Claimed By The Cyborg Commander: (Cybernetic Hearts #2) (Celestial Mates)

by Aurelia Skye

  She forcibly pulled her hand free and curled it against her side. “I think you’re imagining things that aren’t there. I’m trying to offer some comfort.” She slammed her hand on a button beside the door, and it rattled open. “Here’s the aquaponics room. I’ll leave you to figure out what you can about it. I highly doubt you need me showing you all the little pieces with your ability to analyze equipment. That is one of the cyborgs’ talents, isn’t it?”

  He wasn’t certain what he’d done, but had clearly angered her. Or perhaps it was some other emotion he couldn’t identify. He thought there was a hint of fear in her response as well, but he didn’t understand it. He hadn’t been threatening. “If the machinery is sufficiently intact, I can probably plug into it to discover the problem.”

  “Then why don’t you do that? I have other things to do.” Without another word, she spun on her heel and stormed away. JSN watched her go for a minute, still puzzled by her reaction, before finally shrugging and entering the aquaponics room to see if he could repair their faltering equipment.

  Chapter Three

  Gwen certainly had things to which she should attend, but instead she sought a quiet moment in her quarters. She was sure to have it to herself, since Britta and Pollux were both with the few other children who lived in the enclave, receiving their morning instruction from the elder who acted as the teacher. She needed a few minutes of privacy to compose herself.

  As soon as she was in her quarters, she leaned against the door after it closed and took several deep breaths. They started out shaky, but eventually regulated to a normal intake. Her face was flushed, and she fanned herself awkwardly with her hand. If she didn’t know better, she would swear she was coming down with an illness.

  “Can’t get off that easy,” she whispered to herself. She wasn’t sick, but she would’ve rather been struck down with just about any disease than find herself attracted to the cyborg. It wasn’t because he was a cyborg, though that seemed like a strange concept in itself—to have a relationship between a human and a cyborg—that made her feel so apprehensive. It was because he was a man, and she didn’t want to feel that way about any men ever again.

  Gwen had believed Stephen was the love of her life, and losing him had nearly devastated her. She had been more honest about the circumstances of Britta’s conception with JSN than she had planned to be, since she didn’t usually admit to anyone that it had been a miscalculation on her part that had led to Britta’s existence. She also hadn’t told him how grateful she was now for her children, and not just because they were her last link to Stephen, or because she’d loved him beyond all reason.

  Britta and Pollux had given her reason to continue in the first few days after Steven’s disappearance. If she hadn’t had them, she was certain she would have surrendered to the urge to give up and join Stephen wherever he might be. She hadn’t known then that he was dead, but she had been relatively certain that was his fate. The synths didn’t take prisoners, and only death would’ve kept Stephen from returning to her and their children. Britta and Pollux were the reason she was alive today.

  She wasn’t certain she could recover from losing that kind of love again. She was probably being silly and overreacting, but she hadn’t found any man attractive in the last three years since losing Stephen. Admittedly, the pool of eligible men was pretty small, but she hadn’t even really felt the stirrings of desire. She’d been too busy surviving to even think about it, and it was unwelcome to have her nerve endings coming back to life and renewing interest in the opposite sex. She’d hoped that part of her had died with Stephen, because it made life easier not to love someone and not to want someone.

  Wanting the cyborg didn’t equate to loving him, of course. Perhaps it was just the novelty of what he was, and a new arrival at the enclave that sparked her interest. Yes, that sounded like a good explanation, even if she wasn’t completely certain she believed it. She decided to embrace it though. If it was simply a novelty, that meant it would quickly wear off, and she would no longer feel drawn to him in any fashion. That was the best possible outcome, and she intended to see it come to fruition.

  ***

  JSN had allowed his attention to wander from thoughts of Gwen to the aquaponics system while he diagnosed the problem. The equipment was mangled and old, but he was able to form a feeble connection to at least identify the most critical error in the system that kept it from working. He was focused on determining if he could work with what he had or if he was going to need to fabricate some parts, and perhaps get some technology from his base, when his wrist comm chimed. He used a thought to turn it on, and the voice from the other end remained solely in his head, which prevented the humans from eavesdropping. He wouldn’t have to speak aloud his answers either, since his system would convert his thoughts to words that the other caller would receive. He was unsurprised to hear DVS’s voice in his ear.

  “How’s it going with the humans?”

  “Awkward and strange. Most of them are clearly terrified of me, though a few seem to want to do away with me.”

  “Do you require backup?” There was a hint of sarcasm in the words.

  “No, I can handle it.”

  “How about the leader? Do you think she’s sincere in wanting a truce?”

  JSN hesitated. “Yes, I think so. I’m not sure how onboard the rest of her people are with the idea, but I think she’s sincere.”

  “Carrie said the same thing. Apparently, they’ve become BFFs—whatever that is.”

  “But they barely know each other.”

  DVS laughed. “My mate assures me that she can make friends with other women in a matter of minutes. She claims she’s had lifelong friendships form from meeting someone while standing in line to use the facilities at a public event.”

  JSN frowned. “Humans in her time relieved themselves at public events?” He only knew the term relieving oneself as a colloquialism, at least until Penny’s arrival. He somewhat understood the canine’s need to urinate outside, but it perplexed him to imagine humans gathering in large groups to urinate together.

  “I find it as puzzling as you. But she assures me Gwen’s intentions are true, and we can trust her.”

  “I concur with Carrie.”

  “Then do what you can to facilitate that truce.”

  “I’ll certainly do my best. I’m currently repairing an aquaponics system though. It failed them last season, and they’ve been without fresh fruits and vegetables since.”

  “I would say you aren’t there to perform maintenance, but that sounds like an important task. Keep me posted.”

  “On the state of their aquaponics?” He laughed as he asked the question.

  “I had hoped some time away would improve your attitude toward your superiors.”

  “You might outrank me, but you aren’t superior to me.”

  DVS chuckled. “I’m fairly confident when I say Carrie would disagree with you on several counts.”

  JSN laughed as DVS severed the connection, but his mirth quickly faded when he thought of DVS and the happiness he’d found with Carrie. He envied them, so perhaps that was why he was feeling this pull toward Gwen. Maybe it had nothing to do with her personally and had everything to do with envy of the relationship between DVS and Carrie.

  That sounded plausible, and by the time she rejoined him less than an hour later, acting as though nothing had happened, he decided it was best to proceed with that assumption. It would keep him from trying to progress with any relationship, which would be a foolish thing to do under the circumstances. There was no guaranteed peace between their groups, and getting involved with one of the humans would simply complicate matters.

  “Did you have any luck?”

  He nodded. “I think it’s up and running, but it needs a lot of repairs. You’re going to need some new parts in general, and I don’t think you have the capability to produce them here. I’ll ask some of the engineers back at my base about creating compatible parts.”


  A smile curved her lips upward, softening her expression. “I’d appreciate you going to that trouble for us.”

  “It’s no trouble. No one should have to eat what you’ve been eating on a daily basis.”

  “If you’re interested, I’ll show you the storage room where we have the DNA samples.”

  He nodded, falling into step beside her as they exited the aquaponics room and walked further down the hallway.

  “What do your people eat then?” She asked the question, perhaps attempting to break the awkward silence.

  “We eat algae for protein, the same as you. We also grow quinoa and amaranth, since they have complete amino acid profiles. Then we supplement with fruits and vegetables.”

  “That sounds similar to us.”

  He nodded, but didn’t share the information that they had acres of space in their base, artificially calibrated to be the perfect growing conditions for a multitude of fruits and vegetables, along with the grains that were a staple of their diet. It was unwise to divulge the full extent of their resources until he had a better grasp on the long-term future between them—their groups, not them personally.

  When they stepped into the room housing the DNA, it was several degrees cooler than the rest of the enclave. Someone had clearly taken advantage of the naturally cooler temperatures deeper underground, but it was also augmented by some sort of cooling system.

  As though she’d read his thoughts, she said, “We have to keep it cooler in here to preserve the equipment, and then it’s below freezing in the actual storage room.” She led him through a labyrinth of machinery that his databanks quickly identified as all necessary for genetic replication. A moment later, she put her hand on the biometric panel, the first one he’d seen in the enclave, and they stepped into a room where the temperature was definitely below freezing.

  His eyes widened at the sight of it; it was far larger than he had expected. “You truly must have most species here.”

  She nodded. “Somewhere, there’s a master list of all the inventory, but we even have species that had been extinct on Earth for a long time before humans. I’m not entirely sure how humans acquired dinosaur DNA, but we have some available.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m not certain why anyone thought it would be a good idea to bring back dinosaurs along with humans though.”

  JSN grinned. “They were perhaps enamored with the idea of doing so and didn’t think about if they should.” His lip curled. “Like Maurice Frankel.”

  Her expression went solemn. “Exactly like that. We’ll have learned nothing if we bring back the dinosaurs. However, if there’s some way to cleanse the planet enough to revive life at some point, I think we owe it to all the creatures that we made extinct to allow them another chance at life.”

  She was shivering, so he forced himself to spend just another moment looking at all the samples in the freezer, and then followed her out. The door closed behind them, and she locked it once more with her palm.

  “How many people can access this room?”

  “Only a few. I restrict access, because I don’t want anything to happen to what we have here. The people who brought us to this enclave finished ending life as we knew it—well, as they knew it, since my generation never got to experience it, and it was pretty damn grim by then. We have an opportunity here to fix what they’ve done, and I kind of look at it as our mission. Besides keeping humanity from going extinct, this is our purpose. It’s the only thing we’re worthy of at this point, and the only reason most of us are here at all. Otherwise, without some kind of purpose, I think most of us would’ve given up a long time ago and allowed humanity to vanish.”

  “It’s a bit like your religion.”

  She shrugged. “Perhaps. Abuelita used to tell us a story based on an old fable of a man with an ark who gathered two kinds of every animal. Science makes such an idea impossible, but this is kind of our own little ark. This is our second chance, and the Earth’s with it, if we can just find a way to make it a reality.”

  Her passion was obvious, and slightly contagious. It hovered on the tip of his tongue to suggest that she extract some of the samples to take to his base, where they could be cloned and added to a section of the atrium. Only knowing DVS might not approve the request held him back. It was better to check with the general first before making the offer.

  Her passionate belief also lit up her features in an entirely new way. She’d always been appealing and attractive, but now she was utterly irresistible. He knew he shouldn’t even as he moved forward to stand close to her.

  She’d been speaking, but broke off in midsentence to stare up at him. Her eyes were wide with surprise, but something more. He identified curiosity, and perhaps even desire. She didn’t push him away when his hands moved to her shoulders, and he pulled her closer. She still didn’t reject him when he lowered his head, and in fact raised hers to meet him.

  Her lips were as plump and soft as they had looked, and they melted against his as though she had been waiting for this. He certainly felt as though he had, and he hovered on the brink for a moment, hesitating about tasting her with his tongue. He wanted so much more, but could already feel her body stiffening, and it was obvious she was close to withdrawing. He didn’t think it was what she really wanted to do, but she was going to do it.

  To save her the trouble, he lifted his head and stepped back. They stared at each other for a moment, and then she looked away. When she cleared her throat and looked back, her expression was carefully blank. “That’s the tour, but feel free to wander alone for a while to get a sense of the place. I’ll see you at dinner.”

  He nodded, struggling to match her unaffected, disinterested tone—a tone he was certain was feigned. His sounded strained when he said, “I’ll see you then.”

  Without another word, she left the room, not closing the door behind her. He stepped out into the hallway a moment later, sealing the room before moving away.

  As he walked, he laughed out loud, startling a human who was passing near him, though at least she didn’t flinch away. He smiled at the older woman before moving on, not admitting to her that he had been laughing at himself.

  Had it really been just a few minutes before that he had reached the conclusion that he was simply envious of DVS having a mate, and that was what prompted his reaction to Gwen? Had he really been so naïve as to think he could ignore his feelings and not allow the attraction to progress? So much had changed in just a few minutes, and he was uncertain what it meant for his future and hers, but just as certain that he couldn’t ignore how she made him feel.

  Chapter Four

  When JSN entered the cafeteria, there was less of a stir then there had been that morning. He was able to quickly gather the tray of food and discovered Pollux had saved him a seat. The boy was practically jumping up and down on his own chair as he waved at JSN to get his attention. He moved toward the table, pleased, if a little surprised, to find Gwen and Britta also sitting there. It made sense that the boy would sit with his family, but he wasn’t certain what reception he would receive from the female Harrisons.

  JSN offered a tentative smile to Britta and then to Gwen as he took a seat at the table. Pollux immediately engaged him in conversation, and he answered the questions as best he could while keeping a discreet eye on the other two at the table. They were both quiet, but Gwen seemed to regard him with emotions he couldn’t identify, while Britta watched him with solemn wariness. He couldn’t help noticing the little girl had her mother’s eyes, though her skin tone was several shades lighter, like Pollux’s.

  As the meal wrapped up, he put a hand lightly on Gwen’s wrist to keep her from rising. “I have something to discuss with you. Is now convenient?”

  She hesitated for a moment before nodding. “Britta, please take Pollux back to our quarters. I’ll join you shortly.”

  Without argument, the little girl took her brother’s hand, almost dragging him behind her as Pollux kept turning to wave and chatter at JSN.

&
nbsp; “What’s on your mind?” She asked the question defensively, as though she expected him to bring up an uncomfortable subject—like the kiss they had shared earlier.

  He kept his tone brisk and his expression bland when he spoke. “I’ve spoken with my general, and he’d like you to come to our base with some of your samples. We have space for you to develop clones of a few of the animals you’ve stored.”

  Her eyes widened, and she was clearly shocked. “I couldn’t possibly.”

  He frowned, having expected her to be eager to explore the option after her passionate speech earlier. “I don’t understand your reluctance. I thought you would want this.”

  “It’s just a bad time. There’s no one here to lead the enclave if I leave.”

  “I assume it would only be for a few weeks, and perhaps less, depending on how advanced a replica of your current system we could create. I’m sure you agree it would be impractical to try to transport your cloning facilities to our base?”

  She nodded. “I wouldn’t be comfortable with turning over everything to your people anyway. And I certainly can’t leave my children for several weeks.”

  “You’d have to bring them with you then.” He hadn’t explicitly discussed the possibility with DVS, but he was certain the general wouldn’t expect Gwen to leave her children behind.

  She shook her head. “They have schooling. I can’t uproot their lives just for a few weeks.”

  Speaking impulsively, he reached out for her hand as he said, “Then you could stay permanently.”

  Gwen didn’t pull away, but every muscle in her body stiffened, and he could feel the rigidity under his hand. “That would be impossible.”

  “Not really, but why don’t you tell me what the true reason is you don’t want to come to the cyborg base? Aren’t you curious?”

  Her eyes sparkled for just a moment before dimming. “Of course I’m curious, but I can’t take the risk. If our truce falls apart, and I’m stranded at your base with my children, what happens to us? And what happens to the enclave now that the cyborgs know the location?”