Love Uncharted

by Berinn Rae

  “I don’t know what I’m waiting for. I definitely don’t want you to have a breakdown, but I’m fearing you will.”

  Oh, she was definitely on the verge of a breakdown, but she couldn’t tell him that. She wouldn’t show weakness to this man. Never again. He’d gotten her trust, and taken advantage of it.

  “Where are you taking me?”

  “An outpost on the edge of this system.”

  “What’s out there?” She knew one thing that was out there. Aliens. Hostile aliens. There were no humans out that far. Since serious space exploration had begun, they’d come into contact with very few alien races. Half were too underdeveloped to interact with. However, they’d made contact with two other races. One thought humans were too violent, and had severed all contact due to several confrontations, and monitoring Earth’s news stations. The other race was purely predatory. They wanted resources, slave labor, planets to colonize and blood. She shuddered and hoped that last rumor wasn’t true. Humans had a tentative treaty with them, when they had proved to be too much of a pain in the ass to eliminate completely. They’d settled for trade. But more than one trade mission had been massacred. Or taken. No one was really sure but it seemed humans offended other races no matter where they went. The Corabin found almost every gesture and word to be an offense.

  “We have a small space station out there. A long term living space left over from when human space travel was less developed.”

  Good lord. They were going to die. Those things were rickety and most had been scrapped years ago when miners had discovered better materials to make the stations out of. Pre-advanced space travel? They were lucky life support hadn’t failed, or an airlock hadn’t vented them all out into space.

  She snorted. “So you do plan to kill me? I thought you were waiting until my father said no to your demands?”

  He rolled his eyes. “We’ve fixed it, and it’s been in good working order for years. And most importantly the government doesn’t monitor what they believe is trash.”

  “And what rickety ship are we taking there?”

  He grinned. “Oh, it’s not rickety at all. I can’t wait to show you. It’s my baby.”

  Her curiosity got the better of her. “What ship is it? Did you steal it?”

  “Sure did. All by my lonesome. And when you see it, you’ll understand why I am so very proud of myself.”

  She eyed him. “Tell me now.”

  “Nope. Won’t do it.”

  They sat in silence for a while. She might be curious about the ship he’d stolen, but she was still pissed, and not prepared to forgive him. Ever. How did he engage her in conversation so quickly? She would ignore him from now on. She nodded to herself, cementing her resolve.

  The proximity alarm in the ship went off and she jolted. Either they were coming up to something, or they were being shot at. The jumper rocked from an impact.

  “We’re taking fire.”

  A second blast pitched the small spacecraft to the left.

  “Shit.” Galen unstrapped himself and stood. “I knew they’d come after you. Dammit.” He dashed for the pilot’s compartment, and leaned over Torin’s shoulder.

  “Any identification yet?”

  Torin nodded. “Government Police five-five-six. They’ve — ”

  The speakers crackled before the message came over the intercom. “Unknown vessel, kill your engines and prepare to be boarded or you will be fired upon.”

  “Requested that we stop.”

  Galen snorted. “Yeah, I got that. Options?”

  “We’re faster and more maneuverable. If we full burn, we can make it back to the Mother. But — ”

  “There’s a forty-one point seven percent chance we’ll explode.”

  The pilot titled his head back and forth. “Well, with the upgrades it’s more like thirty five. We could also open fire. But — ”

  “Their guns are bigger, better, and they have more than we do.”

  “We must be soul mates. Can’t you let me finish a sentence?”

  “Nope, it’s easier this way.” Galen hit a yellow button on the dash. “Government vessel, I have a senator’s daughter onboard. If you don’t turn around, I’ll kill her.”

  “We don’t negotiate with terrorists.”

  Jamila dropped her head back on the neck rest. She was a dead woman.

  Galen sighed. “Great. Bring us around and blow out their engines. You’ll only get one shot at it, so make it count. Then get us out of here. Full burn.”

  “Gotcha.”

  Jamila rattled her harness. She knew she couldn’t pull it off, but that didn’t stop her from trying. “Galen, this is crazy. Let me go in a life pod. They’ll be too busy picking me up to go after you if you go fast. You’re going to get us all killed.”

  He glared at her. “I think I know what I’m doing a little better than you.”

  “Let me go.”

  Torin glanced over his shoulder at her. “You don’t get it, we need you. We can’t let you go. If we die, then we die. But I get the feeling they won’t destroy us with you here, no matter what they say. Senators are very powerful men. Even if we get away, they’ll likely look for other ways to get you back. It would mean riches and rank for anyone who managed.”

  “I’m really not worth that much. If you think taking me will convince my father to do anything for you, you’re wrong.”

  Galen held up his hand. “Jamila, hush. You can’t talk me out of this.”

  She bit her lip to keep from screaming at him. They were going to get her killed before they even had a chance to murder her themselves. This was proof that he was one of the crazy genetically engineered people. He was unreasonable. She didn’t want to go to their space station. They were probably all as crazy as Galen.

  The ship spun around so fast that even the inertial dampeners didn’t reduce the feeling of nausea that swamped her. She watched the government ship as they accelerated dangerously toward it. She clenched her fists. When she was sure they’d hit it, the jumper dipped and flew under the police vessel just in time. They fired, and veered away.

  “Punch it!”

  The sudden momentum shoved her back against the chair. The air forced from her lungs as they hit full burn. She struggled to breathe as pressure threatened to crush her chest. As suddenly as it came, it was gone, as they reached a constant speed.

  Galen slapped Torin on the shoulder. “Nicely done.”

  “Thank you, I’ll take a fucking bow later.”

  Galen walked back to his seat and collapsed into it with a grin on his face. “I was a little worried there. I didn’t think they would be able to respond so fast to your abduction.”

  “Bully for you. Are you actually happy about this? You were almost caught and you’re smiling.”

  He shrugged. “Cyborgs were built for battle. It’s exciting. Cheer up, Jamila. We made it out alive and soon we’ll be on the ship. You’ll get to roam, within reason. And you’ll get some food. I’m sure you’re starving.”

  “Like I’d eat anything you’d give me.”

  He rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to poison you. I need you.”

  “Until you don’t need me, and then you’ll kill me.”

  He glanced away from her. “It won’t come to that.”

  “So you say. Forgive me, but I find it hard to believe someone who’s betrayed me. It’s a fault of mine.”

  He sighed, closed his eyes, and settled back in his seat.

  She shook her head, and looked away from him. The other cyborgs watched her. Why? The gaze of one flickered to Galen, and his eyes narrowed. What was he thinking? Probably that she and Galen were closer than they were. At least she’d never actually slept with him. Though, she’d done everything but. Shame swept through her. She was an idiot. She knew she wasn’t some uptight prude, but this? Letting a cyborg slave go down on her, and then being screwed over by him? Things couldn’t get much worse. She closed her eyes and tried to think about something else.
/>   Chapter Eight

  She jumped as the click of her harness being released woke her. Her head pounded.

  “Whoa, easy there. You’re safe.”

  She blinked up at Galen and smiled tightly, trying to ignore the pain in her head so she didn’t take it out on him. His eyes widened. She glanced around and realized why he was shocked. She was surrounded by cyborgs, and on her way to some space station in a dangerous part of the solar system. She should be cursing this man.

  She pushed herself to her feet and swayed as a spike of pain jabbed her right behind the eyes.

  Galen grabbed her elbow. “Are you okay?”

  She shook her head. “I’ll be fine. I have a migraine.”

  He frowned at her. “That doesn’t sound fine. Don’t worry, we’ll get you food and water and a painkiller.

  “Food and a painkiller sound lovely.”

  He shook his head. “Are you having any dizziness?”

  She sighed. “No.”

  “Good. Tell me if you do. We’ll have to go to medical.”

  He led her off the jumper before the other cyborgs finished collecting their gear. They stepped into a huge cargo bay.

  She stared at the cyborgs bustling around multiple smaller ships as they unloaded crates and made repairs. “I’ve never seen a ship this big unless it was a government ship.

  He chuckled. “And who do you think we steal ships from? It would hardly be sporting to take them from plain old citizens when it’s the government we want to take down.”

  She gaped at him. “Take down? You’re an anarchist then?”

  “No. We don’t like who’s in power now. They’re corrupt. They made us like this. They continue to turn people into cyborgs, and by doing so they’re destroying lives. You don’t know how many people they’ve ripped from their families. Sometimes their families were even murdered. Other times they were left to starve without husbands to support them. Most women hold factory jobs or are whores. They take people from the poorest regions of society because we have no claim to fight back. They left my family to die.”

  He’d started out composed, but by the end of his speech he’d grown tense, his voice rising. Not enough to shout, but he certainly hadn’t been quiet. He rolled his shoulders and took a deep breath.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to rant. But the bottom line is they’re taking advantage of their power. They need to be stopped before they kill more people.”

  “So you’d send everything into chaos because you dislike the government.”

  He smirked. “Not chaos. We have a plan.”

  “You know, you sound like those crazy genetically engineered armies. The ones that were messed up. They wanted to take over the government too. Look where it got them. Look where it got you.”

  “We don’t plan to run the government. We have people loyal to us among the senate. Not everyone wants us killed.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Now that shocks me.”

  He gazed deep into her eyes like he was trying to read her, while revealing nothing of himself. “You don’t really want me dead. Or any of us. You think it’s as much of an injustice as keeping the genetically engineered in ghettos.”

  “This is different. You’re ten times more of a threat than the Gens are. You have a brain rivaling a computer. You have reinforced skeletons. I’m sure you know your fair amount of government secrets, and you’re stealing their ships.”

  “You still don’t think we should be stuck out here, rotting in space under threat of death if we’re caught. Admit it.”

  She glared at him. She wasn’t going to say it. He was right of course. No one deserved this. But when they behaved as they were, who could blame the government for wanting them contained.

  “Fine. Don’t say it, but I know you believe it. Your actions prove it.” He turned and stormed away from her. “Keep up, or I’ll assign you another guard and be done with you.”

  She’d pissed him off. She couldn’t help it. She refused to insinuate that it was a good idea to overthrow the government. She didn’t agree with that. It would get many more people killed. He said they had friends in high places, but there was no way to ensure that their favored leader would get the position, and despite their belief that he or she was on their side, he probably couldn’t even get laws passed to save them.

  She looked around the ship as she followed closely behind him. It all seemed so familiar. Like she’d been here before, or …

  She stopped and her jaw dropped as she stared at the walls around her. There was only one ship this size that had been stolen in the past decade. “This is Vengeance!”

  Galen turned around and smirked at her. “Yes, yes it is.”

  She gaped at him. “But how? It was state of the art. Guarded by half the military and then there was its crew. How did you do this?”

  “Well, with a whole strike force it would have been impossible, but with one man? It was easy to slip in unnoticed. I hid in the repair tunnels, and started wreaking havoc on their systems. It took me days, but I found environmental controls and alerted them that the ship was going to be flooded with neurotoxic gases. Everyone made a mad dash for the exits, when really all I did was hold my breath and slowly vent the atmosphere. I can hold my breath for twenty minutes. See, I’m still human. I didn’t even break any records. Then I released a life pod of people who didn’t quite make it out.”

  He grinned. “It turned out that stealing it was the easy part. Piloting it with one person? Significantly harder. More than one system tends to require your attention at once, and multitasking can be dangerous while flying a ship alone.”

  She shook her head. “But you made it.”

  “That I did. I managed to use autopilot, which while not preferred, was a huge help because I had to maintain the ship’s systems and yank out the fucking tracking system in it. It also had a remote self-destruct. I guess they were reluctant to use it though. Now if they do, they’ll blow up a chunk of asteroid and send it careening toward the capitol building. It took some math, but I think I got the trajectory right.”

  “You’re big on bragging, aren’t you?”

  “Pfft. Kiss my ass. I am male, after all. We do our fair share of gloating. I am still unmatched for thefts of government vessels. Though I’m hoping Kyle does better. I don’t mind losing my title of Reigning Theft Champion for a new ship.”

  She couldn’t help laughing. “There’s a title?”

  “Yep, with a trophy.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Oh, that I have to see.”

  He leaned over and whispered in her ear. “Well, I’m sure I can arrange that. It’s on a shelf above my bed.”

  She shook her head and stepped away from him. “You know that won’t happen. You ruined your chances. I can’t ever trust you again.”

  His gaze turned solemn. “I suspected as much. A shame. You’re a beautiful, special woman and I want you. But it will be worth it if we can get what we need. Besides, I don’t intend to stop trying to seduce you. Follow me.”

  He turned and walked away while she glared at his back. Couldn’t he just let it go? But it was a shame. He was just as incredible to her. She’d thought he was a wonderful person. He had legitimate reasons for what he’d done, but he’d still taken her from home into a dangerous situation. She trailed behind him, and couldn’t help but notice the scowls of the other cyborgs as they passed. They didn’t like her. It was another tally in the danger column. She couldn’t forgive him, no matter what his reasons.

  The door in front of them slid open and they stepped inside. It was the mess hall. Several cyborgs were sitting around chatting. A few were women, but there were mostly men. Everyone’s eyes shifted to her and the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. Every single gaze held hostility. She edged closer to Galen. No matter what he’d done, he hadn’t physically injured her. She felt safer near him.

  He stuck his hand out behind him as if he sensed that she needed something to give her strength. She grasped it and he pul
led her through the room to sit at an empty table.

  “I’m going to get us some food. Sit tight. No one will hurt you, and I’ll be right over there.”

  He pointed to the line across the room.

  She nodded. She could sit here for five minutes while he got food. She glanced around at the enraged faces as he strolled away and hoped he came back soon. Instead of glancing at him with apprehension, she closed her eyes and massaged her pounding temples. Nothing helped when she got migraines like this. It was going to hurt until he gave her pain meds to knock her out. Hopefully she could keep food down. It was a problem occasionally, if the agony got too intense.

  “Hello, human.”

  She opened her eyes, and gaped at the Amazon standing over her. Jamila was tall, but this woman would have rivaled Galen. She was ripped too, like a female body builder. Were cyborgs built that way or did they spend time bulking up? She smiled at the woman, and prayed that being polite would help with any hostility. Judging by the woman’s deepening frown, it wouldn’t.

  “Can I help you?”

  “You’re awfully scrawny for one of our men. A few were wondering if you would survive them taking you.”

  That had occurred to her too. Galen was always gentle, but if he lost control it wouldn’t end well for her.

  “Honestly, I don’t know, and I don’t intend to find out.”

  “Why? Too good to fuck a cyborg?”

  “If you’re going to put words in my mouth, I’m going to nap, and you can have this conversation by yourself, okay?”

  It sounded rude, even to her ears. Damn the migraine. It made you go for the throat every time, even with people you liked.

  When the woman smiled, a little chill went down Jamila’s spine. “Well, I’d love to know if you can take one of them. They’re rather aggressive in bed, and they don’t seem to like you very much.” She turned and shouted to the men in a language Jamila didn’t understand. They laughed, and some eyed Jamila with obvious lust.

  “What did you say to them?”

  “Nothing, little human. I’m sure you’ll find out.”