Sheena snorted. "Genetically impossible. They'd be more like our children."
Bri held her hands wide. "That's what I told them. They just laughed at me."
"For all we know, Nate and his gene hackers used some of our fucking DNA to make them. The Guardians do a lot of things they outlaw for the rest of us."
Bri shrugged. "You look like her … or Erin looks like you. Take your pick. You really should meet them and see for yourself. Whatever they are, they're amazing."
"What I'd really like to do is test their DNA," Sheena said, deciding that was the only way to put her mind at rest on the matter. She told herself it was necessary in order to protect her sister. "If you stay, some alien is going to abscond with you and turn you into his fucking baby maker. I can't live with that, Bri. How the hell can you?"
Bri's eyes went wide and then she laughed. "Well the fucking part sounds pretty good if you want the truth. I haven't had time for a relationship of any sort in about a decade. I slept with a target once, but don't worry, I let someone else take him out. I'm not that cold yet."
"Must you be so callous?" Sheena demanded.
Bri chuckled. "Your disgust is kind of ironic for a woman who only dates married men."
"They all have open marriages. I check before I sleep with them," Sheena declared.
Bri chuckled again and rolled her eyes. "I don't see how sleeping with a target who's going to die is any worse. It's not like I've ever found anything close to a happy ever after. At least you had one of those for a while."
Sheena sighed and hung her head.
Bri set her cup on the table and sighed too. "Shit. I'm sorry, Sheena. That was too mean, even for me."
Sheena waved the apology off. "No. It's okay. Seeing Nate brought the whole thing up again for me anyway. He was always married way more to this blasted airship than he ever was to me. I couldn't help being jealous of the fact. Once he got permanently attached to this floating can, I was no longer important to him. Neither was our twenty three years together, so I'm not sure my relationship to him counts as anything close to a happily ever after scenario."
Bri frowned as she shrugged. "Then how much worse off am I going to be with an alien? At least they value the women they get. That's more than I've gotten from any New Earth man. Sheena … " She leaned forward until her sister met her eyes. "Coming here was a mature decision for me. Even if your nanos remove the bionetic tracers, I'm tired of doing other people's dirty work. No one is going to let me move to the mountains and start weaving baskets. I'd be dead in a year if I left what I was doing. We both know that."
"Bri," Sheena said, reaching out her hand. When her sister took it, she closed her eyes. "You're all I have left in this world that I care about other than Carleton and Elsa."
Bri tightened her grip on her sister's fingers. "I feel the same way. So help the new matchmakers change the rules before I have to choose my mate. The new Angus and Erin are stirring shit up and getting by with it. I don't know why Nate is afraid of them, but he is. And Sheena … they're both honest, good people. They're a lot like Mom and Dad, except they don't get along as well."
Sheena snickered. "You mean they weren't programmed to be legendary lovers?"
Bri snorted and let go. "No. They bicker over everything, but it seems to be healthy conflict. I think something must have gone wrong in vitro though. Their speech has reverted to accents that haven't been heard on this planet in thousands of years. I find it charming, but strange because speech patterns are a learned behavior. I suppose they could simply be imitating something in their subconscious wiring, but by hearing what? I have a trained ear and their voices sound completely authentic-like they've been speaking that way all their lives."
"Well, that's a short period considering Mom died not too long ago." Sheena blew out a breath. "Fine. You're right. I should meet them. If they've got you so confused, then I see no other choice."
Bri smiled and leaned back in her chair. "If you want to test their DNA, just ask. They'll probably go along with it just to put you at ease. But expect a lot of questions. They're rather innocent about the world at the moment. Guess that was something else that didn't get done correctly when they were cooking."
Sheena rolled her eyes. "Cooking? That's what Nate said earlier. You know I hate that analogy. Sometimes you're just as naïve as you look, Bri. How did you ever survive as an agent?"