"If you haven't guessed, sweetheart, the secret password was 'brother's keeper.' Thought it was fitting since you did name these two men Cain and Abel." The elderly man snickered. "Not sure what your deal is with the Bible, but no god is going to be able to save you now."
Her body shook as she watched her former lover sit back in his chair. She knew where he'd set up to do this entry. From his cluttered desk to the row of naked cyborg women behind him, she recognized his lab right away.
As soon as Sonjie had gotten back to Mars once Lars had shuttled himself to Earth, she made quick work of deactivating the sexbots Lars had created. She thought she'd found all of his diary entries. She should have known he would have had one hidden, one just for her.
Lars wagged his finger at the camera. "If you're looking at this, that means I'm dead."
Sonjie's body went cold, as though she were the one standing in that testing room with C-A-I-N and A-B-E-L. She put her hand to her chest to try to steady her pounding heart.
"You're a very clever woman, Dr. Tuumlar. I taught you well. Never figured you for a softie, though." He laughed and it quickly turned into a coughing fit. "Make love, not war. Had I known that stupid little phrase would make its way into your work, I would have actually listened to you. But why listen when I had your body." He snaked his purplish tongue over his thin lips. "That exquisite body. If you didn't long for something more, we could have been really happy together, Sonjie."
"No, we couldn't," she said between gritted teeth as she stared at the screen.
"So since you used love against me, I'm going to pay you back. Hopefully by now you haven't figured out that the medicine you've been taking for your migraine headaches is actually an elixir to react with the shots that have been given to C-A-I-N and A-B-E-L."
Sonjie furrowed her eyebrows. Diving into her pocket, she retrieved her pharmacy stick. Passing her thumb over the identi-screen, it flashed the name of the drug she'd been taking for over a year. She'd trusted her pharmacist and never read all of the ingredients contained in the drug.
The standard ibuprofen and other blood reactors existed in the medicine. Then her hand quivered at the last ingredient: pheromones and estrogen.
Who the hell would authorize such a concoction to be given to her? Then something else struck her. Who had been giving C-A-I-N and A-B-E-L shots? She never authorized that.
"The shots they've been given make you irresistible to them so they can't help but want you. You had more time to plan, pick a suitable partner for E-V-E. I had to use my resources." Lars clasped his hands together and set the union on his desk. "Knowing you, Sonjie, you fought the feelings you had for these two robots. But then you caved. Your body could no longer stand not having these men, both men. And I wanted you to want both because you criticized me for wanting other women. Monogamy is for the weak and simple. I wanted to prove that you were just like me." He chuckled an obscene laugh that froze her blood. "So tell me, honey, which one did you like more? Did you like A-B-E-L's long dick or C-A-I-N's thick one, that hit you in just the right spots?"
To hold back the feeling to vomit, Sonjie covered her mouth. It hurt her to know that her will had been taken away as far as her heart and her feelings were concerned. And without enhancement drugs, C-A-I-N and A-B-E-L didn't want her. Knowing that hurt her even more.
And she couldn't prove without a shadow of a doubt that even if the drugs were out of their systems that they would still feel the same way. Damn it. She hated Lars all over again. Bastard.
"I know and you know that these two fighting machines can take down the Cerillion Army. The Cerillions are a hard fighting bunch, but no real match against Earth's weaponry. Hopefully my associates have made connection with another army to battle for Earth's control. But even with the help of a second army, I still needed some assurance that even after my death, I could win. What better way to ensure my victory than to take out the enemy. So, by having C-A-I-N and A-B-E-L fall in love with you, I've created a competitive rift between them. No dog likes for another to piss on his tree."
Bastard.
Who would help this madman? Sonjie thought for a bit, then it hit her. Officer Cotton Gerson, the man who hated C-A-I-N and A-B-E-L with a passion.
Lars continued. "So as soon as the men find out that you've been fucking them both, because I know you have, my dear, I know you have, they'll want to claim you for themselves. So the shots they have been getting have some extra testosterone in it. Ever wonder why they were so much more prone to violence than E-V-E?"
Everything was starting to fall into place now. Sonjie knew deep down that neither one of these men were a danger to her. Now Lars had made it so that they were a danger to the Army.
"If my calculations are correct, they should have killed each other by now," Lars concluded.
Sonjie bolted to her feet. Now it was all making sense. He wanted to sabotage the Federation Army not by making C-A-I-N and A-B-E-L ineffectual to them, but by having them destroy each other.
All of those years of hard work and training would go down the drain. Adam and E-V-E with their armies wouldn't be able to hold off the two forces, not without both C-A-I-N and A-B-E-L.
"So go, rabbit. Go run and try to be the savior again," Lars said and plastered a toothy smile on his face. "With any luck, they'll take you out with them, too."
The screen went black just as Sonjie ran to the door. She had to make sure to keep C-A-I-N and A-B-E-L away from each other. Then she would have to come up with a drug to countermand the one Lars used in the two men. She couldn't do that in a day. Hell, she couldn't do that in a week.
"To the gods, I just need time and compassion," she said as she bolted down the long hallway toward the living quarters.
Time was running out. And Sonjie was running out of options.
* * * *
A restless feeling overtook Cain's body as he paced in his room.
"Not Sonjie. Not my Sonjie," he kept muttering. "She couldn't be with Abel. How could she? Why wouldn't she say anything to me?"
He stared at the opened metal suitcases that sat on his bed. Next to them lay his guns. Laser guns, rifles, handguns.
No one could love Sonjie like he could. No one.
He snatched one of his handguns from the bed and stuffed it into an inside pocket in his jumpsuit. He only had one viable option. Take out the competition.
"Open door." Cain sprinted from his living quarters, whisking by the stationed guards, with one target in mind.
"Where are you going?" one guard asked.
"I need a walk." Cain also needed closure. He would get that soon.
* * * *
Abel sat at the edge of his bed. Though he and Sonjie had never made love on his bed, he did imagine her body right now. He remembered every curve and the softness of her skin. He'd tasted her and never wanted to remove the flavor from his pallet.
How could she betray him like that? How could she have sex with another man, and not just any man but Cain, a man Abel considered his brother. Well, used to consider him that way.
This betrayal was too much for Abel to bear. If he couldn't trust Cain now, how the hell did he think he could trust him in battle? If it hadn't been for the desperate sound in Sonjie's voice when she realized Cain was in trouble, Abel wasn't sure he would have done anything to save him. He couldn't harm the man, not in front of the woman he loved.
Staring up at his surveillance monitor, he saw Cain marching toward his room. The intent in Cain's eyes was unmistakable. Able reached into his weapons drawer and pulled out a snub-nosed laser handgun. He made sure the weapon was loaded before leaving his room. If he had to die for one woman, Sonjie would be the one.
Luckily he didn't plan on dying. Not today.
* * * *
As soon as Cain had entered the main open area going to Abel's room his internal sensors made his body tingle, a feeling he knew meant danger was close. Instead of shrinking back, he charged ahead. And before him stood Abel.
"I thought you would have called before coming over," Abel said, not moving from his spot.
"I wanted my visit to be a surprise," Cain replied.
People milled around the open space, the center of home base. As soon as Cain produced his gun and Abel responded in kind, the people around them screamed and scurried away from the duo.
"So this is how this is going to end?" Cain asked as he stepped carefully to the side, making Abel circle around with him in a perverted dance.
"If you aren't willing to face facts that Sonjie loves me and only me, then yes, this is how this is going to end." Abel held his gun at Cain's face.
A current of emotions ran through him as he held the gun up to the man he'd once claimed as his brother. Images of the two of them as street kids, scurrying around like rats trying to find their next meal, popped into his head.
He shook his head to get rid of the thoughts. This man was traitor, not his friend. Traitors had to be destroyed.
"Let her go, man. Just walk away from this or you're going down." Cain's finger pressed against the trigger, ready to squeeze if he needed to.
"I can't let her go. I love her. You just want her as a plaything."
"Bullshit! I love Sonjie. Always have. Always will." Then Cain chuckled. "But you, you always have to have everything your way. Always the fucking favorite around here."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Abel held his gun steady by putting both hands to it.
"You got the air forces because you're the Federation darling. Meanwhile I'm on grunt work doing fucking foot patrol. You have everything. Let me have Sonjie."
"Are you kidding me?" Abel's voice rose to a booming octave. "The Federation loves you. You're the muscle between the two of us. That's why you have the ground patrol to control more of the armies. They see you as strong and me as tactical."
"That's the difference between you and me, Abe. You're willing to be that sacrificial lamb. I'm not. I need a reason to do things whereas you are content to follow orders. So follow this order: die!"
"No!" Sonjie ran into the room and stood in between the two men, hoping that she would keep them from killing each other. "Don't do this," she pleaded.
"Keep out of the way, Sonjie," Abel said while keeping his gaze on Cain.
"Or stay there. You know I can still shoot you with her standing here." Although Cain didn't want to risk hurting Sonjie, he wouldn't go down without a fight.
"Listen to me. It's not you all or me. We've been drugged," Sonjie said with her hands in the air as though her open palms could stop the lasers if they decided to shoot.
"What are you talking about?" Abel asked.
"I found a secret diary entry from Dr. Urlean. He admitted that he had all three of us drugged so that we would want each other and you two would want to kill one another. Don't let him be right. He wants this. I don't."
The distressed tone in Sonjie's voice tugged on Cain's heart. He blinked, trying to avoid looking at her.
"I don't believe you," Cain said, still eyeing Abel who didn't drop his weapon either.
"Believe it. Apparently you two have been given shots that make you want me. I've been taking medicine that was supposed to be for migraines but instead made me want you two. Dr. Urlean wanted you two to find out and kill each other. Don't make that bastard win."
"Shots?" Abel asked.
Cain thought about the statement. He blinked again but this time when a moment of clarity struck him.
"Am I my brother's keeper?" Cain said. "Yes, I am."
And he shot.
Chapter Eight
Sonjie screamed as soon as the laser zipped over her shoulder. She barely had time to blink when A-B-E-L's blast flew past her other shoulder. Facing C-A-I-N, she watched as the shot hit him in his shoulder, knocking him to the ground.
"Oh my gods!" Sonjie turned around to see what damage C-A-I-N had done to A-B-E-L. A-B-E-L remained standing. No visible wounds apparent on his body.
When Sonjie looked around him, she saw a man lying on the floor. She ran to the bystander who caught C-A-I-N's unfocused shot.
As soon as she crouched down, she saw it was Dr. Zerlandt. The blast left a charred, smoky hole in the center of his chest. Gasping for air as blood gushed from his mouth, he attempted to speak.
"So close," Dr. Zerlandt said.
"Don't talk. I'll get you some help," Sonjie said.
"If I hadn't w-w-waited, I could have just sh-sh-shot one of them and been d-d-done with it."
Sonjie fell back on her haunches and stared at her fallen colleague. "It wasn't Cotton. It was you. You were in on it. You set up my prescription and administered the shots to C-A-I-N and A-B-E-L, didn't you? You knew."
"Lars was a brilliant man. Who knew a c-c-cunt like you could take him down," Zerlandt said and gurgled a laugh that splattered blood over his face and onto Sonjie.
A-B-E-L snatched Sonjie away from Zerlandt and held his gun to the man. "Die, you sick son of a bitch." And with one shot in the center of his head, Zerlandt stopped moving. His eyes remained open.
Sonjie curved into A-B-E-L's chest, sobbing until she realized that she had someone else to care for right now. She pulled away from him and ran over to C-A-I-N's prone body.
"Please say you turned your self-preservation back on. Please." Sonjie unzipped C-A-I-N's jumpsuit to look at his shoulder wound.
As soon as she opened his black garment and pushed it aside to look at his shoulder, she noticed the wound had already closed, and just a black stain remained on his flesh.
"I turned my self-preservation back on." C-A-I-N smiled.
Sonjie smiled and cried all at the same time. "I thought I had lost you both."
"Good thing I'm an expert shot." C-A-I-N peered up passed her.
She turned and found A-B-E-L standing behind her.
"I knew what you were doing. Why do you think I shot your shoulder?" A-B-E-L said.
"Liar," C-A-I-N replied and chuckled.
"I'm sorry, Cain. I couldn't hurt you. Ever," Abel said.
"How did you know I was telling the truth? How did you know Dr. Zerlandt was in on it?" Sonjie asked as she helped him sit up. "I suspected Cotton."
"As soon as you said the shots and you said you didn't know anything about them, I knew that that bastard had something to do with it. Then when I saw him coming through the shadows and I saw the heat from his laser gun, I knew he wasn't going to shoot you. He was looking for us." He stared pointedly at A-B-E-L. "And as much as I thought I hated you, I didn't want him taking you down. There is something to that sheep mentality."
A-B-E-L held out his hand and helped C-A-I-N to his feet. "Welcome back to the fold, buddy."
The duo went to hug Sonjie but she moved away from them. "You two need to finish packing. We all do since I'm going on this mission with you tomorrow. And I have a report to make about this situation. Head back to your quarters before you get in trouble. I'll explain it to the High Commander."
The confused expressions on their faces were enough to wrench her heart. So instead of being asked a lot questions she didn't know she could answer right now, Sonjie took refuge by rushing to the military police and the rescue service workers that hovered by Dr. Zerlandt's dead body.
Dead bodies she could deal with. Her heart was another matter.
* * * *
Cain didn't bother asking for permission before entering Abel's quarters. He figured after being shot by the man he thought of as his brother, Cain was owed a little bit of latitude in regards to Abel's personal space.
Cain found Abel doing pull-ups on the bar in his bathroom doorway. He thought just seeing Abel again would boil his blood like the way he felt the last time they confronted each other.
"Come to finish the job?" Abel hopped down from the pull-up bar and wiped his hands on a towel he had hanging on the back of a chair.
"You know if I wanted to take you out I would have." To punctuate his point, Cain gave a friendly yet hard pat on Abel's bare chest. "We need t
o talk."
"We have to go in a few hours. You going to make this quick?" Abel set his duffel bag on his bed then went to his dresser.
"Depends on you. Sonjie."
With the mention of her name, Abel stopped moving. "What about her?"
"I haven't seen her since that day. What about you?" Cain rested his hands on his hips as he watched Abel.
"I haven't seen her either."
Cain observed Abel's body language. It was like looking into a live action mirror. At just the thought of Sonjie, Abel's shoulders relaxed. His posture became hunched over. He even got that forlorn look in his eyes that Cain imagined that he got when he thought of Sonjie.
"I don't know about you, Abe, I miss the hell out of her." Cain started to stroll back and forth in the small space.
"I miss her, too. Don't think that you're the only one who—"
Cain held up his hand. "No fighting this time. We've been off the drugs for a few days. Do you believe that it's the drugs making us attracted to her?"
Abel shook his head. "I still think she's smart and funny and—"
"And she's sexy as hell."
Abel cocked a smile at the corner of his mouth. "Yes, she is."
"So what are we going to do?"
"About what?"
"Don't act stupid, man. I'm more than willing to fight for her love. I can't get her off of my mind. I miss her. I miss the way she smells and how she takes a deep breath when things frustrate her."
Abel furrowed his eyebrows. "She never did that with me."
Cain laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess I was a little tougher to take than you."
Abel nodded. "Not surprising." Then he removed his shorts and padded to his bathroom. "I still want to be with Sonjie. She's coming with us when we're deployed."
"But it's not the same. I want to be with her, too." Cain grabbed Abel's arm before he could disappear into the bathroom. "I don't want to share her."
Abel snatched his arm out of Cain's grip and looked like he wanted to give Cain a tongue-lashing for his proclamation.
"But if I had to share her, I can't think of a better person than you." He put his hand on Abel's shoulder. "I know you love her as much as I do."
Original Sin Page 16
