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“To get control of you? To see if they can manipulate another alien race? Your guess is as good as ours. Whatever it is, it’s been controlling you more than you realize,” Cleo said. “And it’s compromising the safety of your missions.”
“It’s not.” Daisy frowned. She had been a jerk to Rexx, but that was because she was having an off day.
“When you were with Rexx on Asiram, your actions could have gotten him killed,” Cleo said.
“There was never a chance of that,” Rexx said. “I had things under control.”
“Even so, we have to be careful. We need to figure out what the implant is doing to Daisy so we can treat it,” Cleo said.
“Talk to me, not him. Tell me how you’re going to do that,” Daisy said.
“It’ll take time,” Angel said. “I’ve sent off samples to be analyzed by a friend of mine. The Gente like to buy and borrow technology from other aliens, so there are thousands of possible things it could be. It’ll take me a few days to figure it out.”
“We don’t have days to waste. We have missions to go on.” Daisy tugged against the restraints.
“No, not for you,” Cleo said. “You’re off active duty until further notice.”
“Hell, no! I’m fine. I’m still a part of this team, right?” She flashed her panicked gaze at Rexx. “Tell them to see sense. If I’m not on the catch and retrieval missions, I don’t have a place here.”
He glanced at Cleo and Angel. “We need a few minutes alone.”
“We’ll be right outside.” Cleo nodded at Daisy and then left with Angel.
Daisy twisted on the bed. “This is fucked up. Taking me off active duty is wrong. I don’t get it.”
He grabbed her hand. “High Command found out what’s been going on. They think you’re a security risk.”
“I’m not a risk.”
“They disagree. You’re to be isolated from the rest of the crew. They can’t take the risk that you may be infectious.”
“I’m not infectious. I can’t spread whatever the hell this is. They’re being irrational. You’ve been with me the whole the time I’ve had the implant, and you’re fine. Hell, we even made out on Asiram. Don’t tell me you’re feeling the ill effects of me trying to fuck you?”
He looked away, and a muscle in his jaw flexed. “Of course not.”
It took every ounce of self-control not to scream at him. This wasn’t his fault, but she had to blame someone. And he was closest.
“Rexx, look at me. I’m still the same Daisy. I’m your partner. Trust me.”
“I do. But you’re not telling me everything. What happened on that Gente ship? Be honest, even if it’s hard to say.”
A lump lodged in her throat. She ducked her head. “I... I tried to stop them. I did everything I could, but they had me strapped to an examination table, just like this one.”
Rexx’s large, warm hand settled on her shoulder, and he gently squeezed. Only the growl rumbling in his chest showed he was holding in his anger. “Did they abuse you?”
“They wanted to, but they needed samples first. I’ve no idea what they planned to do with them, but they took scrapings from my mouth, blood, and tissue samples. It was only when they talked about inserting a probe that I flipped out. I didn’t care if they killed me. There was no way they were going to get my legs apart and jam something up me.”
His grip tightened on her shoulder. “You were brave.”
She snorted a derisive laugh. “I was desperate.”
“Do you remember them inserting something behind your translator chip?”
“No, but the back of my ear was sore. I passed out for a couple of minutes when I was being examined. Maybe they did it then. After fighting the Gente, just about every part of me was bruised, so I didn’t think anything of it. My translator chip hasn’t felt any different since then.”
The urge to fight faded as Rexx’s quiet presence calmed her. Daisy let the fear in. High Command were right to be cautious. She was broken. She was messed up inside. She had been long before the Gente got their sick little hands on her.
“Rexx, what have they done to me?” Daisy tried to hold in the sob, but it came out as a stifled, choking snort.
