Deep Penetration; Alien Breeders I Read Free Page B

a careful sip. She knew as soon as the hot liquid
cascaded over her tongue and down her throat that it was chicken
soup as she’d thought, or at least something very like it. “When
can I have real food?”
    Koryn chuckled as if pleased. “We’ll
get there.”
    Emerald nodded a little distractedly,
trying to figure out how she’d known that she had to start with
clear liquids and work toward solid food. How would she know that?
Did it mean she had a medical background herself? Or was it because
she’d been hurt badly enough before to discover it?
    “ You never told me why
you’re here,” she said after a moment, realizing they’d actually
told her very little at all. It seemed they had a question for
every question she asked.
    Tariq studied her for a long moment
and stood up, clearly intending to leave. “In a very real sense, we
are … allies of your race. We’ve been to Earth many times in the
past—though it’s been a quite a while since we last
visited.”
    * * * *
    “ What do you
think?”
    They’d left Emerald to rest and
retired to Tariq’s quarters to discuss her condition where they
could speak openly since Tariq insured his privacy with a daily
sweep for any sort recording devices. Tariq, who’d sprawled in a
chair and stretched his long legs out before him to study his boots
frowning, glanced up at Koryn’s question. He thought she was
breathtaking. He thought they’d made a serious error in judgment
when they’d decided to seek perfection. Nature had made Emerald
beautiful despite the many tiny imperfections his own people had
obsessed over.
    Of course, no one was disputing that
they’d made far too many mistakes—not anymore.
    Somehow, he didn’t think that Koryn’s
thoughts were running in the same direction as his own, however. He
shrugged. “I’m not the scientist.”
    Koryn frowned. “This isn’t my area of
expertise,” he pointed out tightly.
    “ This isn’t anyone’s area of
expertise,” Tariq said angrily, shoving to his feet and crossing
his cabin to his beverage dispenser. “I’m having nizsum ? You?”
    Koryn’s brows rose. Tariq
rarely indulged in fermented drinks, particularly not anything as
strong as nizsum .
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
    “ She’ll sleep a while.
You’ve time for the effects to wear off.”
    “ A small one,
then.”
    Tariq took the two drinking vessels
the dispenser produced, which were roughly the size and length of
his index finger and crossed to hand one to him. When he’d settled
in his chair again, he merely studied the dark liquid in the
transparent vessel, however. “I think she’s the strongest one we’ve
found … and I’m still not certain I want to risk it. In fact, I
damned well know I don’t. She’s too ….” He broke off, his mind
straying to her again as he struggled to find the word he was
looking for.
    “ Precious,” Koryn finished
when Tariq didn’t, lifting his vessel and downing the contents.
“There is not another like her in the universe and never will be
again if we aren’t damned careful with her.”
    “ No two are ever entirely
the same,” Tariq said dryly. “But you’re right. I don’t want to
risk losing her. Even the mission isn’t worth that. We’ll keep
digging.”
    “ So … you’re saying we
should implant memories to guard her sanity?”
    Tariq stared at him for a
long moment, struggling with the angry denunciation that instantly
rose to mind. “I don’t know,” he growled finally and downed his own
draught of nizsum .
    Koryn tilted his head, frowning at
Tariq curiously. It wasn’t like Tariq at all to be so indecisive.
“We only have two options,” he reminded him. “We can wait and see
if she remembers anything of use to us, or we can manipulate her
memories.”
    The memories would change
her, though, Tariq thought angrily, and he didn’t want anything
about her altered—not by so much as a hair. She would be someone else, because
she would have some else’s