Page 43 of Time Traveling Space Bastards
I’d think about that later. Omi led me back to a part of Big Daddy I’d only briefly seen before. I couldn’t say for sure, but a lot of the tech in this room looked like it could eradicate plenty of diseases here on Earth.
“Kuka planned for everything. This med bay has most everything for any situation. He would have put one of these in his designs Valtens stole, but Kuka has enough training that he’d make a passable doctor in an emergency. He’s just not as good as me. Valtens didn’t want to risk bringing anyone who would rat him out if he failed, so he’s got a pretty amazing med bay and no doctor. I’m guessing he had that programming added to Ghol because he thought Ghol would always be loyal. All done.”
“What the fuck? I didn’t even feel it. Most of the time, they warn you so you can prepare for the stick.”
“You can do that, or you can distract the patient by talking and it hurts less.”
“Brilliant. So, if I’m going to your planet, I’m going to need to speak your language. I’m not one of those folks that only speaks one language and expects everyone to know it, even if I’m in their country. I don’t suppose I can get one of those chips you all have?”
“I mean, yeah, it’s simple surgery and I have almost everything I need. It’s going to depend on if Kuka brought any of the chips with him. I wouldn’t say this unless it was true, but Kuka is smarter than I am and he’s pretty considerate for a royal. Ifanyonewas going to bring a spare chip when they travel, it’s going to be him. Help me look.”
“I don’t know what I’m looking for.”
“The chip itself is tiny. You wouldn’t even be able to feel it under your skin. They are kept in long white tubes to keep them sterile. You won’t be able to read the label without the chip, but look for the tube.”
“So, what is this chip like? Am I going to have subtitles in my brain?”
“It’s like a filter, but it should work with you once Enix gets ahold of it. When someone is speaking, you’re going to hear your native language instead of theirs. It’ll kick in when you go to respond, and you’ll be speaking their language back. Does that change your mind?”
“Fuck no. If I’d gotten to go to college, I wanted to double major in some kind of science and languages. Being able to communicate in all languages would be badass. Wait, is this actual brain surgery?”
“Um, kind of? Once the chip is implanted, I’d have to activate it. You won’t feel it, but tendrils will come out of the chip to fully integrate with your body to do its job. I realize you don’t havethis kind of thing on your planet, so you can totally say no. We can teach you the language.”
“Oh, fuck,” I moaned. “I just realized that if I’m Kuka’s Velne, does that make me royalty? That’s a mind fuck, but Ihaveto be able to speak languages on your planet with a perfect accent because all eyes are going to be on me.”
“No offense, but they’d be looking at you anyway because you’re human and from an entirely different galaxy. You’re going to be considered exotic. People would be both fawning and critical of you even if you weren’t with Kuka. And you don’t strike me as the type who gives a shit what other people think.”
“I don’t, but my inner child was heavily bullied and sometimes she does. It’s not just that. I don’t want to be locked inside or joined at the hip with anyone. If I want to go out and buy something or just take a walk to clear my head, I want to be able to do that and properly communicate with people around me.”
“That’s my girl. Look what I found,” Omi said, waving a white tube.
“Sweet! What’s a little brain surgery between sisters?”
“Not brain surgery. Just a little poke,” she said, drawing out a giant needle.
“Shit, this is like that dog I saw getting microchipped, isn’t it?”
“No idea what that means. Lie on the table and sweep your hair off your neck.”
“Intruder! Get the fuck out!”Big Daddy yelled.
Motherfucker.
Iwas still processing what Kuka and Torrek said. Ghol was sitting in the corner scanning data and just staring at me. I knew why. If Baxter was mine, there might be someone out there for him. You didn’t have to be a pleasure model to want someone to call your own.
The only reason any of us let Baxter leave on her own was because Omi was with her. Female Saki weren’t as big as the males, but you’d have to be stupid to go up against one. Especially Omi. I wouldn’t know who to bet on if Omi and Torrek decided to tussle.
Kuka and Torrek were putting their heads together to come up with a strategy for Valtens. In any other circumstance, Torrek would be justified for killing the person who threatened his Zovea. Valtens was a prince, so he was off limits, even if he hurt someone else’s bond.
Torrek couldn’t even hurt him if Valtens attacked Kuka, and that was his job. The contest for the throne was supposed to bea battle of wits, not strength. It was a forfeit if someone tried to make it physical and failed. Kuka could only strike back if Valtens came at him directly and ithadto be Kuka to stop him because the future ruler had to be able to fight their own battles.
I was linked to Big Daddy through the computer, but Kuka had a device on his wrist where Big Daddy could speak to him when needed. I only got the alert slightly before he did that someone was inside Big Daddy who shouldn’t be.
Big Daddy had his own defenses, but we went running anyway. Kuka and Torrek couldn’t go in until Big Daddy ventilated the air, but I could because I could stop myself from breathing longer than they could. Big Daddy would have neutralized the threat by sending a gas through the air system.
The system was designed for me being there. I could stop breathing long enough to get masks on my shipmates and give them the antidote to wake them. The only other person who might have known about the gas was Valtens. Kuka designed the ship he had built with similar security, but since the machine wasn’t sentient, Valtens would have had to press a button.
Valtens was also down his Enix, so I was really hoping when I got to Big Daddy, I’d find Baxter, Omi, and Valtens knocked out. I could wake Omi and Baxter and be as rough as I wanted with Valtens while I tied him up for Torrek and Kuka to deal with.
