Assessing Survival by Viola Grace Page A

of how she was keeping them under surveillance, whatever that would entail.
    With that taken care of, she ran through the usage of implants and equipment, putting through requisitions for the parts that couldn’t be manufactured with the machines on base.
    Her stomach growled and alerted her to the passage of time. Stitch finished the essentials and got to her feet, stretching before the long walk to the dining hall.
    The few men that she met in the halls nodded politely and addressed her as major.
    She patted the loose bun that she had managed to wrangle her hair into and smiled. It seemed that the trick still worked. Girls with their hair down were free to flirt with; hair up meant business.
    Her bones were tired when she went to the machine and got a pre-packaged ration to eat. The hot breakfast wasn’t starting for hours.
    She dragged herself to a table and prodded at the meal with her fork. It had been one exceptionally busy day, and there was so much more to do.
    “Stitch. Stitch. Wake up.” Nikolai’s voice whispered in her ear.
    She cracked her eyes open and saw his concerned face inches from her own. “What?”
    “The new arrivals wanted to speak with you, so we went looking.”
    She sat up and looked past him where fifteen men were lined up, each with military bearing and all staring at her.
    Her food was cold. She must have been out for several minutes at least.
    She looked around and saw the clock. “Well, hell. I have now gotten to the point where I can sleep sitting up. Evolution at work.”
    She smiled at Nikolai and said, “Have them pull up some tables and chairs. Standing up is not really an option.”
    The men obviously heard her. They pulled in tables and surrounded her in a semi-circle.
    Nikolai stood behind her. She could feel the heat coming off his body.
    Commander Liakon cleared his throat. “Major Carter, we are thankful that you have accepted us as guests at your base.”
    Aluak inclined his head. “Your timely assistance saved our lives.”
    Liakon cocked his head, his rainbow eyes staring at her. “How did you know?”
    She answered honestly. “My family assisted in designing the programming, and if a person had not received the initial introduction of the nanites before the implant was attached, the seizures would begin. The active repair nanites would start tearing the body apart, but not know how to put it back together. They are machines, but we have to tell them exactly what to do.”
    Liakon nodded. “How do we remove them?”
    “You don’t. They are part of you now. For some of you, they are running the organs implanted; for others, they maintain the balance of skin and bone. Yours are now part of you just as mine are part of me.”
    He frowned. “It can’t fall into the hands of the Splice.”
    She nodded. “That is true, but it won’t. Our men who have fallen into the hands of the Splice, including those who were retrieved with you, have already had the nanites and live with them. They had them before they went to battle, and they have them now.”
    Aluak scowled. “If the Splice have this technology, why aren’t they using it?”
    “The nanites are programmed for the possibility that they will be separated from their host. Without a working immune system, they burn out.”
    The men looked sceptical, so she took her knife and cut her normal hand. The men gasped, and she dripped a puddle of blood on the table.
    It bubbled and scorched until there was nothing but ash.
    “Severed tissue does the same.” She held up her hand so they could see that the cut was healing at an accelerated rate.
    Stitch smiled. “I am not recommending that you all try, but now, your bodies can recover rapidly from any damage inflicted with the exception of having a limb or organ destroyed. Those need frameworks to build tissue around.”
    Liakon nodded as if it made sense. A slow smile crossed his features. “Do you have a lover, Major Carter?”
    She was about to open her mouth and speak