The Android Chronicles Book One: The Android Defense (32 page)

“Oh, Luke.” Dabya stood and
put her hand on the side of his face. “I’ve faced a lot more in my
life than a bunch of scientists who want to build a fortress for
their ideas. If you’re so kind as to remain with me, I intend to
make it worth your time. I will tell Gustaf I’ve changed my mind,
and I wish to be part of his undertaking. That way I can tell you
everything that’s going on.”

Luke said
nothing.

“I can’t let you do
something like that,” he said finally. “You’d be in real danger,
and somewhere I can’t look out for you.”

“It’s because I kissed you,
I know,” Dabya said. “You feel responsible for me now, even if
we’re only friends. Don’t worry about it, Luke. I will be fine. My
guards are with me wherever I go.”

Luke took her hand and
kissed the back of it.

Chapter 13.

As Gustaf, Pierre, and
Mikael pored over the blueprints late into the night, discussing
ideas and theories, Pierre felt his cell phone ring. He picked it
up and suppressed a yawn.

“Alsouvi.”

“Hello, Pierre,” Dabya
said.

“Your Highness,” Pierre
said, causing Gustaf and Mikael to snap to attention.

“I’ve decided I would like
to be a part of the president’s building plan after all,” Dabya
said. “You’ll forgive me my about-turn, won’t you? It was simply a
matter of clearing out some of my other duties.”

“That’s great news, Your
Highness,” Pierre said. “Great news.”

He hung up and faced the
other two.

“Dabya has changed her
mind,” he said, looking jubilant. “She wishes to be a part of our
efforts.”

Mikael smiled but Gustaf
looked thoughtful.

“Indeed,” he said, his eyes
cold and searching. “Indeed.”

Worried that even the wrong
look might give her away while she was at the lab, Mandelie tried
to busy herself with cleaning out the front reception area, as Jake
played online Scrabble on his computer with Brigite’s help – or
interference.

“T – H – O-” Jake said,
squinting as he stared at the screen.

“Thong,” Brigite
said.

“The hint says it’s a
person’s name. I don’t know anyone named Thong. Plus it’s a five
letter word, not a four letter word.”

“Thomas,” Mandelie said, as
she dusted underneath the desk.

“Okay,” Jake said.
“G-A-R-”

“Garter belt,” Brigite
said.

“Garden,” Jake said, typing
in the letters. “Great.”

“H-A-N-”

“Handcuffs,” Brigite
said.

“Brig, it’s Scrabble for
beginners, not Scrabble for sex addicts,” Jake said. “I believe the
word is ‘handover.’ And … I’m right. Yes!”

He pumped his fist in the
air.

“Do you win anything?”
Brigite said. “A prize?”

“Satisfaction,” Jake
said.

“That is a terrible prize,”
Brigite said.

Trista came into the room,
just as a huge flower arrangement came in through the front door on
a wheeled cart pushed by a postal worker.

“Wow!” Brigite said. “Now
that’s a prize.”

Mandelie stood, her heart
pounding sickly in her throat. There was no way Damian would make
such an obvious display of feeling in front of the whole lab,
right?

Trista took the card off of
the giant bouquet and read it.

“‘
To Dr. Miles – thank you
for saving Damian’s ability to walk. We are all eternally grateful.
Sincerely, Carlie Wesler and the rest of Aventis Technologies.’
Well, isn’t that nice.”

She put the card back on the
bouquet but not before exchanging a look with Mandelie. It was
obvious Trista had been as alarmed as she was.

Carlie was feeling
significantly better and was sitting up on the couch in Damian’s
spacious living room with her iPad and a cup of warm water, pausing
only occasionally to sneeze.

She heard the front door
open and Damian come inside. He walked into the living room, put
his shoulder bag down on the floor, and surveyed her up and
down.

“You’re starting to look
normal again,” he said.

Carlie nodded.

“I was just looking at the
press coverage of the Adventis party,” she said, pointing to her
screen. “I thought you were going with Kate Upton. You took
Mandelie Miles?”

Damian sat down in a chair
and glanced at his phone without looking at her.

“Oh, um, yeah. Just as a
platonic date. I’m grateful to everyone at that lab. I thought she
might have fun.”

Carlie laughed
unbelievingly.

“Correct me if I’m wrong,
but I thought she hated you.”

“Past tense,” Damian said.
“We get along better now.”

Carlie shrugged.

“Okay, then. How did your
talk with the Boeing people go? Achoo!”

“Great,” Damian said.
“They’re excited to get on board with us. I even got them to put
down a higher offer than their original one.”

Carlie smiled.

“That’s good to hear. Did
you get in touch with Senator Mitchell?”

“We’re having lunch
tomorrow,” Damian said. He got up.

“Get back to rest, okay? I’m
going out in a little bit.”

“Okay,” Carlie said, looking
back at her iPad. “I’m really feeling a lot better. I can probably
go back to my own place soon. Achoo!”

Chapter 14.

“They are starting
construction on the complex tomorrow,” Dabya said to Luke, after
she returned from a meeting with Pierre at his hotel in Vienna. “I
intend to fly out with them in a week and see how the building is
going.”

Luke nodded. He sat down in
a chair in his bedroom and looked lost in thought.

“I must return to Los
Angeles for a few days,” he said. “But only for a few
days.”

“To see her,” Dabya
said.

“Yes,” Luke said. “I haven’t
spoken to her in a long time. It was … wrong, I think. But I
thought it was better than she didn’t know too much.”

Dabya smiled. She walked to
him and kissed him on his cheek.

“Go,” she said. “I will be
alright in the meantime.”

“I don’t think we’ll be able
to keep this a secret forever,” Damian said, as he and Mandelie lay
in her bed, Mandelie leaning her head on his shoulder.

“Carlie’s bound to find out.
I’ve never been able to keep information from her for long. It’s
her job to know everything about me.”

Mandelie said nothing. She
ran her hand lightly beneath him until she felt the black metal
plate on his back.

“When I touch that it makes
me think of Luke,” she said. “It feels just like him.”

Damian shifted.

“Don’t talk about him,” he
said.

“Are you jealous?” Mandelie
said.

“I think I am,” Damian said.
“I don’t want to lose you to him when he comes back. Whenever that
may be.”

Mandelie sat up in bed and
pulled her blankets around her.

“I haven’t decided what I’m
going to do yet,” she said.

“The suspense is killing
me,” Damian said. “I want you to be mine. Exclusively. I don’t want
to be harsh, Mandelie, but do you really think a relationship
between a human girl and an android can survive?”

“I don’t know,” Mandelie
said. “I don’t know.”

“I’d put better odds on our
relationship,” Damian said. “Even if it’s just physical right now.
And I once won $500,000 in an Indian casino.”

“This isn’t a gambling
game,” Mandelie said. “This is me, on the line.”

Damian put his arm around
her. He pulled her close to him and kissed her on her
neck.

“I know,” he said. “I’m
sorry. I didn’t mean it that way.”

Jake arrived at the lab
early the next morning and let himself in. He turned on the light
in the front room and jumped.

The room was completely
decorated in lurid pink and blue balloons. Huge green paper circles
with a picture of his face pasted in each one of them were hung all
over the walls. A huge colorful sign was taped to the reception
desk.

It read:

“Congratulations Jake,
Scrabble champion!”

Jake swallowed. He jumped
again and yelled in alarm when Brigite jumped out from where she
had been hiding behind a chair and shouted, “Surprise!”

“Do you like it?” Brigite
said. “I thought you deserved a prize after winning that game
yesterday.”

“Um, it’s great,” Jake said,
his heart pounding wildly. “You really didn’t have to go to all
that trouble, though.”

“Oh, it was fun,” Brigite
said. “We’re out of markers and tape, though. You should probably
go out and buy some when you get a chance.”

The two of them turned when
they heard someone approaching the door.

“Luke?” Brigite
said.

She ran to him and threw her
arms around him. Luke picked her up and swung her around, and set
her down on the ground.

He turned to Jake, who
hugged him.

“Good to see you, pal,” Jake
said. “Why did you leave for so long?”

Luke picked up his suitcase
and walked through the door.

“I had some important
matters to attend,” he said. “I can’t stay for long. I’m going back
in a few days.”

He paused when he saw the
decorations.

“What’s this?” he
said.

“They’re your welcome back
decorations, Luke,” Brigite said.

“Then why is Jake’s picture
everywhere?”

“Oh, that.” Brigite waved
the pictures away. “I’m going to take those down and put your face
up in place of them as soon as Jake gets some new tape and
markers.”

“Don’t touch them,” Luke
said, heading for his room. “They look wonderful as they
are.”

“He’s being sarcastic,” Jake
said to Brigite.

Luke came back in a few
minutes after he had put his suitcase down.

“Where’s Mandelie?” he
said.

“She doesn’t know you’re
here yet?” Jake said.

“I tried calling her but she
did not answer,” Luke said. “I’m going to her place
now.”

Chapter 15.

Though it was nearly
mid-morning, Mandelie and Damian were still asleep in her bed.
Mandelie lay with her back against his chest, his arm thrown over
her.

They were both awakened by a
loud knocking on her door.

“Mandelie!”

“Luke,” Mandelie said. Her
face paled.

She jumped to her feet and
began looking for her clothes in a panic. Damian began dressing as
well.

“Does he have the key?” he
said.

“Yes,” Mandelie said, horror
sweeping over her. She was pulling her jeans on when the door to
the bedroom opened and Luke came in.

His glance took in
everything at once - Mandelie’s stricken expression, her unbuttoned
shirt and her disheveled hair, the clothes strewn all over the
floor and the rumpled blankets on the bed. Then it settled on
Damian, who was fully dressed in his long-sleeved shirt and
trousers but whose look at him told him everything he needed to
know.

Luke moved impossibly fast.
He grabbed hold of Damian and pushed him against the wall, his eyes
filled with fury.

“Luke, no!” Mandelie ran to
him and tried to pull him away.

Damian tore his arm loose
and punched Luke in the side of his face. Luke barely flinched. He
threw Damian across the entire length of the room.

Damian crashed against the
wall, but was up on his feet again. He charged at Luke but at the
last moment Mandelie got between them.

“Stop!” she said.
“Stop!”

Her voice stopped both of
them in their tracks.

“Both of you, out of here
now!” Mandelie said. “Both of you, get out!”

Luke looked at
her.

“Mandelie-”

“Get out,” Mandelie
repeated. “Get out.” Her voice broke and tears began running down
her face.

Damian grabbed his things
and left the room. Luke still remained.

“Leave now,” Mandelie
said.

Luke tore his gaze away from
her and left, closing the door behind him.

Mandelie sank to the ground
on legs that refused to hold her up anymore. She began crying and
felt that she would never be able to stop.

It was dark in her room when
Mandelie was finally able to stop crying. She reached out and
grabbed the side of the bed and got to her feet. Her head ached and
her face and hair were drenched with her tears.

She opened the door to her
living room and stopped.

Luke was sitting on the
couch. The rage had vanished from his eyes and all that was left
was hopeless fear.