C791 (Cyborgs: More Than Machines) (15 page)

Joe stared at the ceiling of the room as he digitally digested the knowledge. A part of him wanted to tear the general’s head off. Skin him alive. Hurt him like he’d hurt Chloe. But he couldn’t. “
A logical choice.”

“Yes, it was, however, the beating we gave him wasn’t. But we still quite enjoyed it.”

A wide grin stretched his lips. “
What is our current status?”

“The ship is obviously under our control. Once we ascertained the accompanying pair of vessels held none of our brothers, we destroyed them.”

“Are there any other survivors?”

“We returned to the asteroid, but while we were unconscious, the general had the station destroyed. We did, however, find in the wreckage three survivors not destroyed by the blast. They will require some reconstructive surgery though as their nanos cannot heal the full extent of their damage.”

“So how many lost in total?”

The number staggered him. He didn’t reply, grief overwhelming him for his lost comrades.

“What are you doing with the female?”

“She is cyborg.”

Solus hesitated. “
One of the recovered units was shot by your female when she surprised him in the asteroid’s control center. She is the one who betrayed us to the humans.”

“Because of her programming. It was not her fault.”

“She is dangerous.”

“She is cyborg.”
And she was Joe’s.

Solus sighed. “
Her very existence will cause havoc.”

“So what do you wish me to do?”

“We should destroy her before she betrays us again.”

“Never!”

Joe sprang from the bed with a roar, a murderous rage taking hold of him at his friend’s suggestion. Ready to go and beat some sense into Solus, he’d opened the door before he registered the sound of Chloe stirring in the bed behind him. He whirled, and his heart stopped at the lost look in her eyes.

He strode back to her, holding out his arms. But she shook her head and clambered from the bed, moving away from him. When he would have followed, she held up a hand. “No. Don’t touch me.”

“Are you in pain?”

She shook her tresses.

“Then let me hold you.”

Again, she replied negatively.

“You require comforting.”

“I’m a robot. I should need an oil change, not a shoulder to cry on,” she snapped bitterly.

“You are more than a simple-minded machine, Chloe. Cyborgs feel. And while none will ever admit it, I have seen some cry.” Two in total actually, and at the time, he thought them defective beyond repair.

“I’m scared,” she admitted, the expression in her eyes lost and vulnerable. It was a look he recognized, having seen it so often when he helped liberate his brothers.

“It is normal to fear your new state of being. But, it is not the end of the world. You are cyborg, Chloe. Not dead or maimed beyond aid. And as the only female of our kind, you are very special.”

“Oh, I’m special all right,” she replied with a derisive laugh. “You heard the general; I was an especially good failure.”

“I disagree.”

“Then you’re a fool.” She tucked her face into her knees, but he could still see the tremble of her body as she sobbed in silence.

Ignoring her earlier protest, he approached and slid down until he sat beside her. He scooped her onto his lap, wrapping his arms around her tight. Hugging her, he wished he knew the right words to say to erase her unhappiness.

He could only think of three. “I love you.”

She snorted. “You’re a robot. What do you know of love?”

“How many times do you have to be told that we are more than just machines? Yes, we have metallic structures, and BCI’s and nanos, but our very core is still human, and that origin allows us to feel.”

“If you say so. Right now, I don’t know what to think. What to believe.”

“You said you loved me once before, and my voice analyzer read only truth in your statement.”

A watery chuckle escaped her. “Do I love you or was I programmed to think I did? How can we know for sure?”

The doubt she planted made him angry — and desperate. He tilted her chin up so he could gaze into her eyes. The pain in them threatened to stop his heart.

“You know the truth about yourself now. So tell me, how do you feel?”

She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Fear clutched him, a fear he was losing her, even though she sat cradled in his arms. Since words failed, he kissed her, and to his relief, she kissed him back. She clutched at him fiercely, turning in his arms to straddle him, her lithe tongue darting into his mouth to tangle with his own. Hands roaming up and down the length of her back, he groaned as she ground herself against him.

“I want to forget, Joe. Help me forget what they did. Please.”

The anguish in her plea tore at him. While he could not reverse what was done to her, he could at least give her what she asked for.

Using his strong thighs, he held onto her as he lifted them and carried her over to the bed. He lay her down on the sheets, wondering if his own gaze smoldered as intently as hers. Her full lips, bright red from their bruising kiss, parted on a sigh as she reached her arms up to him. He fell upon her, careful to not let her bear the full weight of his body. Her smaller hands tugged at his shirt, and he reared up to strip it off before tearing at the enclosure for his pants. She worked at her own clothing, but impatient, he grabbed two handfuls and tugged, splitting the fabric and baring her body.

Pebbled nipples beckoned him, and he lowered his head to catch one, sucking it into his mouth. She arched up against him, her keening cry making his cock weep from the tip as it ached to enter her.

She reached between their bodies as he toyed with her breasts, nipping and licking at her tender flesh. Her hands caught his shaft and stroked him, bringing his already fervent desire to the edge.

“Stop.”

“What’s wrong, cyborg?” she teased, her tone lighter. “Can’t your computer control it?”

“Not with you,” he replied. “Never with you.” He slid a hand between her thighs to find her slick and ready. He thrust a finger into her channel, and she cried out, losing her grip on him as her hips bucked off the mattress.

Impatient, and needing the velvety haven of her sex, he positioned his cock at the entrance to her pussy. Rubbing the head against her clit, he matched her shudder for shudder at the exquisite feel.

“I need you.” Her soft plea tore away the last of his restraint. He pumped into her, groaning at the slick glove of her sex, loving the almost painful pleasure as the muscles in her channel squeezed him even tighter. He grasped her buttocks to angle her, driving his cock deeper and finding her sweet spot.

“I love you, little one,” he grunted. No matter what she was, human or cyborg.

She screamed as he gyrated his hips in a circular motion, putting pressure on her sensitive zone. As the ripples of her climax caressed his cock, he pulled out and thrust back in, pumping her with long strokes, claiming her with his body, trying to drive her doubts away. He reached the edge of bliss, a bliss he only found in her arms, and fell over it, shouting her name.

*

Pulse pounding, body quivering, and her heart full of love for the cyborg still deep inside her, Chloe had to wonder if Joe was right. Just because the military had added a few extra parts, did that mean what she felt wasn’t real? Did it mean she didn’t love? She remembered enough of her life before the accident to know what she felt. She also knew enough to realize the thought of losing Joe horrified her even more than the knowledge of the experimentation done to her.

“What are you thinking?” he rumbled, nuzzling the skin under her ear.

“That maybe life isn’t so horrible after all.”

“I am heartened to hear that my skill leaves you feeling so overjoyed,” he remarked dryly.

She snorted. “Actually, considering where I was sitting emotionally a few minutes ago, I’d say you did pretty damned good.”

“I am glad you are no longer so sad.”

Actually, a smidgen of sadness still remained. How could it not with the revelation she wasn’t quite human anymore? But, she accepted Joe for who he was. Loved him despite his cybernetic status, so could she not do the same for herself? “What’s going to happen now, Joe?”

She couldn’t read the expression on his face when he answered. “We will remain together. No matter what.”

For some reason, instead of reassuring her, the words brought back the ball of dread in her stomach.

Joe rolled away from her, taking his warmth with him. She sat up and watched as he dug through the cupboards in the room, pulling out a pair of pants that made him frown. He held them up, and she saw his dilemma. The inseam, obviously designed for a much shorter man, would hit him about mid-calf. He yanked them on any way and then cursed aloud when he couldn’t fully button them up.

She bit her cheek so as to not laugh. “Where are you going?”

“I am needed in the command center. The ship’s controls are manual, a special design of the general, which means we must actually be present to physically guide the ship.”

“What about me?” The idea of staying alone with her thoughts did not appeal to her.

“You may accompany me, if you wish.”

“I’d like that.” She scrambled from the bed and missed the shirt he tossed at her.

He chuckled as she bent over to retrieve it. “Perhaps we should test and see if you are truly a cyborg after all.”

A red heat crept into her cheeks. “I’m clumsy. I know. I guess even the military couldn’t program that out of me.”

“It is part of your perfection,” he announced. She shot him a wry look, and he laughed. He handed her some pants and socks, the boots not fitting her smaller feet. She dressed, trying not to think of the dead man who once owned these clothes but trying even harder not to let the earlier nasty taunts of the general ruin her fragile mood.
Since Joe and I are free, then that means at least that evil man is dead.
The relief and blood thirsty happiness she felt at the thought surprised her.

“Come.” Joe held out his hand, and she slipped hers into it. Fingers interlaced, they left the room and made their way up a corridor.

What seemed like a mile and several turns later to her short legs, they came across a commotion. Solus stood in the hallway, restraining a violently thrashing cyborg. The out-of-control male had part of his skull missing, and grey metal gleamed in the gaping hole.

“What is going on here?” Joe snapped, letting go of her hand to approach the tussling pair.

Solus stepped back from the injured cyborg. “Aramus refuses to stay in the medical bay.”

“I am fine.”

“You have a hole in your head.”

“A hole caused by that human spy,” snarled Aramus. Before anyone could react, the angry cyborg leapt at her. Frozen with fear, Chloe stood still and waited for the bigger man to kill her.

A second before impact, Joe crashed into the crazed male, taking him down to the floor where they rolled and wrestled. Fists flew, resulting in meaty thuds that made her cringe.

“I thought you were trouble when you were just a human. Now, as a cyborg, still in thrall to the military, you’re even worse.” Solus couldn’t hide the disgust in his tone.

“I didn’t ask for this,” she stammered.

“None of us did, but at least we are willing to fight our chains. You are no better than a human, crying and making up excuses, letting others fight your battles.”

“What would you have me do?”

Piercing green eyes met hers. “Not much apparently. Because you lack wireless capability, we cannot connect to you and rewrite your programming, which makes you a liability.”

What he didn’t say, but she could clearly decipher in his expression, was his solution.
Kill me.
A sob burst free from her as she spun and ran away from the fighting cyborgs, brothers who fought because of her. Ran from the condemnation in the eyes that didn’t even come close to the loathing she felt for herself, for what she’d done.
And what I still might do.

She didn’t stop running until she reached a door that blocked her passage. Letting herself in, she frantically scanned the space, wondering where she could go and coming up blank. A craft in the midst of space didn’t exactly loan itself to escape.

And then she kicked herself for letting words send her from the only safe place she knew.

“Well, well, if it isn’t C791 come to rescue me.”

Stunned, she stared at the swollen and bruised countenance of the man who had a hand in her re-creation. A man she’d thought dead. “No, I haven’t. I’d rather kill you than see you escape.” She whirled to leave, but the general spoke a quick stream of numbers, and a prisoner to the hardware inside her mind, she could do nothing less than obey.

A single tear tracked its way down her cheek as Solus’s fear became reality.

Chapter Nine

About to pummel Aramus again, Joe held his fist aloft, chagrin finally breaking through his anger.
What am I doing?

“Go ahead. Hit me,” goaded the male pinned under him. “Hit me for wanting vengeance on the human who tried to kill me.”

“She’s not human,” Joe replied wearily as he rolled off his brother. He stood and offered Aramus a hand.

Dark brows beetled, and his gaze cautious, the downed cyborg took the peace offering and came to his feet. “Explain your words.”

Joe related what they knew of Chloe and her origins while Aramus looked more and more incredulous.

“A cyborg female. And the only one of her kind?”

“According to the general we captured, yes.”

“And yet, despite knowing this, you’ve let her run off, by herself, while the human who can control her is still on board? Has your processor short circuited and rendered you stupid?”

Joe whirled to see Chloe gone, and Solus, a troubled expression on his face, gazing down the hall. “Where is she?”