Trapped with the Cyborg Read online

  Guess saving one’s skin is more important than executing infidels, Amanda said.

  They might have the right idea. Let’s get out of here.

  Sorviq clutched a blaster but turned to shout at the fleeing soldiers. Sonny lowered his hands and started to rise to his feet.

  Not yet. She squinted. I got this.

  Amanda! What the fuck? We’re unarmed. The only reason we survived the last attack was because we had photon blasters. Come on!

  She pressed a hand to her temple. Please. I need to concentrate. She squinted.

  Sorviq spun around. “On the ground!” he ordered, displaying no fear at the approaching iwani. Either he was a fool or he knew what the others didn’t—the demon was a machine targeting dissidents and infidels.

  Hala had dropped to her knees. Eyes squeezed shut, she rocked, her lips quivering in silent prayer.

  From the depths of the ocean of sand, a giant gleaming tentacle shot out and wrapped around Sorviq’s arm. His blaster flew out of his grip to land at Hala’s feet. He kicked and beat at the tentacle with his fists, but it jerked him beneath the surface. The sand silenced his screams.

  “Let’s get the fuck out of here!” Sonny yanked her to her feet.

  “No!” Hala shrieked, her face contorted with hatred. “You must die for your blasphemy. It is the will of the Great One.” She lunged for the blaster Sorviq had dropped.

  Another tentacle sprang from the deep and grabbed her. She howled as she was pulled beneath the surface.

  Moments later, a plume of sand mushroomed with a muffled boom as the MED exploded.

  “That was no accident,” Sonny said. Microexplosive devices did not spontaneously detonate. They were preset or triggered by remote.

  “Sorviq intended to kill her all along!” Amanda said. Sand fell like rain. “That’s why she was ordered to stand apart from the others.”

  He squinted in the dusty air. “At least she went fast.”

  “The ground has stopped moving,” Amanda said. “I’ll bet the MED blew up the iwani, too.”

  “Let’s not stick around to find out.”

  “We’re not in danger.” She tapped her head. “The codes are up here. I reviewed the last of Kilead’s files. One of the programs controlled the iwani. I reconfigured the software and changed the target.”

  He stared. “You called it here?”

  “It came on its own, but once it got in range, I reprogrammed it.”

  “You didn’t think to tell me?” He scowled.

  “I’m sorry. I had to concentrate. It wasn’t an easy program to execute.”

  He exhaled and jerked his head at the PeeVees. “Can you control those?”

  “I wish, but no. They’re Sorviq’s. I don’t have his data. After our last two PeeVee rides, I wouldn’t trust them.”

  “We’re footing it, then.”

  “Let’s get ourselves to the shuttleport and see what Carter can do.”

  “In a minute. Now that we’re not going to be shot or smothered to death…” He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tighter than tight. She kissed him. He tasted a little sandy, but in his kiss she found hope and triumph. They would survive. Because they were cyborgs. Partners. They were in this together. As a team, they were unbeatable.

  She didn’t know who would fill the political vacancy or how they would talk their way into the shuttleport, but that couldn’t be as difficult as what they’d been through.

  “We’re going to make it out it alive,” she said. She could feel it. Suicide mission? Not even close. “Let’s go.” She beckoned to Sonny, and they strolled into the desert.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Sonny entered the Nebula Lounge in time to see Lizardman sidle up to the short-haired blonde, who nursed a double Cerinian brandy. The din of conversation and music didn’t allow him to hear what she said, but the alien’s green scales paled to gray, and he scurried away with his tail between his legs.

  Sonny grinned.

  Formidable. Exactly the way he liked his women.

  Particularly his wife of twenty-four hours. They’d married yesterday at Cy-Ops headquarters.

  He wended his way to the front and signaled the barkeep. “Cerinian brandy, please. A double.”

  “All checked in?” Amanda asked.

  “We’re set.” They’d arrived on Darius 4 during peak hours, and a line had formed at guest services. He’d suggested she wait in the lounge while he took care of registration.

  His drink arrived, and he clinked his glass to hers. “To our next mission.”

  “May this be my last glass of Cerinian brandy.” She sipped her drink.

  He met her gaze. “How are you feeling? How is everything?”

  “Optimal. I ran a diagnostic, and all systems are operational. How about you?”

  “In peak form.”

  “Excellent. What kind of room did Carter book us this time?” she asked.

  “Only the best. We had our choice of one of the themed cabanas. He’s a lot more generous to honeymooners than operatives on layover.” Or maybe Carter felt he owed them for sending them on an assignment that could have killed them.

  “So which one did you pick?”

  “The tree-house hotel,” he replied sheepishly. “I hope you don’t mind.” He had an itch to return to the scene of their previous rendezvous.

  Her cheeks dimpled. “Good choice.”

  Sonny leaned in close. “I’m looking forward to you leaving lots of ass prints on the glass.”

  “I did not leave any ass prints,” she huffed.

  “Oh yes you did. Two round smears.”

  “Well, the housekeeping bots don’t care.” She finished off her drink. “Let’s not waste any time, then.”

  He emptied his glass then slipped an arm around her shoulders. “Are you sorry your father wasn’t at the wedding?”

  She shook her head. “I’d rather have friends who support me than a father who doesn’t,” she said. Their ceremony had been small and intimate, attended by their fellow cyborgs and their partners, Brock Mann and Penelope Aaron, Kai Andros and Mariska, Dale Homme and Illumina, March Fellows, and, of course, Carter Aymes. For security purposes, they’d had to choose between their cyborg friends or outsiders. They couldn’t have both.

  “Have you told your father about the wedding?”

  “Not yet, but I will.” She shrugged. “Maybe.”

  They strolled along the walkway illuminated by hover lights and sidestepped a giggling woman being groped by her partner. “I’m sorry the ceremony wasn’t more romantic.” The nuptials had been performed by a Terran government official via Vid-Con.

  “It was perfect,” she said. “Pomp and circumstance are overrated. Besides, I’m still giddy at being alive.”

  “Me, too.”

  “I’m so glad Tannah survived.” Amanda smiled. “Her reunion with Janai almost made me cry.”

  I’ll always remember how she and the others helped us. I’m relieved Carter granted her asylum.”

  “With the secrets she knows, it was a done deal.”

  From the abandoned building in the desert, they’d decided to risk a hike back to the transmission station to alert Cy-Ops about new political changes, and give Carter an ETA when they expected to arrive at the shuttleport. A bruised and battered Tannah had been there waiting for them and filled them in: although Mortin, Cornar, and the others they’d met were gone, the Resistance had survived. As no one knew of Sorviq’s death yet, his underlings carried on as if he were away. But there were third, fourth, and fifth place sons who would step in. Probably would fight it out. Lamis-Odg was a culture that ate its own.

  Chips and PerComms taken from the dead guards at the relay station and reprogrammed bestowed them with new false identities and travel vouchers.

  The three of them hiked to the shuttleport, and, with the forged documents, breezed through Security. He didn’t know how the man had accomplished it, but Carter had come through with a spacecraft.


  “I imagine the Resistance’s next move will be to place a spy at the relay station,” Sonny said. “My only regret is Lamani got away.” Someone had tipped him off and Cy-Ops had missed him by a few hours. Malodonia’s involvement, however, got them booted from the Association of Planets.

  “We’ll get him, though. Between Cy-Ops and the Resistance, his days are numbered. And life on Lamis-Odg is about to change.”

  “Our lives are about to change, too.” He hugged her.

  “If this next mission goes as planned.”

  They entered their hotel lobby. Guests milled around, so he switched to wireless communication. We might be assigned to terminate Lamani.

  Maybe. If one of his sons doesn’t do it first.

  They boarded the ascender, which deposited them at the seventh floor. He escorted her down the hall.

  “You got us the same room!” she exclaimed as they entered their pod.

  “The better to start Operation Baby.” They’d come closer to death than either of them ever had before. Facing one’s mortality tended to give one a new perspective. They’d talked and discovered they both wanted to start a family right away. Amanda’s microprocessor had switched off the nanos suppressing ovulation. His had ramped up sperm production again. All systems were a go.

  “What do you say, Manny?” he asked. “I’ve got an itch. Think you can scratch it?”

  She smiled and pulled her shirt over her head. “I can do better than scratch your itch.”

  He laughed.

  She wound her arms around his neck. “What’s your pleasure? Bed? Or wall?”

  “Hm…wall. And then bed.” He kissed her. Not bad. Not bad at all.

  ~ The End ~

  The Goddess’s Curse

  By Cara Bristol

  An Excerpt

  Under a caress of sunlight, Reena floated in the pond, grateful to have escaped the watchful eyes of servants, advisers, and bodyguards. Well, most of them. She cracked an eyelid. Yep. Carinda was still there, keeping a firm grip on her electrical impulse disruptor and a steady gaze on the perimeter. Her bodyguard’s caution and devotion were admirable—but unnecessary. No danger could penetrate the protected grotto.

  Reena rolled over and dove deep. Tiny fish scattered. She touched the sandy bed then swam along the bottom until the need for air forced her upward again. She broke the surface and flung her hair out of her eyes.

  Hip deep in the water, Carinda splashed toward her. “Oh my Goddess. You scared me to death.” The big burly guard looked like an oversized drowned rodent. Reena would have laughed except for Carinda’s contorted, stricken expression. She didn’t want to scare anybody; she only needed solitude. “You worry unnecessarily. I have been swimming since I was a little girl.”

  “I can barely float, Princess,” Carinda replied. “Anything could have happened. I feared you were drowning.”

  “I apologize. I shouldn’t have frightened you. Why don’t you return to the palace and get some dry clothes?”

  Carinda shook her head. “No, I won’t desert you.”

  “You’re not deserting me. You’ll be right back.” Please, give me a moment to myself. No attendants, no servants, no guards. “I’ll be safe. Promise.” She flashed her most beguiling smile.

  “No, Princess.”

  “I am not asking.” Treading water, Reena compressed her lips in frustration. “I command you to return to the palace.”

  Carinda bit her lip then shook her head. “I’m sorry, Princess, the queen’s wishes supersede yours. I have been ordered not to leave you alone, in case…something befalls you.” Her hurt expression turned questioning. “I don’t know how you got out of the palace without anyone seeing you.” She stopped speaking, probably willing Reena to fill the silence with an explanation.

  The bodyguard would have a long wait. The existence of the secret passage would go with Reena to her grave. She hadn’t shared that information with anyone, not even with her cousin Honna, her closest ally.

  Reena lifted her chin, and Carinda conceded the battle. “It was fortunate I spotted you while patrolling the grounds.”

  Unfortunate. Reena refused to feel guilty. “Please go to the palace. I won’t be long.”

  “You are not well.” Carinda held her ground.

  “I’ll stay with her.” Honna stepped from the path onto the beach.

  Having her cousin nearby didn’t qualify as being alone, but Reena much preferred her presence to the guard’s. Despite a seven-year age gap, they were best friends, as close as sisters.

  “If anyone can take of me, she can,” Reena argued. She owed her continuing life to her cousin. The Goddess had gifted Honna with a natural talent for the healing arts, which she had honed by intensive training. If not for her, Reena would have already died. Once, she would have become Shara, but her mysterious illness cast doubt she would live long enough to ascend the throne currently held by her mother, Ellynna.

  Carinda waded out of the pool. Dripping and shivering, she planted both feet on the bank.

  “If you catch a chill in those wet clothes, then how will you protect me?” Reena called.

  Carinda’s resolute expression wavered. “What if there are invaders? Barbarians who would catch a woman alone? The Lajon.”

  “At the very center of the palace gardens? Unlikely,” Honna scoffed. “They would have to scale the perimeter wall, neutralize our guards, storm the palace, and then choose the right path to this bathing pool.”

  And if barbarians did achieve the near-impossible and breach their defenses, a lone bodyguard would be no match for them. Pointing that out would cause worrywart Carinda to freak.

  “I suppose you’re right,” she conceded, wrinkles of doubt lining her forehead.

  Reena swam toward shore until her feet could touch the bottom and then stood. Water lapped at her shoulders.

  “Go,” Honna said. “Everything will be fine.”

  “Very well. I will be back posthaste.” After one last reluctant, lingering look, Carinda hurried down the garden path and disappeared.

  Reena expelled her breath. “I thought she’d never leave. Thank you.”

  “She cares about you. As we all do.”

  “She hovers, like she expects me to drop at any moment. She treats me like I am a doddering village elder instead of a woman of twenty-two years.” She omitted that she’d sneaked out of the palace, and Carinda had happened upon her by chance. No need to worry Honna.

  “You must be stronger today to have walked this far and to have swum.”

  “I do feel better.”

  “You took the herbs on schedule, then? I used a stronger strain. They must be working.”

  “Yes.” Reena pursed her lips and lied. “They are.” So bitter, the herbs gagged her. The foul taste clung to her tongue for hours. She’d skipped yesterday’s morning and evening doses. It wasn’t like it mattered. Honna believed the herbal remedy had slowed the disease’s progression, but Reena knew otherwise. Her weight and strength continued to melt away, and she’d begun suffering strong abdominal cramps.

  This morning, she’d awakened with an appetite and had been able to eat a bit of fruit and some bread. Not wanting to spoil her enjoyment of the meal by filling her mouth with the bitter herb taste, she’d omitted her first dose of this day, too.

  “Good.” Honna beamed.

  She worries so much about me. Reena dropped her gaze and prayed for forgiveness of her falsehoods.

  Her cousin opened her medical pouch. “Let’s keep it working with another dose.”

  Reena stifled a groan. No way out of this one. Not with Honna standing there, mixing a pinch of coarse powder ground from dried leaves and berries into a flask with some water. “Here.” Her cousin held out the vial, and she had to wade closer to accept it.

  The sleeve of her cousin’s robe slipped to reveal her mating crystal. Not fully saturated, but definitely blue. Reena widened her eyes. “You never said a word…”

  Honna’s amulet had changed to cya
n the first time seven years ago, and already she had borne two children. Both male, but she could keep trying until she got a female. Now that the color signaled the onset libidinal fever, she would have another opportunity to try for a daughter. A chance Reena would never have. She peeked at her own mating crystal. Clear as ever. It was wrong to envy her cousin, but, sometimes, she couldn’t help it. To hold a babe, even a male one…

  You are ungrateful. Be thankful you have recuperated enough to enjoy this beautiful day.

  “I did not want to rub it in your face that I am in season again when you have yet to experience it,” Honna said.

  “That’s silly.” Reena shook her head. “You shouldn’t hesitate to share your good fortune with me. It gives me pleasure to live through you since I have not been blessed in such a manner.”

  Honna smoothed her thumb over her gem as if she could erase the color. “Blessing? Or curse?”

  “Honna!” Reena glanced over her shoulder. “That’s blasphemy.”

  To her relief, her cousin looked chagrined. “Perhaps curse is too strong. Let’s say I would surrender the dubious pleasure of mating for a calm mind. Although I’m in the early stage of libidinal fever, it distracts me, disturbs my sleep, and forces me to work harder to focus.” A slight smile touched her lips and she motioned. “Now…quit stalling. Drink up.”

  Reena held her nose and downed the noxious concoction. Shuddering, she handed back the empty flask. “I wish something could be done to make that more palatable.” Her tongue seemed to be coated with the stuff.

  “Its potency is greatest at full strength.”

  Her mutinous stomach rebelled, and Reena pressed a hand to her abdomen, praying for the vile herb to stay down. If she vomited, Honna would mix another draught. Accommodating on so many other matters, her cousin was a stickler when it came to health.

  Honna pointed to a large boulder. “I’ll wait over there. Finish your swim.”

  “Why don’t you join me? The water is glorious,” Reena invited. “Perhaps it’s because I haven’t been out of the palace in so long, but the pool seems larger.” At one side, leafy branches poked out of the water. She could have sworn the plants had once been rooted on the dry bank, but maybe her memory was hazy.