Eric leaned back in his chair, ignoring the veiled insult she made about Nero. “I guess that pinging you have with Lucy must be like what I have with my former Marine captain. He can send out a signal to us across great distances.”
Meara sighed. Her freshly washed hair brushed against her cheeks as she shook her head slowly.
“We can’t help but hear it. The woman’s hooked up to a fecking satellite and is able to pass signals between nearly all of the floating antennas in space around the earth. Her reach to find any of us is practically infinite. We don’t know what device or code they put in Captain Pennington to make that true. We spent years running from the pinging—and her—before we finally got tired of running and decided to confront her no matter what happened to us.”
Aja walked to the foot of the bed. “Captain Pennington managed to free some of us before the fucking cyber scientists stole what was left of her free will. The way I see it, she’s already died for me several times. Now I’m willing to die for her in return. I should have come after her years ago.”
Aja sighed raggedly when Meara’s arm went around her in comfort. She snorted at the lingering emotional pain, even as she leaned against her friend. It had been hard… very hard to see the woman in the bed changed into an unfeeling robot.
“It’s alright, Irish. I’m not going to get maudlin and look for someone to kill in the next ten seconds. I can see you were right about what you said, at least this one time. And I wanted the man to know the best and worst of her just in case Dr. Cyberstein fails to bring her back from the cybernetic dead like he did us.”
Eric’s gaze bounced between the women’s faces. They were like prisoners of war finally getting freed. He’d seen that uncomfortable, nervous look hundreds of times.
“Did she really go by Lucy? That’s what I call her, but I had no idea if I was right. She just looked more like a Lucy than a Lucille to me.”
Aja snorted. “Lucy is what Meara and I called her for the three years we went through academy together. If the woman preferred something else, she never said. Our academy sergeant tended to call Lucy obscene names trying to rile her into losing her temper. She’d glare at him with those icy blue eyes of hers until the man got worried about his balls. And rightfully so… our Lucy has an insane side… worse than mine even.”
Eric bobbed his head to show he was listening and understood. Plenty of his friends had gotten field promotions during the war. “So how did Lucy make captain and you two didn’t?”
“The woman had fecking stars in her eyes,” Meara exclaimed, going to the closet to look for Aja some different clothes.
“Stars in her eyes?” Eric repeated, turning his gaze to Aja whom he seemed to be able to understand better than her metaphor-loving sidekick.
Aja ignored his interested stare and started to pace. It was hard times to talk about and a harder situation to explain. “When the war became a hard reality around the world, it changed something in Lucy. Suddenly she had high military ambitions and a fierce need to see that our side won. She volunteered for the Cyber Soldier program the moment she heard about it.”
She took a deep breath and reversed her path. The room suddenly felt a lot smaller than it had moments ago. When claustrophobia hit, she paced to keep it constrained.
“Meara and I were scared shitless by the idea of having our human limbs replaced with prosthetics, but we couldn’t let Lucy head into that level of fighting alone. They made her captain because of the weapon she carries within her. We didn’t think it was a good idea to take such a burden on, even after her idiot husband offed himself and blamed her, but we couldn’t talk her out of it. She became Captain Pennington to us then and that’s how we think of her still.”
Eric scratched his chin as he thought about what Aja was sharing. “Meara told me you and Lucy were the only two female cyborgs able to disregard your programming when you needed to. She said your organic mind kept overriding every tweak.”
“Yes,” Aja said flatly. “I watched them take Lucille Pennington’s humanity from her one bloody piece at a time. Every tweak turned her more and more into a robot. The Companion Code was the game changer. Once they were assured of Lucy’s complete obedience to their every order, they gave her the global ability to control all of us. Essentially, they made Lucy do their dirty work. The three of us are all that survive from that global link. I know because all the others stopped pinging their locations. One-by-one they simply fell out of the group.”
“Actually, there are five of you left, but two female cyborgs are in medical with extensive brain damage. Dr. Winters is planning to test a new processor on them, but no one knows if the women will ever get their personalities back. It is not known what, if anything, of their organic minds have survived.”
Aja frowned and nodded. “That doesn’t surprise me. What females didn’t die during the experiments were subjected to all manner of abuse in other ways. I lost my temper one day and killed four scientists before they could stop me. The next version of the shutdown code got named in my honor. Lucy used it on us yesterday. It was not my proudest achievement to have made things worse for those of us left in the program, but then again, there are four less evil scientists in the world.”
Eric nodded grimly. If it hadn’t been for the war, would any of this have ever happened? Once he would have answered no. Now he knew better. The technology would have moved into any number of manufacturing situations. And commerce in human slavery had been always a problem on the planet. “I’m sure the real Lucy would like knowing the two of you escaped your deaths.”
“Maybe we haven’t,” Aja said, shrugging as she stared at him. “There are all kinds of ways to die and that’s especially true when you have an on-board computer instead of an organic brain.”
Meara walked back to Aja and held up a knee length dress with a slightly full skirt. “Here. Quit talking about what we can’t change. Look at this outfit. It should allow enough space for those ample breeding hips of yours.”
Aja sighed and started to protest, but the sadness in Meara’s gaze stopped her. She sighed a second time and took the dress to a nearby mirror, jerking it up and holding it to her body. The weird green shade wasn’t really her color, but the cut of the dress was nice enough.
“Your mocha skin is not flattered by that shade of green. You need a soft gold or a red.”
Aja’s gaze met Nero Bastion’s direct one in the mirror. “Oh? Do you moonlight as a woman’s personal dresser? I would have thought being a scientist paid better wages.” She watched Nero Bastion roll his eyes and walk towards Eric.
“I need access to Norton’s databases before I can do the rest of my testing. Peyton and Kyra agree we can transport Captain Pennington any time we wish.”
Eric nodded. “Marcus said they’ve improved her cell situation and made it less like a cage. I’m staying with her there until she comes around. So long as Lucy remains in companion mode, everyone will be safer if I stay near her.”
Meara barked out a laugh. “Well, now that’s a fine story to tell to Dr. Cyberstein, Eric. But I’m thinking there might be a bit more than just duty involved in ya staying with our girl, am I right?”
“Dr. Cyberstein? Is that an insulting slur against my chosen profession?” Nero demanded, swinging his gaze to Aja’s.
Aja snorted and glared back. Really, the man was incorrigible. “How should I know what Meara means? I’m not the one talking out of both sides of my mouth.”
“Perhaps not, but Meara is respectful… and kind when not in your company. I am guessing you came up with that term long before she used it,” Nero declared.
“I have a much better term for you.” Aja raised a finger in the air. “
Backrichod.
Nero strode across the floor intending to shake the woman until her teeth rattled, but suddenly found himself blocked by one of Meara’s arms across his chest.
“I was making a joke, Nero—and being sarcastic because it’s my nature to be so. And ya need to stop accusing Aja of being Kali reincarnated. She may be craving yar arse, but that doesn’t mean she won’t kill ya if given the chance. Use your zapping remote on me if you need to punish someone.”
“No. Let him come and try to take his pitiful vengeance on me,” Aja said softly. “I haven’t killed a scientist in a good long while. It would give me great pleasure to do so today.”
Eric stood and drew in a breath. “Okay. That’s enough of this shit. I don’t know what the hell is going on between you two, but no one is dying while I’m in the room,especially not Nero.”
Aja looked at Eric with fire in her eyes. “Men. You’re all alike. Making your threats and your pronouncements. You all act like you have the only opinions that matter to the world.”
Eric narrowed his gaze. “Who do you think helped Nero program that remote, Aja? When Lucy is as free of her cybernetics as you two are, then you and Nero can settle things between you in any way you want. But until Lucy wakes up, you’re both going to have to get the fuck along.”
“I’m of the same mind,” Meara declared, nodding her head in agreement as she dropped her arm away from Aja.
Nero sighed in embarrassment over losing his temper. He got angry… plenty. But he never lost control of his emotions. Never.
“You so
thaki
suwar ki aulad
“No. I cause nothing,” Aja declared, glaring back at him. Meara’s hand smacking her arm was deserved so she let it land, but she gave her friend a glare as well. “Irish, you better thank your Celtic gods this is not your day to die.”
“Okay. I’m leaving now before I say more rude things.” Nero exclaimed, turning away from Aja’s glare to look at Eric. “Since she has to travel in a prone position, you and Captain Pennington will have to go in the transport with Peyton and Kyra. Meara and Aja are unfortunately with me in the airjet. The three of us will go ahead and meet you at the bunker.”
When he turned back, he saw Aja frowning over the clothes in her hands. Nero reached out and yanked the green dress from her fingers. He strode angrily to the closet, hooked the dress hanger angrily back on the rod, and then rummaged through the remaining clothes.
Pulling out a red patterned long tunic and a pair of black leggings, he walked back and held out his choices to her. “These are not the best either, but they are better than the dress. Perhaps a change of clothes will also change your nasty disposition.”
Aja glared harder at Nero’s actions, so Meara reached out and took the clothes from his hands. He said something low in Hindu and stalked to the door the minute his hands were empty.
Huffing in exasperation, Aja turned to the door to stare, just in time to catch a final glimpse of the white coated man storming out of it. “Well, I guess it’s official. Dr. Cyberstein hates me.”
Meara snorted and slapped the clothes and hangars against Aja’s breasts much like Nero had probably wanted to do. “Of course he does, eejit. Ya keep calling him vulgar names. Try an endearment next time if ya want the man to like ya, and forgive him when he jumps to a wrong conclusion or two. That’s fecking easy to do with both of us. We’ve been on the run too long and have lost our social graces.”
Aja frowned as she clutched the clothes Nero Bastion had picked out for her. “What difference does it make, Meara? He’s a cyber scientist. He’s no different than the ones who made us. I don’t really care if Dr. Cyberstein likes me or not.”
“Oh, who are ya lying to, Aja? Ya act like a fecking moron when ya like a man. We both know ya would do practically anything to make sure he hates yar guts. That way you don’t have to make an effort to see the good in him.”
When Aja kept staring at the door, Meara rolled her eyes. Then she turned to Eric, who was standing with his arms crossed. “Sorry ya had to witness us at our worst, Eric. Now that we got most of our unpleasantness over with, tell us what can we do to help ya with transporting Lucy.”
Chapter 12
Eric frowned at the straps holding Lucy to the transport gurney. He had wanted to stay close to her, so Peyton was flying the transport… and at a normal speed for once. Kyra was strapped into the front passenger chair, staring out of the window. It was one of the rare times he hadn’t seen her working. Or maybe she was working. He imagined they were all thinking about Lucy, regardless of what form those thoughts took. Peyton glanced over his shoulder and met his gaze.
“I wonder how Nero’s faring with his new restorations. I offered to discreetly help sedate them for the trip back. After all the trouble they’ve given him, I can’t believe he refused.”
Eric had to work to inject a little humor into his voice. “Aja has some serious issues with cyber scientists. Nero seems to be at the top of her hate list, despite his work to restore her. My guess is he didn’t want to make that worse.” He could joke all day about other restored soldiers. Meara’s and Aja’s situations were too much like Lucy’s.
Peyton’s reply was a grunt. “All I know is Nero’s been in such a bad mood since Aja woke up even Kyra hasn’t been able to talk to him. And I’ve never heard him talking in his native language so much. I had to refresh my translation program to get the nuances, then wished I hadn’t bothered when I heard all the swearing. He’s calls Corporal Kapur the ‘daughter of a pig’.”