“If you are feeling poorly from transport, sit.”
I spun about to see three men in the room. How the hell had I missed them? I gulped and put a hand on my heart to try to keep it from beating out of my chest. No, they weren’t men…exactly. They looked nothing like men from Earth. They weren’t any aliens I recognized either, nor were they the same as the guy who’d put the transport thingie on me.
Remembering it, I peeled it off my shoulder, wincing as it stuck to my skin. It was worse than a super-glued bandage on inch long hair. I was afraid it was going to take the top layer of my skin with it, but decided it was like a Band-Aid, and I ripped it off, hissing out a breath with the sting. I gripped it in my fist, thinking I might need it to get out of wherever I was. If it got me here, it could get me away.
The three stood next to a glass window about as tall as Rezzer but twice as long. No, not a window. More like a sliding door made out of one-way glass. I had a feeling whoever was on the other side could see me, but I couldn’t see them. No natural light came through anywhere, and I had no idea if it was day or night, had no idea of the time. I could have been a mile underground or ten thousand miles out in space. I probably was. All I knew was that I didn’t feel like I was on the Colony anymore.
“Come. You must recover from transport.” The middle alien was taller than the other two, his skin a deep, matte blue that I’d never seen before outside of the sci-fi romance section of one of my favorite e-book series. He had a weird hook-like thing coming out of the back of his head that seemed to connect into his spine somehow. He was just…strange. But then, with so many worlds in the Fleet, and me having met a total of four or five of the alien races, I imagined there was a lot of strange out here in deep space that I had yet to see. Still, I wasn’t really interested in learning about other alien races now. I wanted to be back in my quarters on the Colony. With Rezzer.
“Who are you? Where am I?” I asked.
“I am Nexus 4. A medical unit. Come. You are dizzy.” He held out his blue hand to me, and even though I ignored it—he wasn’t quite as automated as the Trion man who’d gotten me into this mess in the first place—I did walk closer to the glass, more from curiosity than anything else. None of them made any threatening moves. The situation had become almost dreamlike. Surreal.
I approached the glass, and they remained motionless as my reflection stared back at me in the smooth surface. When I placed my palm flat against it, it felt as cold as a car windshield during a New York winter. I yanked my hand back, the outline clear where the heat of my palm had caused a change in the surface.
Whatever I’d done must have worked because the glass slid to the side, and I gasped, wrapped my arms around my stomach and backed right into Nexus 4. His hands came down on my shoulders like iron fists, and my fear came roaring back full force as I stared at a medical exam room, complete with an exam table…and stirrups.
I shivered at the touch, cringed at what I was seeing. “No way. I’m not going in there.”
“It is necessary to check on the health of the baby after transport.” The alien on my right pointed to the exam table. Clinical space with gray walls, gray floor. The lighting came from the ceiling but without any fixtures. If I weren’t already in space, this room would make me believe in aliens.
So would the triplets surrounding me. Not triplets by birth, for they looked nothing alike. The one on the right had pale hair, yellow skin. The left guy had hair as dark as mine and a strong, square jaw. And then there was the blue alien who held my shoulders.
Different. But the one thing they all had in common were the Hive integrations I recognized from those I’d met on the Colony. But these three didn’t have the odd patch of skin here, a silver eye there. No. At least a half of their exposed skin was covered with metal. Bionic parts. Eyes, ears, neck, hands. Artificial, looping spines.
“I’m fine,” I murmured, but moved away from them. “The baby is fine.” Since they were blocking my path, I was only moving farther into the room.
“We will determine the health of the child.” The blue one seemed to be the leader of the triplets since he answered me. Again.
“Where am I?” I asked.
Silence.
“Why am I here?” I looked frantically from one to another, then back at the large blue creature standing almost protectively near me. The other two seemed to be under his control, which shouldn’t have made me feel any better, but somehow, it did.
“Because you are having a Hive baby.”
My gaze lifted to his, and the shock was like a hit of the best drug I could ever imagine taking. My mind just…stopped.
My hand remained on my belly out of instinct, although if these three wanted to do me harm, nothing was going to stop them. I had no weapons. Glancing around the room, there were no sharp objects, no way to hide and nothing to use as a shield.
“A…a Hive baby?” I asked, a laugh escaping. That was ridiculous.
The guy on the right went to a wall and retrieved a now familiar wand. When the red light came on, I knew it was the same one the doctor had used on the Colony to confirm I was pregnant.
“We will approach you now to confirm the baby survived transport.”
My heart lurched at his harsh words. Did he think it—the baby—wouldn’t? Oh god.
I nodded at him to proceed because I needed to know the answer. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have let him near me, at least with my consent. I held perfectly still as the blue alien’s minion stepped close and waved the wand over my abdomen.
Nexus 4 watched without blinking, his entire body covered in a dark silver and gray armor I’d never seen before. He wasn’t quite as big as the other two, who I’d figured out were both Prillon warriors underneath all that silver, but he stared, and I blinked. Hard. Tried to shake off a feeling of acceptance and well-being.
The longer I looked into Nexus 4’s eyes, the more I forgot to be afraid. Forgot who I was. Why I should resist…
“Confirmed. The child survives intact.”
Nexus 4 looked away from me when the other alien made his proclamation. I nearly sagged in relief at the knowledge that the baby was all right—and that he’d broken eye contact. Was he a hypnotist? God, what was Nexus 4? I glanced at the exam table. The stirrups. The strange glowing circuits in my hospital gown. “Is this a hospital? What are you going to do with me?”