Part 30 (2/2)
Maggie bit her lip and forced herself to stand still as those long, thin needle fingers came at her again. As they got closer and closer, she squeezed her eyes shut, unable to watch.
”I warn you,” Kor growled at the man. ”If you hurt her-”
”She won't feel a thing. Now if I can just...there. There we are.”
Maggie opened her eyes and saw to her surprise that the needle fingers were penetrating her skin, poking into the flesh of her abdomen all around the implant. Just as the man had said, it didn't hurt a bit. But it was very disconcerting to watch. She closed her eyes again and reached for Kor's hand.
”It's all right, blondie,” he murmured, squeezing her fingers rea.s.suringly. ”I've got you.”
”Ah yes, here it is. Well everything appears to be in order,” Maggie heard the little man say. ”I can find nothing wrong-the organism is well seated within its host and the biological and mechanical components are synchronized and working together seamlessly. So what seems to be the problem?”
”The problem,” Kor said, sounding dangerously impatient and p.i.s.sed off. ”Is that we want the f.u.c.king thing out. Now can you do it or not?”
”Do it?” The little man stepped away and Maggie opened her eyes in time to see his long, thin fingers sliding out of her. They didn't leave so much as a pinp.r.i.c.k or a single drop of blood.
”Yes,” Kor growled. ”Can...you...take...it...out?”
”Of course, I can't do it,” the little man said indignantly. ”Didn't you hear me? The implant is locked within the host and it seems to be working beautifully. How could I possibly remove such perfection? It would be like spoiling a perfect work of art.”
”f.u.c.k art,” Kor stepped closer, glaring down at the little man. ”Listen, you son of a b.i.t.c.h, this implant was put into my female without her knowledge or consent. Since then it has caused her unlimited problems and humiliation-it's making her life f.u.c.king miserable. So I don't care how 'beautiful' you think your d.a.m.n implant is, I want it out of her now!”
The last word was a full throated roar and Maggie saw his eyes begin to glow red in warning. Clearly he was just one step away from frying Hobbs the implant gnome where he stood.
”Kor...” she said, putting a hand on his arm quickly. ”Please don't-please!”
”Sorry.” He put a hand to his eyes briefly and took a deep breath. ”It just makes me so f.u.c.king angry. After everything you've gone through...”
”So she's not your slave at all?” the little man interrupted.
”No,” Kor said shortly. His eyes were still glowing but a little less brightly now. Maggie breathed a sigh of relief, glad disaster had been averted.
”I was taken and implanted by a really terrible woman,” she told Hobbs helpfully. ”I never wanted this and I'm not a slave, although she tried to sell me as one. I'm just a girl from Earth who wants to go home but I can't. Not with this thing in me.” She gestured at the blinking ruby implant. ”Please, can't you help?”
”Hmm, well...” The little gnome man nodded. ”Yes, that does put a different spin on things. Forgive me.” He bowed stiffly to Kor. ”I had no idea the female in question was your beloved.”
”Well, she is,” Kor said, not bothering to correct him. ”And I care for her happiness deeply. No matter how beautifully your implant has taken root, it is making her life miserable. It has to come out.”
”I see. Well, there's the problem.” The little man nodded thoughtfully.
”What problem?” Kor asked flatly.
”Well, as you say, the implant has 'taken root'-literally, I'm afraid. Come here, let me show you.” He led them to one of the clear crystal cases that held a blinking jewel attached to many long thin feather-like filaments. ”This is a model of the same kind that is living inside you,” he told Maggie. ”The jewel is the mechanical part of the implant. But see these?” He pointed to the feather things. ”They are the biological part-the creature's tentacles.”
”Really?” Maggie felt sick when she considered that those long, thin feathery things might be inside her. ”Where...where are they?” she made herself ask.
”Oh, why, everywhere.” The little man moved his hands expressively. ”Wrapped around your heart, your lungs, your liver...all your internal organs basically. Oh, and they've completely infiltrated your spinal chord and nervous system with many special tendrils reaching into your genital area.”
”Oh my G.o.d!” Maggie could scarcely believe it. Of course, Kor had told her something similar when he'd warned only the maker of the implant could take it out but to hear the ”expert” tell her that she was completely infiltrated by another organism-an alien parasite-was horrifying. She felt her stomach flutter sickly and wondered if she was going to throw up. Feels like I swallowed a bunch of feathers, she thought. Oh wait, basically I did. A jagged little laugh that sounded more like a sob escaped her.
”Maggie?” Kor had her by the shoulders and was looking at her anxiously. ”Maggie, are you all right?”
”No.” Maggie felt another sob trying to escape and swallowed it back down grimly. ”No, apparently I'm not because I'm host to a freaking alien that's been growing inside me for months. It'll probably come bursting out of my sternum at any minute-”
”Don't be foolish,” the little man said sternly. ”Nothing of the kind is going to happen. My implants are perfectly well suited for life inside their hosts. There's no reason any of them would dislodge in that way.”
His stern, no-nonsense tone made Maggie feel marginally better. She took a deep breath.
”But...what you're saying is that it's all over me. That it's in me for good and there's no getting rid of it, right?”
”I didn't say that either. Such an annoying female-are you certain you want the implant removed?” The little man looked at Kor.
”Very f.u.c.king certain,” Kor growled. ”And I think she has a right to be upset-she's been implanted with a biomechanical creature and it sounds like it can't come out.”
”Oh, but it can come out.” The little man nodded vigorously. ”Indeed, it can.”
”What? Why didn't you say so in the first place?” Kor demanded irritably. ”Instead of scaring my female half to death with your d.a.m.n demonstrations?”
”I was coming to it,” the little man exploded. ”If only you'll let me talk. Gerran the Terrible's c.o.c.k, you people are impatient!”
Maggie was tempted to ask who Gerran the Terrible was and what his c.o.c.k had to do with anything but she was too eager to hear how the implant could be gotten out of her. Now that she knew what was really inside her body, she had a s.h.i.+very, crawly sensation that wouldn't go away.
”Removing the implant is quite simple, really, as long as the girl's master is available,” the little man said.
”I told you,” Kor growled. ”She's not really a slave!”
”Yes, I know that,” the little man snapped. ”I'm talking about the male who has been acting as her master while the implant was active. Who has been satisfying the s.e.xual urges caused by it?”
”Oh.” Kor frowned. ”Well, I have, actually.”
”Good. Now we're getting somewhere.” The little old man hobbled back to his work station and began working rapidly, his long, thin fingers moving so fast they seemed to be a blur. At last he pressed a final b.u.t.ton and a panel in the wall behind him slid open. ”Ah, there we are,” he muttered, hopping down from his perch again. He reached into the panel and extracted what looked like a test tube filled with some milky white liquid. It appeared to be steaming as the little man put some kind of a seal over it and handed the vial to Kor.
Kor took it from him and frowned. ”What's this?”
”Tentacle solvent. Tailored specially to your beloved's implant.” The little man sighed. ”If you truly feel you must remove it then you'll need to drink all of that first.”
”Uh, you mean I have to drink all of it, right?” Maggie had no idea what was in the test tube but if it would get rid of the awful blinking ruby in her belly b.u.t.ton as well as its disgusting feathery filaments apparently fastened around every organ and system in her body, she would gladly swallow it. In fact, she was reaching to take the tube from Kor already when the little man spoke again.
”It's not for you, girl. In order to activate it, your master must drink the solvent. It will become active in his sperm and once it enters your body it will dissolve the Denari Eroticus's tentacles, allowing the implant itself to fall out.”
”So you mean when I swallow his, uh...” Maggie blushed. ”His, you know...”
The little gnome man frowned. ”Who said anything about swallowing? The acid in your saliva would kill the delicate solvent agents.”
”Well then what...?” Kor began.
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