Enhanced: Brides of the Kindred 12 (The Brides of the Kindred) (29 page)

Her choice was illuminated in gold and
then the screen went blank for a moment. When it came back on again, it showed
an eerie underwater scene, filled with tall black plants swaying in an unseen
current and oddly shaped, brightly colored creatures with long, thin spines
like sea anemones with legs climbing among their leaves. The water was pale
purple and very clear. Staring straight at the screen, Mei-Li almost felt like
she was really there.

But after a few minutes of staring at the
alien oceanscape, the novelty wore off. What was the point of getting strapped
into a huge metal suit just to watch what was essentially a really cool screen
saver? Was something else supposed to happen or was she just supposed to marvel
at the alien wonders?

She was about to say the password and
switch to another program when Ter spoke up.

“If you wish to move around in the nature
emulator, you have to actually
move,”
he said, sounding decidedly
snarky. “Are all your species lacking in intelligence or are you an anomaly
among them?”

“Hey, you’re
this
close to being
dismantled,” Mei-Li was getting really fed up with the nasty voice. “Or maybe
replaced. I could tell Six to get someone a lot nicer to assist him. Maybe a
nice female artificial intelligence—this place could use a feminine touch.”

Ter, wisely, didn’t respond and after a
moment, she decided to move as he had said. She took a step and found that the
scene in front of her moved forward, but not very much. Another step had a
similarly disappointing effect. Then it occurred to her that since she was
supposed to be in the ocean, maybe she ought to act like it. Taking a deep
breath, she brought out her arms and mimed a swimming motion.

There was a soft
wooshing
sound in
her ears and suddenly she found herself being propelled forward at a much
faster rate. She got into it further, leaning forward and using her legs to
kick which was possible since the cube’s metal frame supported her free of the
ground. Soon she was swimming along, exploring the underwater depths of the
alien sea, and feeling truly immersed in the experience.

This is awesome! And
I bet it’s great exercise,
she thought as she
cruised along.
Too bad they don’t have something like this at my gym! I’d go
all the time if I could—

Her thoughts were cut off by a huge shape,
looming in the stygian shadows. Mei-Li watched it uneasily, wondering what in
the world it could be. As it drew closer, the creature turned to one side and
she saw a cluster of flashing yellow eyes on its forehead. Then it opened its
mouth, revealing three rows of razor sharp teeth, all of them as long as her
forearm.

“Oh my God! End Program,” Mei-Li babbled.
“Um, stop. Cease. Desist. Off!”

None of it did any good. The huge creature
with the flashing eyes and huge teeth was getting closer and closer…

“Kaylee!” she gasped at last, remembering
the password.

At once the screen flickered and went back
to its original list of programs.

“My, my…
that
was a bit too close for
comfort.” Ter’s disembodied voice sounded insufferably smug this time. “Six
always kills the
merlock
fish with a single blow and goes on from there.
But I suppose it was a bit beyond your skill level?”

“Shut up,” Mei-Li muttered. Really, there
was no point in fighting with a machine. It was just a stupid waste of time.
She decided to peruse the list of options and find a new game to play. “Let’s
try…The Winds of Annorr,” she said aloud.

Before she knew it, she was flying. Or
rather, falling. The screen showed a pale green sky filled with purple clouds
and she could hear the air rushing past her ears as a blue ground loomed up
below.

“Oh, no!” she gasped. Instinctively, she
spread her arms and to her relief, her fall slowed somewhat. Getting the idea,
Mei-Li began to flap her arms like wings. Soon she was soaring above the purple
clouds like a bird, laughing exuberantly at her freedom.

The program was so real, she completely
lost herself in it. There was even a wind rushing out of the screen that blew
back her hair and fanned her face with a delicious, alien scent she couldn’t
describe. Really, it was absolutely amazing.

But even flying got old after a while.
Also tiring. She had been right about the nature emulator being great
exercise—she could tell she was really going to feel everything she had done
today in her muscles tomorrow. Still, it was a lot of fun and there wasn’t much
else to do while Six was gone. Maybe she could find a nice slow program? One
that let her walk calmly through a soothing meadow or explore a lovely forest?

“Kaylee,” she said again and the green sky
and purple clouds disappeared to be replaced by the list of programs. Mei-Li
read through them rapidly.

“Ximboth Cliffs, Mariz Heights—no,
those sound like mountain climbing programs. Baroth Triple Challenge—have no
idea what that is, some kind of Kindred triathlon? The Burden of Chanex? No,
sounds like some kind of weight lifting.”

It was clear to see why Six was in such
amazing shape but she was beginning to wonder if he used his nature emulator
for anything but intense workouts. Wasn’t there even
one
tiny little
relaxation program on this sci-fi exercise thing? Where was the Paladin’s
Pilates or Yoda’s Yoga?
Downward Dog we will do…
Mei-Li snickered to
herself. Right.

Then, just as she was deciding to give up
and go play with the simulator in the kitchen, a final program on the list
caught her eye. It was simply entitled
Memory Cache.

“Memories, huh?” Mei-Li muttered to
herself. “Now
that’s
intriguing.” But she hesitated. Yipper had hinted
that Six had a tragedy in his past. She didn’t want to pry into his business—it
was rude and sneaky, not to mention downright unethical. Like reading someone’s
diary but far worse.

Still, it might help
me get to know Six better if I had an idea of what happened to him in the past,
she argued with herself.
Think of it as
research. How can I help him if I don’t know his case history?

But Six was not one of her clients—he
wasn’t a frightened child who had been traumatized or abused. He was a grown
man—well, a grown Kindred. He hadn’t asked for her help and he didn’t need it.
He had locked these memories away for some reason and he hadn’t appeared to
want to tell that reason to her. This part of him was private—not to be
tampered with or violated.

Reluctantly, Mei-Li decided she’d better
not play the
Memories
program.

"Okay," she muttered to herself.
"Memory Cache sounds cool but I guess I'd better move on to something
else." She was about to hit the red release button to get out of the
harness when the word
Memory Cache
flickered and turned gold.

“Hey—hey, wait, no,” Mei-Li protested,
frowning at the screen. “I didn't mean—”

But the words died on her lips as she saw
the scene begin.

The huge screen showed what looked like
the inside of a spaceship. At least, she could see a bank of controls and a
viewscreen that showed the blackness of space and a sprinkling of distant
stars. A man was sitting at the controls—or rather, a Kindred. Mei-Li could
only see his back but he was large and muscular enough that she was sure she
was right.

The Kindred turned his head, showing a
profile not unlike Six’s though his hair was several shades lighter and his
eyes were green instead of gray.

“Come up here, son. I’ll show you the
docking procedure for a deep space port.” He was speaking in a language that
was obviously foreign but thanks to her translation bacteria, Mei-Li understood
it just fine.

“Will you really? Mamere won’t mind?” The
voice that replied in the same language was very familiar—it sounded like Six
but without his bass rumble. Higher—like a boy in the first stages of
adolescence.

“You’re old enough to learn,” the Kindred
father said firmly, patting the co-captain’s chair beside him. “Come on. I
won’t let you crash us.”

“Thanks, Pere.” The boy came forward
eagerly—or at least, Mei-Li was pretty sure he did because the scene shifted
closer to the father. It was like she was riding in the boy’s head and looking
out of his eyes.

Oh, right—because
this is Six’s memory. So I’m seeing what he saw when it happened,
Mei-Li realized. She also realized that she ought to stop
the program right now—what she was doing was an invasion of privacy. But she
couldn’t help wanting to watch just a little more, if only to possibly catch a
glimpse of what Six had looked like when he was younger, before life on Z4 had
hardened him.
Just one more minute,
she told herself.
Surely that
can’t hurt. Just another minute…

“All right now, look,” the father said,
once the scene had settled again with the boy presumably sitting in the
co-captain’s chair. “The first thing you want to do is check your navriscope.
If it’s clear, you’re safe. If it starts to get darker, you’re running into
trouble and your angle of descent is too steep or too shallow. Go on—check.”

“Yes, Pere.” Obediently, the scene shifted
as the younger Six looked at the instrument his father was pointing out. Mei-Li
bit back a gasp at what she saw in its shiny silver surface.

It was Six—but Six as he must have been years
before she met him. Gone was the enhancement that turned his left eye into a
baleful red searchlight. Instead, he had two calm gray eyes fringed thickly
with black lashes. The hard angle of his jaw was muted in his younger self but
it was clearly just waiting to develop. His thick brown hair was shaggy and
tousled instead of neatly combed back from his high forehead and he was much
smaller than he would someday become.

From her years of experience working with
kids, Mei-Li, judged that this memory must be from the time when he was twelve
or thirteen. Maybe fourteen at the most. Then he glanced away again and the
brief look she’d gotten at his younger face was over.

Okay, I really should
stop watching now—I got to see his face. That was all I wanted.
But though she knew she ought to turn the program off,
somehow she couldn’t bear to stop watching. This glimpse into Six’s younger
life was just too intriguing.
Just one more minute…

“Looks good—all clear,” she heard Six tell
his father. “Now what—fire the thrusters?”

“Smart boy.” The father sounded pleased.
“Yes, if your angle of descent is right and you have a clear view to the
docking berth, you can pulse them
very carefully.”

“I can do that.” The younger Six sounded
confident in his abilities and Mei-Li liked the way his father was guiding him.
There were a few more exchanges as they brought the ship closer to a vast metal
structure that was now looming in the viewscreen—presumably the space station
they were docking with. The father was calm and collected—a really good dad.
And the younger Six seemed to have genuine affection and respect for him as
they worked together.

Mei-Li pursed her lips, analyzing the
scene like the social worker she was. So far, this seemed like a normal,
healthy, functional family and a good memory. Nobody was getting beaten or
molested or verbally abused. So why had Six locked it up? What was so terrible
about it that he couldn’t bear to remember it?

“Why are we stopping at Ligex Station
anyway?” the younger Six asked his father. “We just took on supplies a few
parsecs ago on Chanem.”

“Yes, but Chanem only has practical
things—boring stuff like provisions.” His father raised an eyebrow and grinned.
“Nothing that would make a very good nameday present.”

“You’re docking just for me? To find me
something for my nameday?” The younger Six sounded undeniably excited. Proof
that he’d had plenty of emotions before getting that damn emotion damper he
seemed so proud of, Mei-Li thought dryly.

“Well, it’s not every solar year that a
boy becomes a grown male.” His father smiled. “If we were on the world where I
was raised, there would be a whole ceremony for you to participate in. But
since we’re not—”

“You mean since your mind aligned with a
female from Terga who has the wanderlust in her blood,” a new voice said. “And
you bonded with her to become a vagabond trader.”

The scene shifted again as the younger Six
turned to look at his mother. She was a tall woman with beautiful gray eyes,
the same color as his. Long dark hair hung down past her shoulders.

“You know there’s no place I’d rather be
than wandering the universe with you, Isla.” The father was looking at her with
love and affection in his eyes. Clearly it was a happy union.

“Hi, Mamere. Pere is teaching me how to
dock,” the younger Six said. There was a note of uncertainty in his voice, as
though he wasn’t certain she would approve.

“Then he must think you’re ready.” His
mother came forward and put a slim hand on his shoulder. “My big, grown-up son.
I remember when you were just a baby…” She sighed and there was both pride and
a sweet kind of nostalgia in her eyes.