Page 28 of Star Defenders (My Alien Mates 2)

I hadn't seen her approach, but she now stood behind Zarex. "It should only take a keyhole and tube to suction them out."

"Can we do it now?" I said eagerly. I wanted these things gone. The sooner the better.

"I have time now, yes," she replied. "Engineer Slek, please assess the isolation room. Commander Zarex, I will inform you when the procedure is over."

He looked as though he might protest, and truthfully I wanted him to stay and hold my hand. However, I knew he was a busy guy. He'd taken enough time for me as it was.

"All right, Doctor." He was all business now. "Inform me and I'll inform the Captain. Engineer, take the dead bots to engineering and begin your assessment. If you find anything of note, let me know immediately."

Slek stopped with his hand on the keypad beside the iso room door. "Sure thing, Commander," he said with just the slightest hint of respect. Enough not to be rude, but lacking enough to make Zarex snort.

"Nurse Wright," Mazic said in that way people did to let others know they were dismissed and she was taking the conversation back again. "I'll need you to move to the operating room. Luuvor will administer a mild, local anaesthetic."

I grimaced to myself, but rolled off the scanner bed and changed into one of those delightful operating gowns everyone loves so much. I held the back together and climbed onto the operating table, hoping I didn't flash everyone present with a view of my lacy, black panties.

Luuvor, a Centauri who rarely spoke, lifted my gown—flashing everyone anyway— and pressed anaesthetic into my belly with a needle.

I looked up at the ceiling and tried to ignore the sting with each injection. Like most people, I can think of many things I'd rather have stuck into me than a needle. Like—just about anything. I cheered myself with thoughts of thick cocks and double ones, split tongues and hungry mouths. By the time Luuvor was finished, I was ready for a good probing, but not what the doctor had in mind.

She inserted another needle into my belly, this one attached to a long tube and a machine I hadn't seen before. I presumed it supplied the suction.

That assumption was confirmed when she switched it on. The machine hummed for a moment, then made a grinding, sucking sound. Not disconcerting. At. All. Okay, a bit.

Her eyes on a screen, Mazic pressed the needle to my torso and inserted the tip.

"If they are indeed dead, as Engineer Slek suggested, they won't fight their removal," she said. "If that's the case, this shouldn't take too long."

I didn't ask what would happen if Slek was wrong. The tip of the needle was metal. The nanobots would probably munch on it the moment it got close. That idea was discomfiting, to say the least.

"First time dealing with nanobots?" I asked conversationally.

"Indeed. Unlikely to be the last," she said.

"Yeah, I suppose not." Well fuck, that was a cheery thought.

"They're responding to the suction," she said, her tone lacking any expression.

I held back a reflexive flinch. "Responding?"

One eye on the screen, the other on me, she said, "Moving, but not under their own power. They are not resisting the suction." She removed the needle and tapped it on a dish beside her. A lump of black goo slithered out the end.

"That's... more than three," I said.

"Several hundred," Mazic replied. "That's approximately half."

I swallowed back the sick feeling in my stomach. "How many— Never mind." I didn't need to know the total number. "Can you tell how long they've been there?"

"I would suggest they've been in your bloodstream for several weeks." She frowned. "Your body should have purged them by now. Have you felt unwell?"

"No, I've felt fine," I replied.

"I see. They must be designed to have some compatibility with their host, so the body doesn't reject them. However, yours can't give them what they truly needed. Perhaps humans have lower iron in their bodies than Freytaurians, but I am guessing."

That made sense. Something else didn't. "Why not leave me and search for what theydidneed?"

Mazic tapped out a second lump of goo and turned off the suction.

"I cannot answer that. It seems logical to assume they would seek a Freytauri for their host." She rose and snapped off her gloves while Luuvor placed a bandage over the tiny incision.

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