by Stone, Layla
Yon was half asleep when the door to his private medical room opened, and Ansel walked in, followed by Sci. Both males avoided meeting his eyes.
Ansel moved to one side of the medbed as Sci moved to the other. Surrounded by people Yon knew wanted the best for him, he shouldn’t have felt uncomfortable, but instincts told him that something was wrong.
Yon kept his eyes on Ansel, wishing the Numan had a more expressive face. That way, he would know how bad the news was.
Ansel began in a clinical tone, “I’ve reviewed the latest scans, and your body has not progressed with the assistance of the medscope.”
I thought the medscope was supposed to fix everything.
Sci repeated Yon’s thoughts.
“The medscope heals. As in, it can fix what the body can fix.”
What does that mean for me?
Sci repeated it out loud.
Ansel paused before answering. “It means that you won’t get better without…more assistance.”
What exactly are you saying to me? Yon didn’t have a physical response to Ansel’s words, but in his mind, his concerns were growing. He couldn’t be like this forever. He just couldn’t.
Ansel pulled down the Minky screen that had been pushed to the top of the ceiling. He powered it on and pulled up an image of a male. It was only an outline, but Yon could tell it had his shape.
The doctor touched the screen again, and the image changed to include a green light at the back of his brain. “This is your cerebellum, and it’s destroyed. Your body cannot fix it. So, you will stay like this forever unless I install cybernetics that will take over the previous functions of the cerebellum.”
That sounds simple, why did you wait until now to tell me?
After Sci had repeated the question, Ansel answered, “It’s not a simple cerebral blocker where I place something outside your head, and it’s done. If I do this, I will be pulling cybernetics throughout your body to replace what’s been broken. Then I will have to attach it to the part of the brain that gives your mind control over your actions. Meaning, more cybernetics there. Bottom line is that there will be some things that will be altered forever.”
Such as?
“For example, with the cybernetics, you can dampen pain receptors. Essentially, you can feel nothing if you decide to. You will literally have complete control over your body, emotions, thought processes, and other things of that nature.”
What are the drawbacks? I’m not really hearing anything negative here.
Ansel waited until Sci finished talking before he scratched his face and then told Yon, “Cyborgs are known for losing their humanity. The reason for that is their complete control. Unless you purposely want to feel and empathize and sympathize, your cybernetics won’t naturally process information that way. It’s something you need to be aware of because it can affect your relationships with friends and family.”
Yon let Ansel’s warning settle in. Not because he wasn’t going to get the cybernetics, but because he knew he had social issues already. He didn’t know if gaining control would make him worse or not, but he was willing to calibrate accordingly. Because he wasn’t going to screw up his second chance.
Wire me up and get me out of this bed.
Sci smiled as he told Ansel what Yon had said. The Numan, however, didn’t laugh. “I’ll grab my tools.”
* * *
Yon woke up in a medbed, the lid still closed. He rolled his head to the side, wondering where he was and why he was in a tube with blue, blinking lights. Then, all of a sudden, it was like his brain booted up. He could actually sense the nerves and muscles flinching with electrical pulses. It started down his spine, then his arms, and filtered to his fingers. His thighs flexed, and his toes wiggled.
Then something strange happened. He could sense the bed’s interface. Mentally, he pulled that thought forward and looked for something that would open the lid. Finding the open and shut feature, he mentally selected that. The lid instantly moved away from his face.
Sitting up, he scanned the room, taking inventory of everything and locking it away in his memory chip.
Yon stood up just as the lab door opened and Ansel walked out. His eyes widened for a fraction of a second before he said, “If you’d like to put on clothes, I left them by the bed.”
Looking down at himself, Yon noticed that he was naked, and his skin was rippled with goosebumps. But he didn’t feel cold.
Reaching to the pile of clothes, he noticed the pants, socks, boots, Federation jacket, and sleeveless undershirt. He deduced immediately that those were his clothes, not a spare.
When he finished dressing, he saw Ansel holding a Minky pad and skimming through something. Yon’s mind reached out to connect with the Minky pad and cleared a way to the male’s personal files so he could find out what the Numan was reading.
A diagnostic of Yon’s operation. The medbed he had been in was reporting on the scans it had taken.
Ansel looked at Yon sharply. “It’s rude to hack into my files. I’d appreciate it if you left my system.”
Yon didn’t right away. Instead, he scanned the rest of Ansel’s account, copied the files, and stored them in his memory. Then he removed himself from the system. “Done.”
Ansel didn’t answer for a few more moments, but then he said, “Sure. Right after you made a copy of my files.”
Yon was confused. Was the Numan guessing?
That’s when Ansel put down his Minky on a nearby table and said, “I know what you did because Sci knows what you did. ”
That didn’t make sense. Sci shouldn’t be able to hear his thoughts anymore because he was a cyborg—more or less. The Cerebral couldn’t hear the thoughts of those like himself.
“I wouldn’t do that to you,” Ansel said pointedly. “I made sure to leave as much untouched as possible. Which means, Sci can still hear you. But that’s not important right now. Right now, I’m going to ask you a series of questions so that I can assess the full consequences of the cybernetics.”
“Go ahead.”
“How do you feel about being the executive officer on Garna the star carrier?” Ansel asked with his arms behind his back, rocking from heel to toe.
“I don’t understand the question. Being the executive officer is my job.”
Ansel nodded. “Yes, it is, but would you prefer to have another job?”
Yon thought about it, saw memories of Sci, Sasha, and all the other pilots in his past. He knew that he enjoyed being a pilot, but he didn’t feel that joy now. It wasn’t necessary to work another job. “I don’t prefer to have another job.”
The Numan closed his eyes and cursed. “Okay, next question. Do you consider Rannn your captain or your friend?”
Rannn was his captain and his friend. The answer was both, but it wasn’t an option, so he answered, “He is not one or the other.”
Wincing, Ansel raked his hand through his hair then stopped and asked, “I suppose you wouldn’t care if Yelena transferred off the ship either, would you?”
Yon pulled up those memories. Remembered what Yelena had said about leaving. Remembered his feelings about wanting to keep her. Following that, he mentally connected with the onboard system and pulled up Yelena’s records. He found her transfer request that was waiting for approval.
Selecting the electronic form, he immediately deleted it and wiped it from the ship’s records. Then he found her personal files, copied them, and left a tracker in her system so that he would have instant access to anything she did.
“Did you just delete her request?” The doctor’s voice rose.
“Of course, I did,” Yon responded.
“Was that the honorable thing to do?”
Honor? Yon had to think about that. Was it dishonorable to delete her transfer request? According to Sci and his memories, she was leaving because she felt guilty for what had happened to him. If he didn’t delete it, he still would have denied it. Honor had pulled through as one of his main objectives. But th
e priority was to secure her by any means. That objective was inside his mind not only as a memory but also as something his mind wanted to do. The interesting part was that even though he was aware of all the rules and objectives, he could override them at any time. Rewrite them if needed.
Yon had no intention of changing them, but it was still something worth noticing. “It wasn’t dishonorable. I would have denied her request anyway.”
Ansel waited for his confirmation or denial. Yon assumed that was because Sci was in his head. Instead, the Numan said, “Just remember that you have control over your body and mind. Don’t disregard the objective to be honorable and give your emotions the freedom to feel. You must calibrate accordingly. We don’t want to have a cold-hearted Yon on the ship.”
Yon knew that was a slight against him. A part of him wanted to say something snide back. But that wouldn’t solve anything, so he responded with, “I am aware of myself, and I know I didn’t follow social etiquette before. And I am aware of my friends and what they mean to me.” He purposely left out Yelena’s name because she meant more, and he didn’t feel the need to discuss that with Ansel. “You were right when you said I would have complete control. A part of me wants to say something mean to you for doubting if you should have given me these cybernetics. But because I have complete control, I denied that desire because it…”
“It what?”
“It was borne of anger. There was no reason to say it.”
27
Federation Approved
Yelena was on her bed, staring at her Minky screen. Instead of the usual photo of the mountains, there was now a picture of Cami’s brother, Decoud. On the right side of his photo was his contact information.
Her guilt was heavy today, more so because she’d dreamt of Cami. In her dreams, they were back in the mines, huddled together, whispering so no one else could hear what they said. Cami had started crying because she missed her family and wanted to go home. Needed to hug them and tell them how much she loved them.
When Yelena woke up, she knew that she had to find the courage to call Decoud and tell him what had happened to his sister. If Decoud were anything like Cami, then he would always wonder. The unknown would eat at him. By Yelena not calling, she was prolonging his pain.
It was time. The only problem was that she didn’t know what to say. And she couldn’t get herself to make the call.
Without so much as a knock or an access request, the door to her room slid open, and Yon walked in.
“You’re walking,” she lamely greeted.
“Ansel wired me with cybernetics so I could walk again.”
Yelena covered her mouth, thinking of how severely his body had to have been injured to require cybernetics. “I’m so sorry.”
Yon had stopped in front of her and looked down. Assuming that he was there to either punish her or make her take more training, she said, “I know that what I did was wrong. And I’m sorry for asking you to go down to the lab. I can’t tell you how much I regret that, and I accept whatever punishment you decide.”
The side of the bed moved as he sat down next to her. When he didn’t respond, she took a chance and looked up at him. That’s when he said, “It’s not your fault. I made the choice to go down to the lab. And I know that I wouldn’t be alive if you didn’t go down and save me.”
She didn’t know how he knew that, but she didn’t want him to get the wrong impression. “No, I had to go down there because I’m the one who put you in danger and I should have known better. I know how dangerous Veeda’s labs are.”
Yon pressed his hand over hers. “I was sure I could handle anything. I was the one who opened the container. I chose to do that. Not you.”
She grabbed his hand and pulled it into her lap. “You wouldn’t have been down there at all if I hadn’t asked.”
Yon got quiet before he said, “You’re not going to win this. I’m never going to blame you.” She felt his thumb rub the top of her hand. As silly as it was, she lifted his hand, and she kissed it.
“I was so scared when I saw your heart stop beating. I would have done anything to get down to you.”
Yon pulled his hand back but made sure to continue holding hers. So, she moved closer to him. Tilting her head back, she watched his lips as he said, “It’s all forgiven. Let it go.” She couldn’t have stopped herself if she tried. And she didn’t try at all. Closing the distance, she pressed her lips to his.
It was soft at first, then she moved onto his lap and grabbed his neck. Yon opened to the kiss, taking it deeper. She felt his hands on her back, her thighs, and her ass. She could feel her sex clench in excitement, and the next time she pulled back to get some air, she pulled off her shirt.
Yon looked her over, but she took back control of his mouth and used her weight to push him back onto the bed.
Groaning, he squeezed her thighs and rocked into her. She could feel how hard he was for her, and she took that as a good sign. If he didn’t want her, he could tell her to stop, but otherwise, she was going to keep going.
There was only one thing stopping her. Knowledge of what to do exactly. So, she asked between kisses, “What do you like?”
“Anything you want to give.”
That didn’t help, but she knew of something Cami had told her about. She just hoped she did it right. Moving down his chest, she stopped at the waistband of his trousers. Ripping open his fasteners, she pulled the pants open and exposed his swollen sex filled tight with his light grey blood.
“Babe?”
She looked up from between his legs. “Is this okay? Or do you want me to do something else?”
Leaning up on his elbows, he said, “Do you want to do this? Or do you feel you have to?”
“I want to do this because I was told that males like it.”
“If you decide you don’t like it, don’t feel like you need to continue.”
Looking back at the swollen head and the slit, she licked it. It was smooth on the outside and yet firm beneath the skin. A strange thing, and she liked it so far. Licking him all over, she didn’t see him finish and wondered if she were doing it wrong.
When she looked up, Yon was biting his lip.
“What can I do better?”
Yon’s voice was raspy as he gave her light and simple instructions. They were easy to follow. Open her mouth, take him in as far as she could, and try to keep as much suction as possible as she moved up and down.
This time, she felt the difference. Within a few minutes, she heard him say, “No more.”
Removing her mouth with a pop, she asked, “Did I do something wrong?”
Yon pulled at his pants and tucked himself back in. He rolled off the bed and removed his shirt, boots, and socks. Then he moved to her and removed the rest of her clothes. “My turn.”
“But I wasn’t done.”
Ignoring her, he instructed, “Lay back.”
Yon crawled on the bed near her feet and bent down to kiss her ankle. Then he moved his mouth slowly over her skin, up her lower leg, past her knee, and then to the inside of her thigh. The closer he got to her core, the more she wanted to ask if he would kiss her again. She missed his mouth.
But when she felt the light press of his mouth on her lower lips, she decided she liked that, too. It was different, and Cami had told her about it. Yelena felt Yon’s warm breath right before something wet and warm slipped between her lips. It was so sudden that she jerked back.
Yon wrapped a hand around each thigh and pulled her back to him. Then she felt the light touches around the inside of her lips and her entrance. She wasn’t sure what it was supposed to feel like, but it seemed nice. Not amazing like Cami had said, but not bad.
Yon licked around, but every once in a while, he hit a spot that she loved. Unfortunately, he didn’t stay there long enough for her to enjoy it.
When he crossed the good section again, she whimpered, “Please, don’t move.” But he did, and she grew more and more frustrated. Then she felt him s
lipping his wet tongue inside her, and that felt good, too. She tried to buck her hips, but his hold tightened around her.
Then Yon removed his mouth entirely and kissed her thighs. His voice was soft when he said, “This frustration you feel is how I’ve felt since I first saw you. Wanting you but not allowing myself to have you. I only allowed a few good moments and then ruined them. You were mine from the beginning.”
“I felt the same way,” she said.
Yon returned to her core and spread her wide. Instead of licking lightly, he sucked down hard, and it almost undid her right then. He licked and rubbed his tongue back and forth on her new favorite spot. She was already halfway wound up. “Yes. Yes.”
Yon growled and doubled down on the pressure, and she felt her womb clench and then explode with white-hot passion. She gasped as tingles soared through her body, saturating every part of her, exhausting her muscles that had been taut just seconds before.
Yon didn’t let up, and her climax continued on and on. When she came down, he removed his mouth and lightly kissed her fleshy mound. Then he pushed forward and kissed her lower belly as he moved up, turning his face to reach for one of her nipples, nuzzling it. Once he tugged one between his teeth, she worried he might bite down. Instead, he sucked it into his mouth, swirling it with his tongue, making her moan.
Moving her hands from beside her body, she touched his arms and then ran one hand down his back, needing to touch him.
He groaned against her breast, and her eyes went wide. He liked that? She did it again, pressing down on his skin, and he moved his mouth in a way that made her lower stomach flutter back to life.
She moaned again and bowed her back. Yon moved to the other nipple, and it made her hips buck. She wanted his attention back on her sex.
Yon must have known what she needed because he reached down between them, and she felt pressure on just the right place. “Yes. Right there.”
“You’re so talkative. I never would have thought so.”
She stilled. “You don’t like it?”
