Caretakers (Stag Privateers Book 2)

by Nathan Jones

  “Barix told me!” she squealed. “You're with the gunner? Why didn't you say anything?”

  Lana stared down at her friend, momentarily at a loss for words. Belix was several inches shorter than her, elfin but with definite curves, her platinum blond hair in a pixie cut and pale blue eyes ranging from icy to haughty, with only rare flashes of warmth like she showed at the moment. As an Ishivi, she'd been bred with the most superior genes humans could boast, with a sharp, sculpted aristocratic beauty, incredible reflexes, superior eyesight, hearing, and other senses, and a daunting intelligence.

  And that was just to start.

  In fact, it was hard not to feel jealous of her sometimes. Lana was aware that she herself would be considered classically beautiful, and Ali had told her during a medical checkup that she had well above average intelligence, reflexes, and eyesight. Still, compared to Belix she was an ignorant, unsophisticated, slow (in all senses of the word) little girl.

  Well, at least she was taller. Although anyone who thought the Ishivi's size meant she was weak or helpless was in for a very unpleasant surprise.

  After a few seconds of awkward silence, Lana belatedly realized her friend was expecting some response. “Um . . .”

  Belix waved airily, blue eyes sparkling. “Never mind, this is just so exciting! If you were with anyone else I'd ask you to dish on the juicy details, but obviously that would be more than a little weird.”

  Lana tried not to grimace in agreement at that. The elfin woman was technically Dax's mom, with Aiden. Although the situation was much more complicated than that, due to how the young man had been created. For one thing, Belix was in her late twenties, although she'd never said her exact age, while Dax appeared to be around 23 and in fact had only been alive for seven years, the first two comatose in a nutrient vat in accelerated growth.

  That had been just one step in the process to make Dax an Ishivi Construct, a genetically modified human with DNA-encoded memories, his very genes coded with learned skills from the most expert people who'd ever lived in just about every conceivable field. He'd then been given intensive mental conditioning to make him mindlessly disciplined and obedient.

  What had been done to him was wholly repugnant to Lana, although she fiercely loved him and the man he'd become in spite of his origin.

  It was repugnant to her new boyfriend's dad as well, but Aiden hadn't been able to ignore the circumstances. Instead, he had largely chosen to ignore Dax altogether, or at least as much as possible. And where it wasn't, treat him almost like an android.

  Lana did her best to hold back a scowl. Although that hadn't kept the captain from punching the young man in the face, when he found out he was capable of feeling love and affection. Something he still hadn't apologized for.

  For that matter, Aiden had chosen to ignore Belix as well. At the time Dax had been created, the captain and the elfin woman had been lovers, from the sounds of it developing strong feelings for each other. Then Belix had started to create a Construct for him, without him knowing the full details of what the process entailed.

  When Aiden finally learned the truth, that she'd turned their son into basically a genetically engineered slave, he'd acted as if she was a monster. Belix, hurt and with her pride wounded, (and she certainly had a lot of that to wound), had returned the favor.

  Lana wasn't sure the two hated each other, but given how they avoided each other like virulent diseases and never wasted an opportunity to snipe at each other, they definitely something'd each other.

  As for how Belix felt about Dax, she now acted ashamed of many aspects of Ishivi culture, and for what she'd done to the young man. With a little nudging she'd even been open to developing a relationship with her kind of son.

  Although hardly a maternal one; at best she acted like a big sister, at worst treated Dax like a low class servant.

  Although that might've changed now that he and Lana were in a relationship. Eager to talk about this unexpected event, one she apparently found absolutely delightful, the elfin woman pulled her towards one of the few spaces in the engine room suitable for sitting, settling her down and then hopping up to sit beside her. “Details don't matter, anyway. How are you doing? How do you feel about being with him?” Her icy blue eyes widened. “This was technically your first time, wasn't it? How are you doing?”

  “You, um, asked me that last one twice,” Lana said, smiling weakly. Given how happy she was to finally be with Dax, she'd expected to be more excited about talking about their relationship. Maybe Belix's enthusiasm had just caught her by surprise. Or maybe, in spite of the friendship she'd developed with the elfin woman, given what she knew she still didn't entirely trust her.

  Especially where Dax was concerned.

  “That's because it's twice as important as everything else!” her friend said, hugging her again. “Oh Lana, I'm so happy for you! As long as this is a good thing.” She hesitated. “It's a good thing so far, right?”

  Lana let herself finally have a genuine smile, thinking of the amazing night she'd just had with the man she was falling in love with. “Yes, it's a good thing.”

  Chapter Two

  Abominations

  Chasing a miserable little pirate ship, or raiding a science facility?

  Jian Dalar, formerly captain of the Vindicator, honestly wasn't sure which assignment was less appealing. One was more exciting, although it had also gotten him busted down to crewman, and whipped in front of the senior officers of this task force to boot. An agonizing, total humiliation he'd never forget.

  Following which, oddly enough, he didn't care as much about the glory to come from taking out the Last Stand. That prestige would all go to Ralin Bresac now, anyway, since the woman had been promoted to captain in his place.

  And it couldn't have happened to a bigger gaping sewage leak. Not that he was bitter.

  In any case, Admiral Granoss had jumped at a chance to divert his task force from the humble, not to mention potentially embarrassing, task of hunting a single pirate ship. Part of that had been ordering the Vindicator and several other ships in their assault group to a few small tasks, in aid of the hush-hush war against HumanAssist Enterprises.

  Apparently, the Movement-controlled Elson Robotics Initiative had finally gotten sick of being outclassed by their competition. Although the official word coming down from leadership was that HAE was crossing the line, trying to create androids that were too difficult to distinguish from people. Apparently as a way of isolating and ultimately controlling humans, as if they were all a bunch of sheep.

  Which Dalar didn't completely disagree with, considering HAE's stated goal was to give every human one of their “companions” to meet their every need, including sexual. Turning humans into lazy, purposeless cattle with no barriers to a life of abject hedonism.

  Not that he objected to a little hedonism, of course. But what the mega-corporation planned was crossing a line; Dalar was almost willing to believe the more foaming-at-the-mouth sorts in the Movement, who called companions an abomination meant to enslave humanity.

  Which was somewhat ironic, since this raid on an HAE production facility, with orders to seize or destroy a batch of their new line of adult companions and the technology to create them, was ultimately going to end up with all the corporation's human employees enslaved and put to work for ERI.

  Just before the Vindicator made her final jump to the facility, Dalar was called into his replacement's ready room. That required going through the light cruiser's bridge, facing the stares and hidden, or not so hidden, smirks of his former subordinates at his change in fortune.

  “Captain not on the bridge!” the weapons officer intoned formally, to snickers from the others.

  Dalar flushed and did his best to ignore them. The Vindicator's entire crew had been humiliated and discredited by their failure to destroy the Last Stand at Brastos 4. As captain, the blame had fallen solely on him, whether that was fair or not, and he'd been punished for it far more harshly than the m
istake deserved.

  But that didn't stop them from resenting him for their own sullied reputations. He tried not to look like he was hurrying as he quickened his step the last several feet to the door, slapping the buzzer.

  Almost a full minute later, all the while trying not to shift uncomfortably at the attention no doubt directed at his back, and swallowing the humiliation of being kept waiting, Dalar was allowed into what had once been his domain.

  He'd stripped the small room of his own decorations, trophies, and nicknacks when he was demoted, of course. It looked as if Bresac either hadn't had time to replace them, or preferred a more austere look. Which fit her unattractive, severe face and lanky body, currently seated stiffly in the chair behind the captain's terminal.

  She didn't offer him a seat in the room's only other chair, simply motioned curtly for him to come in. Flushing, Dalar did what many crew he'd called before him in this room over the years had done, and took an at ease position in front of the desk, eyes ahead.

  Although he could only see his ship's new captain out of the corner of his eye, he was aware she was studying him as the silence dragged on. Putting him in his place? Gathering her thoughts?

  Bresac was a somewhat unusual case in the Fleet, as she'd risen largely through merit. Dalar had been responsible for most of that, recognizing the value of having a competent XO he could rely on to handle the ship's operations, so he could focus on bigger picture items. He'd even been somewhat fond of the woman, in a purely professional sense.

  At least until she had the gall to benefit from his misfortune with such a clear lack of grace. Especially since she'd kept the ship running just as smoothly as it had under his command. Rubbing it in his face.

  When Bresac finally spoke, she got straight to the point. One of the things he'd always hated about her. “The Vindicator is sending down our complement of combat androids and our security officers to join the ground attack.” She pointed imperiously at the cauterizer strapped to his hip. “You will be leading them.”

  Fantastic. Not only reduced to crewman, but fodder to go off and die with the robots. Dalar kept his tone neutral as he replied. “What is our mission?”

  “I'm glad you asked.” The new captain gave him a wide smile, which she should really reconsider with those horse teeth of hers. “You'll be responsible for making sure all HAE's human staff in the facility are peacefully rounded up, kept safe while it's secured, and transported back to the Vindicator without mishap. Once we have them secured in stasis pods, we'll be shipping them through a rift hub to an ERI lab the next galaxy over.”

  Fantastic. So not only was the Vindicator being pulled off the ignoble task of hunting a single pirate ship, to the even more ignoble task of attacking a bunch of scientists, but now they were on transport duty as well. Dalar nodded stiffly. “I'll coordinate with the rest of the attacking force about corralling these scientists.”

  “Good.” Bresac once again appraised him, although this time only for a few seconds. “I'm going out on a limb, crewman, giving you even such a humble position of authority as this one. But in spite of your recent fall from grace, I'm trusting in your competence to see this job done to my satisfaction. If you do, I might consider trusting you with more responsibility in the future.”

  She paused, voice hardening. “Screw this up, and the only thing I'll be trusting you with is licking my personal toilet clean. Is that understood?”

  You'd like that, wouldn't you? Dalar thought resentfully. He'd always suspected the less than attractive woman had harbored a crush on him. Although at least she'd been realistic about it, and hadn't tried to pursue it or allowed it to affect her professionalism.

  He wondered if that would change now that she was in command; power did awful things to some people. “I'll bring the scientists back unharmed,” he assured her stiffly. “All of them.”

  “Good,” the new captain said again, leaning back. “We've actually got the preferred courier job, you know . . . the rest of the assault group is going to be hanging around for void knows how long after we secure this facility, stripping it of anything useful. Then they'll be sending it all to ERI, probably to the same place we're going. Which means we'll be finished and back doing something more useful days before the rest of them.”

  Hurray.

  Bresac waved towards the door. “Dismissed, crewman.”

  Relieved at the chance to escape, Dalar saluted and turned for the door. He was almost there when his inferior superior called at his back.

  “And Jian? Don't just scan the scientists before loading them onto the shuttle . . . cut them if you have to, make sure they bleed red and test the blood. Wouldn't want to accidentally bring any abominations aboard with us.”

  He shuddered slightly at the idea of companion robots so convincing they could pass as humans, not just in appearance but in mannerisms and AI. It was galling to think of accidentally letting some aboard his ship, never knowing if one would suddenly lunge out of the group of timid scientists and attack him with superhuman android strength.

  Granted, HAE insisted their companions placed the welfare of humans above all other considerations, and not only wouldn't attack people, but couldn't. Even so . . . what insanity made those eggheads actually think that robots that could pass as real people was a good idea?

  They really had brought this war with the Movement on themselves.

  Although the full might of humanity against a single corporation, even a mega-corporation, was going to be pathetically one-sided. He went to gather his strike team and get them ready for the assault, hoping his years as a ship's officer qualified him for leading ground troops in a firefight.

  * * * * *

  The HAE production facility was located on a terraformed but sparsely populated colony world out in the middle of nowhere, almost as if they were trying to keep their activities hidden from the Movement.

  It had been built in a temperate region, but one that was an arid wasteland; the facility's buildings gleamed like a jewel in the midst of sparse grass and shrub, surrounded by composite tarmac for shuttle traffic. Any amenities in the facility were interior; Dalar didn't see signs of swimming pools or recreation areas outside as the large shuttle carrying his team, and which would hold the captured scientists, descended with the rest of the assault force.

  The facility was a big place, which he wasn't pleased to see . . . dozens of buildings, many of them large. Warehouses or factories or who knew what. This place had been created to churn out HAE's vaunted prototype adult companions, and he could imagine these buildings stacked with boxes full of the unnatural abominations.

  He held back a shudder and turned to the Vindicator's two security officers, Garridy and Halser, and the ship's complement of three combat androids. Those were new, replacements for the ones they'd lost during the fight against the Last Stand, after sending them board the vessel via mini rift where they were presumably destroyed.

  “We'll set up in the first building our forces take,” he told his strike team. “They'll funnel any humans they find to us there, we'll screen them to confirm they really are human, then we'll hold them safely until it's time to ship them up to the Vindicator.”

  “Babysitting duty,” Halser said, scowling.

  Garridy snorted. “You'd rather join the combat androids running face first into whatever defenses this place has?”

  The other security officer held up his hands, smirking. “Hey, who said I'm complaining? I didn't join the Fleet to get shot at with cauterizers.”

  On the last leg of the attack shuttles' approach, the Movement ships in orbit opened up on the facility. Dalar got to enjoy the fireworks as laser bursts seared across miles of atmosphere in an eyeblink, raising gale force winds to swirl across the massive dome shield over the cluster of buildings, as its layers flickered wildly and finally failed.

  Defensive turrets, shield and power generators, and security checkpoints were vaporized, sending waves of flames across the tarmac and flickering up the side
s of the nearest buildings, fanned by the vicious winds stirred by the continued laser barrage as the facility was rendered harmless from orbit.

  From what Dalar could see, the place hadn't been particularly well defended to begin with; by the time the troop transports began touching down on the tarmac around the outer buildings, pilots showing surprising delicacy in the face of the turbulent atmosphere, he judged they'd barely be needed because the fight was already all but over.

  The assault shuttles split up and made combat zone landings, fast and rough, on the tarmac surrounding the facility's buildings. Troops, mostly combat androids with a few human soldiers directing them, poured down the ships' swiftly dropping ramps and towards the buildings, a few pausing to exchange fire with a handful of security personnel. Mostly panicking men and women who obviously hadn't expected this quiet, out of the way place to be the target of a full scale attack by the Movement.

  From what he saw it was a short, one-sided fight.

  Dalar led his strike team down the ramp of their shuttle and towards a large building nearby that looked like a warehouse. A squad from another shuttle had already blasted through the entrances and was clearing the structure.

  He headed for one of those entrances, highlighting the building on his HUD's map and setting his communicator to transmit to the combat androids' coordinator. “Setting up shop there. Send the human staff my way for processing.”

  He received a curt acknowledgment, followed by, “Not often they send a senior officer to do a grunt's job. Oh wait, sorry, I forgot for a second there.”

  Dalar scowled into the distance but didn't reply to the taunt, waving his team's combat androids through the entrance in case there were still pockets of resistance inside that needed to be flushed out.

  There weren't. After following a narrow hallway past a few offices, his team reached a sizable entry room leading to a larger warehouse beyond, which looked as if it took up most of the building's space. In the entry room, he found a single combat android waiting with two humans, a man and a woman in the sterile white uniforms favored by science and medical personnel the universe over. The woman was clutching a datapad, while the man wrung his hands together and stared nervously at the robot holding him prisoner.