My Cyborg Savior (Crimson Romance)

by Ravena, Honoria

  “Wait, back up. Accelerated aging? Explain.”

  “You didn’t know that about us? They watch the lower class settlements, and choose children or teenagers they think are exemplary. They pick them young because they’re easier to mold and brainwash. But they can’t do anything with children. They don’t have enough strength and they look too conspicuous if they’re spotted on missions so they’re growth is accelerated. Galen was seventeen if I remember right.”

  “And how old were you?”

  He shook his head. “I was six.”

  “Wow, I’m surprised they could reform you. I’d think you’d be completely devoted to the government, if they brainwashed you.”

  All humor left him and alarm bells went off in her head. This man wasn’t as stable as he seemed. “Oh, it was hard for them to fix me. And now they have to deal with my depression and suicidal tendencies. The government fucks up every life they touch. Including Galen’s. You’re lucky he doesn’t treat you like shit. If I didn’t find you amusing, or see the change in him, I would try to kill you myself.”

  She gulped and stepped back against the door. “Galen wouldn’t like that.”

  His tight lipped smile wasn’t a happy one. “No, he wouldn’t. That’s why you’re safe, until he starts to hate you. Which I find inevitable. Humans always show their true colors eventually.”

  “May I remind you that you’re human.”

  His eyes narrowed. “No, we’re not. We were born human, but they changed us. They fucked us up. And your father was a big part of that.”

  “My father is a senator. He has very little active access to that part of the government. They regulate it, but even they don’t have all the facts.”

  “He wasn’t always a senator, was he? What was he doing, say thirty years ago? Twenty even?”

  She didn’t have a clue. What was he accusing him of? She bit her lip, not wanting to acknowledge her ignorance of her father to this man.

  “You don’t know, do you? Because I know exactly what he was up to. We all do.”

  She put her hands on her hips. “Well, out with it. Tell me why you hate me.”

  “Now, now. Don’t put words in my mouth. I find you … interesting. I hate your father, and believe you’ll turn out to be his daughter through and through. He was an experimental psychiatrist where they were making us. He conducted everything to do with the brainwashing. We can’t help but blame him for our lives. He changed us. Our lives suck because of him. We’re not looking forward to dealing with him when we think he should be assassinated.”

  Jamila glanced away from him, her mind reeling. She had no idea her father had a hand in creating cyborgs. Galen could never love her. Her father had done too many terrible things to him. In ways, she looked a lot like him. Every time he stared into her eyes, did he cringe and think of the pain her father had caused him? Was that why when they’d met, he couldn’t seem to regard her with anything but contempt?

  A good way to hurt her father would be to murder her. Galen must know that. She needed to escape this ship and risk the trip back. There was no doubt in her mind now that she’d end up dead if she stayed. Her father wouldn’t bow to Galen’s commands, and these people were bent on revenge against him. She could see it in Torin’s eyes. She was a pawn to them and she needed to find a way out.

  “Any chance you can get me some food? I’d rather not go to the mess hall. I was threatened last time I went there.”

  Torin laughed. “Yeah, that bitch Ann thinks she owns Galen’s cock now. She gets like that sometimes. I’ll go out and get you food. She hates humans and would definitely make good on any threats.”

  The doors slid open automatically as he approached them and left. When they slipped closed again, she moved to stand in front of them but they didn’t budge. She wasn’t surprised. He’d be stupid to leave them unlocked, but it was worth a shot. She glanced around for a weapon. She didn’t want to kill him, just knock him out. There was nothing in here. It was like a person didn’t even live in this room. Galen was either a neat freak or owned no personal items.

  There had to be weapon in here. There was no way he’d be without. Space was dangerous. It was full of pirates and aliens and he was a fugitive from his own government. A ship could easily be boarded silently, and you might never know it until someone spotted the intruder and sounded the alarm, or they broke into your room and tried to kill you.

  The one strange thing she spotted was a keypad next to the head of the bed on the left side. She rushed to the bed and dived on it, scrambling for the other side. Some ships had safety boxes in the cabins to protect valuables. The only thing different about this one was that the symbols on the keys were like nothing she’d ever seen before. Had cyborgs created their own written language as well as a spoken one? She probably wouldn’t have been able to figure out the code even if she could recognize the signs.

  She wiggled her fingernails under the plastic keypad and tried to work it loose. She gritted her teeth as the dull throb of her nails threatening to pull from her fingers became more insistent. There was a small pop and she flinched, waiting for agony. Instead, the small plastic frame and keypad dropped to the floor.

  She examined the wires under the buttons. You’re going to electrocute yourself. Rubbing her hands together she considered them. Her inner skeptic had a point. It had been years since she’d had training in electronics. Thankfully, unless Galen had booby trapped this panel, it was unlikely to give her a fatal jolt. She tugged a wire from the center and it came loose with minimal effort. When she combined it with a wire from the bottom of the panel sparks flew from the entire thing. White hot pain hit her fingers sending tingles up her arms and she landed on her ass. She shook her head and took a deep breath, trying to get rid of the shaky feeling the shock left her with. The good news? A large square of the wall was open ever so slightly. That wasn’t how she preferred to get his vault open, but it would do.

  Jamila pushed herself to her feet, and stumbled to the wall. She swung the door of the safe open and almost cheered when she spotted what was inside. She couldn’t believe her luck. It was a stun gun.

  Sinking into a chair behind the desk, she examined the stunner. She wasn’t sure how to use one. She’d only seen it done. But she’d been told it was only a matter of “point and shoot.” She hoped that was the case. Normal pistols had a safety. If the little stun gun had one she was screwed.

  She slid it between her knees and waited for Torin to come back. Hopefully he wouldn’t take forever. She would love to stand and pace, but that would probably arouse his suspicion. That was the last thing she needed. She had no idea what Torin might do to her if he discovered she was trying to escape. He wouldn’t be happy.

  The door slid open and Torin stepped through carrying a tray. She lifted the stunner and fired. His eyes widened as the beam struck him.

  “Fuck … ” His eyes rolled back in his head and he sank to his knees before collapsing onto his stomach. The tray clattered on the ground and she flinched. If anyone had heard or seen that, she wasn’t going to make it anywhere. She rushed to the door and peered out. There was no one in the hall. Yet. She needed to shove him into the room. She got on her knees and pushed his legs through the door. It would have been so much easier to pull the big bastard, but the doors would likely slide closed once he was inside, and that wouldn’t do. She struggled to get his heavy legs to move.

  “Damned cyborgs must weigh eight hundred pounds. Good lord.” They did have reinforced skeletons, but the metal was supposed to be light. But after this she knew it couldn’t possibly be as light as everyone said. Or maybe this was how much people weighed. She’d never had to push an unconscious man through a doorway before.

  She finally managed to get his legs through the door and rested for a second against the frame. His eyes flickered open and she jumped.

  “Don’
t do this.” His voice was so low she could barely make out his words. “You’ll be in terrible danger. Don’t leave.”

  “I have no choice. I’m convinced I’m going to end up dead. At the very least you’re going to use me for your own personal gain.” She snorted. “Besides, once you’re able to get up, you’re going to be pissed. I can’t stay now.”

  His hand clenched and then his eyes fell closed. Cyborgs were resilient. She’d never seen anyone wake so soon after they’d been shot with a stunner. The majority were out for at least fifteen minutes. Now she had only one problem. The door to Galen’s room hadn’t closed. Torin might have been awake enough to keep it from shutting. She couldn’t know for sure. It didn’t matter. She had to go.

  She stood and rushed down the hall. Thanks to the glance she’d gotten of the layout of the ship, she could easily find her way to an escape pod. It was four levels down. She made it to the lift without being spotted by anyone. She hit the button for the level she needed and waited.

  The lift ground to a halt before she’d reached her destination. A cyborg stepped into the elevator with her. He frowned but quickly pressed the button to get them moving again. He glanced down at her and took a breath like he would say something, but then he abruptly faced forward again, clasping his right wrist with his left hand. Did he suspect where she was going and why? Did he even know who she was? They couldn’t have many humans in this place. He didn’t look at her again and for that she was grateful.

  Chapter Ten

  Jamila stepped out of the elevator when they reached her level. When she glanced behind her, the man was watching her. He wasn’t intense about it, but he was definitely tracking her movements. She walked past the entrance to the life pod and kept going, waiting for the telltale whisper of the lift doors closing. When she heard it, she glanced behind her to check. Yep, he was on his way. She turned around and rushed toward the pod. She needed to hurry.

  “What are you doing down here, human?”

  Jamila froze and slowly turned to face the last woman she wanted to see. Ann strode toward her with her hands on her hips. Where had that bitch come from? And the real question: what was she going to do now? She had no answer for Ann, and even if she did, this woman still wanted to pound on her a little bit. Or a lot.

  “Answer me. What are you doing down here without an escort?”

  Jamila’s mind scrambled for an excuse. She found none and her words tripped off her tongue. “I … I was going to the cargo bay. I left something in the shuttle. Galen allowed it.”

  The biggest lie ever. Could a cyborg detect a lie? Probably. If they paid attention even normal people could notice some of the signs.

  Ann’s eyes narrowed and she was sure she’d been caught. Then a chilling smile broke across Ann’s face that made her stomach flip over with anxiety.

  “I’m glad you’re alone. We can talk. Woman to woman. Let me be very clear. Galen is mine, and I want you to keep your hands off him.”

  Jamila flinched internally. Clearly Ann wasn’t close enough to scent him. Jamila hadn’t showered; she must still smell like him. She backed away, hoping to keep out of the range of Ann’s cyborg super nose.

  “You don’t even deserve to live. I’m going to push for your execution when your father doesn’t meet our demands, which I’m sure he won’t. No humans should survive for what they’ve done to us.”

  Jamila cleared her tight throat. “You know you’re still human, right? No matter how much you’ve been transformed. You’re sounding a little crazy.” She shook her head. Moron. Antagonize the wacky, jealous cyborg. It’s one of your better plans lately. She bumped against the opposite wall and cringed as Ann kept advancing, her hands curled into fists.

  “Be careful, bitch. We don’t need you alive to complete our mission. It makes things easier, but it shouldn’t be required.” Then she froze and her eyes narrowed. “You little whore. You’ve slept with him already!” Her lip curled. “But then, from the videos we’ve seen of you, you always were a slut.”

  She charged forward and Jamila realized she should have stunned her as soon as she’d been spotted. She was too close now, and Jamila was either going to die, or take a few nasty blows before she could take her down. If she pulled the stunner now, Ann would take it from her. She’d lose her chance to incapacitate her and end up dead. Fear quivered in her gut. Would she even survive one blow? Probably not.

  Ann backhanded her. She fell to her knees and black spots danced in front of her vision. If Ann had closed her fist it would have killed her.

  A hand tangled in her hair while the other clamped around her bicep hard enough to bruise. Her stomach turned over as Ann tossed her. She threw her arms around her head as she crashed into the wall. Her ribs lit up with pain and she cried out. She bounced off it and hit the ground on her side.

  She blinked and fought against the blackness that threatened to pull her under. She fumbled for the stunner in the back of her pants. Her trembling hands wrapped around it and her fuzzy vision cleared enough to see Ann storming toward her. She raised her weapon and fired.

  Ann collapsed five feet from her. Jamila pushed herself to her feet and leaned against the wall as a wave of dizziness swamped her. She braced her hands on her knees and took a couple of deep breaths before she stumbled to the escape pods. She couldn’t halt her shaking. She was lucky to be alive. Nausea rolled through her stomach and she wasn’t sure if it had to do with fear or a concussion.

  She stepped through the little door and glanced around. It was spacious, with enough room for several people. And each one was supposed to have enough oxygen for a month of space travel. With only one person, she could last much longer. Hopefully she wouldn’t need that long. There were supposed to be food rations somewhere in it too.

  Sitting in the pilot’s chair, she glanced around at the controls. They were much simpler than her shuttle back home. But then, navigation wasn’t a big need in an escape pod. It would head for the nearest government controlled planet or space station. If that was unavailable, it would head for the nearest habitable world.

  “Computer, prepare for launch.”

  “Negative.”

  “What? Prepare for launch now and head for the following coordinates.” She imputed the destination manually.

  “Negative.”

  Crap. She really couldn’t deal with this now. She couldn’t think straight. Her face and ribs ached and she couldn’t halt her trembling. “This ship is under attack. I need to go.”

  “Negative.”

  She groaned. What the hell was wrong with this thing? She stared at the controls. They gave no hint that it was malfunctioning. She input the command to lift off manually. The only response it gave was two loud buzzing sounds.

  She screamed and kicked the underside of the dash, cursing when her toes throbbed from the impact.

  “Computer, reason for non-compliance?”

  “Command controls have been remotely overridden.”

  A chill went down her spine. “By who?”

  “Oh, I think you know who.”

  She spun around to find Galen leaning against the shuttle’s doorway. She hadn’t even realized the damned thing hadn’t closed. She pulled the little stun gun out of her pocket and pointed it at his chest. He arched an eyebrow. “Really now?”

  “Yes, really. I’ve had enough and I’m leaving. Let me go or I’ll — ”

  “Stun me? Oooh, what a threat that is. The ship still won’t lift off without my order.” He eased closer and she tensed, ready to stun him. He froze. “How badly are you injured? Let me look at you.”

  She shook her head as tears clouded her vision. “No, stay away from me. I’m tired of being hurt by you people.”

  Her eyes narrowed. Had he hacked the other pods too? She could stun him and still get away.

  “I know what you�
�re thinking. The answer is yes. I’ve hacked the other pods. Even if I hadn’t, the cyborg you encountered in the lift noticed you. He mentioned that he’d spotted a human when he went past me.”

  “How did you know I’d escaped?”

  He snorted. “The more I thought about where I left the pistol, the more I worried that I was underestimating you, so I went back to remove it from my cabin. And of course you know what I found. A barely conscious, pissed, cursing Torin, trying to pull himself to the communications terminal. He was relieved to see me. I guessed where you’d gone. This was the closest evac spot. And Ann lying unconscious in the corridor was a good sign too.”

  He strode toward her and she wiggled the stunner to get his attention. He paused. “It doesn’t matter. Go ahead and shoot me. When I wake up, you’ll be locked up somewhere and I’ll be plenty pissed. Should be fun to take that frustration out on you.” More tears formed in her eyes and his widened. “Shit. Okay not the tact to take right now. Please, let me look at you.”

  She glared at him. She wanted to drop her guard. Needed a shoulder to cry on. But she wasn’t staying here one more minute.

  “What was the plan anyway? I know you’re aware there are pirates and aliens and all sorts of problems you could run in to. And you probably wouldn’t have made it far from us. They would have launched the Wingmen to disable your engines and tow you back. Those guys are good at that kind of thing. If you did get away, you’d probably get killed.”

  She bared her teeth at him. “I’m not sure I won’t end up dead if I stay here. Psycho bitch in the hallway tried to kill me. The best way to hurt my father would be to kill me if you don’t get your way. You people hate him.”

  His expression grew stern. “Stop saying ‘you people’ like that. It’s not like you to generalize. It smacks of prejudice. You don’t honestly think I’d hurt you, do you? I didn’t think I’d be able to bluff you this easily.”