“What would you like of us?”
Teric leaned closer to the view screen. “I do not have permission to give females away, but I refused to allow them to perish when I know your technology can save them. I will send the captain of my vessel alone in a shuttle to your ship with the women. Take them and let no more be said about it. I can easily manipulate the numbers because so few of them were part of the negotiation, but we must act immediately.”
“I will prepare our medical bay for the three females. We will do what we can to save them, but they stay with the Shardon if they survive.”
Looking more than a little relieved, Teric stated emphatically. “Agreed.”
Within the hour, Shar Jalon stood in his loading bay, awaiting the females. A shuttle attached quietly to the docking ring and his clones moved forward. Jacob stood beside his physician’s side. The young clone was a quick learner and good with females. Shar Jalon hoped everything would go smoothly with this transaction.
When the docking ring opened, his medical team went in with floating gurneys and retrieved the females. The Krylonian captain spoke somberly. “I hope you can save them. They are all three of good disposition.”
“We will put everything we have into the endeavor. Our human females have already donated blood and tissue samples. Cardiac tissue is nearly replicated, should the need arise for such drastic measures.”
Breathing a sigh of relief, the man dipped his head slightly in acknowledgement. “I was never here and the women were never aboard our vessel.”
“I have already agreed to your stipulations. We will not go back on our word.”
“May the gods be with you.”
“Go in peace, my friend.”
Shar Jalon watched as the three females floated by him on their way to the medical center. They looked so small and frail. Finding himself trailing after them, he just wanted to make sure they were settled, nothing more. He watched as his clones unloaded the females on exam tables and the clear sides slid up. Light pink liquid filled the custom-designed little basins, as the medical team cut their clothing away and washed away any germs lingering on their skin. As the material was cast aside, he saw all their pale naked bodies.
Something was terribly wrong with him, for he couldn’t yet see them as potential mates. His vision was clouded by concern for their survival. The scans clearly showed rather large parasites embedded deep in the cardiac tissue, just as the Krylon ambassador had said.
A hand came out, landing on his shoulder. Selene’s gentle voice soothed him. “If they can be saved, Lar is the man to do it. Relax and give them a chance.”
“They are so much smaller than you and your mother. It astonishes me that they can still be alive.”
“We have been well cared for by you and the other princes. These women are malnourished and have been fighting for survival on a dying world. Once they are healthy again, you will see them pick up weight. I promise.”
“How can they survive such an invasive surgery?”
Smiling, she replied sagely. “We are a resilient species.”
Staring through the viewing glass, Shar Jalon prayed that was enough.
Clone’s Bride
Celestial Mates Book 2
C.J. Scarlett
***
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CHAPTER 1
~Kaylee~
Kaylee hid behind the large bulkhead, waiting for the Krylon warriors to pass. Her body grew weaker by the hour. The strange aliens did nothing but run tests and ask her stupid questions. They worked hard to solve the nameless disease that had been sapping her strength and making it difficult to breathe. God knows, she really appreciated their dedication. It was their refusal to give her any feedback about her condition that concerned her. It must be something terrible or they wouldn’t be so cryptic.
Pressing herself against the wall, she remained still until the corridor was quiet again. The women were on lockdown, supposedly for their own safety. Well, screw that. The aliens had assigned a warrior to look after each woman for the duration of their voyage. Hers treated her like a child. He hovered anxiously around her. It was getting old fast. One quick visit and she’d be back in her quarters before he even noticed she was missing.
Kaylee hadn’t seen her sister since they bumped into each other in medical two days ago. For all she knew, Madison was dead and they were afraid the news would be too much for her to bear in her current condition. The thought of losing her one remaining relative truly horrified her. She had to see Madison with her own eyes, talk to her, and know for certain that she was okay.
Slipping out of the dark shadows felt liberating. Except, the lighting overhead suddenly seemed blindingly bright, causing her head to spin a bit. Moving forward, she stumbled a step or two before recovering her balance. Cautiously, she made a bee line for her sister’s room. Madison’s caretaker should be working his shift. That would ensure they had some time to talk.
Waving her hand over the door prompt, she knew her sister heard a subtle chime sounding off inside. The door opened and she quickly stepped inside.
“Jesus, sis, you look like crap.”
Madison was out of breath simply from coming to the door to meet her. At least she was still alive. They were both somehow still alive. Pure joy slammed through her frail body. They held onto each other as they made their way to a settee.
Easing down to a seated position, Kaylee sighed. It was good to get off her feet. “You look as bad as I feel, Maddie. Have they told you anything yet?”
“Same old song and dance as before. I’m going to be okay. They just need to run some more tests. Everyone I bump into keeps insisting that I remain calm and not panic.”
Kaylee rolled her eyes. “Yeah, that’s what they keep telling me as well. They act like we’re going to totally self-destruct one day if we forget to be calm for one goddamn minute.”
“They’re an overprotective lot, I’ll give you that. I think we have cancer or some exotic disease no one’s ever heard of before. They have no more of an idea how to help us than the doctors on Earth and it is freaking them out.”
Resting against the padded back of the settee, Kaylee mused aloud. “I shouldn’t have brought us here.”
Madison jumped to her defense. “Coming here was a good idea, Kaylee. We were dying on Earth. It was logical to think that the aliens might have better technology. They don’t though, do they?”
“Don’t give up, Maddie. It ain’t over until the fat lady sings.”
Madison laughed, then held her side. “I’m hearing a note or two.”
“I’m older. Thought I could save us…”
“Don’t even go there. You did your best. If it happens, I’m not sorry. Whatever’s eating away at us, makes it impossible to have a normal life anyway.”
“When we first volunteered for the bride program, I had this fantasy. I imagined them curing us and giving us hot husbands. Maybe brothers or something like that. They’d whisk us away to a world where the sunshine wouldn’t kill us and the grass still grows. In my imaginary world, we lived next door to each other, had enough to eat, and didn’t have to worry about anyone hurting us ever again.” As soon as she spoke, Kaylee wished she hadn’t because her younger sister began to tear up.
“Oh, Kaylee, I had the same dream. Only in my fantasy, we both had kids and they played together.”
Kaylee could feel tears stinging the backs of her eyes as well. “It was a lofty ambition for a couple of scruffs like us anyways.”
Her sister smiled, somewhat cheered by the self-effacing jab. “What’s the point of dreaming, if you don’t dream big? I don’t know if I’ve ever said it before but I love you.”
Kaylee fought back the tears with a vengeance. To keep from bawling like a baby, she continued trying to cover her feelings with humor. “Of course, you do. I’m the very best big sister ever. I make it a point to be an excellent role model.”
Madison laughe
d at her antics. “Yep, you’re a whole four and a half minutes older than I. Big whoop. I’d have made an awesome big sister if you didn’t have those four and a half minutes on me.”
Her façade slipped a little. “Those four and a half minutes are all I’ve got going for me some days, sis. Getting here really took it out of me, though. I might need to rest a minute before I head back.”
Madison’s eyes turned curious. “How’d you make it this far anyways?”
“Luck mostly, and keeping to the shadows until the corridors were clear.”
“You’re a sneaky woman. Rest as long as you want. If Dumbeldork catches you here, he’s gonna lose his ever-loving mind.”
“If he catches you calling him Dumbeldork instead of Darvok, you’re gonna be in deep dodo.”
Not looking sorry in the least, Madison retorted. “These Krylons are a pretty tightly wound bunch.”
“I know… I… feel… strange. Oh, Madison… I’m so sorry.”
What happened next was a bit of a blur for Kaylee. Madison ran across the room, slammed her hand into something and screamed for help. Something warm and wet was suddenly on her face. It seemed to be coming from her nose. Bringing her hand up in slow motion, she realized her fingers were numb. When she pulled her hand back, she saw copious amounts of blood covering her fingers. That’s when Kaylee realized she was lying on the floor staring up at the ceiling. The lights overhead were moving. In fact, the whole room spun in slow motion. It became increasingly harder to breathe, then there was only darkness, and the sound of slowly fading voices.
She woke briefly to see the Krylon medical team loading her onto another ship. She floated along on a hoverboard as a medic carefully guided her down a long corridor. The aliens wore tight, anxious expressions. Maybe, they were angry about her little jailbreak. God knows, everyone on the Krylon ship followed orders, everyone but her that is.
There were other aliens. Pretty blue ones with long dark hair and silver crinkles along their hairline. She smiled to herself, thinking they were rather handsome. Feeling lightheaded and lackadaisical, she drifted off into the darkness again.
She woke with a start, unable to tell how long she’d been out. Madison screamed at someone. What were the blue bastards doing to her sister? She tried to shake herself awake, forcing her eyes open. She jerked her arm up, only to see several tubes running from an infusion bag straight to her vein. The bag sat on a tiny hovering platform. It was odd to see. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t make sound come from her mouth. Struggling to get up, she honestly thought if she could just sit up, she could clear her head.
Strong hands came out, pressing her shoulders back down on the exam table.
“Do not try to get up, Kaylee Brea Sagan. You are aboard our vessel for life-saving treatment.”
Kaylee could hear Madison continuing to yell. “That thing is freaking huge. Take it out.”
“We must wait for tissue to be artificially regenerated…”
“You don’t understand. We’ve been sick for a very long time. My sister won’t last much longer. I don’t care which of our conditions is more advanced or what the probability is that we’ll need a tissue transplant. Get the gigantic freaking parasite out of my sister, right goddamn now.”
Oh, great. They had parasites. From listening to Madison’s argument with the physician, apparently, they had ginormous ones. The kicker was, they weren’t the cool ones that gave a person extra powers like in the entertainment vids. They were the crappy variety that sucked away all a person’s energy and made it hard for them to breathe. She pictured some type of huge worm crawling around in her body, leaving behind a slime trail. The thought caused her stomach to lurch.
“Miss Madison, if you will calm yourself, we can have a more productive dialogue.”
“I’m not going to calm down. Look mister large, blue, and in charge…”
The same deep masculine voice interrupted her sister. “If you continue to yell, we will be forced to sedate you.”
“Ouch. I don’t need an IV. I’m fine. Get your hands off my neck. That tickles. Just focus on my sister. She’s the one passing out and bleeding from her nose. You say you can fix her, then do it already. I can wait.”
Madison was more wound up than Kaylee could ever remember her being. Leave it to Maddie to put herself second. She was good at that. Irritated that she couldn’t have her say, Kaylee watched the handsome blue alien fuss over her IV and blanket. His dark eyes glanced up at her.
“Your sister is just shocked by seeing the holographic image of the parasite. We have an extremely competent medical team. You will all be attended to in due course. Rest now and preserve your strength.”
Kaylee replayed the alien’s words over in her mind. You will all be attended to in due course. That sounded like a lot of women to her oxygen-deprived mind. Images of dozens and dozens of women all laid out on exam tables with tubes connecting them to hovering platforms of fluids floated through her mind. Each woman had blue doctors hovering nearby. Then, like some ancient millennial drama, there were nurses wearing white smartly tailored uniforms standing beside each alien. They handed them implements, announced vital signs, and wiped sweat from the doctors’ foreheads. Ha, there hadn’t be nurses in a hundred years. Nowadays, they were all called medical technicians and most were training to be doctors.
Her internal ramblings were disrupted by the realization that the room had grown quiet. Madison must be down for the count, Kaylee thought wryly. If her sister was awake, she’d still be advocating for them to remove the bugs.
Her blue alien was back, smiling down at her. His hand went out, tapping some buttons on the floating IV pad. Kaylee realized all too late that he must have dosed her as well. The darkness came again, quickly this time. She welcomed it, hopeful this time she would wake up parasite free.
CHAPTER 2
~Selene~
Selene approached the leader of the clone ship, stopping to see what had captured his notice. The hulking blue alien was almost a full foot taller than her diminutive five-foot-six frame. His full attention was riveted on activity taking place on the other side of a clear containment unit.
She wasn’t afraid of him anymore. The last two years had proven to be a bad ass thrill ride compared to her life before leaving Earth. She’d been abducted, fallen in love with an alien prince, and taken in battle by a race of clones. Rather than giving up, Selene had dug in her heels, using every bit of charm, grit, and outright defiance she possessed to force a truce between the clones and her alien prince. In doing so, she’d earned their respect, as well as her nickname of Fire Princess. Whether it was her red hair or fiery disposition that prompted the naming, she didn’t know. She did know it was whispered among their people with warmth and genuine respect.
The fact that she stood aboard a ship of clones, shoulder to shoulder with their leader shouldn’t faze her after everything she’d been through. Instead, she felt awed by the experience.
As they watched on the other side of a containment shield, his medical staff scurried around trying to save the lives of three women that Earth had given up on. Small five-person teams of clones, wearing white uniforms huddled around each table.
Above each woman hovered a three-dimensional holographic scan of their biological systems. She watched as the clones studied layer after layer of scans. They looked for bone fractures, pulmonary function, and muscle and tissue damage. Their process was both thorough and fascinating.
A rather large parasite was clearly visible, wrapped in a throbbing coil around the lower part of each woman’s heart. Extricating the beasts had proven too complex a procedure for Earth Gov and the Krylon vessel that took them from Earth. Rather than allowing them to perish, the Krylon had begged Shar Jalon to just take them. Their only hope of survival lay in the hands of the well-trained clones. The collective resources of their people had been funneled into medical technologies to save their race. If the women had any chance at all, this was it.
; It was unnerving to watch the creatures throbbing away, oblivious that they were about to be excised. “Why do you think the parasites attach to that particular location?”
Shar Jalon turned his head to look down at her. His expression was totally blank as he spoke. “We believe it is to feed on the oxygen-rich blood being released into the bloodstream.”
Selene shuddered, “I’ve never heard of parasites getting so large.”
“It is an unfortunate side effect of the ozone layer collapsing over your world. It has affected atmospheric pressure. Moving forward, the few remaining species indigenous to your planet will increase in mass.”
“I won’t pretend to know how that’s possible.”
The newly minted prince almost smiled. “I’m not certain I understand it myself. Our scientists have made an extensive study of your planet and they are usually accurate about such things. Since we are clones, we’ve intentionally selected genes that aid us in complex cognitive functioning.”
Selene grinned at her stuffy new friend. “Well, I gotta hand it to you, your clones are pretty smart people. Your medical team sure seems to be experts on human physiology, considering they have only ever encountered two of us before.”
“We were fortunate to meet you and your mother. You have both been generous beyond our wildest dreams in allowing us to study the rare human form.”
Selene found his turn of phrase strange, but it also evidenced his awe and fascination with humans. “We were glad to help. It looks like the cardiac tissue my mother and I donated, is healthy and replicating quickly. That will come in handy if the women end up needing a transplant.”
“Is your mother well?”
“She’s wonderful. I would describe her as starry eyed in love with the Candorian captain. We both wanted to come over to make sure the women saw a friendly face when they awoke. She’s helping iron out the details of the treaty between our alliance and Earth Gov. Hopefully, you’ll soon have dozens of brides.”
Celestial Mates Complete Series Box Set (Books 1-5) (Alien SciFi Romance) Page 20