Though the doctor was bleary-eyed, Theo knew him to be competent and backed away to let him through.
“Ah. Hmm. She’s breathing easily, sir. Pulse strong. Color good. Upper leg lacerations plus looks like a blow to the head from the abrasions on her temple. I need to get her back to the house, sir. Ah.” Dismay tinged the doctor’s last word. He peered at and probed the skin of the woman’s neck and shoulders, then rose slowly.
“What is it, Doctor?”
But the man merely flapped his hand at Theo while shaking his head. “A moment, please.” The brusque tone was normal. An early career tending soldiers hadn’t encouraged a good bedside manner.
Having given instructions for the loading of the woman onto a stretcher, Dr. Eastway took Theo by the arm and led him to one side. “Ahem. Colonel, there’s something I should tell you about that young woman.”
“Yes? Is she going to be all right?”
“Perhaps. Most likely. Though spending the night out here has not helped any of them. I expect she will regain consciousness soon. But that is not my main concern, sir.”
“The recovery of your patient is not your main concern? Doctor, I’m more than a little confused here. Explain yourself.”
The doctor cleared his throat. “She is not a normal human. She’s a frankenstruct. A being made of cloned parts. To those who are privy to such knowledge, there are marks that reveal this. The PME are far advanced in cloning and genetics. Do you still want me to tend to her?”
“What?” Anger stirred in Theo.
“Ah.” The doctor bowed his head. Clearly he’d realized his error. “Of course, some are quite happy to allow them a degree of humanity. And such opinions are not mine to judge. However, there is, sir”—the doctor coughed—“the question of the fine for aiding or harboring a frankenstruct. I believe it is ten thousand drachma.”
Theo pressed his lips together. A trivial sum to him, but to the doctor it would mean far more. “I’ll settle any such fines if they occur. But first someone would need to report that we have committed such a…transgression. None of my men here would do so.”
The doctor blinked rapidly. “Thank you, sir. My lips are sealed, as you know, sir. I too am indebted to you for employment. I shall attend to her injuries.”
“Do so.”
From her dress this woman must be some sort of companion. Perhaps a sexual one? That the PME used frankenstructs as slaves was common knowledge, but to see one… Theo shook his head, bemused. She’d seemed so normal, so female, so very fragile. He’d wanted to stroke that porcelain-fine skin yet also to pick her up like some lost puppy and shelter her from harm. He smiled wanly.
The doctor was correct, though. Frankenstructs were illegal and to be destroyed on sight. He couldn’t do that. He’d pay the fine if he had to. Money wasn’t everything.
*
Consciousness melted into being like clouds blown away by a cold and malevolent wind. Every jolt and swing of the stretcher Claire lay on vibrated fresh pain through her head and along her right leg. She gritted her teeth; almost everywhere hurt. Her first mission was off to an awful start.
Through the fringe of her lashes, she watched as two gray-uniformed men carried her stretcher into the grand foyer of an enormous dwelling. By letting her head loll to one side and then the other, she could see almost everything. As well as the stretcher bearers, two other men walked behind or at her side.
“I must advise sending her to the lockup cell, sir,” said one.
The second man replied. “With the men? Dankyo, even for you, I find that appalling. The guest bedroom will do nicely.”
Ah, she thought drowsily. This is the one in charge. The owner of this mansion, perhaps? She liked him more than the other, colder one.
At eye level, though she was the one moving, paintings seemed to bob past on parade, along with statues and fancy vases.
Though it felt as if someone had played drums on her body with a meat tenderizer, she marveled at everything. The men stopped and put her stretcher down with a small bounce at the foot of a wide curling staircase. A wave of nausea welled up her throat, then subsided.
“Are you certain of this, sir?” said Dankyo. The badge on his gray uniform announced him head of security. A house that needed a head of security—such ostentation spoke of wealth or paranoia or both. He looked…formidable.
Dankyo moved with grace despite his bulk. She narrowed her eyes further. To be discovered secretly observing him… She suppressed a shudder. He radiated danger.