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  “Yes, Six told me about ‘Feel-crime,’” Mei-Li said. “It’s bizarre that they can arrest you just for having emotions.”

  “They will do more than arrest you, yes they will, yes they will,” Yipper said darkly. “Just be certain you are back here when you ought to be. I would not wish you to be harmed. No I wouldn’t, no I wouldn’t.”

  Mei-Li was touched by his concern. “That’s very sweet of you, Yipper. I’ll be sure that Six brings me back in time.”

  “I will make certain of that myself,” said Six, striding back into the Enhancement Area. He was wearing his exoskeleton again which made him look huge. As big as the white room was, he still seemed to fill it and his heavy boots clanged loudly against the white plates of the metal floor. He looked at Mei-Li. “I see that you have had your counter fitted. Are you ready to go?”

  “If Yipper says I can.”

  “A moment only. I must check one last time, yes I must, yes I must.” The little Tollege stared intently into her eyes and told her to blink and look in different directions. Then, apparently satisfied, he helped her sit up.

  “Thank you,” Mei-Li said, smiling at him.

  “You are most welcome. Yes you are, yes you are.” He smiled at her—an odd but endearing expression on his doggy face.

  Impulsively, Mei-Li hugged him. “Thank you,” she whispered into his long floppy ear. “You’ve been a wonderful doctor. I just wish procedures at home were so painless.”

  “Well, we do our best. Yes we do, yes we do.” Yipper looked pleased when she drew away. Pleased and perhaps a bit embarrassed if she was reading his expression correctly. Probably not many of his other patients thanked him since they were emotionless cyborgs. “May Fortune favor you, my lady. If you have need of me, you can always call me here on the med barge. Yes you can, yes you can.”

  “Thank you, Yipper. I’ll remember that,” she said gravely.

  “I will see you in one lunar month. Yes I will, yes I will.”

  Mei-Li smiled and got off the table. “Yes you will.”

  She was sure of it.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “So this is the female you have claimed.” One looked Mei-Li up and down, a slight frown on his pudgy face.

  For her part, Mei-Li returned his gaze, her chin lifted in a challenging way.

  “You have a lovely home,” she said to One. “It’s very…utilitarian.” It was clear to Six that she felt she was being put on trial, though it certainly was not the case. One was probably simply interested in her because of the rarity of females on Zeaga Four. Indeed, they were almost nonexistent since the Collective had seen no reason to grow any in the incubation tubes once the original organic females had died out. Mei-Li was indeed a rare and beautiful creature here on his dark gray planet. Her pale cheeks and flashing dark eyes filled with emotion stood out in a world filled with machinery and monotony. She was—

  “Six, will you not introduce us?” One asked, breaking his meditation on the small, fierce female before him who was still staring daggers at his mentor.

  “Of course. This is Mei-Li,” Six said, trying to bring his wandering thoughts back to order. “She has had ocular enhancements and also her counter has been installed.” He nodded at her and Mei-Li pulled up her tight fitting white sleeve and showed the older organic her dispensation counter where the numerals 00:00:00 still glowed green.

  “I see that it has not begun its count yet, however.” One raised a nearly hairless eyebrow, the overhead glow light glinting off his clear skull cap.

  “We have not yet been to my domicile. We came straight to yours as Ter told me you instructed.”

  “I simply wanted to be certain things were moving along on schedule,” One said. “The sooner your Claiming Period is over, the sooner I will have your undivided attention for…other matters.”

  Six frowned. “What other matters?”

  “My dear, perhaps you would care to inspect my Nature Simulator,” One said, addressing Mei-Li instead of answering Six’s question. “Only those of the upper echelon, close to the Collective have one. It’s quite fascinating, I assure you. Located just through that doorway in my living area.”

  Mei-Li raised an eyebrow at him. “If you’d like privacy to speak to Six, I’m perfectly happy to give it to you. You don’t need to show me a shiny new toy to distract me just because I’m a ‘Feeler.’ Having emotions doesn’t equate with mental incompetence, whatever your people happen to think.”

  One blinked at her with an expression that was almost surprise on his round face.

  “Very well,” he said. “I would like to speak to Six in privacy if you please. You are welcome to explore my domicile while we converse and I promise not to keep him long. I know you must be…eager to start your Claiming Period.”

  “That’s not exactly the word I would use,” Mei-Li said dryly. “Excuse me. I’ll be in the other room.”

  She turned and exited One’s work space, letting the door whoosh shut behind her. Six found himself watching the sway of her slim hips as she left the room and had to force himself to stop. When he turned back to One, the older organic was staring at him with a thoughtful expression on his face.

  “She is…quite sure of herself, is she not?” he asked, nodding his head in the direction Mei-Li had gone.

  “She is,” Six acknowledged. “From the dreams we shared, I feared she would be timid and frightened of everything, especially me. But she has shown herself to have a warrior’s spirit, even when faced with grave danger.”

  One frowned. “You sound almost as if you…like this female. Tell me, Six, is this assignment too much for your emotion damper to handle?”

  “Of course not.” Six lifted his chin. “I will, of course, protect Mei-Li with my life—that is my duty as a Kindred. But I feel nothing for her. My damper is working perfectly.”

  “Good.” One nodded. “I would hate to lose a warrior so close to the Collective—one I consider my protégé—over something so inconsequential as a female.”

  Six frowned. “Mei-Li is not inconsequential.”

  One frowned back. “So you do feel something for her.”

  “Nothing but admiration for her indomitable spirit and intelligence,” Six said firmly but he wasn’t sure who he was trying to convince—himself or his mentor.

  “Very well.” One nodded, apparently satisfied. “Then if that is truly all you feel, you will not mind if we consider your Claiming Period to have already started.”

  “What?” Six frowned. “But the Claiming Contract states—”

  “That the moment you bring the female to your domicile, the Claiming Period starts,” One finished for him. “But for our purposes, we are considering the ship you took her on as your domicile.”

  “I don’t understand.” Six shook his head. “Our Claiming Period is already going to be much shorter because the length of our weeks is considerably shorter than those of her own planet or the Kindred Mothership. What is the rush?”

  “We have plans involving a coming conquest. I cannot discuss them right now but things are escalating quickly there. It is the will of the Collective that your Claiming Period be as short as possible, while still staying within the boundaries of the Claiming Contract. Do not be concerned…” One raised a hand in a calming gesture. “I have already spoken to High Chancellor Terex aboard the Kindred Mothership and he assures me this will be perfectly legal as long as you strictly follow all other rules.”

  “Actually, I wish to speak to you about Chancellor Terex,” Six said, frowning. “I communicated with him as well before I went to claim Mei-Li. He appears to have some very strange and wrong ideas about how females should be treated.”

  “Yes, yes—because he is a Feeler. All Feelers are strange and irrational.” One waved his hand dismissively. “Nevertheless, I believe he is to be trusted in the bargain we have struck, no matter how illogical his views.”

  “But some of the things he suggested that I do to Mei-Li—”

  “W