by Cara Bristol
So Mariska is a Terran United citizen?
Yep.
Her father still alive?
Yes. He runs a hydroponic farm. Hold on a sec.
Moments later, a lower-toned ping signaled the transmission of a still-vid. His cyberbrain opened the file. A picture of a young couple popped into his mind’s eye. Mariska looked so much a like a blend of the two them, there was no question whose daughter she was. Son of a bitch.
Do you want me to contact him? Inform him he has a daughter?
No. I’ll do it. First, I have to tell Mariska.
Good luck with that. If there’s anything more I can do, let me know. You’d better evacuate. You still have Carter to contend with.
Right. Thanks, buddy. Kai closed the circuit.
He sank onto the bed, shaking his head. One big problem solved: Mariska could seek asylum on Terra! She had family there. A father. Perhaps aunts, uncles, cousins. Hell, maybe a half-sibling or two.
One new big problem created: telling her. His gut told him she would not take the news well. She’d never been accepted on Lamis-Odg, but it would still shock her to discover everything she’d believed about her life was false. When they reboarded the Panthera, he could download the photo of her parents onto the computer to bolster the truth.
Her reflection in the mirror should have been proof enough.
Kai twisted his mouth. Or not. He’d never questioned her heritage. He’d suspected she had a little Terran in her, but not that she was totally human. Not unlike Mariska, he’d disavowed the evidence of his eyes and bought what he’d been told. How easily one could be misled into believing the myth of consensus.
She would have to process the news and adapt, and he needed to schedule her entry to Terra, and contact her father. He couldn’t just deposit her there and leave. He had to come clean with Carter, take an official leave of absence. Besides, the director’s vast resources could facilitate the transition, perhaps forge a few documents to satisfy Terran authorities.
Carter would do it—after he ripped Kai a new one. He didn’t know which would be worse—talking to his boss or Mariska.
Yes, he did. Telling her would be hardest. Better to contact Carter first in case a pick-up team had been dispatched. Running was over. He’d turn himself in in exchange for assistance with Mariska. He opened a frequency to the Cy-Ops director.
What the hell are you doing on Darius 4?
I couldn’t allow Mariska to be sent to Katnia.
So you jeopardized the entire fucking mission? I’d planned to send a “pirate” ship to intercept the shuttle to Katnia to rescue her.
You didn’t tell me that.
If you’d stuck around, you would have found out. We’ve worked for years to infiltrate Lamis-Odg! If I could, I’d court martial your ass. But instead—
Mariska is human.
What?
I found out her parents are Terran.
Who told you that?
A reliable source. He would not implicate Brock. Listen, I’m coming back in. You can do whatever you want to me. I’ll take the shittiest assignments—
You bet you will.
But…I need your help. Kai zapped over the birth documents of Mariska’s parents, the DNA sample he’d sent to Brock, and the still vid. She needs identification docs to enter Terra. He paused. I need a leave of absence to get her settled. Then I’ll turn myself in.
Fuck. Carter swore, and Kai knew the director would help him.
It would be a long time before he’d get a decent assignment, but that was a small price to pay. By the way, how did you know I was on Darius 4?
Mariska breezed in with a wide smile. “The sand is wonderful!”
Gotta go. I’ll be in touch. He disconnected the frequency.
Her smile drooped. “What’s wrong?”
He patted the bed. “I have to tell you something. Come sit down.”
She settled next to him, and he shifted his gaze to the glass doors of the lanai. Ocean blue stretched to the faux horizon. Holographic clouds floated across the azure sky. Hidden fans circulated the air to generate trade winds to cause the palm trees to sway. A perfect but fake island paradise. She could visit the real thing soon enough.
This was as good an opening as any. “How would you like to see a genuine island?”
“How is that possible?”
“While you were out, a friend contacted me. He had some information.”
“Dale?”
“No, another friend. His name is Brock. He, uh, works for the same, uh, company that I do.” Kai rubbed the back of his neck. “I asked him to do some checking into your background.”
“Into me? Why?” She frowned.
“I wanted to learn more about you.”
“Why not ask me? What could your friend know that I don’t?”
“He was able to get some information about your moth—”
KABOOM! The hut shook as the azure sky exploded in a rainfall of glass.
Chapter Thirteen
“Get down!” Kai threw Mariska onto the bed and himself on top of her. Glass hammered the roof in a downpour.
KABOOM! A percussive wave blew out the lanai door, showering them with shards. Cries from beyond the beach pierced the air.
He hugged Mariska, shielding her with his body. “Don’t move,” he said into her ear.
“What’s happening?” she cried.
He remained on top of her, holding his breath, bracing for another blast. When none came, he lifted his head cautiously. Listened. Screams had subsided. “Stay here. I’m going to have a look.” He rolled off her.
His jaw dropped at the sight beyond the lanai.
The water had vanished! The dome had shattered, releasing an ocean flood. Only wet sand remained.
Kai flung open the main door and gaped at the destruction. Jagged chunks of glass glittered in the sand beyond which the flooded garden was visible. Bodies lay strewn while survivors, many of them naked, fled from the regiment of helmeted soldiers storming toward the beach.
He slammed the door and dragged the armoire to barricade it. It wouldn’t stop the soldiers for an instant, and the open veranda offered its own invitation.
“Go! Go!” He grabbed Mariska’s arm and pushed her toward the lavatory. “Get inside. Don’t make a sound. No matter what you hear.”
“What’s going on?”
“Lamis-Odg blew out the dome.” Kai grabbed his small pocket blaster, his sole weapon. Fuck the rules. He should have sneaked more off the Panthera.
“Let me help!” She resisted his efforts to shield her, but he forced her into the lavatory, locked the door, and dragged a dresser in front of it. He tipped over the bed and hauled it to opposite side of the room as a shield just as a robot bounded onto the veranda.
Kai fired.
The android soldier’s chest exploded, and his body flew over the rail. Three more bots thudded onto the deck; he deactivated two of them, but the third got off a shot. Photons whizzed by Kai’s right ear. From behind the bed, he retaliated and caught the robot in the face. His head blew off, but it didn’t slow him down because his operating system was in his chest. It did render him sightless, and the android’s next shot went wild.
A direct hit to his torso finished him off. The smoking body collapsed.
The locked door burst open, ejecting the armoire across the room to crash and splinter against the wall.
Soldiers rushed through the open door and from the lanai.
Kai eliminated three more bots. From the corner of his eye, he spotted an android taking aim. Before he could duck, the bot released the photon stream. It struck his arm, then, like a net, wrapped around his body, and activated. White hot electricity blazed through his electronic and human nervous system. Trussed in a spiral of electric current, he fell, writhing in agony.
His microprocessor went dark, but his human mind remained alert. Hot needles stabbed at his neurons, causing m
uscles to seize in painful rigor. Spittle foamed out of his mouth. Have to warn.. Have to… Vocal cords paralyzed, he couldn’t utter as much as a whisper, let alone a shout. And what could he warn her to do? Stay in the bathroom? Flee out the window? What would that buy her? Seconds?
Heavy boots crunched on glass. A cape around his shoulders, Obido swept into the room. Kai had never felt so helpless in his life. He’d never been so helpless. Unable to move or speak. His eyelids were frozen; he couldn’t blink, could only stare at the ceiling as the general assessed the situation. Obido pointed to the barricaded bathroom. “Is my…daughter…in there?”
“Unknown, General,” an android responded.
“Open it,” he ordered.
The android shoved aside the dresser and tore the door from its hinges.
Mariska emerged. “Father! Thank the Great One, you’ve come. This android deactivated the pilot and hijacked the shuttle.” She didn’t spare him a glance as she stepped over his body.
Doubt slammed into him. Was she pretending she’d been taken hostage to save herself? Or had she been lying to him?
“I control my sector. Nobody thwarts my orders or takes what is mine,” Obido said.
She squared her shoulders. “I am ready to proceed to Katnia.”
Mariska, no! He’d shown her what the Ka-Tȇ were, what they did, what they would do to her. Get up! Do something! He ordered his body to leap to its feet but couldn’t get a single muscle fiber to obey.
Martyrdom pervaded Lamis-Odg society. She didn’t know she was Terran. Would she march to her doom to serve some twisted sense of duty? Kai had assumed they’d gotten past that, but what if she’d been agreeing with him, doing whatever she felt she needed to survive? He couldn’t have misread her to that degree, could he?
Survive! Fight! He willed her to read his thoughts, but she didn’t glance his way, displayed no more interest in him than she did in the android carcasses.
Is that what I am to her?
“We have sent two other females to fulfill our commitment to the Ka-Tȇ,” Obido said. “Perhaps they shall still want you, but first there will be a debriefing.”
“Of course, Father. I’ll assist in any way I can.”
Mariska had seen and heard too much. The damage she could do could be significant, with Dale and the factory the first casualties. He tried in vain to open up a hailing frequency to the other cyborg, but his microprocessor had been fried.
“Escort her back to the station,” Obido directed one of soldiers.
She grabbed her bag. “If I may, I need to retrieve my veil from the android’s ship?”
Fuck. She was leading them right to the Panthera and its electronic wizardry. All the galaxy needed was for the terrorists to get their hands on cloaking technology. And the Panthera would lead them to Dale and Deceptio.
Obido grimaced. “Yes.”
She moved toward the open lanai, but stumbled over an android’s foot and hit the floor with a thud. Obido grunted with disgust, making no effort to help her up. She struggled to her feet. Blood ran down her arm, cut by a shard.
Despite everything, concern raced through him.
She wiped her arm on her skirt, and she and the android departed.
Kai’s heart beat a fast rhythm. He wasn’t sure if it was positive or negative that the blast had affected only the voluntary muscles and electronics, and not internal organs. Perhaps he would have been better off if they’d killed him than to be trapped in a paralyzed body.
At least he didn’t have to worry about trying to play dead. His body lay still, his eyes unblinking. His peripheral vision took in Obido’s form. Ugly bastard. Give him one working hand and he’d— Nothing. He couldn’t move. Had no idea where his blaster had fallen, not that he could have wrapped his hand around the grip. Even his pinky finger ignored his commands.
Obido knelt over him. The general’s lack of handsomeness didn’t improve with proximity. He grabbed Kai’s chin and jerked his head left and right, squinting at his face. “You’re not the android I ordered. Technicians will take you apart, piece by piece. I will find out who disguised you as a Lamis-Odg bot.”
He stood up and addressed the soldiers. “I shall return to my personal craft. Collect the bodies; there may be parts we can still use. Don’t forget this one.”
* * * *
Mariska tromped over soggy ground, the garden barren and deserted. Trees lay toppled, benches and gazebos upended, others swept away. Sexual revelers had disappeared—those who had been able to flee had done so. The bodies of those who’d drowned lay in puddles of water, their sightless eyes staring at the sky.
Dead eyes. Like Kai’s. She hadn’t been able to bear looking at him for fear she would betray her despair. Even now, she was forced to maintain a stoic façade. Weeping might be reported to her father.
I might as well go to the Ka-Tȇ. What do I have to live for now that Kai is dead?
Justice. Vengeance burned through the numbness. Her worst fears had been realized when she’d emerged from the lavatory and saw his body. She could have killed her father on the spot, so powerful was the rage and grief.
She would avenge Kai’s death. After a lifetime of pretenses, of hiding her anger and resentment, her greatest weapon would be her perceived ignorance. No one would expect her to retaliate. She had another weapon, too: Kai’s blaster, clutched in her sweaty hand, hidden in the folds of her skirt. She’d faked a fall so she could grab it. When the right moment came, she would use it. Until then, she would play the dutiful, stupid, unsuspecting daughter.
She eyed the droid. Escort? Captor. No pleas, promises, or bribes would sway him. The bot couldn’t be anything but loyal to her father as his programming would not allow deviation. On the positive side, his programming did not allow deviation. He would not report that which he was not programmed to report.
If her father got his hands on the Panthera, it would be bad. Very bad.
“You wait here,” she ordered the droid when they arrived at the hangar.
“I must escort you to your ship,” he responded.
“Were you instructed to board the craft in the structure?”
“No.”
“Then you will wait here.”
His eyes flickered as his computer processed the information. “That is within the parameters of my orders. I will wait.”
She tugged the hangar door open wide enough to squeeze through then darted to an ancient star cruiser. Its battered hull appeared to have been through a meteor storm. She glanced over her shoulder. The droid was watching, its robotic eyes recording her actions. Whatever he saw, her father would be able to watch on vid.
She strolled around the port side to the forward entry. Out of sight. For this to work, the android would have to remain beyond viewing. He wouldn’t hunt for her on his own, but if her father transmitted different orders… She had to hurry. Heart pounding, she sneaked around the front of the cruiser and crept behind some equipment lockers.
Sprinting on tiptoe to muffle the sound, she raced to the far end of the building where the Panthera was docked. She’d sensed Dale’s interest from the moment they’d met, and although she did not return the feeling, she was grateful for his foresight and protection. Before she and Kai had departed Deceptio, Dale had pulled her aside and shown her a few things about the spacecraft.
“Just in case,” he had said.
Just in case. Mariska dug her fingernails into her thigh to suppress the need to weep. She prayed to the Great One she would remember Dale’s instructions. If only he’d taught me how to fly the thing.
* * * *
Kai’s skull thumped against cold metal when the soldier bot dumped his body atop the lab table. His eyes burned. Though gross motor control had not returned, small muscle movements had. If the droid peered close, he might notice Kai’s eyes had begun to water from the effort not to blink, which could be disastrous. Operational androids, let alone deactivated ones, did not pr
oduce tears.
The droid executed a jerky pivot, palm-scanned out, and left.
Kai blinked and wiggled his fingers and toes. Much improved. Not so good that he could do anything, though. Hundreds of needle pricks continued to sting his extremities and torso as his nanocytes repaired the damage. His brain buzzed, and the taste and smell of burnt wiring coated his mouth and nasal passages.
Being human had saved his ass.
The photon stream would have toasted an android. But it only temporarily disrupted his human nervous system. A failsafe had activated and shut down his microprocessor. Currently, it was running a self-diagnostic before rebooting. Some nanocytes had been destroyed, but many remained and had begun to repair the damage to his machine parts.
Cyborgs weren’t so easy to kill.
The second he was up to snuff, he would kick some ass! He’d start with Obido and work his way down the chain of command.
Residual pricks of fire blazed up his forearm into his shoulder. Kai clenched his hand into a weak fist. Getting better. He tested his neck and turned his head.
Robotic extremities, torsos, and faces were heaped into piles on the metal tables. A tray of eyes stared at the ceiling from a wheeled cart. Across the room, naked reassembled droids stood propped against the wall. Poor bastards. They weren’t anatomically correct. They did have the advantage of an Odgidian ridge though.
He’d peeled off and discarded his facial forms, believing he wouldn’t need them. Without a disguise, if—no when—he got out of here, he’d be recognized as an intruder. Blending with the population would be impossible since there weren’t any Terrans wandering around.
Except for one.
Mariska.
He had to save her. Her words of blame had shocked him, but he had analyzed everything. Immobilized, he could do nothing but think. Her odds of survival were better if Obido believed she had been abducted. At the first sign of resistance or compliance with her kidnapper, she would be executed.
The general was evil. He’d annihilated a planet of tourists on vacation. Innocents all. Mariska had led Obido’s men to the Panthera, where the connection to Dale could be linked, putting Deceptio and all its workers at risk.
