Harness Read Online Free PDF Page B

She turned to him and pitched forward into his arms. She was exhausted.
    “Ah. Well, there is a technician coming to help you out with that. I hear it is very good.” He hefted her up and carried her out of the mirror chamber.
    “Wonderful. Why am I so tired?” She smiled and blinked up at him.
    “Because, you have done three lifetimes’ worth of shifting in two hours. My heart would have exploded. You are far stronger than you appear.”
    “Oh, goody.” She yawned and flexed her fingers. “Will you stay with me when I see the doctor?”
    “Of course, Fred. I am responsible for you now. That includes your medical appointments.”
    “Thank you, but I am no one’s responsibility. I am responsible for myself. That’s it.” She yawned again.
    He carried her through another open doorway and settled her on an exam bed. Two men were waiting on the far side of the chamber.
    “Aren’t there any doors in here?” Fred struggled to sit up, but it was too hard.
    El-sur chuckled and pressed her flat to the bed. “No. Sukra develop senses to see each other, and privacy doesn’t matter that much when you know where everyone is.”
    “So, you are hoping my sleeping instincts will kick in?”
    “No. I know they will. You just need time to rest and let your mind relax. If I am not mistaken, this is your first time with less than a dozen people in your immediate vicinity.”
    She remembered her glorious summer as a Sasquatch. “Well, once before. I spent two months in another shape when I was younger, scavenging food and dodging hunters.”
    “Well, this time, there is no one chasing you and your meals are guaranteed. Now, this is Doctor Quiel; next to him is our tech specialist, Yinoe.”
    She lifted one hand and waved to them. “Hiya.”
    The doctor chuckled. “Greetings, Alfreda Older.”
    “Call me Fred.”
    “Fred, then. Have you had genetic scanning before?”
    “I have. It has been a few years though.” She smiled up at the physician.
    “Yinoe and I are going to set up the scanner. This might hurt a bit, but if you can just hold on for a few minutes, it won’t have to be repeated.”
    Fred exhaled. “A few minutes of pain. I can do that.”
    El-sur put his hand on her shoulder. “Why will it hurt?”
    The doctor and the technician moved together to assemble the scanner, and Yinoe answered. “Based on the last scans we have from her files, she is unstable. The scanner will actually stop the shifting capability for a moment. That is when the pain will kick in, but it will be the final scan, so it shouldn’t take too long.”
    “Oh goody, again.” Fred concentrated on lying still, trying to calm herself.
    The doctor leaned into her field of vision. “All right. I am going to ask you to shift into another form after the initial scan. Can you do that?”
    “Oh, sure. No problem. Just give me the word.”
    He smiled brightly and nodded. “Excellent. Well, let’s begin with the baselines.”
    Fred felt a tingling along her limbs as the first scan went from foot to scalp. She waited and the scanner descended with a stronger sweep that felt like ants crawling over her flesh.
    “All right. We have the baseline. Now, Fred. Shift into another form.”
    Fred had built a form out of her memories. Blonde hair, dark eyes and healthy golden skin. She had picked more pockets wearing that guise than any form before or after. It got her through the first summer away from the orphanage.
    She held the shape as the tingling started again and was more violent than before. Now, the psychic ants were biting.
    Fred held herself as still as she could, but her nerves twitched as the scanner passed slowly across her.
    “Easy, Fred. Almost done with this part.”
    Her face burned as the beam went across it, and she sighed in relief as it returned to resting near her feet.
    “Please return to your natural state.”
    It took a bit of effort, but she forced herself to relax.
    When El-sur nodded, Quiel started up the scan