Human After All (9 page)

“My name is Jaymes. I’d be pleased if you’d call me that.”

“Sure,” Halz said quickly. “Sorry.”

Drue watched the T-bred wrap the Grangers around his fingers for a few minutes before he broke in. “We’re both hungry and tired and sore from sleeping on the ground last night. If you have food and water and a soft place to lie down, we’d be grateful.”

“Oh, I think we might do a little better than that, spork.” Halz winked. “We might not be on the Grid, but we ain’t exactly livin’ in caves.”

“But we are underground,” Ferrin said.

“Who asked you?” Halz cuffed his partner on the back of his shaggy head. “Let’s go.”

The Granger gestured to Drue and Jaymes to follow Ferrin. The Companions were surprised when a third man rose silently from the ferns, his feral gaze the same chatoyant chartreuse as his comrades.

“Kayel,” Halz beckoned to the sentry as he let the others get some distance ahead.

Jaymes leaned close to Drue. “Do you think this is wise?” he whispered.

“I have no idea.”

“So these aren’t your Jammerz.”

“Not even close. They’re Grangers, but they weren’t forced out of the Cities. They live here because they don’t like rules.”

“If they just let me have one cup of mo-joe before they ravish me to death, I’ll go with a smile on my lips.”

“Not so loud. If they’re the type who class Bioware with appliances, like our late friend the Deep, we might be in for a bumpy time.”

“A bumpy time?” Jaymes raised his voice. “And you say I have a talent for understatement?”

Drue glanced over his shoulder and intercepted the curious gaze Kayel directed at Jaymes. The Exotic quickly faced front again to avoid eye contact with the sentry. Drue didn’t care for Kayel’s interest in the T-bred, but he reminded himself of their situation. If all that stood between them and hot food and water was Kayel, Drue knew Jaymes would turn the Granger inside out without a second thought, and for that matter, so would he. It might not be what he wanted, but it was only sex, not a hand, an eye, or his life.

Drue’s real worry was Jaymes’s subverted programming. The T-bred was trained in several forms of hand-to-hand combat, and was theoretically capable of taking care of himself. However, Drue didn’t know all the subtleties of the mechemical in Jaymes’s system, and with Alvera gone, there was only one person left who had detailed knowledge—the one who’d created it. The current state of affairs had the potential of going horribly awry without warning, and the thought of the haughty T-bred mistreated made Drue’s stomach ache even as he smiled at the irony. If his firebrand friends could see him now—mooning over a T-bred—they’d laugh themselves sick.

“Don’t worry about it,” Drue said. “We’ll make some sort of deal with these men.”

“I hope so.” Jaymes’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Back there, when Halz came up to me, I tried to take his weapon, but I couldn’t make the first overt move.”

“Murd. I was just wondering about that.”

“I know. That’s why I—”

“You know?” Drue gave Jaymes a sharp look. “What’s that mean?”

Before Jaymes could answer, Halz caught up with them.

“I can’t believe the luck,” Halz said. “We should have a celebration.”

“I’ll bet Lochler would okay it,” Ferrin said over his shoulder. “The compound’s almost deserted. Not enough soljers to get out of hand.”

“Hell yeah,” Halz enthused, smiling at the Companions. “Who wants first crack at me?”

“I need soap and a lot of hot water before I can even think about it,” Jaymes answered.

“What’s wrong with gettin’ all sweaty?” Halz leaned close to the T-bred.

“It’s fine for you,” Jaymes purred.

Drue dug the point of his elbow into Jaymes’s side. “No previews,” he said. “You need to eat first and get a little rest, if your friend can wait that long.”

Halz smiled. “I can wait. How much for the pair of you?”

“I need to see what you’ve got to trade before I—what is that?” Drue stared at the roaring amalgam of man and machine bearing down on them.

“It’s a murdercycle,” Ferrin shouted, his voice loud in the sudden silence when the engine died. “And that’s Lochler, the leader of this rock-hard pack of Grangers.”

Lochler swung his leg over the saddle of the two-wheeled vehicle and let it rest on a retrofitted stand made from the skid of a Traffic Control drone. Heavy, dark bangs shot with gray shaded eyes the same glittering green as those of his men. His gaze skipped over the Companions and came to rest on Halz. “What do we have here?” he asked in a warm baritone.

“We found ’em,” Halz said. “Wanderin’ through Old Forest.”

“Then they must have crashed there, right?”

“I… don’t know,” Halz said slowly.

“How would two such high quality pieces of Bioware be traveling?” Lochler asked. “Think. You don’t imagine that they
walked
out of the Inner City, do you?”

A round of laughter greeted the leader’s witticism. Jaymes started to join in, but Drue’s nails in the back of his hand warned him to stay quiet. The T-bred bridled at taking his directions from a Zot, but he was smart enough to know that in this milieu, Drue was smarter. If Jaymes’s opsys hadn’t been impaired, it might be a different story entirely, but he couldn’t trust his judgment, his senses, or even his reflexes. Anything that ran counter to the compulsion sequence would be automatically vetoed. Jaymes had lived with restriction parameters all his life, like the veracity assurance inhibitor, but he had taken the implanted limitations for granted because he had chosen to accept them. This had been forced on him, and he had no idea what it was doing to him.

“Somewhere on the Companions’ back trail, I’m thinkin’ we’ll find a lot of salvageable matériel in the form of an ultra-expensive piece of transport,” Lochler said.

“I should’ve thought of that.” Halz hung his head.

Lochler grabbed Halz by the nape and pulled the big man down until their foreheads touched. “I’m not tryin’ to make you feel bad about it,” the leader said softly. “I just want you soljer boys to stay focused when you’re on patrol.” With a slap on the cheek, Lochler released Halz. “But I can understand why you got distracted.”

Drue kept his expression neutral as Lochler turned. Hoping Jaymes would follow suit, Drue remained silent, waiting for the Granger leader to speak first. The moment drew out while Lochler ran his gaze coolly over Drue and Jaymes like a prospective buyer, cataloging their good points and checking for possible flaws.

“We don’t see a lot of Erotic Grade Bioware out here,” Lochler drawled.

“The redhead does the talkin’,” Ferrin put in helpfully.

The leader gave Ferrin a little sidewise glance that made the muscular man drop his eyes and shuffle his feet like a small boy reprimanded. Lochler returned his attention to the Companions, giving a little shake of his head as he eyed Drue’s flashy ensemble.

“What are you? Some sort of purp?” Lochler asked Drue.

“I think you mean pimp,” Jaymes corrected. “And by the way, that slang went out with land-based transport.”

Drue sighed. “I think these gentlemen admire things like land-based transport,” he said, pointing to the Granger’s vehicle.

“No offense taken,” Lochler grinned, displaying pointed canines. “We’re a little out of touch, which is why it’s so nice to see the two of you. Kayel! I want you to backtrack and find the shiny, fast thing that brought these fine boychicks to us. I’ll call back to base and send a crew after you. Halz and Ferrin, you continue on to the compound. You.” Lochler pointed at Jaymes. “Come for a ride with me.”

Jaymes gathered the confidence earned in a thousand encounters with men of this stripe, if not of this social stratum. “I don’t mean to be difficult,” he said. “However, I can’t help noticing that the seat of your… murdercycle seems to be genuine animal hide of some sort. The fact is that I am wearing nothing under this borrowed coat, and I’m afraid some chapping might occur if I were to bestride that machine.”

There was a short pause before Lochler laughed. “Your point is well taken.” He pointed to Drue. “Give the T-bred your trowz.”

“What?”

“Now!” Lochler said. “You can have ’em back when you get to our place.”

Drue shed his trousers and tossed them to Jaymes. “Those are my faves,” he warned the T-bred.

“And they’re nice and warm,” Jaymes replied as he pulled them on.

“Boss,” Kayel began, before Lochler interrupted.

“I know,” he said. “You don’t want to go lookin’ for a crash site. You want to go with us and get stuck into one of these sporks. That about cover it?”

“S’not fair,” Kayel said sullenly.

“Whether it is or not, those’re my orders. Anytime you want to give the orders, just step right up and challenge me.” Lochler met the other man’s eyes until Kayel looked away.

Drue was pleased when the sulking Kayel trotted off, but he wasn’t happy about being separated from Jaymes. He tried to catch Jaymes’s eye, but of course the conceited T-bred was in full seduction mode now, using subtle disdain and understated flattery, making the client feel like they were the only two people alive with any taste, style, or intelligence. Drue didn’t blame the Prince for latching on to the top-dawg, but it complicated things.

Lochler started the cobbled-together motorcycle and gestured curtly to Jaymes. Letting none of his nervousness show, Jaymes climbed on behind the Granger. He was immediately aware of the throbbing of the engine transmitted through the frame directly to his crotch. Every vehicle Jaymes had ever traveled in completely encapsulated the passengers and was free of noise or vibration. The ride to the compound was a revelation for him. With his arms wrapped tightly around the driver as instructed, Jaymes hung on and reveled in the exhilarating blast of air that flowed past them. He was actually disappointed when they entered a cleared area and stopped.

“This is home base,” Lochler said.

Jaymes looked around. There were only three buildings inside the dilapidated stockade.

“This is just for the satellites,” the Granger said as he walked toward the largest structure. “The rest of it’s underground. We took some caves and modded them out.”

“I enjoyed the ride,” Jaymes said politely as Lochler led the way into a ’vator.

“Yeah, I love the way that machine feels between my legs and the way the wind hits my face.”

Jaymes nodded. “It took my breath away. May I ask where we’re going now?”

“What difference would it make if you knew?”

“None at all. I’m just making conversation because I’m nervous.” Jaymes flinched as the ’vator dropped suddenly.

“I didn’t always live here, you know,” Lochler said. “I used to work in the Inners. Had an unlimited day pass and everything. I know how to treat a T-bred. Theoretically, anyway.” He smiled. “You could use some lookin’ after, couldn’t you? A bath, some food, am I right?”

“That would be most welcome right now.”

“Beautiful,” Lochler said as the ’vator doors opened on a well-lit corridor. “You really live up to the stories. It’s like havin’ royalty in the house.”

“I don’t mean to sound—”

“Shhhh.” Lochler put a finger to Jaymes’s lips. “I don’t want apologies from you. I just want you to be yourself.”

“I’m actually more comfortable with a Scenario.”

“Then make one up, but don’t tell me about it,” Lochler said. “Bathroom is that way. My space is down that little hall. Come to me when you feel comfortable enough.”

“Thank you,” Jaymes said. “Whatever your reasons for helping me, I’m grateful.”

“Beautiful,” Lochler repeated. “I’ll be waitin’.”

D
RUE
buttoned his jacket over the subkyoo X on his chest. He was glad he’d worn something under his trousers, but was sure he looked ridiculous in nothing but a cut velvet coat, matching boots, and a black thong that barely covered his cock and balls. He wished he’d had more sympathy for Jaymes in that overcoat.

Halz turned from watching Lochler speed away. “Come on,” he said to Drue. “It’s not far.”

Drue sized up the pair of Grangers as he’d been doing almost constantly. They were both large and heavily muscled, armed with who knew what sort of weaponry, but Drue knew several esoteric forms of martial arts that gave him an edge at close range. He was trying to calculate whether it was enough to allow him to disable these two without sustaining major personal damage. Realistically, if Drue was going to do anything, it should be now while he only had a couple of opponents to deal with. Who knew how many men were at the compound? On the other hand, the Grangers hadn’t done anything overtly threatening beyond the sexual posturing most males displayed when there were desirable mates present. He hadn’t reached a decision by the time they reached the gates of the Grangers’ base, and then it was too late.

J
AYMES
knocked on the plain plasmod door at the end of the short hall. Lochler called out, and the T-bred entered a large area divided into spaces with hanging curtains of polished metal pieces on chains. Drawn to the shrapnel tapestries, the T-bred reached out to touch the anodized curve of an ancient cell phone casing.

“These hangings are quite innovative,” he said. “Who’s the artist?”

Lochler laughed. “There’s no artist. I put those together during hiding times when we can’t go aboveground. They’re like walls, but not, you know?”

“I’ve seen lesser work lauded by critics at galleries in the Cloister.”

“I knew you were from The Cloy.” Lochler bounced up from his free-form chair. “You’re so fine.”

“Thank you. You’re a very handsome man.”

“Not too rough?”

“Perhaps around the edges,” Jaymes responded diplomatically. In truth, it had been a long time since he’d seen a man with so much body hair. The fashion had been for smoothness for several decades now, and most men routinely used their bath’s depilator function on their bodies as well as their beards. Lochler’s shirtless state revealed a wealth of dark hair in a T pattern across his pecs and down his abdomen, disappearing into the waistband of the drab green trousers. “Physically, you’re quite imposing, if I may say so.”