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  "Ask her yourself," Jack said.

  "Mr. Jenkins?" Jayne's voice was unsteady.

  "Seriously, Doc. I think we're well past formalities," AJ said. "Call me AJ."

  "Where am I?" she asked. "The last thing I remember was …"

  "Being shot?"

  Jayne's hand trembled as she touched the entry wound. "Why am I not dead?"

  "Better question is, how are you feeling?"

  She tried unsuccessfully to sit up and her eyes fluttered as she failed. "Weak."

  "One thing at a time, Doc." AJ locked the wheels to his chair and flipped the footpads out of the way. Holding onto the bed for support, he brought himself to a standing position and grabbed her arms, helping her to sit up.

  "She needs to drink water to replace the lost blood," Jack said.

  "Do you see the English man sitting on the night table?" Jayne asked, pursing her lips like she might throw up.

  "He's there. Hang on a sec." AJ flopped back down into the chair, wheeled out to the kitchen and retrieved two tall bottles of water. When he returned, he found Jack and Jayne deep in conversation.

  "… not a figment of my imagination and you insist I am not dreaming?" Jayne asked, running her hands through the virtual image of Jack and the chair.

  "I am Beltigerskian," Jack said. "I have traveled a considerable distance from my home planet to survey Earth, which has been invaded by a species known as Korgul. In a dire moment, you agreed to our bonding, which allowed me to keep you from dying. It is, unfortunately, not a reversible process."

  Jayne turned her attention to AJ and readily accepted the water bottle he offered. "Are you human, AJ?"

  "Just as human as you, Doc," he said. "I've got one of those little buggers in me too. Bev, show yourself."

  Beverly appeared at the top of the lampshade. Ropes dangled around her and she had a harness wrapped around her legs and waist. She jumped backward, expertly rappelling from the shade to land next to Jack. "As requested."

  "As you can see, Beverly has quite taken to Earth culture." Jack had lost the British accent, but not the stiff, haughty attitude. "I do not find it as endearing as much as I do rudimentary."

  Beverly rolled her eyes. "Don't be such a stick in the mud, Jack. You know what they say, don't you?"

  "No, Beverly. I have no idea what they say or even who they are," Jack answered.

  "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."

  "All right, you two. That's enough," Jayne said wearily. "AJ, these hallucinations are evidence of my rapidly declining health. I had hoped to make it another year, but it doesn't look like that will be possible. Would you be so good to call for medical transport? I will check myself into the hospital and arrange for my final, long-term care."

  AJ flipped up his foot pads again. "You're not hallucinating, Doc."

  "What are you doing, AJ?"

  "Should I be able to walk, Doc?" he asked.

  "It would be foolhardy for you to try. In simple terms, you have a broken back. Your spine is incapable of holding your weight."

  "Good." AJ pushed himself upright.

  "AJ, be careful," Beverly warned, floating in front of him. "You have not yet built up enough strength."

  AJ waved her off. Lifting his right foot, he slid it forward and used the bed to steady himself.

  "Mr. Jenkins, please sit," Jayne directed.

  "Not answering to that," he said, bringing his left foot forward.

  "Remarkable," she whispered. "Can I really be dreaming all of this?"

  Beverly turned toward Jayne. "Are your dreams always this temporally linear? That is, does your subconscious not skip around while dreaming?"

  "I know what temporal means," Jayne answered. "And yes. Dreams are rarely this cohesive."

  "You should continue drinking, Doctor Jayne," Jack urged. "Your blood pressure is low due to limited fluidity. I am directing your body to replace your blood supply, but you lack certain raw material, water being the most important."

  Regardless of what she thought of the dream, Jayne saw the logic in the tiny man's direction and drank heavily from the bottle.

  "Wasn't there a boy?" Jayne asked. "Was he hurt?"

  "I sent Diego home. I didn't want him getting mixed up with the cops," AJ said, releasing the end of the bed and hobbling over to the door. "Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, Doc."

  "Remarkable, Mr … Alber … AJ," Jayne said, smiling. She turned to Jack. "Robotic nano particles?" she asked.

  "Ah, finally, back to a more sensible conversation," Jack huffed. "No. Beltigerskian technology is almost entirely biological. We interface with your body's already considerable machinery to effect repairs. As you see with Albert Jenkins, Beverly repaired bone fractures and stimulated his musculature. She has also cleansed and repaired his vital organs. I recall your surprise at the elasticity of his skin. Indeed, much of Albert Jenkin's physiology is closer to his twenty-five-year-old self than how we originally found him."

  "That is fantastic," Jayne said. "Was I really shot in the chest?"

  AJ turned around and started back for the bed, only slightly irritated that Jayne was no longer interested in his miraculous journey.

  "Ah, yes," Jack seemed to be itching to add the word duh to his reply. "That does bring up some nasty business."

  Jayne tried to sip from the water bottle but discovered she'd finished it completely. She looked at AJ and nodded meaningfully at the second bottle, still in his chair.

  "What business is that?" Jayne asked, her voice growing stronger.

  "The projectile is still inside your body, of course." Jack rolled his eyes. Fortunately, Jayne wasn’t looking. "In fact, there are multiple foreign objects embedded within you. I'd like to perform some house cleaning, but I'm afraid it will be quite painful."

  "Seriously?" AJ said. "Can't you just knock her out?"

  "I cannot," he said. "I must gauge her physical responses throughout the procedure."

  "You're saying you want to make my body push out the bullet?" Jayne raised her eyebrows.

  "That and the other foreign bodies embedded in your os coxae and innominate bones," Jack said. "I am working diligently to diminish the impact of the newly acquired projectile. I believe it will be better to rip the bandage off quickly, if I am to use the local vernacular."

  "You can remove my shrapnel?" Jayne asked, ignoring Jack’s surly reply. "The best surgeons in our country have looked at their positioning and believe I stand a better than sixty percent chance of significant nerve damage if they are moved."

  "If we were to use the horribly primitive subdermal tools common to your species, I would agree with their assessment," Jack said. "I will, of course, take a more sophisticated approach."

  "How long would it take?" AJ interrupted.

  Jack nodded and gave AJ a curt smile, like he'd asked the first intelligent question of his life. "The entire process will take forty minutes."

  "Do it," Jayne said.

  "We will damage your body in the process," Jack said, "thus increasing the length of your recovery by several days."

  "We should do it at the hospital where I can be monitored," Jayne said.

  "I'm afraid that is not possible," Jack said. "Your hospitals are frequented by Korgul. I would most certainly be discovered, and your life would be forfeit."

  "Forever?" Jayne asked.

  "That is correct," he replied.

  "Just like that, my career is over?"

  "Without Jack's help, you would already be dead, Doc," AJ said, having returned to his chair.

  "This is all happening too fast. It's too much to process." Jayne shook her head and tried to get out of bed. AJ stood up again and placed his hands on her shoulders, holding her from falling out.

  "Hold on there, Doc," AJ said. "No matter what, you're not up to running around yet."

  Jayne's eyes fluttered and she slumped back into the bed.

  "A natural response to a significant cognitive load," Jack sighed. "Perhaps we should
allow Dr. Amanda Jayne a period of rest before pushing forward? It has been brought to my attention that humans do not adapt easily to changing environmental pressures."

  "You seemed like a much cooler guy when you first showed up," AJ said, straightening Jayne's legs on the bed.

  "Indeed," Jack said. "I had taken Beverly 49231125-0-B's advice on human norms. My own research shows her interpretation to be rather glib and self-serving."

  "Puffed-up windbag," Beverly said.

  AJ raised an eyebrow. "Nice one, BB," he said, raising his hand. It took Beverly a moment to recognize the gesture, but she finally smacked his hand as she sailed past.

  AJ looked up from the workbench, his stomach growling loudly. "Did you hear that?" he asked.

  It was late in the afternoon the following day and Jayne was still asleep, so AJ had kept himself busy working on the extractor project.

  "I believe Jack has started the extraction process," Beverly said, relaxing in a hammock which stretched from AJ's oscilloscope to his soldering iron. She'd chosen to wear a one-piece lime-green, polka-dotted swimsuit which AJ had promptly pointed out as too modest. "Dr. Jayne is vocalizing her displeasure."

  "You mean, she's screaming?"

  Greybeard, who'd been asleep up to this point, woofed in agreement and stood up.

  Beverly nodded and looked over her oversized sunglasses. "The woman has quite a set of pipes on her."

  AJ chuckled. "I'm a bad influence on you."

  Beverly shrugged. "You have a vivid imagination, Albert Jenkins. I find that I very much enjoy our time together." She flicked open a folding fan and waved it at her face, her voice suddenly breathy. "And yes, you are corrupting my innocence."

  Instead of plopping into his chair, AJ grabbed the back handles and pushed it out the door, walking slowly behind. He hadn't yet made it up the ramp to his house while still upright, but knew if he kept pushing his recovery, he would eventually get there. At about halfway up, he finally gave in and locked the wheels so he could sit.

  "How long have they been going at it?" AJ asked.

  "They just got started," Beverly said. "You should fix some dinner while you wait."

  "Nah. Humans need companionship while they're hurting," AJ said and walked into the bedroom.

  Tears streamed down Jayne's beet-red face as she bit down on a hand towel. Her throat gurgled as a scream tried to escape, but she bit it back. AJ felt a nuzzle at his leg and looked down. Greybeard gave him a quick woof.

  "He would like to be placed onto the bed," Beverly said.

  "Where is his avatar?" AJ asked. "Why can't we talk to him like we can Jack?"

  "The bonding with a non-sentient is extremely disagreeable to Beltigerskian psychology," Beverly said. "It will take time, if it is possible at all, before Seamus is able to join us in conversation. His sacrifice is heroic."

  "You did a good thing, Seamus," AJ said, carefully picking Greybeard up and placing him on the bed next to Jayne. The dog limped over the loose sheets and nestled into the crook of Jayne's arm, laying his head across her chest. The dog's close physical presence visibly calmed the agitated woman.

  "The first of the foreign masses is approaching the surface of her skin," Jack said, standing on the bed and pointing at Amanda Jayne's hip. "Manual massage would facilitate its transfer, especially if you were to break the skin."

  "You want me to cut her?"

  "In order for the material to be removed, the skin will eventually be ruptured. Do you have a scalpel available?"

  AJ pulled the pocketknife he always had available and flipped open the blade. "I'll be back in a sec. I just need to run some rubbing alcohol over this bad boy."

  "Please hurry," Jack said.

  AJ wheeled into the bathroom and was not surprised when the outline of the alcohol bottle was projected onto the closed cabinet door behind which it sat. Dropping the knife into the sink, he poured a liberal stream of alcohol over the stainless-steel body of the knife and worked it across the blade between his thumb and forefinger. He returned to the bedroom a moment later.

  "Where do you want me?" AJ asked, but then saw a glowing target atop the twisted sheet beneath where Jayne lay. "I'm sorry about this, Doc." AJ pulled back the sheet, exposing the doctor's hip.

  "Do it," Jayne grunted around the towel she was biting.

  The doctor's skin was thin and he felt guilty as he grabbed her hip to help steady her twitching motions.

  "Ah, that's a good man," Jack said, as AJ positioned the blade of the knife as if he held a pencil. "The dermis will resist and tear if you apply too little pressure. Be bold, old boy, and let Jack fix up your mistakes. It's a kindness to get it done quickly."

  AJ breathed in two quick breaths and grimaced as he steeled himself to the task. As he was ratcheting himself up, he saw the skin already starting to protrude outward. Jayne's protestations increased. Without further hesitation, he jabbed his knife into the skin, driving the point downward until it reached the flashing, virtual line that had been drawn across the blade. Pressurized blood sprayed from the wound, catching AJ in the shoulder. He jerked back, withdrawing the blade.

  "Well done, old chap," Jack said, knocking the brim of a fedora with a two-fingered salute. "Here it comes. Be a good lad and get the tip of the knife under that piece there."

  At first, AJ saw only blood and white viscera escaping from the wound. A glint of dark gray caught his eye and he squeezed his finger and thumb together on either side of the wound, using the knife to pry out a centimeter-long piece of twisted shrapnel. "Damn," he grunted in appreciation.

  "Not done yet," Jack urged. "Chest wound next."

  AJ's head swiveled to the sheet covering Jayne's chest. A wide streak of blood had soaked into the sheet and was spreading further. Grabbing the hand towel he'd thought to bring along, AJ pulled back the sheet. Blood covered her bare chest, oozing like a bubbling fountain from the open bullet wound. "Shit, there it is," AJ said, reaching for the slug just beneath the skin.

  Jayne's hand clamped onto his wrist as AJ’s fingers slipped off the blood-soaked bullet. "Sorry Doc, I've got it." Grimacing once more, he used the tip of his knife to wedge under the bullet and pop it free. She gasped and relaxed her neck, allowing her shoulder blades to fall to the bed.

  "Two more on her hip, lad," Jack said. "We'll be done with this nasty business in no time. Hang in there, old girl. You're tougher than you look."

  Red glowing arrows showed that he would have to roll Jayne to access the other exit points. "Doc, gotta roll you over. We're getting there," AJ encouraged as he pushed on her butt.

  Jayne didn't answer other than to throw her arms over and bring her knees up, helping AJ roll her on her side.

  "Just a wee bit less pressure on these," Jack said. "Skin is tighter. Blade will sink more easily." AJ's eyes fell on old scar tissue on Jayne's backside. She'd no doubt downplayed the significance of her injuries. "Albert, we'll need some focus here, mate."

  AJ shook his head and found where the brightest of the two targets pointed. Without hesitating, he stabbed his knife into the bulging wound. This time, however, he was smart enough to direct the flow that followed away from him. With skill that came from practice and a final poke, he lifted the third and fourth pieces of shrapnel.

  Amanda Jayne’s frame sank into the bed, but she did not roll back. AJ searched for and found wrappings to cover the various wounds.

  "You asleep, Doc?" AJ asked quietly, rolling around to the other side of the bed.

  "Almost," Jayne said. "I need you to call the hospital and tell them I won't be coming in for a few days."

  "I can do that," AJ said. "Anyone in particular I should tell?"

  Jayne supplied the information and slipped off to sleep. AJ picked up the blood-soaked towels and wheeled out of the room to his washing machine. Peeling off his clothing, he loaded them in along with the towels, adding a generous dose of color-safe bleach.

  "I'm going to need new bedding and I think we ruined most of those towe
ls," he said, pushing the wheelchair in front of him out to the kitchen. "Think you could order that for me, BB?"

  "We are also low on groceries and medical supplies," Beverly sat atop the kitchen counter next to the refrigerator wearing black-framed glasses, a white blouse and a black pencil skirt.

  AJ pulled a beer from the refrigerator and walked slowly to his recliner. "Did you notice that Jack was speaking like a Brit again in there? I thought the tailored interface with humans was below him."

  "We had an offline discussion about effective communication. I see there's a minor league game that's just started. Would you like me to project it for you?" Beverly said, changing the subject.

  AJ wedged the top of his beer bottle into the frame of the wheelchair and popped off the top. "Sure. Just so you know, I'm done. I fought my war. I'm tired of people getting hurt."

  Beverly unfolded a lawn chair from the purse over her shoulder and pulled on a baseball cap. Setting up a round table next to her chair, she poured a tall glass of iced tea and held it over to AJ. "Cheers."

  Twelve

  First Date

  AJ balanced himself against the nightstand as he draped a clean sheet across the still unconscious Jayne. Before going to sleep the night before, Jack and Beverly had instructed him on setting a saline drip IV and he'd been awakened a couple of times through the night to swap it out.

  AJ tenderly placed his hand on the doctor’s forehead. "She feels hot."

  "Jack is managing an infection. Her body was already weak from the invasive cancer cells," Beverly said, floating over the bed.

  AJ pushed off the nightstand and walked without assistance to the bathroom, grateful when his hands came to rest on the doorframe. He wet one of the freshly laundered washcloths and made his way back to Jayne's side where he laid it on her forehead.

  "You are surprisingly tender with her," Beverly said.

  "I owe this woman my life," AJ said. "She was there when our helicopter was shot down."

  Greybeard lifted his head and yawned, looking up from where he still lay next to Jayne's legs. On the bed, a fire hydrant appeared. A miniature Greybeard walked over and lifted his leg. AJ laughed and set the dog on the floor. Greybeard wasted no time and jogged out of the room, the screen door banging a moment later.