Avion (Cyborgs: More Than Machines, #7) (11 page)

Row upon row of bunk beds, bolted to the wall, marched the length of the large chamber. Each one sported a foam-type mattress with slippery sheets and a small pillow. At the far end, just past the last bed, she noted the social grouping of couches and chairs, covered in a gray fabric with a hint of a silvery sheen. Angling her head, she glanced toward the other end, but she already knew what she’d see—long, gleaming white tables flanked by benches where repasts were taken.

A shudder went through her. She’d not missed the unappetizing lumps on a plate that didn’t harbor a pleasant taste. No amount of salt in the universe could have made those meals palatable. She could only hope the slavers had improved on their culinary offerings in the long years since her last voyage.

The familiarity with her accommodations made just for humans—abducted ones—didn’t bother her much. What was unusual was she was the only occupant. Her companions were gone.

She didn’t like it at all. Especially the loss of one particular person.

Avion, where are you?

He didn’t reply, but she touched the edge of his slumbering mind and relaxed a little as she realized he still slept off the effects of the drug the slavers had gassed them with.

A gas that worked on her as well, unlike the stuff they experimented with on Earth.
How much they still have to learn.
Too bad the humans weren’t nice to her. She could have taught them so much.

Didn’t I teach them not to hurt me?
She did, and yet in the end, they hurt her worse by locking her away.

Rising from her bed, she noted they’d garbed her in a fresh robe while she slept. Cream-colored, and lacking adornment, it covered her from neck to toe. The slavers were fanatic about decontamination. Despite their space-faring habits, the
Zvali’dus
were quite susceptible to alien disease. Even a common cold could prove deadly.

I’ll have to make a point to sneeze on one.
Giggle.

The floor, covered in a warm, sponge-like material, cushioned her bare feet as she made her way to the exit.

Before she reached the door to the chamber, it slid open, and a
Zvali’dus
slaver stepped in, flanked by some hulking beasts who closely resembled reptiles but walked on two legs. Their yellow, slitted eyes regarded her with hunger. The tummy kind, not carnal. Preferable really, given she knew from her databanks that their reproductive organs ejected spines from the tip when they orgasmed.

Not a pleasant way for a human to die. Good thing the merchandise was usually not for playing with. Unless a prisoner misbehaved. It only took one example of the alien lizards lust for people to fall in line—male and female.

The shorter gray alien presented her with a short bow. “Chosen one. You are awake.”

“Way to state the obvious.” She couldn’t prevent the sarcasm, the influence no doubt of the time spent with the cyborgs.

“We apologize for having put you to sleep with the others. However, it’s standard protocol when dealing with the lesser races.” A moue of distaste curled its thin lips. “Much decontamination was needed.”

Can we sneeze on him?

No.

Cough?

No.

Spoilsport.

For now, until she got some answers. Then, if she didn’t like them, she’d let her more devious side play. “Now that they’re clean, I want to see them.”
Avion, oh Avion, wherefore art thou, Avion?
Why that quote from a play for star-crossed lovers came to mind she couldn’t have said. She’d thought the story dumb when her Earth teachers made her read it, and yet...she couldn’t help thinking of the tragic tale of lovers that were kept apart.
Except Juliette was too much of a weakling to do something about it.

“Contact with them might not be wise.”

He dared tell her what to do? “I don’t care. I will see them. You will not deny me. Don’t make me go metal on your ass.” Her other side slipped free and threw the threatening words.

Her erratic outburst had the slaver recoiling. “Were we mistaken in your status as one of the chosen ones? You are behaving in a very irrational manner.”

Damned straight she was.
And I like it.
She tossed her hair. “It’s called emotions. And how dare you question me? As you’ve noted, I am one of the chosen. As per the agreement with my creator, you are to show me respect and accord me aid if requested.”

“We are well aware of our duties. What would you like us to provide you with?” the alien asked, his expression placid.

Lilith, on the other hand, wasn’t feeling very controlled. The refusal to bring her to Avion—
I need to see him—
fed her rash side. “For starters, you need to take me to the origin planet.”

“Not yet.”

What did he meant not yet? Avion would die if they delayed too long. “Unacceptable.”

“We are sorry to distress you, chosen one. However, we cannot set course quite yet.”

Lilith stamped her foot in a gesture of frustration she’d not indulged in since her younger years. “I can’t wait. I demand you take me to the source planet now.” They had the technology to do it so long as their power crystals were charged.

The vertically-challenged gray being did not blink its large orb-like eyes as it replied. “Eventually you will be brought to the origin world but not until we’ve first dumped the impure ones.”

A gasp left her. By dumped, the commander of the
Zvali’dus
meant he would auction off the cyborgs at the nearest trader planet. Not only was that unacceptable—
friends don’t let friends get sold off as slaves—
any kind of delay put Avion’s life at risk.

Should have sneezed.

She’d do better than that.
He’d better not push me on this. I will push back, especially if I spot a cliff I can use.
Her other half giggled in her mind. How she disliked these pompous alien slavers.

First, though, before violence, she’d try reason. Her nanos insisted on it. “You can’t get rid of them.”

“I can and will. You know as well as I that abominations are not allowed to set foot on the source planet. Your mentor would be the first to forbid it.”

She lost a grip on her emotions in that moment and felt herself grimace. Some recollections resonated more loudly with her suppressed half, her mentor being one of them.

Arrogant, know-it-all ass.

Arrogant when it came to downplaying his own superiority but definitely knowledgeable—and unforgiving. “These are unusual circumstances. My mentor doesn’t know the whole story. These people do not work for the
D’zpi
.”

“Yet they bear their slave technology. Our scanners detected the presence of their distinctive hardware embedded in the central cortex of the biological hosts.”

“But they didn’t have it placed there willingly. The cyborgs mean us no harm. They just want help and answers. They are not slaves to the
D’zpi
, or anyone else. They are free thinking, like me.”

“Not entirely.”

The
Zvali’dus
commander had a point. The cyborgs would never be completely untainted so long as the computer chip remained in their brain. Yet, removing it would probably kill them unless they could find nanobots willing to choose them.

“You can’t sell them at auction. You know what type of beings will purchase them.” Those who would hold the cyborg lives in small esteem. Expendable workers for dangerous mines, fodder for violent wars, playthings for perverse bordellos. “You’d be giving them unjust punishment for a crime they didn’t commit.”

“I am not interested in excuses for their existence, nor are we going to counter current standing orders. The abominations are not allowed near the source world.” Even the
Zvali’dus
couldn’t name it. “Their banishment is part of the
T’xa
charter we signed, and we are not about to compromise our agreement with them.”

“I will not allow you to do this. I demand—”

She caught only a hiss of passing air before the tiny missile hit her.

Used to being invincible, Lilith was quite perturbed to find herself, for the second time that day, waking on a cot, but this time, in less desirable quarters.

They put me in a prison cell!
One made for people like her. Forget traditional bars or holes in the ground. The more advanced species knew how to trap nanotech hosts. Pure power, disruptive and fatal to bots and flesh alike.

“Well, if it’s isn’t freaky girl. How nice of you to join us. Because it’s so much nicer when I can ream an idiot out in person,” Aramus grumbled, drawing her attention. “We can trust them, she says. They won’t harm us.” He squeaked the accusation in a high-pitched voice. “This is why I prefer to blow things up. At least then I get pretty lights and big explosions.”

Despite the complaint, Lilith found herself glad to hear Aramus’ voice. She’d, in a roundabout way, discovered her companions and no longer found herself alone. It meant it wasn’t yet too late to save them. “I never said anything about trust. Never trust a slaver.” Only the highest price brought their loyalty. “You should look on the positive side of our situation. They haven’t harmed us. As far as I can see, your tongue is still functioning, and your cognitive ability to find fault with the situation is thriving.”

Laughter, from more than one cyborg. “She’s got your number, Aramus,” Seth quipped.

“Fine. Laugh. That doesn’t get us out of these cages. Got a bright idea for that, freaky girl?”

A valid question, but not the most pressing one for her. “Did everyone make it alive? Where is Avion?”

Anastasia pointed. “Down on the end. He’s breathing, according to Seth, but he hasn’t woken up yet.”

“Are we all accounted for?”

“We are now that you’ve arrived, plus a few extra. You’ve never met them but say hello to the crew of the other explorer vessel in the cyborg fleet. Aphelion.” A male a cell over waved. “Deidre, MJ, and Xylo.” Faces that she matched to files she’d downloaded from the
SSBiteMe
. All cyborg and on a mission of exploration. A failed one obviously.

To better assess the situation, she required more information. “More cyborg prisoners? How did the
Zvali’dus
capture them?”

“Same way they got the
SSBiteMe
. They said halt or we’ll shoot. Common sense made the decision easy.”

“Lilith, have they said what they plan to do with us?” Anastasia asked from the energy-lined room beside her.

A telling frown creased her brow before she could stop it. Any time her emotions became intensely engaged, Lilith lost control of her body. Her stifled side grew stronger. Soon she might not be able to keep her locked away at all. “I know their intention. The
Zvali’dus
plan will not meet with your approval. Nor will it benefit Avion. They plan to auction you off at the nearest trader station or world.”

“Sell this beautiful face? How brilliant. They’d make a fortune, which would probably make up for the loss they’d take with my best friend. For some reason, people think he’s trouble.”

“Don’t you ever shut up?” Aramus growled.

Seth waggled his fingers at Anastasia and grinned. “Only when I’m kissing wifey poo.”

“Or I gag him,” she mumbled.

“Such sweet, sensual torture,” Seth sighed.

“Um, guys, shouldn’t we be planning our escape?”

“What do you think I’ve been doing? While we’ve been chatting, I’ve been multi tasking,” Seth announced. “First, I save us from this prison.”

“In other words, we’re fucked.” Aramus might lack elegance in his speech, but he knew how to get the point across.

“Aramus, really, why must you have so little faith?” Seth extolled as he stood in front of the force field. “Don’t underestimate my desire to move on to Plan B and then C.”

“What’s Plan B?” Kentry asked.

“Take over this ship of course.”

“And plan C?” Lilith asked, curiosity commandeering her tongue.

“Making sweet love to my wife.”

“Which leads us back to our first problem. How do we get out of these cells?”

“I’ll handle that part.” Seth extended his hands to the energy wall.

“Seth. Don’t touch it,” Anastasia warned. “Remember what Aphelion said happened to Serge.”

Lilith might not have been present, but she could imagine. Immediate vaporization. The intense concentration of pure electricity fried a person into the finest ash.

“I remember what he said, but I also don’t want to stay in this cell. It’s cramping my style, not to mention keeping me from you, wifey poo.”

Lilith wasn’t the only one who found herself watching in stunned silence as Seth’s skin rippled. The flesh-like tone seemed to harden, the hue of it turning slightly orange. It took on a glossy sheen, a surreal one, as if his flesh had become something else entirely. He approached the energy wall.

“Seth!” Anastasia’s voice rose into a screech as her husband stepped into the electrical field...and emerged on the other side.

More than one person gaped, Lilith included. “How did you do that?” she asked.

Obviously his skin change had something to do with it, but what had he done? Lilith had never thought to control her own body to the point that it changed physical properties. She would have said it was impossible. But then again, hadn’t she gleaned over the years, as the military waged their war, that cyborgs exhibited a variety of abilities? More like impossible feats, or so her mentor had taught her.

Did he lie? Or are the cyborgs even more evolved than should be possible?

Seth certainly seemed to have a firm handle on his abilities. He brushed imaginary lint from his cream-colored shirt, more like flickers of electricity that sizzled and popped, not burning him. “You seem to forget sometimes our nanos are capable of so many miraculous things. Rapid repair. Harnessing ambient energy into a kinetic force. Surviving extreme temperatures. If it’s capable of all those things, what about changing cellular structure? Becoming something new? In this case, a non-conducting material like plastic.”

“You turned yourself into a freaking Ken doll?” Aramus seemed incredulous.