Purity Read online

“Illlessssca.” The name came out in a throaty purr. “Please, call me Ilesca.” She smiled charmingly, her whiskers twitching.

  “Miss Ilesca,” Boone said. “Thank you for your interest in my work but right now I’m afraid I’m more interested in yours. Do you have the part we need to fix our hyperdrive in stock?”

  “I believe we do.” She nodded, her large eyes half closed in satisfaction. “But there is the little matter of payment.”

  Boone cleared his throat. “Ah yes. Of course.”

  “You’d think such an avid fan would offer a discount,” Loki muttered, too low for the viewscreen to pick up. “So much for your celebrity status, doctor.”

  “I heard that.” Ilesca’s eyes narrowed as she studied Loki. “Of course Doctor Boone’s credit is no good here. But we have a unique problem that only he may be able to solve.”

  Boone frowned. “And what might that be?”

  “I can’t discus it on an open link.” Her large green eyes flicked rapidly from side to side, as though looking for eavesdroppers. “You’ll have to come down to the surface anyway so I can have a look at your ship. We can talk then and of course, my father will want to meet you.”

  “Who is your father if you don’t mind me asking?” Boone said.

  Ilesca smiled again, showing sharp white teeth. “Why John James Abrahams, of course. Don’t you see the family resemblance?”

  Before Boone could answer the viewscreen blinked and went black—Ilesca was gone.

  “What in the seven hells was that all about? And who is John James Abrahams?” Loki demanded, sitting up straighter in his chair.

  “John Abrahams is a cautionary tale.” Boone frowned, more troubled than ever. “We studied him in med school—in Ethics of Advanced Genetic Manipulation.”

  “Ethics, huh?” Loki sniffed. “There’s nothing ethical about cloning in the first place. It’s an abomination against the Goddess to copy one of her creatures instead of procreating in order to make more beings the way she intended. And don’t start in on how disgusting and vile sexual procreation is, missy.” He pointed a finger at K. “What’s truly repulsive is pumping five hundred identical babies, all with the same fucked-up DNA, out of an artificial womb.”

  “I said nothing.” K glared at him. “But since you opened the subject, I find your ways of reproduction repugnant and wrong.”

  “Okay, kids—break it up.” Boone held out a hand to each of them. “Getting back to the subject, the guidelines for cloning—which most worlds in the Prometheus System follow—were laid down at the Covran Convention of 2299. Basically it states that you can mix DNA however you want, as long as everything you’re mixing is human. Unfortunately Abrahams had other ideas. ”

  “He used animal DNA.” Loki nodded at the now dark viewscreen. “Miss Meow there is only a whisker away from purring for a bowl of cream—literally.”

  Boone sighed. “Yeah, it looks like that.”

  “I don’t like her,” K said abruptly.

  “Well, of course you don’t, sweetie,” Loki snapped. “You’re a Purist—you don’t like anybody.”

  “I don’t like the way she talks. Or the way she was looking at you,” K said to Boone, ignoring Loki’s jibe. “She looked predatory…hungry.”

  “Well not many folks make the trip all the way out to Minotaur,” Loki said, raising an eyebrow. “If this Abrahams character is so interested in genetic manipulation maybe they’re looking for fresh breeding stock. Wouldn’t it be interesting if that was the price for getting the hyperdrive fixed? What do you think, Boone—would she ask you to scratch her behind the ears…or lower?”

  “That’s enough of your filthy talk,” K flared before Boone could answer. “Boone wouldn’t participate in any such exchange.”

  “On the contrary, sweetheart, I happen to know that Boone would do just about anything to get his little sister back, including kidnapping your boney, frigid ass and hauling you halfway across the solar system.”

  “Loki, that is enough.” Boone made his voice a muted roar and had the satisfaction of seeing the pilot jump.

  “Excuse me, Mr. Sensitive,” Loki muttered. “I was only stating the obvious.”

  “Well, don’t. Just take us down and try to make it through the damned landing sequence without saying anything insulting or inflammatory.”

  “Yes, sir. Whatever you say, boss.” Loki sketched an overly elaborate salute before turning back to the ship’s controls. “If you two wouldn’t mind leaving, I’d like to concentrate. It’s hard to fly when the entire flight control stinks of Purity.”

  “Fine. Come on.” Boone grabbed K’s arm and steered her away before she could say something in retaliation—or maybe go for Loki’s throat which seemed more likely given the murderous gleam in her black-on-black eyes.

  They went back to his quarters in silence but when they got there, K turned to face him. “You wouldn’t really do that, would you?” she demanded as Boone sorted through his locker, looking for any remaining dress shirts that hadn’t been turned into makeshift dresses. He had a few that he knew of that were miniaturized but he hated to go to the trouble of resizing them.

  “Do what?” He was distracted, wondering if he could wear the dark red shirt with his black tie—what had K done with his black tie anyway?

  “Do what Loki said. Have…have sexual intercourse with that…that cat mechanic thing.”

  Boone stopped rummaging and looked up, studying her. It was obvious she was trying to be calm and collected but he could see the tension leaking through her poorly constructed façade. “Why? Would it bother you if I did?”

  “Of course it would.” K’s hands were clenched into fists at her sides. “I couldn’t bear to have you touch her.”

  “You couldn’t, hmm?” Boone raised an eyebrow at her, now completely intrigued. “Feeling a little jealous there, K?”

  Her cheeks went pink. “Of course not. Envy and jealousy are not emotions I would ever allow myself to indulge in.”

  “Oh, of course not.” Boone went back to digging through his clothes. “So if you’re not jealous, it shouldn’t bother you if Ilesca wants to get a DNA sample from me the old fashioned way.”

  “It does bother me though.”

  “And why is that?”

  “I…you…” She seemed to be groping for the right words. “Just think of all the contagion you might get from her. And then you would pass it on to me when you touched me again.” K’s cheeks went even pinker. “I couldn’t bear it—the idea of your hands all over her like that.”

  “Oh you couldn’t, huh?” Boone frowned. “Well I hate to tell you, K, but what Loki said back there is pretty much right. I would do just about anything to get my sister back. Not that having sex with a woman that has longer whiskers than mine gets my engine revving but if I had to…” He shrugged.

  K looked as upset as he had ever seen her. “I can’t believe this. Can’t believe you’d be willing to debase yourself in such a way.”

  “Look, darlin’, I’m sorry but I just don’t see sexual contact as the horrible, iniquitous crime you seem to think it is. Anyway…” He clapped her on the shoulder. “It’s probably a moot point. Given Ilesca’s interest in my credentials, I’d say she’s more interested in my PhD than my penis.”

  K still looked upset. “I don’t like this at all. Why can’t we just skip this planet and continue straight on to Eros?”

  “Because without a fully functioning hyperdrive we wouldn’t get there in time for Loki to find another touch-partner. And since Mom is celibate, you’re Miss Touch-Me-Not when it comes to sex, and I sure as hell am not gay, we have to find him someone, preferably another Erian, to complete his cycle with.”

  “Who cares about his cycle?” K demanded.

  Boone raised an eyebrow. “Well, you should for one. Your Erian DNA ensures that you’re going to be going through the same thing he is sooner or later.”

  She looked suddenly pale. “You mean you think I’ll have to…have to… N