BioCybe (19 page)

“Are they…”

“No. I used a sedative. They’ll wake in an hour or two with
really sore heads, but there’s little other side effects.” She ushered him into
the room and closed the door.

* * * *

Sandon was amazed at the speed with which Levia worked. Even
with her neural connection, it seemed as if her hands found the controls and
worked them like a musical keyboard. She overrode safety protocols, locked down
communications, and ran a search for Brandon simultaneously.

A loud grating sound echoed. “What the hell is that?”

“I’m closing the blast doors. That should secure the
elevators and any other access routes.” Levia sank to her knees and tugged on a
door, exposing wires and motherboards to view. He couldn’t see what she was
doing, but the sound of grunts and snips filled the small room. “The panel to
the left of you, the security doors? Turn the dial on numbers four, five, six
and seven to off.”

“What are we—”

“We’re locking down this bunker, until we’re ready to deal
with Mayerber. I’m looking through the schematics as they exist on file. I need
to find the sequences for the ducting systems.” She mumbled the words, but he
felt as if his mind would explode at the number of tasks she could complete at
once.

“How do you…” He waved his hands in the air, but she shook
her head.

“Sandon, we don’t have time now. I’ll explain the
multi-tasking to you later.” She reached over and pressed a button, then turned
with a smile. “Right, that should…” As she started to withdraw the cord
connecting her to the computer system she swore. “God damn it! Why can’t they
just keep everything in one place?”

Levia tugged the cord free, slid back the plate over the
port in her skull, then ran to the far end of the room.

“The maintenance shafts weren’t on the main system line.
Good thing I checked the security room layout and specs.” She opened a cupboard
to reveal another set of controls. Levia twisted a knob and pushed several
buttons before slamming the doors shut. “Okay, so that should be it now.”

“What did you just do?”

“What? Oh, they were the maintenance shafts. I was just
running a quick final check and found them. If we hadn’t locked them down,
Mayerber could use them to get to either Brandon or us, before we’re ready.”

Levia smiled and his blood heated. Then she kissed him and
his thoughts melted away.

“You did good. When we saw Mayerber, you didn’t give in and
you handled the shaft like a pro.”

“I suppose that’s my training come to the fore.”

“Training? What training?” She screwed up her face, and he
grinned.

“On my homeworld, we have compulsory service training for
eighteen months.”

Her frown melted away. “But… You’ve never mentioned it
before.”

“It’s not like we’ve had a lot of long discussions about
before we met, Levia. After all, for the first while you—”

Her hand shot up between them and shoved hard at his chest.
“Wait. You’ve been playing me for a fool all this time…”

“No, Levia. I just haven’t told you everything. You know my parents
are dead, you know that the
Echo
is my home. You just don’t know the
name of the planet I come from or…” Her eyes glowed, and he sighed. “Okay, so
I’m not from either a Juran or Dendaran planet. I actually hail from the Ormoran
Sector.”

“You mean…”

He nearly laughed at the look of surprise on her face, but
that quickly disappeared. “Uh-huh. Which is why I’ve been able to travel with
immunity. Didn’t it even occur to you?”

“But you fly under the Federated Freighters Association
flag? That’s the Juran Dendaran collective. How can that be? Ormorans don’t…”

“To quote a very clever woman, let me just say, now isn’t
the time.”

“Fine.” The set of her mouth told him that after this was
done, they’d have a long and probably trying conversation ahead of them.

“Okay. What do we do now?”

“Now, we go looking for Brandon. Then we plan the best way
to deal with Mayerber.”

* * * *

He was Ormoran. It explained a lot of things in her mind.
His physical condition, his ability to move between the opposing worlds of the
Jurans and Dendarans hadn’t even occurred to her. The two worlds were cool
toward each other, as they were forced to co-exist. He didn’t really show any
of those tendencies to follow up and expound on the war.

He was diplomatic—when he wanted to be, that was—and could
charm the birds from the trees. He could have claimed Ormoran citizenship and
turned down the mission thrust upon him. He could have said
no
.

Levia’s jaw ached, and she unclenched it. Now wasn’t the
time to get caught up in the why’s and wherefore’s. “This way.”

As they moved up the long hall, the only sound was the
squeak of her shoes.

At a door, she stopped and raised a hand. “If he’s in there,
likely he doesn’t want to come face-to-face with us. Don’t trust him. He’s
already tried to sell us out to Mayerber once.”

Sandon’s face was hard, his mouth set in a long white line,
and for a moment she wanted to reach out. He was working under immense
emotional strain, but he had to hold on just a little longer.

“I’m sorry it’s gone down like this.”

His eyes glinted. “Brandon made the choice, not me.” Sandon
straightened his shoulders, clutching the straps of his pack. “Let’s just get
this done.”

Levia gave a tiny nod and turned back to the door, hands on
the keypad, and entered the door override. It opened slowly, and Levia moved to
shield Sandon. No matter that there were secrets and hurts to be resolved
between the two of them, she wouldn’t let anyone touch him. Not while she was
alive anyway.

The man opposite her hunched over, his face screwed up. “Why?
What are you doing here?” Strong emotions threaded through the air as Levia
entered the room.

“Brandon? Hmm… I expected something—someone more.”

The careful insult had him straightening up. “What do you
mean?”

“You sold out your buddy, then you hide out here, hunched
over like the knowledge weighs a ton? I, at least, thought you’d be armed or…”
Anger whirled within her. She’d expected an opponent, armed and guarded—some
kind of resistance would have made sense! But instead, all she had before her
was a cowed man. A sneer rose on her face.

Mayerber obviously thought he’d gotten all the information
he needed, otherwise he would have made sure she couldn’t get to Brandon.
Either she’d be dead or Brandon neutralized. The thought gave her pause for
about two seconds.

He whirled, dragging a long, serrated knife from behind him,
and she let out a tiny bark of laugh. “I’m not stupid. You’re a Cybe, and I
don’t trust you not to kill me and steal what I know.”

Sandon had shared Brandon’s background as a systems technician,
his skills in great demand. He’d already told Sandon he had information, and
they knew he’d been feeding it to Mayerber. But what exactly was the nature of
the information he’d accessed?

Anger roared through her. He’d been willing to sell his best
friend out for what? A hidey-hole in the middle of nowhere? What had he gotten
out of it?

Levia cocked her head to one side, taking in the man before
her. “Yes, I am a Cybe, and I
should
kill you for what you’ve done to
Sandon. I’m better than that now. Sandon deserves more than that from me. He
deserved better than that from you. He
trusted
you, thought you were his
friend, and yet you sold him out!” Her voice vibrated with heavy emotion. Rage
and disdain warring for dominance within her.

“I didn’t sell him out, only you! I’m protecting him by
telling Mayerber where you are.” The words ended on a screech.

Her laugh was cold, and satisfaction bloomed when he
blanched. “Oh, that’s rich.”

They circled and her enhanced vision picked up the fine
tremors in his hand. He clearly wasn’t trained in any kind of combat—his gaze
darted from side to side, as he telegraphed his moves. The knife wavered from left
to right and back again.

He’d be easy to beat under normal circumstances, but Levia
wasn’t going to take anything for granted. One single slice was all it would
take to compromise her, and she still had to face Mayerber.

So she danced to Brandon’s tune, looking for an opening
where she could subdue him easily and without any threat to herself.
Or to
Sandon.
She lunged and he drew away, panting raggedly. Levia tested him
over and over, darting this way and that, feinting when he attempted to engage
her.

“You could, of course, be forgiven, if your fear of me had
you giving in. There’d be no shame in accepting that your opponent is
physically more capable than you.”

“You’d kill me. I’ve seen what your kind is capable of.
You’re monsters.”

She grinned. “Of course we are. And we eat children for
breakfast too. Oh, hang on. Nope, I’ve never done that before.” With each taunt,
a little more of his bravado ebbed.

The whole time, her awareness settled on Sandon, who watched
behind her. What would he think of the game she played? Would he understand it
was just part of the tactics she employed, or would he think she was cold-hearted?
She shunted the thought to the very back of her brain. No time to dwell on that
now.

When it came, the opportunity presented itself as Brandon
caught sight of Sandon. His face paled, and his gaze wavered. Levia struck. Legs
shuffled over the floor without sound. Arms reaching out to the other
combatant.

She caught Brandon’s wrist, gripping it like a manacle as he
howled with pain. Levia twisted his arm up behind him, ratcheting it higher,
until the knife clattered to the floor.

“I’m a Cybe—trained for combat and to kill. But for Sandon…”
She growled the words in his ear, and an angry pleasure suffused her at his
flinch.

“Thanks for the demonstration, Levia. Now, Brandon, tell us
everything you know.” Sandon advanced as Levia pulled Brandon to his feet and
settled himself on the single chair. “Don’t leave out anything.”

* * * *

“I didn’t want to do any of this, you know that, don’t you,
San? I mean, he came to me and wanted to know everything I could find out about
the new BioCybe improvements. I’m a tech… So I can find information in places
most people can’t.”

Sandon’s gut twisted. “What were his terms?”

“He said he could rid you of the Cybe who’d infiltrated your
crew. Said you were in danger. After your visit to Omega V he knew where to
find her. Mayerber… He said he had a score to settle. He’d seen the encrypted
message I sent. He’d arranged an intercept for all deep-space transmissions.”

It didn’t answer Sandon’s questions. Why? Why was Levia the
target of so much anger and hate? “That’s not the reason, is it? Or not all of
it. Tell me, Brandon. Why?”

“Because she was sent to hunt him down when he swapped
sides. The Jurans had ordered a kill on him, because he knew too much. Was too
dangerous to them. She’d been specifically chosen for that reason. Everything
she’d done before...they were little more than training missions. All they
wanted was to get rid of Mayerber before he could destroy them.”

Sandon rocked back on his feet. There was more to this
story. There had to be. Brandon wasn’t telling him everything he knew. That
much was clear in the nervous tic at the side of his mouth and the way his knee
jiggled up and down.

Levia must have read his mind, as she stalked closer. “But
that’s not all, is it? What other information did you manage to access once it
became clear that Mayerber was looking for us? And don’t claim that you don’t
know what I’m talking about. Your heart rate has accelerated by fifteen percent,
and your sweat glands have increased production. I can smell the pheromones in
the air, Brandon.”

A smile nearly broke over Sandon’s face, and it took a lot
of restraint to keep himself in check.
By God, she’s an amazing woman!
She
reminded him of the human warrior women he’d learned of in his studies of ancient
civilizations. Boadicea and the Amazonians sprang to mind, along with Bu’Tek of
the Ru’Edan. Unafraid and vibrant characters who did whatever was necessary to
protect the weak.

“Sandon, you have to protect me. If Mayerber thought I’d
talked or if…” Brandon shook his head, and Sandon had to harden himself.

In the past, he’d always helped Brandon out of fixes. This
time, Brandon had to handle it alone.

“Please. I can’t—”

Sandon opened his mouth to speak, but Levia replied before
he could. “We can protect you, but only if you tell us everything. The commonwealth
will—”

“I can’t trust you! You’re the enemy.”

Levia rolled her eyes at Brandon’s words, and Sandon watched
in silence. He’d learned to trust her. Only Levia had the connections and the
experience to get the information they needed.

“Look, if you think Mayerber is in a hurry to waste me, you
need to understand, you don’t even rate as a speck on his shirt. He’ll order
your murder and think nothing of it. Hell, I doubt he’ll even kill you himself.
After all, why should he? You’re nothing.”

Even Sandon shivered at the intensity in her words. She
meant everything she said, and that was chilling. The woman in front of him was
the assassin she’d been trained to be, and it froze his marrow.

“We can help you, but you have to believe in us. You have to
trust us.”

Brandon paled so that not a trace of color remained. Even
his lips looked bloodless, and his eyes were wide, like dinner plates. He
shook. “What can you…”

“If I fail, Sandon will get you out of here and the Jurans
will stash you someplace safe until Mayerber is dealt with. Then you can either
go back to your planet and live your life the way you want to, or you can take
the oath of allegiance to the Juran Commonwealth. Your choice, of course.”