Her Cyborg Awakes (Diaspora Worlds) (4 page)

Qy turned to her and slid those pale blue eyes up
and down her body, a gaze the cyborg had certainly never used before. “Pretty
curls were fine for the maidservant, my lady. But now I am once again a
warrior. I wear a warrior’s hair. My Tier wears their hair in this style as a
sign of camaraderie.”

His eyes slid over her once more, pausing on her
breasts, which showed because the jacket hung open. She swallowed nervously and
yanked the jacket over her, but her nipples hardened as though there was a
chill.

“You remember your past?”

“Two nights without the maintenance removed the
cyborg drugs from my system. I believe my memory returned fully when I heard
the Strafe. My Tier fell to the Strafe.” He turned away abruptly.

Qy was a cyborg name. “Wh-what should I call you?”
She pushed the platter away, unable to choke down food. Qy took it and put it in
a food keeper.

“My name is Kaistril. Go bathe. You will feel much
better after you bathe and eat a real meal. There are spacer knits in the
cupboard.”

Kaistril? Could it be? I thought cyborgs were made
from human remains. How could he have a memory?  Sabralia watched him for a
moment, confused. Alfyt had told her they had no memories because they were
truly dead before they were processed. But in just this short time, he looked
so different than Qy, even though he had the same face and body. He talked different.
He was a man, not a cyborg.

Sabralia fled to the bathing room and just stood
for a moment. Taking her clothing off made her feel exposed. He’s not my cyborg
anymore, he’s a stranger.  She locked the door. In the past she daydreamed
about her cyborg changing into a man, a gentle, courtly man, who was refined,
attentive. One who played a lute and recited love poems.

Kaistril did not seem to be like the man she
daydreamed about. He seemed more intense. More everything.
Commanding…dangerous…

She bathed in a water shower, though the luxurious
bath had other options. Her skin was covered with sand from the beach, and
dried sweat from their escape.

 The spacer knits were soft and thin, and pale
blue gray in color. Spacer knits were specially made to be resistant to any
form of dirt or bacteria, and were healthy for the wearer’s skin in the
artificial environment of a spacecraft. The knits were able to adjust to body
temperature, to keep body heat stable, and they stretched for an extremely
comfortable fit. She was glad to get out of the sheer dress, which was never
warm enough. She recognized a hygenie and stuffed the gown inside. While she
didn’t intend to wear it again, there was no point in leaving it around dirty.
The cupboard held high sock-like boots, like the ones Qy wore, that fitted
themselves to her foot size, and made the ship’s gravity more normal for
movement.

Sabralia dried her hair by herself for the first
time in years. Qy always did her hair. But now he was Kaistril. A warrior, he
said. Was he a good man? He was a good warrior, that much she could tell. But
how did he treat women? Like walking pleasure centers? Like slaves? Was he
rough? Did she escape the Feast for nothing?

Could she bear it if her loyal cyborg turned out
to be a cruel man?

Sabralia walked out to the main area and Kaistril
raised his head from the platter he was loading with food. He looked at her…and
looked at her some more, eyes roving up and down her body.

“What’s wrong?” He’d seen her naked daily, but she
suddenly felt self-conscious.

“Nothing is wrong. The knits are thin. I can see
your lips.”

She raised a hand to her mouth, frowning a little.

“Not those lips.”

Her eyes opened wide.
Did he mean…?

He was smirking.
Yes he did!

Chapter Four

Sabralia fled back to the bedroom and threw on
Alfyt’s coat. Heart pounding, she wondered if she should lock herself in the
bath. He was every bit as crude as she’d imagined Sirn’s Officers. And now she
was stuck here alone with him.

After a while, Qy came into the doorway. “Come
eat,” he said.

“I’m not very hungry, thank you,” she replied.

Qy came further into the room and she watched him
warily. “I should not have said that,” he said. “I rarely spend time with
gentle women, and the women I know are not easily offended.”

She nodded. For some reason, speaking was
difficult around this new Qy.

Her food was on the small table when she came out,
and Qy was plowing through a plateful. She sat gingerly on the chair.

Qy flicked a glance at Sabralia. “You have nothing
to fear from me. I will not rape you. I am not one of Sirn’s lawless men.”

Sabralia had no idea how to answer that, but it
did put one of her fears to rest. A little. She ate a bite of the meal he’d
prepared, some type of creamy meat and pasta. “It is good,” Sabralia said,
somewhat surprised.

“I like to eat, so I learned to cook when I was a
schoolboy in New Prague.”

“You are from New Prague? Where is that?”

“It is on the edge of the Puregen Systems, where
Sirn is concentrating his moves.”

She’d thought he might be Puregen, a genetically
altered, lab-created human. He had that perfect face and body, and his eyes
were a rare sky blue. “You are Puregen?”

“Yes, but my homeworld does not have a Puregen
constitution.”

She looked at him blankly. “I didn’t know there
were Puregen constitutions.”

He grinned. “That means that non-Puregen humans
can hold citizenship. On Puregen constitution worlds, only Puregens can be
citizens.”

“Oh.” Sabralia felt stupid. Her schooling had
ended at age sixteen with her marriage, and the harem did not get current news
of the War.

“You are from Coloun, correct?” he asked.

“Yes. It is an agricultural world that supplies
Sirn’s forces. Not Puregen. Of Terran descent.”

“So is New Prague. Settled about five generations
ago.” She nodded. “Coulon was settled in the same Diaspora.”

Qy helped himself to more food. “I think Sirn may
be dead. You might be a widow, little queen.” His look was intense, and she
floundered around, trying to think of why he would care about her widowhood.

“How did you come to marry Sirn, anyway?”

“I was married as part of a treaty. We—my cousin
was my guardian—thought it would be better for our planet. Our weaponry was far
out-classed by Sirn. We had no chance against him.”

“Why didn’t you live in the Palace of the Wives?”

“I didn’t get pregnant with Sirn’s child, so I
lost favor right away. I must have offended him in some way…I don’t know. I
doubt he remembers my name. I will not mourn him.” She looked down at her
plate, finding the intense way Qy looked at her disconcerting.

“Good.” Qy stood and moved to her side. “If he is
dead I will have you declared a citizen of New Prague and so you can divorce
him, since he is not recognized as a citizen. And he is an enemy of my
homeworld.”

“You can’t do that.”

He grinned. “Can too. I’ll copy you out our laws.
I’m the captain of this ship—it is mine by spoil of war. In our laws, that is
like being a judge and a governor. Once we get to New Prague, I can declare you
a citizen.” His grin deepened and she was struck by the difference in his smile
compared to Qy’s sweet, gentle one. “Then you would be a free woman. Free to be
with me. If you choose.”

Hot blood rushed to her face. She ducked her head
and pushed food around on her plate. “Wh-what do you mean, Qy?”

“Kaistril is my name. I mean we will be alone on
this ship for several weeks. We could pleasure each other.”

Her fork clattered onto the plate with a clank.
She shoved from the table to flee to the bathing area where she could lock the
door. Qy—no, Kaistril, because Qy would never intimidate her—blocked her way.

Steely hands gripped her upper arms. She struggled
against him, but found his strength too much.

“I told you I was not one of Sirn’s lawless
rapists. I have no intention or desire to hurt you. You are safe here.” His
lips curved slightly. “Or, at least, as safe as I am out here alone in space in
the middle of a war.” They stood in silence for a moment, bodies lightly
touching. She couldn’t halt her rapid breathing that brought her breasts up
against his hard chest. He let her go, removed his utensils from the table, and
took them to the hygenie. “Finish your meal.”

She stood, undecided for a moment. But what real
defense did she have if he was one of the lawless men, if he…?

Finally, she slid back into her chair.

“Tomorrow I will remove the tracer from this ship.
In three days the orbit of this rock will take us beyond their sensors and we
will head to the Katherine Hub, virtually invisible. From there I go to New
Prague. You are welcome to come with me. I am not forcing you into anything.” 

If Sirn is dead, then I’m free.  Sirn had loomed
so large for so long, she felt dizzy at the idea of being free of him.

“If Sirn is dead, then I could return to my
homeworld. But if he is alive, I can’t go to Coloun. They would alert him to my
presence.”

“Even if Sirn is dead I do not think you should go
back to Coloun. I do not think you are ready for such a journey by yourself,
little queen.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean you would be in rough, lawless places,
with people you can’t trust. Since Sirn’s invasion, the treaties and contracts
that kept the hubs and common lanes orderly and safe are gone. Far different
than an Emperor’s luxurious palace.”

He thought she was useless and weak. That
knowledge made her feel awful. Blood rushed up into her face. “I think I would
manage. And how do you know, anyway? You’ve been a cyborg for years. And quit
calling me little queen. I have a name.”

“All right. Sabralia.” He grinned in a cocky way.
Then his expression got more serious. “Even longer than three years ago the
rule of law was ripped away from this system. It became each world for
themselves, which made the way even easier for Sirn’s Forces. I think you would
be better off staying in New Prague.”

Sabralia didn’t reply to that. Kaistril seemed
very certain of what she should do, while she was not certain at all.

“How long will it take to reach New Prague?”

“It will take us six weeks to reach Katherine Hub.
From there we will have to contact my family, so they can bring a jump ship to
us. This vehicle has no jump capabilities. We would never get to New Prague in
it. We could take commercial jump passage, but I would rather wait for my
family.”

“Right,” she said, feeling a little faint. “Your
family has access to jump ships?”

“Yes. But even if they didn’t, we could find a
public transport to the Hub nearest New Prague. Public transports are often the
target of pirates and raiders, so they are not my first choice for travel.”

She finished eating. Kaistril showed her how to
use the hygenie to clean everything, and they cleaned the dishes together. When
everything was cleaned up she turned to go sit on one of the upholstered
chairs, not knowing what to do next. Kaistril followed her and stood so close
she could feel the heat of his legs against her knees.

“Come, Sabralia. We need to go to bed.”

“What?” Her heart gave a hard thud and she jumped
up, shaking with tension.

He grinned. “Not that. Not yet, anyway. I need
sleep so I can take care of the tracer tomorrow. It is a complex issue. As a
cyborg I did not feel fatigue, but now I do as a man. I will leave you to the
stateroom, and sleep at the command center. The chairs convert for comfort.” He
turned and left her alone.

Sabralia went back to the luxurious stateroom. She
wasn’t really ready to sleep and she was pleased to find a collection of
readers. Sliding one into her arm com, she crawled under the covers and tried
to relax. It was so odd to be sleeping by herself. She found it very hard to
relax. Part of her listened beyond the telling of the story for movement, for
Qy-Kaistril to come to the stateroom.  She finally got up to peek at
him. He was sound asleep in a reclining com chair. She returned to her book, a
romance about an Etherian poet and a Star Woman Priestess. She ended up staying
awake far past the time she could have slept to read the story to its
satisfying end. Maybe her own life would have a love like that, someday. Maybe
her future wasn’t a bleak one, under Sirn’s shadow.

Sabralia woke and checked her com. She’d slept
several hours after finally falling asleep. She used the bath and braided her
hair before entering the main room. Kaistril was up, sitting in the ship’s
control seat. His fingers fairly flew over the ship’s key panel and data
flipped across the viewer.

Sabralia helped herself to a cup of Kaf and a
fruit cup. Once she finally fell asleep, she’d slept hard and she felt only
half awake now. Kaistril looked far too robust and energetic.

“What are you doing up? You stayed up very late.”

“I think it is the strange room. It was hard to
sleep.” She didn’t want to mention that she was used to sleeping in the arms of
her cyborg, skin to skin.

Kaistril turned toward her. “I should have looked
through Alfyt’s belongings earlier.” He held up a cube of info films. Alfyt’s
bags were open on the floor next to the control panel.

“What’s in them?” Curious, she slid into the
co-command chair and looked through the bags. Jewels were knotted and tangled
together in the bag. Sabralia picked up a strand of iridescent beads and
started to untangle the mess. A fortune. And more info film. The other, smaller
bag held mundane clothing and toiletries.

“Tons of data, along with priceless jewels from
the harem.” Kaistril slid one wafer into a data slot on the ship’s com. “I
don’t think it is Alfyt’s personal library. I think he was being very, very
disloyal to his Emperor. It’s all encrypted. This could be very good, or very
bad.”