Ghost Black

by Matthew S. Cox

  “You were running a combat sim, weren’t you? Not a game.”

  “Little of both.” He chuckled. “There’s a story and objectives, but the combat is realistic enough to serve as practice. I used to think I can handle myself.”

  “You can.” She shrugged out of her weapons harness and set the laser pistols on the desk by the helmet. “It’s not like you were jumped by thugs. There aren’t many people alive who could fight off a seasoned special ops team alone. At least, not without augments.”

  Pavo shivered; a reaction nigh imperceptible, though she caught it. Rather than return to his embrace, she leaned on the desk and stared at the rug. He fanned himself.

  “Gonna grab a shower.”

  “Okay.” Risa didn’t look up.

  He walked into the attached bathroom, not bothering to close the door. He cringes every time I mention implants. He won’t even look at Hanover. An image of the MLF’s other aug came to mind. Risa, even as a grown woman, only stood as tall as his pectorals. Both arms from fingertip to shoulder were plastisteel. UCF Marine Corps assault models. The story of how he got them varied from one telling to the next, with the common thread of losing them in action. Acid, bomb, missile, Cydonian crab, vibro-sword… did it really matter? I wonder what happened to him… he used to be Garrison’s shadow. Haven’t seen him in a while.

  The autoshower whirr started. She glanced up at the open door, half tempted to watch. Her eyes felt like weights in her head, their inhumanity pulling her down a slippery passage of self-loathing. She dragged herself to the bed, sat on the edge, and freed her feet from her boots. After wriggling out of the ballistic suit, she lay back, laziness battling with the potential awkwardness of Aurelia walking in while she reclined in the nude.

  She’s busy with other things.

  Rattling vibration from the bathroom faded to quiet. Pavo walked in with a towel around his waist, which he dropped as soon as he saw her. He swung by the door long enough to flip the lock, and crawled up beside her.

  “Couldn’t wait, eh?” He flashed a Devil’s smile.

  Pine-infusion from the autoshower soap made her cough a second after she rolled on her side to face him. “More like I wanted out of the armor. I think I’m getting sick of it, and everyone keeps telling me it’s unhealthy because it doesn’t breathe.” With Pavo stretched out naked in front of her, she found it difficult to stay gloomy.

  “Well, you do kind of live in the thing.” He reached up and played with her hair. “I’m not going to complain if you’d rather not wear it.”

  She grinned.

  “What’s wrong? Why aren’t you looking at me?” He caressed her cheek.

  Risa protested his lifting her chin with one finger for a few seconds, but relented and let him force eye contact. “You’re horrified at my eyes.”

  He brushed a thumb across her cheek, below her right eye. “You’re beautiful with or without them.”

  She scooted closer, face to his chest. “When my headware fried, I couldn’t see. I haven’t been that terrified since the night my… I mean Andriy died.”

  His hand slid over her shoulder onto her back, pulling her snug. “Thousands of people have prosthetic eyes.”

  “Yeah, but they look normal. I look like a damn killer robot.” A sour frown twisted her lips. “It wouldn’t bother me so much if I’d gone blind somehow and needed these things, but I gave my real eyes away… over dustblow.”

  His breath puffed warm into her hair as he kissed the top of her head. She looked up at him, and he repeated the kiss on her lips. Her hand crept up his side as the kiss deepened. His growing erection brushed her thigh. I don’t want to lose him again. Risa moaned into his mouth, wanting him, needing him, unwilling to let him go. She tilted her head to the other side, sneaking breaths as their tongues entwined. He squeezed her ass, and she pulled her fingernails across the small of his back.

  “I want my real eyes back.” The words came in a breathless whisper.

  He pushed her onto her back. “Do you even know where they are?”

  The last time they’d made love before he’d ‘been killed,’ he’d surprised her from behind. Being taken had been scary as well as thrilling, but she lacked the desire to be passive at the moment.

  “My turn.” Risa caught him off guard with a shove, rolling him flat before climbing up on top of him. “And yeah. Raziel had them.”

  Pavo grinned, resting his hands on her hips. He spent a few minutes licking and teasing at her nipples, sending wave after wave of energy cascading down her spine. She grasped his head in both arms, holding his face tight to the space between her breasts. Three-day beard scratched her skin as he kissed his way up from her sternum to the front of her neck.

  Risa shivered, paralyzed until their lips met again. He stared long into her gaze; she thought―no, knew―there would never be another like him. “Promise me you won’t go away. I want you forever.”

  “You are all I thought about in that tiny little room.” He kissed the side of her neck with a gossamer touch. “You kept me going.”

  “When I thought I’d lost you, I gave up.”

  He rolled her right nipple between his fingers, eliciting a faint squeal. “I want you to promise me, right here, right now. If anything should ever happen to me… I do not want you hurting yourself.”

  “Okay.”

  “That includes not stopping someone else from hurting you.” He grasped the back of her neck, forcing her to look him in the eye. “I mean it.”

  “I promise.” Risa’s gaze fell onto his chest.

  “Hey. I’m not planning on checking out.” He winked. “Stop looking like that.”

  She smiled, despite tears welling up. “I don’t want you to be disgusted by what’s in my head.”

  “I’m not.” He grasped her face in both hands, palms to cheeks, and pulled her forehead to forehead. “You are perfect.”

  Pavo… She swallowed hard. “I love you.”

  “I never thought I’d find a woman who makes me feel like time stands still.”

  She bit her lip. “That’s just the speedware.”

  He chuckled. “I mean it. Whenever I see you, it’s like the world stops and you’re the only thing that matters. I love you, Risa Black.”

  They held each other for a while in adoring silence before he resumed playing with her nipples. A shudder ran from head to toe; need burst within, a force she could no longer hold back. She pushed herself upright again and reached between her legs to guide him inside her. After easing herself down, she adjusted her balance and got into a rhythmic motion. She caught hold of his hands as he reached for her, pushing them up, pinning them over his head as her mouth found his. Their fingers laced together. She leaned back, leveraging her position and twisting her hips until he hit the right spot with every thrust.

  She gasped, breathless as she rode faster. The Comforgel undulated beneath them, adding a bit of bounce. All thought melted away, all worries gone. For what seemed like the first time in a decade, she felt truly happy.

  Pleasure bloomed at her core, spreading over her like the ethereal light of a real angel. Pavo filled her soul in a way Raziel never could. She trembled with ecstasy, clinging to him until neither of them could move. When the blinding light in her everything faded and her body relaxed, she collapsed on top of him.

  “There is nothing more important to me than you.” He stroked her hair.

  She smiled, not that he could see with her cheek to his chest. “I have to tell you something.”

  “I know you want to adopt that girl. Sounds good to me.”

  “More than that.” Risa gripped his shoulder. “I’m out. No more bombs. I told Garrison to take me off the roster. Oh yeah, I also found out he’s my father.”

  “He basically raised you.”

  “I mean my actual father. He married my mother a few months before she got the assignment to monitor Andriy.”

  Pavo exhaled. “Shit… Did he know?”

  “He had no idea…
I think learning that hit him harder than it did me.”

  “So you’re a civilian now? You’re welcome to move in here whenever you want.”

  “Uhh.” She sighed. “I want to. Kree’s still messed up by what happened to her mother. She’s afraid of leaving the safehouse. As soon as I figure out a way to get her out of there…”

  “Easy. Feed her a sleeping pill. She wakes up here and she’ll feel safe. This is still ‘inside.’”

  She poked him in the ribs. “I am not drugging a child. She was okay in the mine and on the walk to the safehouse. I need to figure out what’s got her so spooked. I gotta get her out of there before something happens.”

  Pavo rubbed a hand up and down her back. “You think something is going to go down? Depending on what Everett manages to pull off on Earth, maybe they won’t do anything drastic up here. Of course, if loverboy goes off the deep end…”

  Risa narrowed her eyes. “If Everett doesn’t deal with him, I will.”

  “You really want to tangle with Shiro? If he’s a C-Branch operator…”

  She scowled. “He might not know I know. I can play dumb. Get close. He’d never see it coming.” Her heart grew leaden at the thought. I’m not an assassin. He saved my life… carried me to the hospital when I was blind. A faint growl rumbled in her throat. He tried to kill Pavo. He doesn’t love me; he wants to own me.

  “I’m scared.” She clamped on to him. “I’m worried something is going to happen. Maris might be lying. Everett might be lying. Someone might be watching us right now. What if they learn about Kree? What if they decide I’m too dangerous to let walk away? Are they going to shoot me or remind the authorities about all the crap I did for the Front?” Thoughts of being back in a prison transport on the way to execution made her tremble.

  Pavo held her until she calmed. “I won’t let anything happen to you. I’ve got friends among the PVM. They already know about the Front’s true origin.”

  “You told them?” Risa squirmed around to look at him.

  “Yep. As you said, we don’t know whose dicks are in whose asses.”

  “How… eloquent. I did not say that.” She let her head fall against his chest. “Why do men always use sex metaphors?”

  He shrugged. “Dunno. Probably because nine out of every ten thoughts in a male brain is about―or at least related to―sex.”

  “What’s the tenth?” She smiled with her mouth half-open.

  Pavo winked. “A coin flip between killing something or eating bacon.”

  Risa chuckled for a second, then fell somber. “Do you think I’m stupid for wanting my eyes back?”

  “You’re perfect either way. It’s your body, Risa. The only opinion that matters is yours.”

  She sighed. “Tactically speaking.”

  “I thought you quit?”

  “I did. But I don’t trust anyone… except you.” She reached up and laced her fingers behind his neck. “And if I shouldn’t… If you’re playing me too, I don’t care if it kills me.”

  “What you see is what you get.” He patted her butt. “I’m no spy. Honestly? Your eyes are three generations removed from current. Modern military prosthetic models look like normal eyes. All of the visual interface capability passes through your NIU anyway. The same tactical feeds work fine without electronic eyes. They can be fed into the brain directly rather than using electronic retinas like tiny display screens.”

  I want to be human again. “What about sensors? The Wraith? Night vision?”

  “Wearable gear. Armored visors or ear-clips can do the same thing.”

  “And they won’t blind me if they overload.”

  Pavo rolled over, putting her on her back as he straddled her. “Sounds like you’ve made up your mind already.”

  “I should get my eyes back?”

  He leaned down and kissed her until she had to push him off to breathe. “It’s your body. Only you can make that choice. You’re perfect to me either way.”

  Risa glanced down past her chest at him. “Ready again?”

  “Your choice.” He winked.

  She traced her hands down his sides and back up. “Aren’t you going to be late?”

  He shook his head. “I’m off all week. Evaluations and such.”

  “I like the sound of that.” Risa embraced him.

  A few minutes into round two, the feeling of too perfect washed over her. Her boosted ears didn’t detect any sign of Aurelia and Genevieve having fun anymore; perhaps they cuddled. Unable to shake the nagging worry she’d lose him again, she made love to him like this would be their last day on Mars.

  7

  So Shiny

  Dark sunglasses covered the violet glow emanating from Risa’s eyes. The periwinkle blue babydoll top with attached pleated skirt reminded her of Chaia, and made her wonder what the girl was doing at that moment. The cute-but-oh-so-creepy tween had sent a Vidmail a few days ago from a colony named Alumiera, still in the Milky Way, but far enough to require a jump.

  Chaia admitted freaking out at the breathable gel tanks, but wound up more afraid of what extreme g-forces would do to her inside bits without the protection. The few photos she sent depicted a pleasant apartment, courtesy of the biopharma company sponsoring that colony, the one that had hired Caiden’s mother as a mechanical repair technician. Chaia spent the last five minutes of the recorded message whining about having to physically attend school rather than sitting at home with a helmet.

  A gloss-black purse sat in Risa’s lap, secure under her arms. Hugging it and keeping her head down made her feel like a scared tourist. Bland-scented air fell on her from vents in the shuttle roof; the tethered datapad attached to the seatback in the next row cycled among a preview menu of pay-per-view movies. Even if she could bring herself to pry her arms open, the flight from Primus City to Arcadia wouldn’t give her enough time for a full-length entertainment holo.

  Risa squeezed her bag tighter to her chest, clutching the brick-shaped object inside. She stared at the thin black fabric clinging to her legs, hating it for not being armor. I’d feel less naked… well, naked, than walking around in plain clothes. She risked a hesitant peek up at the people across the aisle. No one paid much attention to her, at least no one she could see. Being out of armor, carrying something so precious―her natural eyes frozen in gel―kept her hands shaking.

  Beep.

  The sound, a solitary digitized tone, one she’d heard tens of thousands of times, struck her as confounding as the sight of a blue elephant with six human arms. The second time it beeped, she remembered her NetMini. An instinctive grasp at her left hip found only cloth. It took her two more beeps to realize the device sat at the bottom of her purse.

  Like a normal person.

  She fished it out and stared at the screen: 史郎 (Shiro).

  An image of Pavo, the bedraggled, manic face she’d seen at the remote installation, rushed into her mind. With it came a torrent of anger. She managed to hold her rage back enough not to hurl the NetMini down the aisle, and let it drop into her bag. Twenty seconds later, it beeped again. Risa seethed in place, but made no move to grab the device. The words ‘missed call’ appeared in midair courtesy of her headware, lingered for three seconds, and faded away. Six seconds after that, ‘New Vidmail: 1’ appeared.

  With a thought, Risa swiped the notification off the left side of her vision.

  Anticipation built over the next forty-odd minutes until deceleration made her lean forward. She raised her head, peering through an ebon curtain of hair at the window. Arcadia City sat like a glimmering water bubble set in brick-red sand, still miles away. The newest, and most advanced, city within the UCF territory, it had only a meager underground presence. Enough for maintenance conduits, sewers, and infrastructure, but no one lived or worked underground here.

  What it lacked in depth, it made up in footprint. The city covered an area over four times the total surface area of all of Primus’s ‘civilized’ tiers. Enormous towering buildings at the northwes
tern corner marked the heart of the UCF military complex, accompanying starport, and associated structures. So much greenery littered the place, it resembled a city scooped away from Earth and transplanted. She clenched her fists, surprised at herself for feeling like a traitor. I guess humans want to recreate their home. A sigh slid past her teeth. This is my home.

  The pale blue glimmer of atmospheric retention fields grew nearer as the shuttle circled to the southeast, putting the city to her side of the ship. Before long, individual hovercars became noticeable in the air and, minutes after that, much smaller advert bots appeared as fast-moving specks. Unlike Elysium, Arcadia did not possess a physical dome; the entire shield consisted of projected energy, intangible to solid objects, but impervious to loose gases.

  Risa remained in her seat, head down, hoping no one noticed her inhuman eyes. The NewsNet had run a ‘wanted’ ad campaign for the MLF’s most notorious terrorist, though the woman they’d shown looked closer to forty, and far more sinister. Though, any Marsborn woman with Generation 3 Nishihama Oracle cybereyes could find themselves a target for overeager bounty hunters or bored Defense Force officers.

  One more reason. She hugged her purse.

  Her NetMini beeped again.

  Leave me alone. The thought of being within claw reach of him made her shake. Shiro commanded the team that hit Arden when General Maris refused. Had he been there? If he was half as skilled as the C-Branch operator who nearly killed her, she’d be in trouble. Even with Tamashī’s help providing a hand-to-hand training sim, she didn’t feel confident. A couple of virtual weeks being thrown around by an old Chinese man wouldn’t make up for years of actual combat experience.

  The want to kill him clashed with a feeling she couldn’t remember having before: fear. Worry that she’d die. Kree, Pavo… Garrison. She cringed. No matter which way she ordered the names in her head, she felt wrong about it.

  The disturbance of people moving startled her out of her debate. She looked up at an aisle crammed full. Men and women jostled each other, vying for space to access overhead bins or force their way past the congestion. Two RedLink employees offered pacifying comments in a tone too calm to be heard over the clamor. Risa waited in her seat. Nine minutes later, the crowd had dispersed, so she slipped out of her seat and walked the empty aisle to the boarding tube. A couple of Earth tourists diverted to the luggage pick up, evidently about to embark on the ride home after a Mars vacation. Their son, a boy about Kree’s age, lay draped over a wheeled suitcase, sleeping while his mother pulled him along.