The Mammoth Book of Futuristic Romance (Mammoth Books)

by Trisha Telep

  She looked up at the camera, her blue gaze moist and her dreamy, pale skin flawless. “How much longer?”

  “At least thirty minutes or so,” he lied. He’d held her up longer than he should. Her presence dulled the burn of loneliness he felt. “Go activate a medical droid.”

  She nodded and stood. As she walked away Cameron felt his consciousness slipping. It was time for him to wake. He just didn’t want her witnessing it first-hand.

  Three

  Olivia activated one of the medical droids, and smiled as he nodded his head. From all outward appearances he looked human. Very big, but very human. It was the case with all the androids. They’d been made with synthetic genetic material, and some had even been spliced with actual human DNA. The ones on Rhea had some human DNA in them, making them even more lifelike than others. They had designated call numbers, but Olivia and the other pod-rejects had given them names. Granted, the names were ones thought up by a bunch of young girls nearly ten years ago, but they were names all the same.

  “Hi, Rainbow,” she said, using the full version of the name they’d given him, even though they’d taken to calling him Rain for short.

  “Miss Olivia,” he responded, very polished with his pronunciation. He was about as far from a rainbow as one could get, with his tawny skin, oversized muscular body and closely clipped hair. He looked more like the bouncers she remembered working at the drinking holes on Ten than a medical man, but that was what he was programmed to be. “Have you need of me?”

  “Doctor Cameron’s wakening has started.”

  Rain cocked his head to one side and his left eye went totally black. It was a sign he was accessing the computer interface. “Correction. His wakening is complete.”

  “What?” she asked, her breath squeezing out of her lungs in a fast swoosh.

  “His pod emergency-exit cord was pulled.” Rain continued to look out of one green and one fully black eye. “My scanners are unable to determine if the cord was pulled externally or internally.”

  “Quincy!” she yelled and turned, running back in the direction of the pod row that Cameron was in.

  She slammed into the bay doors. They were set to open automatically when they sensed a presence. She’d never tested them at a full run before today. Clearly, they could stand to be tweaked. When they opened, she visually scanned the row of pods, her gaze locking onto Cameron’s.

  It was empty.

  Wires hung loosely from the pod’s lid. The white bed portion looked untouched save for the smallest of fading depressions. The privacy visor was drawn back. That was something that happened automatically once the wakening sequence was nearly complete. Cameron had told her he had thirty minutes yet.

  Spinning, Olivia stared around the pod bay. Machines beeped, scanners blipped and everything seemed normal, except for the fact that Cameron was missing. Her mind continued to reel. In her head, Quincy and his faction of followers had sabotaged Cameron’s pod, or had even abducted him upon waking. Reason said Quincy was safely locked away in the brig with the thirteen followers they’d identified to date. No one else had come out of stasis in nearly nine months. Still, she worried.

  Olivia scanned the room. “Cameron?”

  She found his naked form huddled on the floor on the other side of his pod. He shouldn’t have tried to stand already. He wasn’t scheduled for a full wakening for another hour. She rushed to his side and knelt.

  Rain pushed in alongside her. “Doctor Cameron?”

  Cameron grunted. “I’m fine, 17390.”

  Rain’s expression said otherwise. “‘Fine’ would not leave one on the floor, Doctor.”

  Cameron pushed onto his elbows and glared at Rain. “You’re going to make me lie here because I used your call number, not your name, aren’t you?”

  “I will admit I am considering it,” Rain replied, with deadpan delivery.

  Olivia pushed his arm. “Rain!”

  He shrugged, seeming so human it made her grin despite the situation. She then focused on Cameron. “What are you doing on the floor?”

  He lifted his head, his silver gaze greeting her.

  “I was hoping to wake ahead of time, get cleaned up and surprise you,” Cameron said, his voice tight and his body tense.

  She sighed. “Cam.”

  “Didn’t go as planned.”

  She shook her head and tugged on him. It was obvious she wouldn’t be able to budge him. Rain stepped in and assisted, lifting Cameron with ease.

  “Everything okay in here?” Cara asked, appearing at the bay doors. “Want to tell me why Doc is being held up like a naked rag doll?”

  Rain stared at Cameron. “What explanation would you like me to give?”

  “Go with . . . ‘Because he was stupid,’” Olivia snapped. “Get him to an exam room.”

  Cameron shook his head. “No. I’m fine. Put me down.”

  Rain did, and Olivia was shocked Cameron managed to stay upright all on his own. She glanced at Cara. “You can go now.”

  “And miss the hot guy show?”

  Olivia groaned. Cara tossed her hands up and went.

  Rain followed behind Cara, leaving Olivia alone with Cameron. He was still solid muscle, just the way he’d been when he’d entered suspended animation eleven years ago. Of course, back then, he hadn’t made her heart race the way he did now. She eased him to his feet and kept her gaze lifted to his face, ignoring his nakedness.

  She smiled up at him. “I’ll help you to the cleansing chamber.”

  “Thanks,” he said, his hand moving over hers.

  “Cam,” she said softly, surprised at how much taller than her he was. “I’ll miss our talks.”

  “They aren’t ending, Livia,” he returned. He nodded towards the cleansing chamber.

  She helped him to it and stepped back, letting him enter. She closed the door behind him and the cleansing unit automatically kicked on. Sanitizing particles immediately filled the unit. She waited, fearful he’d fall due to his wakening weakness. Finally, the door opened and Cameron stepped out. She raked her gaze over his glistening form. Every part of him rippled with perfection. As she lowered her eyes to take in more of his body, she gulped and looked at the floor fast, embarrassed by her lack of self-control.

  Cameron chuckled, appearing right before her. “Grab me some standard-issue clothing and I’ll run a diagnostic on myself.”

  She did as she was told and handed him the clothes while looking away. After a moment, he touched her chin and she was relieved to see he had pants on – but nothing more yet. Her gaze met his, and the next thing she knew Cameron had jerked her against his powerful frame. He dipped his head and his lips crashed onto hers. She’d never been kissed before, and was too stunned to do anything other than allow him to lead. And lead he did. He thrust his tongue into her mouth and drew tiny moans from her. Her hands instantly went to his bare chest. She found herself pushing on him gently as if she wanted him to step away, yet her mouth said otherwise. Her tongue laced around his and she fell against his body.

  Cameron wrapped his arms around her and drew their kiss to a sensual end. Breathless, Olivia stared up at him. She wasn’t sure what to say.

  He kissed her forehead gently. “Gather the other pod-rejects.”

  She touched her swollen lower lip, blinking up at him as if she didn’t have a single functioning brain cell left in her head. “Huh?”

  A certain calmness settled over him as he stared down at her from silver eyes. “The others. Gather them in the ready room. I’d like to talk to them.”

  “But you just underwent the wakening. You need food, rest and to be monitored for signs of the shakes,” she protested, concerned for him.

  He touched her cheek lightly. “Livia, do as I asked. I’ll be fine. My diagnostic scan came back clean. No sign of the shakes.”

  “But . . .”

  He swatted her backside playfully and she yelped with surprise. “Go.”

  She stood there watching him before she gr
ew bold and went to her tiptoes, pressing her mouth to his. One second she was standing before him and the next he had her yanked tightly against his naked chest. There was an air of authority in his actions that excited her to her very core. She ran her hands over him, touching anywhere and everywhere she could. He, in turn, did the same to her.

  “Go,” Cameron whispered. “If you don’t, I’m going to take you right here and right now.”

  Olivia steeled her nerves. She licked her lower lip. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  A sexy grin slid over Cameron’s mouth. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

  Four

  Cameron walked with distinct purpose down the long, dimly lit corridor as he headed to the brig. He’d waited ten years to get his hands on Quincy for what he’d done. He’d thought finding release in Olivia might curb his need to kill the man. It hadn’t. As he’d held Olivia after losing himself in her for the third time, his thoughts had drifted to Quincy, and to the man’s traitorous actions. Actions that had nearly cost Olivia and the other girls their lives.

  For ten long, torturous years, he’d plotted his revenge against Quincy. He’d fantasized about the ways he’d destroy him and his followers. They were a faction of people who believed the new world would be better off without females, and especially without children. These were considered a burden to provide for if resources were lower than expected on Twelve. Over the many different colonization attempts, women had been an issue more than once. Alien races wanted to abduct them for breeding purposes, sicknesses affected only them, affairs and adultery left men launching wars over them. Still, none of it meant they should be wiped out. Already their numbers were lower than the males’. Women were to be cherished and protected at all costs. It was simple. Quincy had broken that rule.

  Cameron tapped the side of his opti-spectrum glasses, calibrating them further. They’d been acting up prior to him going into stasis eleven years ago, and only seemed to have gotten worse with non-use and time. He’d been without them for so long his body had grown unaccustomed. Under normal circumstances, after a long stasis sleep he’d have given his body at least half an hour to get used to the glasses once more. Instead, he’d used the time to bed the woman he loved, and after that he could no longer wait to deal with Quincy.

  The glasses glitched and – for a split second – everything around Cameron went dark. His natural-born abilities kicked in, giving him impressions of the surrounding area. He could function fully without the glasses, but he was rusty and not at full strength just yet. Putting a hand out, he steadied himself by using the smooth wall face until his glasses stopped acting up.

  He continued onward, his boots echoing off the floor of the corridor. The boots were standard military issue and went up to just under his knees. The grays he wore were also standard issue, indicating his rank. There wasn’t an officer on board who outranked him since the commander of Rhea had turned on them all, thus losing his rank. Quincy was a bastard and needed to pay for his actions.

  Cameron stormed to the end of the hall, to the cell in the brig holding Quincy. He punched in the override codes to gain entrance to the cell. He’d been careful to keep the codes hidden from Olivia and the others. The women continued to falsely believe that each of Quincy’s men could be redeemed. They wanted to see the good in their fellow man, but Cameron knew better. He knew Quincy and his followers were capable of great evil.

  The door slid open and he stepped into the dark, dank cell. Scratch marks lined the walls where Quincy had used his fingers to carve images and sayings all over the place. They were the ramblings of a lunatic. Cameron had seen nearly all of them because of the built-in security cameras in each cell. Quincy’s mind had deteriorated the most, by far. Stepping into the cell, Cameron glanced around, his sole purpose to end the life of the monster for good.

  His opti-spectrum glasses started to glitch again. When they cut off his vision, pain exploded in the side of his head. Cameron went down hard and fast, already sensing another presence close. He kicked out, scoring a direct hit with flesh.

  “Bastard!” shouted Quincy, his hot, rank breath filling the room. Cameron’s heightened senses reacted violently to the smell, costing him in reaction time as Quincy struck him again.

  He reached out, grabbing hold of Quincy’s ankle and twisting it. The man screamed in pain and the sound of it gave Cameron great satisfaction. As his glasses continued to glitch, Cameron yanked them off and tossed them aside.

  Quincy laughed. The sound was chilling and void of real emotion. “Problems seeing, Doctor? Yes, I made sure to tamper with your opti-spectrum glasses before you went into stasis sleep. I thought the droids might attempt to wake you when they sensed me sabotaging the pods. I didn’t want you to be a burden. Too bad you managed to still be one.”

  Cameron relied on his natural gifts. He sprang up and off the floor with a speed that no doubt shocked Quincy, and punched the man directly in the face. Each sound Quincy made only increased Cameron’s ability to draw upon all his senses and get a clear mental image. It was a lot like echolocation, yet more. He struck Quincy again and then grabbed him by his ratty shirt lapels. “You sick son of a bitch,” he snarled, his lips curling with disgust.

  “Cameron!” Olivia’s voice cut through the cell, distracting him.

  He was worried. “Livia, go!”

  Quincy attacked then, gaining the upper hand and rushing at Olivia. He threw her across the room with a strength he shouldn’t possess, then ran from the cell. Cameron’s focus changed from wanting to kill Quincy to wanting to assure himself that Olivia was safe.

  He moved to her side quickly, accessing her slumped body. Without his glasses he couldn’t run a diagnostic on her. “Computer, send medical droid 17390 to us at once. Seal off the bay doors to the women’s chamber. Report on Quincy’s location.”

  “All bay doors sealed. One female unable to be contained. She is currently with medical droid 17390 and headed in this direction. Ex-commander Quincy is currently entering escape pod four.”

  Cameron held Olivia against him, kissing her temple as she groaned.

  “Ouch, what happened?” she asked.

  “You took a header into a wall,” he replied. “What hurts?”

  She sat up on her own and rubbed her neck. “Right now, my pride. Did Quincy escape because of me?”

  “He escaped because I was foolish and couldn’t control my temper. I should have waited until I was a hundred per cent. Had I waited, I’d have noticed my glasses weren’t functioning properly.” Cameron sighed. “Instead, I let my temper guide my actions. I just wanted him to pay for hurting the woman I love.”

  She gasped.

  He paused. “Livia?”

  “You love me?”

  With a shaky breath he nodded and pulled her into his embrace. “Of course I do.”

  She wrapped her arms around him. “I love you, too.”

  The computer beeped. “Doctor Cameron, ex-commander Quincy has successfully detached pod four. His course, New Earth Twelve.”

  Olivia tightened her hold on him. He kissed the top of her head. “It will be all right. We’ll find him once we reach Twelve.”

  “Is everything all right?” Rain asked, appearing in the doorway with Cara at his side.

  “Holy stellar remains,” Cara whispered. “Quincy’s gone?”

  “Yes,” Olivia said softly.

  Cara made an odd noise. “Darn. I was hoping to get to see Doc there beat the living heck out of him.”

  Olivia laughed nervously. “Somehow, I think you still might get to see that. I have a sneaky suspicion we haven’t seen the last of Quincy.”

  Rain approached. “With respect, Doctor. I am sensing injuries on you. Odd, they seem to be caused by a short in something electronic.”

  “Quincy sabotaged my glasses,” Cameron offered.

  “All of them?” questioned Rain.

  “All of them?” echoed Cameron, unsure what Rain meant.

  “According to in
ventory logs, there are five additional pairs, all calibrated for you, in the lower storage deck. It will take some time to retrieve them but it can be done in transit, if you wish.”

  “17390,” Cameron said with a wink, knowing the android didn’t appreciate being called by his number. “You’re all right, for an android.”

  “So are you . . . for a Vanesier,” replied Rain. “You do tend to grow on a person.”

  Androids weren’t known for their ability to joke. It meant the adjustments Cameron had done prior to launching the Rhea expedition were working, slowly, but working all the same. He grinned. “I’m the only Vanesier you know personally.”

  “True.”

  Cameron helped Olivia to her feet and hugged her again. He couldn’t stop touching her. She didn’t seem to mind. She laid her head against his shoulder. “Computer, open the bay doors to the rest of the women.”

  “Yes, Doctor.”

  Cameron took Olivia’s hand in his. “It’s time to start the wakening for Oli.”

  She groaned. “Do we have to?”

  Cara laughed. “He’s your brother.”

  “I know. Picture me explaining how I lost my virginity to his best friend.”

  Cara leaned in slightly. “Is that before or after you explain how it is you’re not a little girl anymore?”

  Cameron cringed. She had a point. He cleared his throat. “New plan. We let him sleep a bit longer. At least until I’m back in fighting shape and can move fast enough to duck his right upper cut.”

  Everyone laughed.

  Red Dawn

  Delilah Devlin