Pushing up first on my elbows, then up to a sitting position, I took in the doctor as I wrapped the blanket around my back. Seeing my struggle, Ryston assisted in covering me, his gaze flicking once to the doctor. He wore a dark green uniform, more like scrubs than armor. His coloring was golden, more like Ryston than Maxim, but darker. Like honey mixed with a dash of cinnamon. I couldn’t see all of his body, but his left hand was strangely silver, just like Ryston’s temple. That was the only thing I could see that was cyborg. Maybe he had more under that shirt, but I didn’t care to see it. The only aliens I was interested in seeing naked were mine.
The doctor held a strange instrument in each of his hands, lifted one and waved it before me. Lights glowed on the cylindrical tube and he studied them.
“What does your magic wand do, doctor? Can it detect vascular changes, blood oxygen levels? Just the usual vitals?” I asked. “Of course, I don’t know what you guys consider vital.”
He arched one brow.
“This tool analyzes everything from your capillary refill to your kidney function. If there is an abnormality, it will inform me. Then I will perform secondary testing.”
A reasonable answer. As he continued to wave that stick around, Maxim and Ryston eyed me as if I might either leap off the table and run away or possibly implode from transport. I could sense their worry, but didn’t understand the cause. Was I missing something? I looked down at myself. What had been part of the transport processing? What about me had to be modified to live on the colony? To be a Prillon bride? Lifting my hand to my face, I felt to see if I had a metal implant in my eye.
“Are you hurt?” Maxim asked. The doctor lifted the wand to my face.
I shook my head. “No. I just wondered…wondered what had been done to me before transport. Did I get some silver stuff, too?”
“No. Absolutely not. No Hive implant will ever taint your perfect flesh. I assure you. We will keep you safe from the Hive, from any harm that may come to you.”
The doctor cleared his throat. “Greetings. I am Doctor Surnen.”
“Doctor.” It wasn’t, perhaps, what I was supposed to say, but sitting there naked with three aliens was making me a bit edgy.
The doctor continued with his weird scanning thing as he spoke. “A typical Prillon bride receives body regulatory implants and a full health assessment prior to arrival.”
“Body regulatory implants?” What. The. Hell.
Doctor Surnen turned a slightly darker shade of gold and I wondered if he was blushing? Seriously? Had he never seen a girl before? What, exactly, had they done to me before I woke?
“Microscopic implants have been inserted into all excretory cavities. They will be in constant communication with our system and eliminate all body waste as it is created via transport. All matter is collected and reassigned in our Spontaneous Matter Generators. We call them S-Gen units. I’m sure your mates will show you how to use them once you are in your quarters.”
Speechless. That was the only word I had. Had he just said what I thought he said? “So, I never have to empty my bowel or bladder again? Ever?”
The doctor nodded, his shoulders slumping in obvious relief that I’d understood. “Correct. So long as you remain within transmission distance of our systems, here, on the Colony, on Prillon Prime, or in one of our battleship groups.”
I didn’t know what to think. As a scientist, I was impressed. The technology he referenced was so far advanced from what could be done on Earth that my mind was thinking of that and not the ick factor I should consider.
But that thought fled my mind when the doctor traded implements and said, “Lie back, put your feet on the edge of the table and part your legs.”
He held up an object that looked like a dildo with a couple of things sticking off. I had a B.O.B, a battery operated boyfriend, in my bedside drawer. What single woman didn’t? That didn’t mean I wanted to have one used on me under the guise of medical science. With a lover, sure. If Maxim or Ryston had said the same command, I might have actually done their bidding just to see what kind of kinky fun might happen next, but not with the damn doctor.
I did exactly the opposite, squeezing my knees together. “I don’t think so.”
The doctor repeated his words.
“From your testing, you probably discovered that my hearing and brain function is fine,” I countered. “The answer is still no.”
His lips thinned into a line and he glanced at Maxim and Ryston.
“They may be my mates, but they don’t have any say. My body, my choice.”
“Is that Earth terminology?” he countered.
“Explain to me, in Prillon terminology, why you need to stick that probe in me.”