She didn't want to lose him, but damn it all, had she even had him to begin with, or was that just part of the program, too? It was beyond comprehensible that she might have been seduced, her emotions deliberately tied up in knots, all as part of the program or whatever the hell it was these people were trying to accomplish.
"I'm reading higher levels of upset, Dalden. Take her to the massager unit now."
32
BRITTANY HAD NEVER EXPERIENCED ANYTHING QUITE like it. She'd splurged and treated herself to a fifty-dollar massage once, after the Completion of one of the more grueling jobs she'd worked on. She'd had the kinks worked out of her body in a most Painful manner and had come away from that experience thinking that massages sucked, that causing more pain to forget about current pain just didn't work for her. Yet by the next day, all those kinks had been gone. This was nothing like that. This was total, 100 percent relaxation, an absolute pleasure, and she was sorry when the lid finally opened, asking her silently to get out.
She'd been afraid to get into it. It reminded her of a coffin, or more precisely, a sarcophagus, since it was shaped like a body. There were quite a few of them in the large gym, and dozens of other exercise machines that she'd never seen the like of before either. She knew all the current best-of-the-best equipment available, yet nothing in this gym was familiar.
As for the massager, Dalden had assured her that she would enjoy the experience. He also complained that he couldn't demonstrate it for her, since they didn't make them in models long enough to fit him. Last, he assured her that if she wanted out of it before it was finished with her, she need only press up on the lid to have it open.
She'd had no trouble breathing after the top had closed on her, sealing her inside the box. That had really been her main hesitation about getting in. And then hundreds of little rollers and skinpressers moved over her body from head to toe, above and below her, in a gentle, thorough massage. She had felt the tension leaving her body, the stress flowing out with it, felt so utterly loose and relaxed that she wasn't sure she'd be able to stand up.
When she got out she found that Dalden hadn't stuck around for a well-deserved "I told you so." But standing there apparently waiting on her was one of the loveliest women she'd ever encountered in person, the stuff models were made of, a face meant for the front page of magazines. Blonde, amber-eyed, golden-skinned and not quite as tall as Brittany, but taller than average. She was wearing a white one-piece jumpsuit that looked like a uniform and fit like a second skin, in a thin, stretchy material. She was also wearing a very friendly smile, even though her eyes were avidly curious.
Brittany was just as curious, and asked, "Who are you?"
The smile got wider. "My name is Shanelle Van'yer. Dalden didn't mention me?"
Brittany stiffened, ruining a good portion of the work that the massager had just done on her. "No, he didn't. Should he have?"
"I suppose not. I've been dying to meet you, though. I could not believe it when Martha told me that Dalden had chosen his lifemate. And after knowing you for only two days! Such impulsiveness just isn't in his genes.
"You know him well, then?"
"Shanelle, sweetie." Martha's voice interjected from one of the wall monitors across the room. "You might want to take a precautionary step or two back before she socks you one, because she's about as livid with jealousy as a humanoid can get at the moment.
Shanelle merely frowned. "Jealous? Why?"
Martha was quick to answer in one of her drier tones, "Possibly because you didn't make clear that you're a relation of Dalden's rather than a fun-sharing companion."
It was an utter exaggeration that she was livid with jealousy, but it still had Brittany blushing profusely, because she had just experienced some serious, but apparently unwarranted, negative emotion.
"A relation?" she asked.
"His sister, or to be more exact, his twin."
"Sister?" Brittany said hollowly, and her blush got ten times worse.
The beautiful Shanelle gave her a beautiful smile. "His only sibling, for that matter. Our father decided two of us were enough after our mother went through hell having us. Not that it was a really difficult delivery for her, just that they don't deliver babies where she comes from, so it was an experience she couldn't really relate to on any level."
Brittany stared at her. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask for a detailed explanation, but she decided there was no way an explanation was going to make sense.
Instead she said, "I think I'll have another round in this massager."`
"The machine knows when you've had enough, can sense it by the looseness of your muscles, in the same way it senses the tightness, to know which areas need the most work. It won't operate on you again until you need it to work on you. It doesn't operate on want.' In that respect, it's like a meditech unit."
"What's that, a doctor in a box?"
"I know you were being sarcastic there, but that's pretty much exactly what a meditech unit is. It's one of the crowning achievements of Kystrani scientists. They're pretty expensive, so they haven't made the medical profession completely obsolete, since not all planets can afford them. Those that can tend to have one or more units in each town. Most ships also have a unit on them, except for the smaller traders. A battleship like this one would of course have quite a few."
"What exactly are we-you-talking about?" Brittany demanded.
Shanelle frowned. "Martha gave me a Sublim tape on your language. I thought I had it down pat. Wasn't I making sense to you.
"I understood every word. I just don't know what you're talking about."
"The doctor in a box, that ring a bell?"
"That's ridiculous."
"No, it's called a meditech unit."
"Okay, I'll bite for the moment," Brittany said with a sigh. "What's it do?"
"Everything except bring life back-and deliver babies. It does everything a doctor can do, just a whole lot quicker. It accelerates the healing process to such an extent that it's almost instantaneous. It cures disease, mends bones and ripped skin and muscle is so thorough in fixing anything that's abnormal that even old scar tissue gets erased."
"Do you realize what you're describing is nothing short of miraculous?"
Shanelle shrugged. "If it helps, a lot of worlds agree with your rather, disbelieve, just like you. Sha-Ka'an was the same, but it's kinda hard to dispute when you actually see someone injured beyond repair, about to die, and then after a Transfer to a meditech they are back to perfect health. It's so miraculous that the Sha-Ka'ani, who want absolutely nothing to do with off-world inventions and high technology, ordered at least one meditech unit for each of their towns. If something can save your life when nothing else can, that's worth having around, isn't it?"
"Sure," Brittany agreed. "If something like that really exists."
Shanelle grinned at her. "Let's hope you never need to find out."
"No, why don't we prove it to me instead."
Shanelle blinked. "You want to get injured just to experience something firsthand? I really don't think Dalden would allow that."
"You said it erases scars, didn't you? Well, I'm loaded with them-no biggies, but lots of little ones, a hazard of my profession."
"She's got you there, kiddo," Martha's voice purred from across the room. "Take her to Medical. This ought to be interesting."