by the ruling of the Collective if she stepped foot on Z4 without at least one mechanoid part she would be immediately purged. Six couldn’t have that. He had sworn to protect her and he wanted to keep her safe.

  He wished he understood her fear more. To him and all the Dark Kindred, getting new enhancements was no big deal—as simple as putting on a new pair of trousers. Some of them switched parts on a regular basis, preferring different extremities for different activities.

  But for some reason the very idea of an enhancement bothered Mei-Li greatly. Did it have to do with her mother? Had she somehow died during an enhancement surgery? Six had never heard of such a thing happening—the Tollegs were such good surgeons they practically never lost a patient. But maybe things were different on Earth.

  He had no idea how he could reconcile Mei-Li’s fear with what was a necessary procedure but he was determined not to speak of it to her any more tonight. Instead, he cradled her gently to his chest as he walked down a long metal corridor to the guest chambers.

  At last he came to one with a double green bar blinking over the doorframe, indicating that this was the room he had asked Yipper to request for them. Holding Mei-Li gently with one arm, he pressed his palm to the hand panel and waited until the door slid open.

  Inside was the typical set up—a fresher room in the corner and a large sousa sleeping platform in the center of the room. It looked like a formless bag but molded to the user’s body for support and comfort. This one was a deep grayish-pink and the rest of the room was decorated in the same shade. It wasn’t a color Six cared for but it would do.

  Gently, he laid Mei-Li down in the middle of the sousa which lifted to take her slight weight. Then he climbed in beside her and put an arm around her to support her head and neck.

  Mei-Li looked up at him. “What are you doing?”

  It was a good question. Why hadn’t he just put her down on the sleeping platform and left her to sleep by herself? After all—he would have been within his rights to do just that. Their Claiming Period didn’t officially start until they got down to the surface of Z4 so he didn’t technically have to hold her tonight. But for some reason he didn’t want to let her go.

  “I am making certain you get some rest,” he said, because she was still looking at him questioningly. “You need some, I think. You look very tired.”

  “No, I’m no—” The word ended in a jaw cracking yawn. Apparently the sedative was finally kicking in.

  “Yes, you are,” Six said gently. “You should rest now.”

  “I can’t,” she whispered. “I’m…I’m afraid.”

  “Of what?” He brushed a strand of long, silky black hair away from her face and tucked it behind her ear.

  Her eyes widened. “Afraid I’ll go to sleep and wake up with something missing.”

  Six shook his head. “I vow to you here and now, Mei-Li—though you must have an enhancement, not a bit of you will be taken or cut to make way for it.”

  “Really?” She looked at him hopefully. “You’re serious?”

  “I give you my word as a Kindred,” he murmured. “Nothing will be taken—not even a finger or toe. Didn’t I say you were precious to me, every bit of you?”

  For some reason her face became closed.

  “Yes but that was before,” she whispered.

  “Before?” Six asked.

  She shook her head—her hair felt silky against his side.

  “Never mind.”

  “Go to sleep,” he advised her again. “I will stay here with you. Nothing and no one will harm you while I keep watch.”

  Mei-Li looked up at him, her eyelids drooping. Clearly she was fighting to keep them open. “I want to believe you,” she whispered and yawned.

  “Then do,” Six said softly. “Trust me. Rest.”

  “I will. But only…” She yawned again. “Only because I can’t…can’t keep my eyes open one…one more second. I…”

  Her voice trailed off and her eyes fluttered closed at last behind her thick oculars. Soon her breathing was even and deep and Six felt her relax completely against him.

  Gently he took the oculars from her face and examined them—what exactly were they for?—before placing them on another part of the sousa. It engulfed them quickly. Six knew it would keep them safe and give them back the moment they were needed. Then he turned his attention back to Mei-Li.

  She was resting against him but there was a small frown on her lips as though she wasn’t having very pleasant dreams. What or who was she dreaming of? Was it him? Did she still fear him? He wished fiercely that it would not be so. He didn’t want her to be frightened that he would harm her and he was sorry for the misunderstanding that had caused so much distress.

  “Mei-Li,” he murmured but she didn’t respond. Unable to help himself, he brushed her soft cheek very gently with his fingertips. She moaned softly in her sleep and turned toward him, pressing against his chest.

  Six studied her. She was lovely in repose with her long black lashes like fans against her pale cheeks. Her soft, full lips were pursed almost like the bud of a flower.

  Why did she affect him so? Six wondered uneasily. Why did he wish to hold her and comfort her? Was it simply a Kindred instinct…or something more?

  He had no answers. There was nothing to do but wonder and watch her sleep.

  * * * * *

  Mei-Li woke up with the strangest sensation of complete and utter peace. She was pressed against something warm and hard but it was also strangely comfortable. Some kind of pillow, maybe? she wondered, her mind still fogged with sleep. If it was a pillow it was the nicest one she’d ever had—it seemed to cradle her entire body against it in the most comforting way and it smelled incredible. It had a warm, clean scent that reminded her of the ocean for some reason. But under the first scent was a second—a dark spice that was somehow completely masculine.

  Mei-Li snuggled closer, breathing the scent in. Mmmm, it was amazing. The only thing was, the pillow was covered in black fabric. It seemed like an odd choice for a pillowcase but she hardly cared because it smelled so good. Wonder what kind of fabric softener they used on this? Whatever it is, I want some—going to wash everything I own in it as soon as I get home. As soon as I—

  Suddenly the pillow moved.

  “Oh my God!” She sat up quickly and looked down at the fuzzy black shape which seemed to be lying on an even larger fuzzy pink shape. “Six, is that you? Where are my glasses?”

  “Don’t fear—I’ll retrieve them.” His deep voice was a soothing rumble. Mei-Li saw him pat the pink shape and he murmured, “Oculars.” The bed made an odd ripple which she sensed more than saw since everything was blurry, and then he handed them to her.

  Mei-Li fumbled them onto her face and breathed a sigh of relief. For a moment she’d been afraid they were gone and she was blind as a bat without them. If she lost or broke them, where would she get a replacement pair so far from Earth?

  “What are those for—your oculars?” Six asked, sitting up.

  “To help me see, of course. Don’t you have glasses on your world?” She glanced at the red scope that covered the area where his left eye should be. “Oh, well, I guess not. Sorry.”

  “The ocular scope I wear is not actually to correct my vision,” he said, apparently not offended. “The scanner inside it allows me to read heart rate, pulse, respiration and other signs of emotion, though I confess I never tried to interpret them before I found you.”

  “Why do you need to see signs of emotion if you don’t have any yourself?”

  “Emotion is not permitted on Z4,” he said gravely. “Before I rose higher in the Collective, I was tasked with seeking it out. Those who commit Feel-crime must be found and dealt with appropriately.”

  “Feel-crime?” Mei-Li looked at him di
sbelievingly. “You’re serious? You were actually on some kind of squad that hunted down people who dared to have emotions?”

  Six shrugged. “It was necessary. Now, of course, we have many more sniffers to do the job.”

  “Sniffers?”

  “A special class of mechanoid able to identify emotion—they can scent the pheromones associated with Feel-crime through their olfactory vents.”

  “That sounds awful. Like something out of 1984 or something. ‘Big Brother is watching you.’ Or smelling you, I guess.”

  He frowned. “I’m sorry, what? I don’t understand.”

  “Never mind.” A new thought occurred to her. “If you treat people who are having emotions as criminals, how am I going to survive down there?”

  “You will be given a special dispensation that will last the duration of our Claiming Period.”

  Mei-Li frowned. “So I’m allowed to have feelings, which is against the law, but I can’t go without an enhancement? I really have to get some part of me permanently altered in order to visit your planet?”

  “It is the ruling of the Collective,” Six said. “I am sorry—I wish it was not. But if you refuse to follow it, you will void our Claiming Period contract.”

  Mei-Li put a hand on her hip. “I want to see this contract you keep talking about. I don’t see how I can legally be compelled to get a part of my body chopped off and replaced just so we can spend the month together at your place.”

  “I have a copy on the shuttle, printed out in your language for your perusal,” Six said. “And I assure you it is—what is the English idiom? Oh yes, air tight. But the enhancement doesn’t have to be large or traumatic. You can have something added without taking anything away. There is one enhancement in particular that would serve you well.”

  Reflexively, Mei-Li looked down at her chest. She was still wearing the torn and dirty blouse, jacket and skirt combo but at least her shirt wasn’t gaping open to show her bra.

  “Not there,” Six said, as if reading her thoughts. “Your eyes.”

  “My eyes?” Mei-Li put a hand to her glasses protectively. “Look, no offense but I’m betting your surgeons don’t see many humans here and eyes are really delicate. I was told by a very reputable doctor on Earth that I wasn’t a candidate for LASIK.”