Devoured Read online

  “I saw someone like you,” he said, still staring at her with his one normal eye.

  “What, you mean a female?” Tess demanded, remembering that Yipper had said all the females from Zeaga Four had died off centuries ago.

  A faint frown creased his narrow lips.

  “Not just a female. She was…of your kind. But smaller—considerably smaller.” His hands came up, describing two straight skinny lines in the air.

  Tess put a hand on her hip.

  “So on top of everything else, now you’re calling me fat? I don’t believe this! My day just keeps getting better and better.”

  He shook his head.

  “I am not calling you anything. I am referring to the other—the one I saw during my recharging period.”

  “You mean in your dreams? You dreamed of her?” Suddenly it began to click. “Oh my God…” Tess put a hand to her head. “You mean you’re the one who’s dream sharing with that girl back on Earth?”

  “Dream…sharing?” He said it like it was an old word—a concept he’d known once but had almost completely forgotten.

  “That’s what it’s called. I don’t know much more about it except that the Kindred consider it significant. So this girl—she’s skinny?”

  Six nodded. “She is extremely small and frail.” He frowned disapprovingly. “She looks weak—unable to protect herself. Also, her hair is long and black and straight and she wears strange oculars on her face.” He motioned at his eyes, miming circles.

  “Um, I’m sorry but you really can’t talk about ‘strange oculars,’” Tess said. “But I assume you mean she wears glasses.”

  “I do not know what they are called. Only that they seem to have clear glass lenses that cover both her eyes.”

  “Yup, glasses. God, that poor girl.” Tess shook her head. “You’re going to scare the living hell out of her!”

  “Why should I cause her to have emotions of fear?” he demanded, his frown deepening.

  “Well just look at you…” Tess gestured at him. “In that armor—you Kindred are already big but that armor just makes you huge.”

  “This is my exoskeleton. It protects during combat and aids in mobility on planets with extreme gravity. I rarely take it off.”

  Tess shook her head. “Then good luck getting within a hundred feet of her before she runs screaming. That freaky red Terminator-eye thing you’ve got going on doesn’t help either.”

  “My scanner was my second enhancement after my damper. It has served me well.” The red light swiveled. “And she will not need to run from me—I have no intention of going near her. I just…wanted to know more about your planet. Your people.”

  Tess sighed. “Well if you really want to know, we’re not that different from you except we let ourselves feel things. Oh, and we don’t turn ourselves into cyborgs. Other than that…pretty much the same.”

  “You say you let yourself feel things. But you just told me that the male you care for is getting an emotion damper—didn’t you?”

  Tess’s eyes stung again and she had to blink back fresh tears.

  “Yes, he is. It’s a long story. Basically he can’t trust himself with emotions.”

  “No one can,” Six told her. “Emotions are irrational. They make one violent and unpredictable.”

  “Yeah, well…” She sniffed. “They also make life worth living. The touch of your lover’s hand…the look in his eyes when he says he cares for you…the taste of his mouth…what does any of that matter if you can’t feel when it happens?”

  She couldn’t help remembering the look in Garron’s eyes when he’d told her he loved her. So full of longing—so desperately unhappy. If only there had been another way…another choice…

  “You believe this?” The deep rumble of Six’s voice interrupted her thoughts. He was looking at her curiously. “Truly?”

  “Yes.” Tess swiped at her eyes and looked up at him defiantly. “Yes, I do. Emotions hurt sometimes but they’re also a beautiful thing. They let you care for someone other than yourself. They let you love. And without that, what’s the point?”

  “There is work to be done,” he pointed out. “There are tasks to be accomplished…”

  “Sure, but what do you care if any of it gets done? If anything gets accomplished? If—” Tess shook her head in disgust. “Never mind. It’s like trying to explain a rainbow to someone who’s color blind.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t understand.”

  “My point exactly.” She sighed. “Look, I don’t want to talk anymore. Just do that poor girl back on Earth a favor and stay as far from her as you can.”

  “As I said, I have no intention of going to her,” he said stiffly.

  “Good. I—”

  “Now then, now then—we’re all finished. Yes we are, yes we are.”

  Yipper’s high voice interrupted her and Tess turned to see him leading Garron by the hand. The big Kindred had a blank look on his face that made Tess’s heart thump painfully. She knew he probably felt nothing for her now but she went to him anyway.

  “Garron, honey?” She put a hand on his arm. “Are you okay?”

  “I am well.” He looked at her hand as though wondering why she was touching him.

  “He is still adjusting to the drug. Yes he is, yes he is,” Yipper said soothingly. “He will be fine by the end of this solar day when his brain starts manufacturing it on its own.”

  “The end of the day?” Tess frowned. “But…I thought we were going back to Earth. Are we staying another night?”

  “Of course not.” A faint frown, much like Six’s, creased the corners of Garron’s generous mouth. “I am perfectly fit to pilot a ship.”

  “Really?” Tess looked at Yipper for confirmation. “Because I know back on my planet they don’t want you driving a car for a couple of days after a major operation—let alone piloting a freaking space ship thousands of light years across the galaxy.”

  “He should be fine. Yes he should, yes he should,” the little Tolleg said, nodding. “In fact, he will be a better pilot now than he was before.”

  “Emotions cloud judgment,” Six, who had been standing there silently, put in. “Piloting is much safer without them.”

  “Yeah, right,” Tess muttered. She felt like crying again but she didn’t want to do it in front of Six—the big asshole. She knew it wasn’t rational but she almost hated him right now. Probably because she couldn’t bring herself to direct her hatred towards Garron, who was now just as emotionless as the Dark Kindred.

  “A few post-op instructions.” Yipper held up one long, hairy finger. “Avoid any situations that might bring up strong emotions in the next few days. This is especially critical around during the end of the first day, when Garron’s brain is first starting to learn to make the drug for itself. Yes it is, yes it is.”

  “Why?” Tess asked.

  “Once the last of the artificial drug is used up and just before the first batch of the organic drug is made by the brain, the implant is vulnerable to failure—more vulnerable than it will ever be again. Yes it is, yes it is,” Yipper lectured. “In fact, it might be better for you to stay here. Garron could be put into a sensory deprivation room for this first night, to avoid unnecessary stimulation. Yes he could, yes he could.”

  “No.” Garron shook his head. “We need to get back to Earth. Tess has unresolved difficulties there.”

  Tess looked at him, surprised.

  “You remember that?”

  He frowned. “I lost my emotions—not my memory. I remember the promises I made to you—the vows I took. I will strive to honor them and keep my word.”

  “Thanks but you don’t…don’t have to do that.” She swallowed hard, hoping he would say something like, “But I want to. Want to keep you safe—to protect and avenge you.”

  But Garron only shook his head again.

  “Not true—I gave my word and I am obligated to keep it. We will go today.”

  “All right. Fine.” Tess c