Page 28 of Instinct for Disaster

Morna looked her over. “No metal?”

“No. Just leather and fabric.”

“Step into my parlour.” Morna smiled, and when Cassandra was in place, she focused and held her breath when requested.

The thumping of the scanner and light that pierced her was something she had gotten used to. When it went silence, and she heard the door open, she opened her eyes and put her hand in Yasku’s. He helped her out of the scanner while Morna stared at the readouts.

“Auntie. Oh my god. You were nearly cut in half.”

Cassandra bent to pull her boots on. “Yeah, it wasn’t a great day. The rescue call cost me three weeks of profits. The medical treatment cost two months more.” She chuckled. “Of course, I sued the miner ahead of me, so I recouped most of the costs. It took a while, though.”

She straightened and looked toward the monitor where the conclusions were displayed. Well, she would have if Yasku’s wings weren’t blocking her.

Yasku pointed at something, and Morna said, “It is one hundred fifty times what is considered acceptable, but she is at seventy-five percent of her tolerance.”

“What is this? Your species is not standard like this?”

“No. Those are replacement organs. Backups. I have never seen anything like this before. It’s odd. We are born with all the eggs we can ever use, but she has an extra ovary right here. Extra tube and everything. If this were back on earth, I would be submitting her for study.”

Yasku chuckled. “I am going to study carefully.”

“Can you let me know your findings?”

“Certainly.”

Cassandra said, “Hey! What do you mean extra ovary?”

Morna said, “You have grown an extra ovary and an extra kidney. Congratulations.”

“Are my others damaged?”

“No. They are fine. This is just an addition.” Morna murmured, “They seem to be operating just fine.”

“Well, that is just perplexing. I didn’t have extras when I left Earth.”

Morna looked at her tablet, and Yasku took it and tapped with his fingers. “There. Now I can peruse the results.”

Morna looked at Cassandra. “What happened?”

“A roof collapsed on me in a zero-atmosphere mining facility. I was lucky I had grabbed an extra oxygen source before I was pinned. It took an hour before the emergency crew arrived.”

Yasku glanced at her. “That was where we picked you up?”

“Correct.”

“I will gain all of your records from there as well.”

“Why?”

Yasku smiled. “You are my new hobby, kit. I want to learn everything about you.”

“How long do your hobbies last?”

He handed the tablet to Morna and cupped Cassandra’s hips in his palms. “Centuries.”

He pulled her against him, and she stared up at him, setting down the dagger she had been lashing to her forearm. “I thought you had patience, and you were waiting?”

“That was before I tasted you, and there was no fear but rich curls of pleasure. You taste wonderful, and you feel even better.”

---