The Syn-En Solution

by Linda Andrews

  “Come home to me, Nell.” Beijing’s smile strained to produce a dimple in his cheek.

  She swallowed the lump in her throat, knowing what she had to do. What must come next. “Give me a minute.”

  Beijing glanced from her to the abyss a foot behind her. “Can it be a little further away from the edge?”

  Nell smiled although her heart was breaking. She would miss his sense of humor. Perhaps in another life…

  “I love you Beijing York.” She jumped back. Air rushed around her, whistling in her ears and whipping through her hair. It would be over soon.

  “No!” Beijing’s shout chased after her.

  “Admiral!” the Chief yelled.

  Seconds later Bei appeared. Holding his arms and legs tight against his body, he shot toward her like a missile.

  She reached for him. Stupid. Selfish. Nell quickly banished the self-recriminations. If she had to die, she couldn’t think of a better way to go than in his arms.

  He slammed into her, wrapping an arm around her waist. “Why?”

  “I can’t be a prisoner inside my own mind. I won’t.” For a moment, she heard the tickle of metal as his hands roamed her body. Leaves and branches slapped her, causing her arm to sting. “Why did you?”

  “I said forever.” He smiled. “Just thought it would be longer than five point six seconds.”

  “I’m sorry.” Nell wrapped her arms around her. Not sorry she loved him, but for bringing him to this end. She felt numb, disconnected. Leaves surrounded her before her head connected with something solid.

  Then there was nothing but darkness.

  Being in love with a biologic is like

  playing Russian Roulette with a laser pistol.

  If you’re lucky, you might survive the experience,

  but life will never be the same again.

  Admiral Beijing York, private log

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “Nell!” Bei attached the last of his clips to her built-in uniform harness. Their fall swept leaves from her hair and blurred the pink granite walls. Her arms hung useless down at her sides. Had the sedative worked? Or was it the branch that had knocked her unconscious? And who the hell would plant trees on the walls of a canyon?

  Cradling her head against his chest, he verified they were safely away from the trees and, with his free hand, pulled the ripcord of his low-altitude parachute.

  Fabric rippled seconds before the guy lines snapped tight, and they were yanked upward.

  He grabbed the steering handles and caught an updraft driving them between the sheer walls of the canyon. Below his feet, the rapids gurgled and foamed against the rock face. Nell’s head drooped to her shoulder at the same time he registered the blood on his hands.

  Swearing under his breath, he activated the emergency medical beacon on his pack. Nell and him swung under the chute’s canopy as he searched for a place to land besides in the rushing water. Steering the chute around a bend in the river, he spied a tan beach.

  “Admiral,” Doc’s voice crackled through the com embedded in Bei collar. “I’m right behind you. Is she badly hurt?”

  Bei didn’t bother glancing over his shoulder to check for the medic. He needed to focus on that patch of sand. They were losing altitude fast and this seemed the only place to set down. “Nell cracked her head right after I gave her the sedative.” He consulted the sensors relaying information through his uniform. “Her heart rate is erratic and breathing is depressed.”

  Bei pulled on the steering lines, deforming his chute. Damn, he was going to overshoot his landing pad.

  “Could be a reaction to the sedative.” The tremble in Doc’s voice wasn’t reassuring.

  “Or her cerebral interface is deciding she needs to join Bastard in death.” His heart raced at the thought. She couldn’t die on him. At twenty meters above the ground, Bei released his parachute. Fabric snapped behind him as he clasped Nell in his arms. He hit the ground hard, the impact jammed his legs into his hip sockets. Giving in to momentum, he pitched forward, twisting as he went. His shoulder dug into the sand, before he flipped onto his back on the bank.

  Splayed on top of him, Nell groaned.

  His fingers probed her skull, and he winced at the softness.

  Water splashed and waves rippled over the shore.

  “Shit!” Doc trudged from the river and shook water from his black hair. “Guess my paratrooper skills are a little rusty.”

  “Nell definitely has head trauma.” Sitting up, Bei shifted her onto his lap. Could it have been prevented if he hadn’t drugged her? Guilt dogged him and he cradled her closer.

  Doc dropped to the ground in front of him scattering the crablike creatures crawling along the bank. His knees dug deep in the sand as he shrugged off his medical pack and flipped it open. “You’re going to have to let me have her, Bei.”

  With heavy limbs, he laid her flat on the ground but couldn’t bring himself to let go of her hand. Her skin was so soft, her bones so fragile. He had gone after her to save her, buy her time until Doc found a way to remove ET’s interface. To lose her now… His vision swam. Damn. Doc must have screwed up his optical lubrication sensors when he’d messed with his head.

  “Her interface has been damaged.” Doc rolled her onto her side.

  She winced as her head moved.

  “What does that matter? She’s biologic.” Bei stopped himself from punching his medic. Instead, he held her head and gently smoothed the hair out of her eyes, noting the bruising and her bandaged hand. She’d been through Hell. His was just beginning.

  Doc frowned at the gelatinous screen in his hand. Her life signs bounced all over the place. “True, most organic organs don’t require an interface, but she’s apparently grown dependent on it. Starflight 1, what is your status?”

  Commander Keyes’s voice came over the com. “Descending now. Why the hell are there so many trees?”

  Bei took a deep breath. Once Doc got her to the infirmary, Nell would be fixed. She would live. She had to. “Her interface has shutdown then?”

  “More like shattered.” Doc’s forehead wrinkled in thought. After pushing up his sleeve, he opened the compartment on his forearm and removed leads. He quickly plugged them into the screen now wobbling on her belly, then began threading the wire ends under Nell’s skin. “If I can get her stabilized, we may be able to use that to our advantage.”

  “And if we don’t?” Bei asked, despite already knowing the answer. Damn the fleet and her crew, both Syn-En and civilian. He’d fought hard to get here for a future with Nell.

  Doc stood up and shaded his eyes against the sun. “Where is the Commander?”

  “Doc?” Bei shooed the crab-like creatures away from Nell.

  The shuttle silently rounded the curve in the gorge and hovered above them. The river crashed in waves against the shore. The silver ship turned briefly exposing her open crew compartment. Lashed to the interior by a black tether, Chief Rome leaned toward them.

  “Help me get my patient on board, sir.” Doc accepted Chief Rome’s hand and climbed aboard.

  Bei picked up Nell and handed her off to Rome before joining them in the narrow space.

  Nell lay stretched out on the bench seat, her tattered uniform scattered on the floor. The scissors in Doc’s fingers flashed as he cut off the rest of her clothes.

  “Is she going to be okay?” Bei winced at the bruises on her pale skin. The blue ones from locking his armor protectively around her and the more recent ones. The scabs on her hand stopped him. Did Bastard bite her? Leaning forward, he eyed the read out on the screen. Her heart rate was still too slow.

  Doc sighed and faced him. “Just let me work. This is more complicated than snap and click, and I don’t want to mess up.”

  The doors closed as the shuttle gained altitude.

  “America, this is Doc Cabo. Prepare for a biologic casualty. Code Red. I repeat, Code Red.”

  Bei collapsed on the opposite bench. Come back to me, Nell. Just come
back.

  ***

  “You said two hours. It’s been four.”

  Beijing’s anger sliced into the softness billowing around Nell. She floated on clouds of nothing. Heaven wasn’t such a bad place. Although, she really never expected clouds. Would she see angels and hear harps next? All she wanted was Beijing. He had to be close if she could hear him.

  “She’s been through a trauma and I’ll remind you again, I’ve never done this before.” Impatience clipped the consonants in Doc’s reply.

  Doc? What was he doing here? Nell’s chest tightened. Had he died too? No. Only she and Beijing had gone over that cliff. Unless… She opened her eyes. Her gaze drifted down the white ceiling to the billowing curtains and the shadows stretched across her bed. “Beijing?”

  Metal rasped against metal as the curtain parted. Beijing stared at her with a goofy smile on his face. “You’re awake.”

  She felt an answering grin. God, he looked good, and healthy, and alive. Alive? Her chest filled with lead.

  “You saved me?” Nell gripped the blankets. Vaguely she noticed that once again, she’d woken up naked. But naked was good with Beijing around.

  “Yes.” He strode forward and reached for her.

  She reared back into the soft mattress. Yes? What kind of answer was that? “I can’t live like this. I won’t be a slave to some alien’s programming.”

  “You won’t have to.” Doc flashed his palm at her and a green beam washed over her.

  Nell frowned as hope unfurled inside her. “But you said…”

  “That was before you jumped over a cliff.” Bei caught her hand and raised it to his lips.

  Her heart raged from the brush of his lips against her palm and her skin tingled. She still wanted him. But how did she know it was really her and not the brain controller’s manipulation?

  Doc cleared his throat and silenced the alarms caused by her racing heart. “You cracked your head on a tree, which shattered the alien cerebral interface. Using sonic waves, I was able to break up the excess skull material and remove it.”

  “I’m free.” Nell’s body temperature soared as Bei kissed the inside of her wrist and sucked gently at the veins there. If what Doc said was true, her desire was, well, hers. With her free hand, she cupped Bei’s head. His short black hair sprang under her touch.

  Bei raised his head and lust blazed in his blue eyes. “Not quite.”

  Doc smoothed his uniform and backed away from the bed. “Your body had grown so dependent on it that I had to replace it with a modified Syn-En interface.”

  Nell touched her hand to the back of her head. Under her hair, she felt a small ridge but nothing else. “I don’t feel any different.”

  Although, the mother/conscience voice remained silent.

  “And you won’t.” Doc reached for the curtain. “It’s designed to make sure everything works, but cannot interface with anything outside of your body.”

  “No more alien puppet master or voice in my head?” She glanced at Bei.

  His gaze was intense yet questioning. “You alone will decide your mate.”

  Mate? Queasiness riled through her. That brain controller had made her want Alejandro, had made her…

  “Am I?” She set her hands over her stomach. Her skin felt clammy and cold.

  “No.” Doc’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “And I’ve deleted all those eggs. When you’re ready, you’ll have only human babies.”

  “Thank God.” Nell collapsed against the pillow. Did relief make her a bad person? She wanted babies, just not cricket-legged ones.

  Concern rippled across Bei’s forehead. Shifting closer, he trailed a knuckled down her cheek. “Do you want me to go so you can rest?”

  “No!” She clasped his hand and kissed the back. He was so strong, so sure. He would help her put those memories to rest.

  “Well, I’ll leave the two of you alone to celebrate.” Doc shut the curtain as he left.

  “Do you forgive me for saving your life?” Bei slid onto the bed next to her. His weight caused the soft mattress to dip.

  Nell scooted over, making room. Resting her head against his chest, she heard the reassuring thud of his heart. “I think it’s only fair that our forever lasts longer than five point six seconds.”

  He stroked her hair before skimming his fingers down her neck to caress her bare shoulder. “Do you want to see our future home?”

  “Later.” Nell tugged his shirt from his waistband and pushed it up his flat stomach, looking for any changes since she’d last seen it. She’d slept for over a hundred years, traveled across the universe, had become embroiled in an alien plot and still she wouldn’t be allowed to rest.

  Not with an alien world to settle. And Syn-Ens and civilians to reconcile. And… Nell kissed his nipple while wrestling the shirt over Beijing’s head. Her sheet pooled around her waist, but his touch chased away any chill. For now and maybe the next four or five hours, they’d find a home in each other.

  The future would still be there when they were ready to face it.

  CENTAURI DAWN by Cynthia Woolf

  CHAPTER 1

  Always the same dream. He called to her. “Princess Dayanara.” His voice was like rich, silky caramel, floating down her mound of ice cream. It did strange things to her insides. She yearned to hear him say her name again and again.

  It was so hot and he was so sexy. Hot. God, she was hot. She kicked the blanket off her leg. But he was just a dream. A fantasy.

  Something…someone…touched her leg. This wasn’t a dream! The hand she felt hot against her skin was real. She jolted awake. The warmth she felt in her dream turned to a cold sweat.

  A man stood by beside her bed. Tall, Dark, with chiseled features. Handsome with broad shoulders and abs to die for. His face came into focus and his gaze captured hers. Color of the deepest ocean, so blue as to seem almost black in the faint light that surrounded him, she struggled to look away.

  Sitting bolt upright, she screamed, then scrambled backward over and off the bed, landing with a thump. She hit her back and shoulder.

  The man leaned over the bed, his large size looming down over her, blocking the light from the window.

  She scrambled backward, struggling to get to her feet.

  “Are you injured?” His voice washed over her. He sounded familiar, like she should know him, but she didn’t.

  He came around the bed and she bounded over it to the other side. As he closed on her she glanced quickly around and looked for a weapon, any weapon. Her hand landed on a small pink lamp. It had sat next to her bed since she was five, keeping her safe from the boogeyman. She grabbed it, pulling the cord from the wall and held it in front of her like a sword. “Who the hell are you? Get out of here before I call the police.” Her voice was rough from sleep, edgy from fear.

  He moved closer to her, reaching out a hand. Not with malice, but with something else. Concern? “Princess, you’re going to hurt someone. May I assist you?” he asked, chivalrous.

  Princess. He must be a nutcase.

  She yanked at the straps of her gown, resettling them on her shoulders, never letting go of the lamp.

  “Stop.” Her voice shook, though she tried to steady it. “Don’t come any closer.”

  “You must listen. You must come with me.”

  She screamed at the top of her lungs. “Help! Help!” What was wrong with the people in this building? Were they all deaf?

  “Princess.” His voice washed over her like warm chocolate, comforting her. That wasn’t right. Why wasn’t he attacking her? The soothing voice didn’t stop her. He was a stranger. In her bedroom. “Help! Help!” she screamed, keeping the pink lamp aimed at him.

  She lunged across the bed, reaching for the telephone.

  “Now, Princess, please calm down.” He reached for the phone, and ripped it from the wall. “I mean you no harm, but we must talk and there is little time.” He fell to one knee, bowing in front of her.

  Her eyes wide, she swung th
e pin lamp at him. He deflected the blow with his forearm as he stood, denting the lampshade in the process.

  “Princess. Someone is going to get hurt if you do not allow me to speak.” He wrestled the mangled lamp from her. “Hear what I have to say. Please,” he implored. “You must return home. Immediately.”

  “Help! Somebody help me!” Screaming, she kicked out at him with her foot, trying to take his head off but her skills were no match for his.

  Blocking her kick with one arm, he grabbed her leg with both his hands, flipped her completely around and back on to the bed.

  “No one can hear you. Stop screaming.” His voice never rose. He sounded exasperated. He stepped back, holding his hands up.

  somewhat reassured that he didn’t attack, Audra stopped to catch her breath. Breathing hard she rolled from her side to her back, the sheet cool beneath her. and eyed him from top to bottom. “You look like you just came from a Star Trek convention.” And just like the man in my dream.

  Could it be?

  “Yes, I have trekked across the stars in search of you, Princess.” His words were odd, clipped, very formal, as though learned from a book.

  “What are you talking about?” This man, dream or not, was in her bedroom and she couldn’t imagine how in the world he got in there.

  He held out his hand to help her up but she swatted it away.

  “Who are you? Really? How did you get in here and…and who are you?” She lunged for the lamp in his hands.

  Placing the lamp out of her reach, he said. “I am Coridian, brother of your betrothed. I am here to escort you home.”

  “Betrothed? You’ve escaped from the asylum, haven’t you? You’re some kind of nut and…”

  “My lady, I am not an escapee from an asylum, and I am not a pecan.”

  “Then, why do you keep spouting nonsense? I’m not a princess!”

  “May I rise? I’ll explain—.”

  She shook her head and backed up a step. “You—”

  He held up his hand to stop her. “Then you can ask your questions.”