Close Encounter by Deanna Lee

Author:Deanna Lee [Lee, Deanna]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Cobblestone Press
Published: 2013-02-16T04:06:06+00:00

Chapter Four

Eliza stiffened when the door opened and Sean entered. Since she couldn’t very well deny him access to his own bedroom, she sank deeper into the large bay window and pulled the blanket she’d pulled off his bed closer. “Sorry, the other personal quarters are all empty….”

“I can pull some linens out of storage.” Sean cleared his throat. “But it would look better if we appeared to share quarters.” He put a data-pad on the bench between them as he sat down. “I rechecked your medical scans.”

She flinched. “I wasn’t forced to do it. Only three of the women on the mission even accepted the…procedure. The rest were going to depend on birth control injections.”

“Your ovaries are intact and are perfectly functional. You have no genetic abnormalities, no mutations, and no cellular damage.” He paused and cleared his throat. “You might have had the choice, but women after you in the NAU military forces weren’t so lucky. Endometrial ablation became commonplace and was often done during or shortly after basic training. Space Command and the NAU Marines were actually sanctioned heavily by the UN Security Council for forcing their female soldiers to be sterilized. In some young women, the endometrium grew back, but it wasn’t the norm. The procedure was perfected through practice, and their success rate was disgustingly high.”

“And me?”

“Your procedure was entirely successful.” Sean shook his head. “But my father…dedicated his life to fixing this problem.”

“What? Why?” Eliza demanded with a frown.

“Because my mother served in Space Command and they sterilized her against her will,” Sean said shortly. “Eliza, my mother and father are both over a hundred years old. It took him nearly twenty years to create a bio-modification that would cure my mother.” He offered her the data-pad. “I had Arti pool all of his work together so you can read it. The Cohen Reproduction bio-mod has been part of the standard package young women receive for forty-seven years.”

“So, I’ll get one.”

“Your bio-mods have already been built,” Sean murmured. “They’re preparing an emergency cargo pod for us, and they’ll launch it as soon as we’re out of the orbital blackout. Clothes for you, food, etc.”

Eliza blinked rapidly, but the tears welling in her eyes slid down her cheeks anyway. She hastily brushed them away one handed as she read through the first report Arti presented. “What else does it do?”

“Well, the bio-mod basically works as a monitor for the reproductive system. It’ll control when you’re fertile through your nano-tech net, balance hormones, etc. My dad is pretty much championed all over the world for his work in ensuring that most women have control over their reproductive future.”

“What exactly is a bio-mod?” Eliza asked, and her face heated when he looked at her shocked. “You didn’t explain it.”

“I’m sorry. It’s not often I encounter someone who doesn’t know what they are.” Sean sat back and settled in opposite her after toeing his shoes off. “A biological modification is an enclave of nano-bots that exist for a single, unified purpose, which is governed by a protocol within your nano-tech net.

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