Well, they had until now.
It was unfortunate he and Sheena hadn’t been able to remain friends after their divorce. Sheena McNamara had been his first in nearly everything concerning his love life and he’d not forgotten a single moment of his time with her. His four other marriages hadn’t left any serious dents when they ended, but mostly that was because his time with all of them had never matched his time with Sheena.
His body tightened when four men as big as most aliens on the ship walked down the ramp. Though not openly carrying weapons, he knew the infamous Dr. McNamara never traveled without serious protection. He doubted the men were human even though the airship’s sensors reported they were. He for damn sure knew they weren’t aliens. Sheena despised aliens on principle.
Nate knew Sheena’s work had progressed beyond what he used to know about her skills. His mother had taken on the task of keeping him apprised of the now infamous Dr. McNamara’s many accomplishments. As he’d always suspected she would, Sheena had made quite the scientific name for herself. Words like genius and innovator were most typically attached to her profile.
His body tightened more when the pilot captain of her shuttle stopped her at the door with a possessive hand on her arm. He saw Sheena pat the attractive male on his ample chest, obviously reassuring him about something. The captain tipped his hat to her as she exited and lost no time in pulling the ramp back in once Sheena had reached the bottom.
Time fell away as Sheena, looking as good as she had at twenty, walked across the transport bay and back into his life. As he walked out to greet her, Nate found himself wishing it wasn’t only because she was here to see Brianna. He knew it was foolish to indulge such thoughts—knew it as sure as the ship would continue to float on its spinning electromagnetic crystals. But he was only human, a fact he’d grudgingly come to terms with about fifty years ago.
Sheena glared when she finally spotted him and that look blasted his sentimental and wishful thinking all to hell. The similarity to the glares he often got from the U6 Erin struck him hard. It was all he could do not to laugh at the irony. Now he’d have two strong willed women chewing his ass at every opportunity.
“Dr. McNamara,” Nate said softly, letting her title fall from his tongue for the first time in a century.
“Admiral Tiberius,” Sheena replied. “You’re looking very well. I see the effects of the rejuvenation serum have lasted. Another fifty years and I can probably make it available to the masses.”
Nate snorted softly and tried to hide his distaste of her hello. “I see it’s lasted on you as well. There are no visible signs that you’ve aged a day, much less a hundred years.”
Sheena nodded. “That’s a good way to phrase it, but trust me, there have been changes. If you’d like, I’d be happy to send you my reports.”
Nate felt an eyebrow raise. “Well, I do have the clearance now, but why…” He paused, not sure how to ask what he wanted to know.
“Why am I being so friendly to a man I still detest?” Sheena asked, finishing the question.
Nate nodded, a little afraid to speak. She detested him? After all this time? “Yes. Detesting does not go well with that friendliness you were touting moments ago.”
Sheena smirked. “It matches my honesty though, which is one of those changes I mentioned. You should know I came because I can fix Brianna’s tracker problem. As for the other—her being in danger—my organization can protect her once she comes to work for us.”
“Ah yes… the infamous organization.”
Sheena lifted her chin. “I intend to take Bri with me when I leave, Nate. You can fight me if you want, but it will be a waste of energy—I promise you. The Guardians owe me several favors. I won’t hesitate to use one of them to remove her from this floating black hole of alien death.”
Nate whistled. “Wow… black hole of alien death. As a scientist, I thought you’d be a little more original in your insults. Black holes were proven to be myth about fifty years ago.”
Sheena waved a hand. “That’s shit and we both know it. It’s a convenient lie so we don’t have to explain wormholes and portal travel to the masses. You’re not going to distract me by changing the subject. Now where’s Brianna? I need to see her and get this whole farce over with.”
Nate snorted. “Why? Did you leave a bunch of mutant superheroes cooking back at the lab?”
“Are you going to take me to Brianna, or should I have my guards find her? I can’t promise what will happen to your aliens while they look.”
Sighing, Nate motioned with a hand. “Come with me, Dr. Bad Ass. Let me escort you to see your family.”
“Don’t patronize me, Nathaniel. My parents are dead. Those impostors, whatever vat they were cooked in, are not my family,” Sheena said tightly. She looked sideways and gave him a hard stare. “I came only for Brianna. I don’t want to see the Frankenstein monsters your gene hacking created out of fallible McNamara DNA.”
“Sheena, stop it,” Nate ordered, physically halting their forward motion which forced her to stop beside him. He met her glare. “The rejuvenated matchmakers not monsters and I didn’t create them. They’re merely another version of your parents—one I’m unable to explain at the moment—but I swear this particular Angus and Erin are as individually unique as any other human on this planet. If you want to see their DNA profiles, I’ll share them so you can see they’re not clones… at least not in the typical sense. And if we find Brianna, chances are you’re going to have to deal with them. Your sister practically lives in their quarters.”
“Using her grieving to support your agenda is just another good reason for me to be angry with you,” Sheena declared. “Brianna was devastated when our parents both died… and yes, we both know they really did die. Now take me to her.”
Nodding, Nate turned and started walking. He chastised himself for the knot of anguish in his gut. What had he expected? Their disagreements were a century old and yet not even a tiny bit lessened in intensity. All that passion once had a much healthier expression between them. He’d ended her willingness to compromise when he’d accepted the admiral position on the airship. Or at least it had been the beginning of the end.
Lots of marriages ended over work. Lots of spouses regretted it afterwards. He had deeply been sorry that Sheena had disapproved of his acceptance of the position, but he’d had to do what he felt was necessary. When she’d left, he’d let her go without a terrible battle. There had been no other choice.
Until he’d seen her again, Nate had realized how much he’d hoped the passage of time and some additional maturity would have put their animosity to rest. Instead, it seemed like it might take another century or two before Sheena could even speak to him civilly. Thanks to her genetic discoveries, it ironically appeared that their lives would probably last that long.
They stopped in front of Brianna’s door. He made himself look at her again. The urge to hug her and reassure her things would work out for the best was so strong he could barely fight the urge. He locked his arms at his sides to keep from reaching out.
“Brianna went with Erin to the matchmaking office in the women’s common area. You can wait here in her quarters. I’ll send Darcone to escort her back. Angus and Erin’s quarters are next door. You’re going to want to remain here in Brianna’s if you truly plan to avoid them.”
“Darcone?” Sheena asked, ignoring what she didn’t want to discuss. “He’s still around?”
Nate nodded. “Yes. I think he’s given up anyone choosing him, but he’s stayed anyway. You don’t know what optimism is until you see how many of the aliens choose to remain in the program despite no one choosing to mate them.”
“After all this time, I’m surprised you didn’t just force some poor female to go with Darcone.”
Nate’s sigh was long and loud. “We don’t do that, Sheena. Your parents wouldn’t allow it. That was only done in the beginning which was over four damn centuries ago.”
Sheena pushed open the d
oor. “I know about the five year deadline. Don’t lie to me, Nate. This whole situation is just as fucked up as it was when it started. You, your mother, and the Guardians see these poor women who come to you for help as commodities. I’m sure telling yourself you’re helping them lets you sleep at night, but it doesn’t change the fact that you’re buying planetary peace at the expense of bartering human females.”
“The mating alliances keep New Earth safe,” Nate argued.
Sheena shook her head. “There are a lot of us who think the price is too high. One day, you and people like you, are going to have to deal with us.”
She pointed to the room and all four of her guards went inside. Sheena looked back at the man who had broken her heart. Nothing about him… absolutely nothing… had changed. Nate was just as handsome and just as hard-hearted as the day she’d left.
“We never did agree on this subject and we never will. Further argument will not gain either of us any ground. Thanks for letting me come here to help my sister. After I talk to Brianna, I’ll let you know what I work out.”
Nate sighed as the door closed behind the most frustrating woman he’d ever known. Knowing he still desired Sheena after all this time, and after all the hateful things she’d said to him, made him doubt his sanity. Giving in to McNamara Madness could too easily lead to him doubting every decision he’d ever made.
Starting with the one where he let Sheena MacNamara walk out of his life a hundred years ago.
“I can’t believe Sheena is here,” Bri said flatly, sighing over the future fight she knew waited for her in her quarters.
“Sheena… alone in your room,” Darcone said, matching her tone.
Brianna looked up at him while they walked. “You talk much better than you give yourself credit for doing.”
Feeling obstinate, and wanting to slow him down, she looped her arm through Darcone’s and dragged him to a near stop. “Please… don’t rush our walk there. I need time to think about what I want to say to her.”
His nod had her sighing again. Sheena was going to try and get her to leave. But she wasn’t ready to leave. The Erin and Angus clones needed her. Plus, this was the safest she’d felt in a very long time. Being here was a true vacation from her formerly dangerous life.
She tightened her grip on Darcone and felt him look down at her breast now resting against his arm. “Sorry,” she said, easing away a little.
She was stunned when Darcone stopped completely and pulled her to a stop as well. She kept forgetting how strong he was.
“You fear her?” he asked.
His hand lifted and held her chin so she was forced to hold his gaze.
“Afraid of Sheena? No. But am I afraid of leaving the airship? Yes.”
“Stay. All okay then,” he said with a shrug.
Bri chuckled at his simple advice and missed his fingers when they dropped away. Darcone was the strangest mix of gentleman and fierce warrior. He made her feel safe. He’d always made her feel that way. Next to her parents, the alien in front of her was the only person who seemed to accept her for what she truly was.
They stopped again outside her door and Bri sighed heavily. She pulled her arm from Darcone’s. “Thanks for listening to me whine. I promise to behave with Sheena if you’ll wait and walk me back to Erin after.”
She grinned when all she got was a shrug for an answer. What if she left with Sheena and didn’t see Darcone again for another gazillion years. Sighing, she shook her head and her strangely sentimental attachment to the alien away. She stared at the door to her quarters with six kinds of dread growing inside her.
“Bri-an-a.”
“What?” Her head whipped back to the male still at her side. Darcone had called her many things in the time she’d known him—mostly in his own language—but never had he said her actual name. Not until today.
His head dipped quickly and his full lips brushed hers before she could process what was happening. Her mouth was still tingling from pleasurable shock when his hand opened her door and shoved her roughly inside. She heard the door click and lock firmly behind her.
Now she stared from the opposite side of it, glaring as reality sank in. Coward. Fucking kiss and run alien coward. Her flat palm hit the door with all the vicious frustration she was feeling. She was over eighty, damn it. Why did he still treat her like a child?
“You cowardly bastard!” she yelled. Her eyes narrowed to angry slits when she heard Darcone growl in warning from the other side. Everything south of her waist starting aching. What the hell was happening to her? She wanted to know. “Open this damn door, you growling piece of shit. You and I need to talk.”
She turned a furious glare to her chuckling sister and stalked to the sofa where Sheena calmly sat.
“Has nothing changed in the last century? You and Darcone still get along about as well as Nate and I do.”
Bri snorted as she fell into a chair. “I can’t believe the alien bastard just did that.”
“Did what?” Sheena asked.
Bri studied her sister. Sheena was now digging around in her medical satchel and only half listening. No matter what she said at this point, her sister wouldn’t take it in, or understand. Sheena had given up the better part of herself when she’d left Nate.
“That growling bastard said my name for the first time ever.” And just before he made her tingle in places that hadn’t tingled in a good long while. However, she wasn’t about to brag to her man-hating sister about her first ever alien kiss, especially from the alien she’d secretly crushed on for years. Sheena wouldn’t react well.
Her sister chuckled. “Darcone said your name? Really, Bri. Just because you look twenty doesn’t mean you can’t act like you’re eighty once in a while. I know you’ve had to mature at least a little in all those years.”
Bri rolled her eyes at the chastisement. “Did you come here and face down a man you hate just to lecture me on acting mature? Carleton and Elsa have taken over for Mom and Dad in that area. You don’t have to fill their shoes, Sheena.”
Sheena snorted. “No. I didn’t come here to lecture you. I came here to save your ass. Hold out your damn arm.”
“No. I don’t trust your science any more. Look at me. I look like a frigging child,” Bri said, distrustful of the determination in Sheena’s gaze. She pulled her arms up and held them out of her mad scientist sister’s easy reach.
Sheena held up a biomedical delivery instrument. “When you’re two hundred and still look thirty, you’ll be thanking me. Now hand me your damn arm. I’ve programmed nanos to seek out and neutralize the bionetics tracers you were shot with. It works on all known kinds.”
“Have you tested it on a human yet?” Bri demanded.
“No, but things went very well in the lab simulations.”
Bri snorted. “Get the hell away from me, Dr. McNamara. I am not a damn simulation.”
“I know. That’s why I spent the last three days looking for any anomalies. I found none. Now give me your arm, Brianna. No sister of mine is going to have to sell herself to some fucking alien just to keep living.”
“That’s better than being internally disassembled by nanos run amok. I’ve seen that happen,” Bri argued.
Sheena sighed aloud. There was no need to hide her weaknesses from Brianna. They knew all there was to know about each other… good and bad. “As soon as the bionetics tracers are neutralized, the nanos will attach themselves to the genetic remains and be flushed out of your system where they will die without leaving a trace.”
Bri hated having a genius for a sister. She could feel herself weakening the more Sheena talked. Only her family members ever had this much control over her.
“Okay, but letting you do this doesn’t mean I’m coming to work for your alliance of rebels,” Bri said firmly.
Sheena nodded. “Understood.” She scooted down the sofa until she could reach her sister. “Arm, Bri.”
Sighing louder than her sister had, Bri reluctantly held out her a
rm. The multiple needles hidden in the delivery device punctured her so rapidly that pain receptors in her brain had no time to report it. The cure felt exactly the same as being tagged with over a hundred bionetic darts at once. God only knew how many credits the nanos now inside her had cost Sheena to create.
Bri watched her sister carefully repackage the delivery device and return it to her satchel. She was not surprised that it wouldn’t be going into the recycler. Sheena was very careful with what she created.
“If your body’s reaction follows the simulation closely, you should be free of the bionetic traces tomorrow. You might need a bit of extra rest when those nanos start flushing that crap out of you.”
Bri nodded. “Thanks. I guess.”
“As for the job offer I also brought with me, it wouldn’t hurt you to talk to some of our people. You don’t have to work for Nate’s mother. The Province rulers aren’t the only ones serving the Guardians. It’s time you looked at the bigger picture and at your full range of choices. If you’re going to risk your life on a daily basis, at least do it for someone who has the actual good of this planet as a motivation.”
Bri shook her head and rose. She and Sheena were worlds apart in their political views. She went to the kitchen and made herself a stimulant drink. She hated being reliant on chemicals, but it was better than Sheena whisking her away on some trumped up sick clause. She grabbed a bottle of oxygenated water for her sister.
Bri sat, sipped her drink, and then looked her sister full in the face. “Even if I was interested, which I’m not, frankly I don’t want to leave this airship yet. I like I it here.”
Sheena lifted her hand and pointed at Brianna’s neck. “You’re a prisoner. Don’t think I didn’t notice the restraint collar and cuffs.”
“They match my jewelry… and I volunteered to wear them. Nate doesn’t trust me.”
Matchmaker Abduction: Aliens In Kilts, Abduction 1 Page 20
