Close Encounter Read Free Page A

ended abruptly, and she released the panel. Sean tossed the thin device toward the wall, and it adhered where it landed, lopsided and thankfully still blank. “Let’s get you comfortable, Captain.”
    “Eliza,” she reminded with a little huff as he lowered her back on the platform. “This thing is hard as fuck.”
    “It has sensors in it that will direct your nano-tech in repairing the damage done to your body the most efficiently,” Sean explained. “Arti, is the upgrade for her nano-bots ready?”
    “No, sir, I believe she’d be better served with new nano-tech. The upgrades Armstrong Station forwarded are severely outdated.”
    Sean looked over her face, taking in the bruises and the dark circles forming under her eyes, which fluttered shut as he stood there. Her breathing evened out as she surrendered to natural sleep. The stimulant had worn off very quickly. “Her cosmetic enhancements are starting to degrade.”
    “It’ll be rapid,” Arti supplied. “They obviously did not hold up well during cryo-sleep. I have standard protocols for the cosmetic enhancements, but we’d have to contact Earth regarding any more fashionable options.”
    “Prepare a full nano-tech net for healing. Also, go ahead and put in protocols for the recycling of her old obsolete nano-tech. We’ll want to do a full in-depth scan of her neural implant and discuss that with her later.”
    “Shall I include her cosmetic enhancements in that recycle order?” Arti questioned.
    “Yeah, give her a standard package, I guess. Do you have records on Stephanie Riley’s cosmetic protocols? They have the same basic coloring and skin tone.”
    “I do, and I can use the protocols from the captain’s degrading enhancements to tailor the look slightly.”
    Sean nodded. “Sounds good. Keep it simple, though. She doesn’t strike me as the kind to really care about the latest fashions.”
    A few minutes passed before a drawer opened on the other side of the room, and Sean crossed to retrieve the injector. Her fingers twitched as he pressed the injector against her upper arm and pressed the button. After pulling out a thin blanket and covering her, Sean moved the comm panel close to the bed and left his wife sleeping.
     
    * * * * *
     
     
    He dropped down in his chair on the command deck with five minutes to spare before the orbital blackout and wasn’t at all surprised when the large screen in front of him activated. Sean found himself face to face with the entire crew of the Jupiter Station. They were all staring at him gobsmacked.
    He huffed and glared back at the five-man crew—a crew he’d been a part of off and on for the last ten years. “Well?”
    “Holy shit, man,” Preston said, awed. “You just got married .”
    Sean sighed. “You guys watched all of that?”
    “You bet your ass we did, Cohen,” Dr. Eichi Minobe, the team leader for the entire sector, said sharply. “I’ve already contacted Dr. Tek with the news, and we’re preparing…for whatever may happen. We’re not going to let the military push you or your new wife around. I’m sure your grandmother will be informed shortly as well.”
    “You’re not pissed?”
    “I was ready to interrupt and marry her myself if you declined,” Minobe said and smirked. “I’m closer to her age at any rate.”
    Sean laughed. Minobe was an incredibly fit ninety-two, and he never let anyone forget it. Making people fifty years younger than him feel lazy was the man’s primary hobby. He reached out and activated a viewing screen. Arti anticipated him, and Eliza’s medical platform immediately appeared.
    “Has Dr. Tek responded directly?”
    “He’s reviewing the footage of her recovery and your conversation with Admiral McAlister. I suggested that you be assigned a legal team. We’ll have some options by the time you come out of orbital blackout.” He paused and inclined his head. “You realize, of course, that an unconsummated domestic union can still be annulled in