Part 31 (1/2)
”Can you people really be so dense?” the man exclaimed. ”The implant solvent must be delivered v.a.g.i.n.ally.”
”You mean I have to-”
”f.u.c.k her, yes!” Hobbs sounded thoroughly exasperated now. ”Or make love to her, or put your seed organ into her milking machine or play hide the malo-fruit in her yumyum-sack or however you want to say it.”
”But...” Maggie felt like all the blood was rus.h.i.+ng to her face. ”But do we really have to...you know? Do it that way?”
”We've been trying to avoid this kind of contact. Could I come in a cup and put it in her that way?” Kor asked bluntly. ”Would that work?”
”What? No!” the little man exploded. ”What kind of a foolish question is that? Of course you can't do that. Look-” He pointed a finger at Kor. ”The sperm must be delivered straight from the source and deposited directly into the end-the very end, mind you-of your female's channel. Furthermore, the sperm must not be subjected to air which will kill the delicate-”
”Yes, we get it. The delicate solvent agents,” Kor growled. ”Fine, so f.u.c.king is our only option.”
”Try not to sound so thrilled about it,” the little man snapped. ”I don't understand your resistance to such an act in the first place-I thought she was your beloved.”
Kor turned away. ”She is. That's why this is so d.a.m.n hard,” Maggie heard him mutter. She wanted to ask him exactly what he meant but Hobbs the implant gnome was still standing there glowering at her.
”Thank you,” she said to him. ”But can I ask you, are there any side effects to this? I mean for Kor? Or me either for that matter.”
He crossed his arms over his chest sullenly. ”The only side effect for either of you is that he'll suddenly have a female who will not longer desire him s.e.xually or be compelled to beg for his touch. Other than that, everything should be fine-if you call such a state of affairs fine.”
”We do,” Maggie said firmly. ”Kor and I don't believe in slavery or anyone being compelled to do anything.”
”Hmph.” The little man looked at her skeptically. ”Give him a few days of you without that implant to keep you in line, missy-a few days of 'not tonight, dear, I'm tired'-then see how he feels about such issues.”
Maggie was insulted but she had nothing more to say. Arguing women's rights with such an obvious misogynist was like arguing the existence of G.o.d with a diehard atheist-nothing but irritation and frustration would come of it.
”Fine,” she said nodding. ”Thank you very much for your help. I just have one more question: how long after Kor takes the formula should he, um...”
”f.u.c.k you?” Hobbs said nastily. ”Almost immediately. The solvent agents will travel quickly through his system and bond with his sperm. The fresher they are, the better.”
”All right. Thank you,” Maggie said again. She turned to Kor who was still standing with his back to them both. ”Can we go?”
”Sure.” He shrugged, still not looking at her but Maggie saw that he had the test tube with the solvent gripped tightly in his fist. ”Let's get the h.e.l.l out of here.”
They left.
Chapter Thirty.
”We're not doing this,” Kor said flatly, the minute they locked the door of the small room they had rented in the rather spa.r.s.e hotel district of Hargous behind them. ”No way in all the Seven h.e.l.ls, sweetheart. It's not happening.”
”What?” Maggie looked at him in disbelief. ”Why not? What are you talking about?”
”I'm talking about how you're going to hate yourself afterwards-how you're going to hate me.” He crossed his arms over his chest. ”I won't be a party to that, Maggie. I won't.”
”Kor, please-think what you're saying. I could never hate you. Never.”
”What about the way you reacted after finally going all the way down on me?” he asked bluntly. ”You wouldn't even look at me afterwards. You probably would have stayed in the fresher all night if they hadn't turned the lights off so suddenly.”
”That's not fair. I just...I just needed a little s.p.a.ce, that's all.”
”And if I do this, you'll give me so much s.p.a.ce I'll never f.u.c.king see you again,” he growled.
”I thought that was the idea,” Maggie snapped. ”I thought you wanted to go. But first you promised to help get this horrible thing out of me!” She s.h.i.+vered, thinking about the alien tentacles invading her body. ”Did you see that model he showed us? I mean, did you actually look at it? Because it's inside me.” She grabbed his muscular forearms and looked into his eyes. ”Inside me, Kor and I have to get it out!”
”Okay, okay, it's going to be all right.” He looked at her anxiously. ”Breathe, sweetheart. Just breathe.”
Maggie took a deep breath and tried to calm down.
”Sorry, it's just...I love to study new life forms but not when they're inside me.” She s.h.i.+vered again.
”I understand.” Kor ran a hand through his hair. ”I wouldn't want the d.a.m.n thing in me, either. But let's just think about this-think it through.”
”There's nothing to think about,” Maggie insisted. ”It has to come out.”
”Don't forget, sweetheart, for the implant to come out, I have to go in. All the way in.” He cupped her cheek and looked down at her. ”Deep inside you, Maggie. Is that what you want?”
”I...” She dropped her eyes, unable to meet that intense, pale blue gaze. ”I don't know anymore. All I know is that this thing has to come out of me.”
”And what about Donald? How is he going to feel? Are you going to tell him?”
Maggie nodded. ”I'll have to. I can't not tell him. That's not the kind of person I am. Not the kind of secret I can keep.”
He nodded gravely. ”Of course not. I understand. So then, how will he feel?”
Maggie took another deep breath. ”He's just going to have to understand. And if he doesn't, well...” She sighed. ”I don't know what I'll do. Give back the ring, I guess.”
”Hey, hey...” Kor wiped away a tear that had escaped down her cheek with his thumb. ”Look at you-already crying. Think about it this way, what if you kept it? Then what?”
”Are you kidding?” Maggie protested. ”I'd have to quit my job-I'd lose all professional credibility once word got out that I had to be 'serviced' constantly in order to function.”
”You said your fiance is a scientist too and you used to work in the same lab,” Kor pointed out. ”So technically he could take care of you.”
Maggie looked away. ”Donald...wouldn't like that. In fact, it would irritate him to no end, especially if I kept interrupting his work.”
”Uh-huh.” Kor nodded. ”So keeping it is absolutely not an option.”
”It can't be,” Maggie said softly. ”Kor, I know you don't mind helping me-or if you do, you're nice enough not to say it-but Donald...he would mind. A lot. I can't live like this. Please.”
”Fine. Fine, I'll do it.” Kor ran a hand through his hair and started pacing. ”Even though I know you're going to regret it.”
”Not as much as I'd regret living like this the rest of my life,” Maggie a.s.sured him.
”Right.” Kor looked down as he paced back and forth across the small room. ”Well, I suppose I should do the honorable and gentlemanly thing and tell you I'll do it quickly. Maybe take you from behind so you don't have to see my face and you can pretend it's someone else-pretend it's your precious fiance.”
Maggie felt a lump rising in her throat and tried to swallow it back down. ”I don't...don't want to do that.”