Indulgence (110 page)

Doc rubbed his neck. “I’m qualified.”

Rage didn’t believe him.
Crash.
He opened his
transmission lines to his friend.
Relay these images and all subsequent
information to Intrepid. Ask
him to search on possible causes.
“Are
there additional medical staff on board?”

“You don’t need advice from additional medical staff.” Doc
glared at him. “This is an image of an offspring manufactured in one of the
human’s laboratories.” He tapped the screen and an image appeared. “This is the
image of the offspring in your female’s womb.” He reduced the size and
displayed them side by side.

They were identical.

Identical.

That meant…

Rage swayed, his view of the worlds, the future, fate
shifting.

Because something he thought impossible had occurred. He had
created offspring with Joan. She wasn’t sick, wasn’t dying. She would live,
spend her lifespan with him.

And she was carrying his son.

“My son,” he roared, falling to his knees, his fingers
curling into fists. “I have a female
and
a son.”

Cyborgs cheered over the transmission lines, their joy
almost rivaling his.

Almost.

He’d never felt this happy. Ever. It was as though every
pleasure he’d ever experienced, every dream, every unspoken wish, had converged
into one.

“Rage?” Joan gazed at him with wide eyes, her hands placed
protectively over her rounded stomach. She’d given him this happiness.

“We created offspring, female.” Saying the words made it
even more real.

She blinked once, twice, her surprise mirroring his. “How’s
that possible, sir?”

“We’ll have to perform tests to determine how it happened,”
Doc answered for Rage. “But first, I must inform the captain that we’re now out
of quarantine. If your condition is contagious, every cyborg on board will want
to be infected.”

We created offspring, female.

Joan struggled to absorb Rage’s words.

She’d reviewed the research gathered from the breeding programs.
There had been zero offspring conceived. No pairings had been successful.

The scientists had expected the breeding programs to work.
The genetic blueprint for cyborg mechanics had been inserted into the DNA
sequence. The nanocybotics had been modified, allowing for the expansion of
their parts as cyborg offspring matured, ensuring both man and machine grew in
concert.

But the very nature of the nanocybotics prevented
conception. As Rage had explained the planet rotation they’d met, a cyborg’s
nanocybotics viewed any fertilized egg as a damaged egg. They ‘repaired’ it,
returning the egg to its former unfertilized state.

In a laboratory, a scientist could administer a suppressor
immediately before fertilization. That was too complex to be coded into DNA.

Faced with those facts, Joan had realized she’d never have
offspring with Rage. She’d accepted that future, thought herself content with
one big C Model cyborg to love and care for.

Now they’d have a son.

“You’re certain?” she asked. It was too incredible to be
believed.

“We’re certain.” There was no doubt in Doc’s voice.

Surge nodded.

“Our offspring is inside you, female.” Rage rushed to her
side, a silly smile lighting his normally grim face. “You’ve made me the
happiest cyborg in the universe.”

He scooped her into his arms, scanning blanket and all, and
he spun. The chambers’ lights whizzed around them. She clung to his neck,
kicked her feet, and laughed, his exuberance feeding hers.

She hadn’t inadvertently killed the male she loved. She was
giving him a son. They’d live and love for a cyborg lifespan, hundreds, perhaps
thousands of solar cycles.

The door slid open and Rage abruptly stopped, the cessation
of motion jarring Joan. He folded his big body around her, safeguarding her
from the intruder.

“First,” Gap crowed, lifting his hands in victory.

“First to arrive in the chambers.” Crash pushed him to the
side. “Not first to see the images of our offspring.”

“I was on the same transmission.” Gap approached them,
grinning boyishly.

“You were secondary on the transmission.” Crash followed
him.

The young cyborg gazed at her stomach. “The difference in
timing was minuscule, undetectable to offspring-bearing human females.”

“There’s still a difference.” Crash’s gaze dropped also.

“Touch my female and I’ll pound you into the floor.” Rage’s
rumble sent a tremor of arousal through Joan.

Their faces fell, their disappointment adorable.

“On the agri lot, some beings believed that touching a
female while she was bearing offspring brought good luck.” The luck was for the
being doing the touching. Those same beings believed in dancing naked every
sundown. Joan didn’t tell them that.

Rage skimmed his fingertips over her blanket-covered
stomach. “We wish for a healthy mother and a healthy offspring.” His gaze slid
to the cyborgs. “Only touch my female’s stomach and be gentle.”

“I’ll guide them, sir.” Joan took both cyborgs’ right hands
and set them on her belly.

Gap’s eyes widened. “Our offspring is in there?”

Joan nodded. Crash had referred to him as ‘our offspring’
also. As the first to be conceived, would their son belong to all of the
cyborgs? She liked the idea that he’d be protected by hundreds of warriors.

“He’s cooing through the transmission lines.” Crash’s face
softened. “He knows we’re here.”

Joan glanced at Rage.

“He chatters as much as those two do.” He indicated Gap and
Crash. “That’s why I thought my processors were infected.”

“What he isn’t telling you is he now chatters back.” Crash
grinned.

Rage frowned at his friend. “I have to. My son howls if I
ignore him.”

“Because you’re his father.” Her heart squeezed. Their son
recognized him.

“You’re his mother. We’ll create a device so you can hear
him also.” Crash lowered his face to stomach level. “He already hears you.”

“Oh.” Joan blinked back tears. Her son heard her.

The door slid open. Vector crossed the threshold, stopped
short when he saw Gap and Crash, their hands on her stomach. Fierce yearning
flashed across his face, quickly concealed under a mask of indifference.

“Have you arrived to imprison my female, cyborg?” Rage
glowered at him.

Red flushed Vector’s cheekbones. “I’ve arrived to
congratulate you and to offer my sincere apologies. I learned much about your
female during the isolation.” He glanced at Crash. “She’s a female deserving
our gratitude and our protection. You’re a fortunate cyborg to have found her.
And that you created offspring--” His voice cracked.

Vector paused, collecting his emotions. No one else spoke.
Joan sniffled, tears dripping down her cheeks, collecting in the seams of her
lips.

“That you created offspring,” the captain continued. “Gives
hope to all of us. I offer you the shelter of my ship and the devotion of my
crew while you await his arrival.”

Rage narrowed his eyes. “My female, the mother of the first
naturally born cyborg, isn’t welcome in the Homeland?”

“The council hasn’t yet ruled on your female’s status.”
Vector straightened and met his gaze directly. “But as your offspring has been
conceived and carried to this stage of his development in space, I assumed you
wouldn’t risk his health by changing his surroundings.”

“He’s right, sir.” Joan agreed with that thinking. “The
change in gravity can be jarring.”

“It’s logical not to risk it,” Doc added his opinion.

“And if the council rules that my female is to be killed?”
Rage braced his feet apart, her cyborg uncaring that he was naked and unarmed.
“Will we be fighting your entire crew to keep her safe?”

“The council won’t ask for her death.” Vector lifted his
chin. “She’s our future.”

“If they do?” Rage pushed.

“If they do, I’ll add my guns to yours. I will defend your
female and your offspring with my life. I pledge that on my honor as a cyborg.”
Vector’s gaze slid to Joan. “I hope to find my own female some planet rotation
in the future.”

“There were one hundred females in a birthing class at
Joan’s Academy. They have no males to protect them.” Gap grinned.

Joan inwardly groaned. The young cyborg remained fixated on
those females.

“Female, what are your thoughts?” Rage looked at her.
“Chambers on a warship would be secure.”

Their offspring was a cyborg. They were designed to develop
rapidly, to provide the Humanoid Alliance with warriors quickly. Their son
would be born within planet rotations, full grown within a solar cycle.

And a warship would be safe. Vector had sworn his loyalty.
He didn’t appear the type of cyborg to take his honor lightly.

“As long as Gap, Crash and the other cyborgs in our fleet
can board this warship, I have no objections, sir.” She smiled first at Rage
and then at Vector.

“I can’t stop them from boarding.” The Captain’s lips
twitched. “Your cyborgs are eager to celebrate the offspring they’ve claimed as
theirs. Prepare for an invasion.”

“Fraggin’ hole. They’ll all want to touch my female’s
stomach,” Rage grumbled.

“Is that a possibility?” Vector glanced at Joan’s midsection
and she swallowed a groan. She’d be rubbed by every cyborg on board the warship
by the end of the planet rotation.

“We accept your offer.” Rage ignored the question and held
out his palm. The two males exchanged a bone-jarring handshake. “We’ll require
chambers.” Joan’s stomach growled. “And nourishment bars.”

The cyborgs laughed.

“You’ll also require training,” Vector dared to add. “You
have to be ready, at any time, to defend your female and offspring.”

The laughter stopped. Joan sucked in her breath. Her cyborg
prided himself on being the best warrior. He wouldn’t appreciate the
implication that his skills were substandard.

“Draw a sword and you’ll see how much training I need.” Rage
glowered at Vector.

“I plan to.” The Captain’s eyes gleamed. “Choose twenty of
your best males and I’ll choose twenty of mine. We’ll meet in the training room
for a mock battle.”

“Battle,” Rage scoffed. “If there’s no possibility of death,
it’s no battle.”

A slow smile spread across the other C Model cyborg’s face
and Joan grew alarmed. She didn’t want the challenge to escalate to killing.

“You said cyborgs don’t fight each other,” she reminded the
captain.

“This is training, not fighting.” Vector’s gaze remained
locked with Rage’s. “There’s zero probability of death but, I assure your male,
there
will
be pain.”

Rage straightened. “I won’t be the being feeling it.”

“We’ll see.”

Joan rolled her eyes. Pain, she could deal with.

*****

One planet rotation later, Joan watched from the protected
viewing area as Gap limped from the battle square, his simulated body armor
tattered, very real blood oozing from his shallow wounds.

“He should be given a pain inhibitor.” She worried her
bottom lip.

“He won’t agree to it.” Crash appeared unconcerned. “All of
the other cyborgs refused it and he wants to impress them.”

As predicted, Gap waved Doc away from him. The young cyborg
slumped on a long bench, beside his defeated comrades. They slapped his
shoulders.

“He’ll heal quickly,” Crash assured her. The cyborgs around
them cheered as one of Vector’s males conceded. “The weapons can’t inflict deep
wounds.”

“I heard they feel like deep wounds.” Barrel nudged Crash’s
back. “And a kill imitates death. I’ve signed up for the next battle.”

He sounded as excited as Rage appeared. Her big cyborg was
at the far end of the square, wielding swords with both of his hands, gleefully
dispatching his opponents, his face splattered with blood. Vector did the same
at the opposite edge of the battlefield.

“They must be clearing the space before they face each
other.” Joan splayed her fingers over her belly.

Crash dipped his head. “That and Vector is giving Rage time
to grow accustomed to his weapons. The weight and feel is slightly different.”

They’d decided upon primitive weapons—swords, daggers, axes,
because guns, they agreed, were not feasible with so many opponents in such a
small area and the feigned deaths were too quick for their satisfaction.

She didn’t expect any different decision from her
fight-happy cyborg. Joan watched him eliminate two cyborgs at the same time.
She suspected their son would be as prone to violence. He would have C Model
cyborg traits.

“Is this what females like—fighting?” Crash hadn’t the
typical cyborg tendency for violence, deeming to sit out the battle.

“This is what
I
like,” she admitted. Rage’s skill for
killing made her feel safe. “But I’m not every female. At the Academy, there
was a male enrolled in the technology program. He couldn’t fight but he could
develop defense systems no unauthorized being could access. Females followed
him around campus, waited for him outside his chambers.”

“He was human?” Crash’s top lip curled.

“Humanoid.” Joan wasn’t certain which species he was. Rumors
had said he was mixed.

“I could access his systems.”

Her lips twitched. Rage’s friend might not be able to fight
but he
did
have the typical cyborg confidence in his inherent abilities.
“If the females had met you, they would have followed you around also.”

“I need one female, not multiple, and she will only follow
me.” Crash lifted his chin.

A howl redirected Joan’s attention. Intrepid lay on his
back, the tip of Vector’s sword pressed against his neck. Vector’s lips moved.

“What’s he saying?” She didn’t have cyborg hearing.