***
"You said two hours. It's been four."
Beijing's anger sliced into the softness billowing around Nell. She floated on clouds of nothing. Heaven wasn't such a bad place. Although, she really never expected clouds. Would she see angels and hear harps next? All she wanted was Beijing. He had to be close if she could hear him.
"She's been through a trauma and I'll remind you again, I've never done this before." Impatience clipped the consonants in Doc's reply.
Doc? What was he doing here? Nell's chest tightened. Had he died too? No. Only she and Beijing had gone over that cliff. Unless? She opened her eyes. Her gaze drifted down the white ceiling to the billowing curtains and the shadows stretched across her bed. "Beijing?"
Metal rasped against metal as the curtain parted. Beijing stared at her with a goofy smile on his face. "You're awake."
She felt an answering grin. God, he looked good, and healthy, and alive. Alive? Her chest filled with lead.
"You saved me?" Nell gripped the blankets. Vaguely she noticed that once again, she'd woken up naked. But naked was good with Beijing around.
"Yes." He strode forward and reached for her.
She reared back into the soft mattress. Yes? What kind of answer was that? "I can't live like this. I won't be a slave to some alien's programming."
"You won't have to." Doc flashed his palm at her and a green beam washed over her.
Nell frowned as hope unfurled inside her. "But you said?"
"That was before you jumped over a cliff." Bei caught her hand and raised it to his lips.
Her heart raged from the brush of his lips against her palm and her skin tingled. She still wanted him. But how did she know it was really her and not the brain controller's manipulation?
Doc cleared his throat and silenced the alarms caused by her racing heart. "You cracked your head on a tree, which shattered the alien cerebral interface. Using sonic waves, I was able to break up the excess skull material and remove it."
"I'm free." Nell's body temperature soared as Bei kissed the inside of her wrist and sucked gently at the veins there. If what Doc said was true, her desire was, well, hers. With her free hand, she cupped Bei's head. His short black hair sprang under her touch.
Bei raised his head and lust blazed in his blue eyes. "Not quite."
Doc smoothed his uniform and backed away from the bed. "Your body had grown so dependent on it that I had to replace it with a modified Syn-En interface."
Nell touched her hand to the back of her head. Under her hair, she felt a small ridge but nothing else. "I don't feel any different."
Although, the mother/conscience voice remained silent.
"And you won't." Doc reached for the curtain. "It's designed to make sure everything works, but cannot interface with anything outside of your body."
"No more alien puppet master or voice in my head?" She glanced at Bei.
His gaze was intense yet questioning. "You alone will decide your mate."
Mate? Queasiness riled through her. That brain controller had made her want Alejandro, had made her?
"Am I?" She set her hands over her stomach. Her skin felt clammy and cold.
"No." Doc's smile didn't reach his eyes. "And I've deleted all those eggs. When you're ready, you'll have only human babies."
"Thank God." Nell collapsed against the pillow. Did relief make her a bad person? She wanted babies, just not cricket-legged ones.
Concern rippled across Bei's forehead. Shifting closer, he trailed a knuckled down her cheek. "Do you want me to go so you can rest?"
"No!" She clasped his hand and kissed the back. He was so strong, so sure. He would help her put those memories to rest.
"Well, I'll leave the two of you alone to celebrate." Doc shut the curtain as he left.
"Do you forgive me for saving your life?" Bei slid onto the bed next to her. His weight caused the soft mattress to dip.
Nell scooted over, making room. Resting her head against his chest, she heard the reassuring thud of his heart. "I think it's only fair that our forever lasts longer than five point six seconds."
He stroked her hair before skimming his fingers down her neck to caress her bare shoulder. "Do you want to see our future home?"
"Later." Nell tugged his shirt from his waistband and pushed it up his flat stomach, looking for any changes since she'd last seen it. She'd slept for over a hundred years, traveled across the universe, had become embroiled in an alien plot and still she wouldn't be allowed to rest.
Not with an alien world to settle. And Syn-Ens and civilians to reconcile. And? Nell kissed his nipple while wrestling the shirt over Beijing's head. Her sheet pooled around her waist, but his touch chased away any chill. For now and maybe the next four or five hours, they'd find a home in each other.
The future would still be there when they were ready to face it.
CENTAURI DAWN by Cynthia Woolf