Kissing Steel (21 page)

The general’s voice shook with rage when he answered her. “Do you know why I am

in this vicinity? My nephew sent out an emergency transmission before I assume he was

captured, telling me he was onboard the
Star
, their general location, and that cyborgs

attacked him.”

Rena’s heart nearly stopped. “What?”

“You heard me, Ms. Gates. My nephew’s ship computer relayed the message from

his com and sent out a long-range beacon repeating his last message to me. That

computer belonged to the
Bridden
and my nephew is Dell Harver, meaning that you were

his boss on that mission. Why are you lying about what happened to him? I heard him say

cyborgs with my own ears and I’m going to make you listen to the message when you’re

in lockup.” He paused in his vocal assault. “I don’t know why you are lying, Ms. Gates,

but be assured that I will get the truth out of you.”

Rena sat back in her seat, her mind reeling with the implications. Dell had gotten a

message out? How? The computer on the Bridden hadn’t responded to her commands

even though she’d used the emergency response command. She bit her lip, at a loss, but

then a horrible thought struck her. What if the computer had been programmed to just

respond to Dell’s commands? It was possible that he might have been linked with his

coms to the computer, able to get out a message and if so…
Shit!

“Ms. Gates?” The general sounded livid. “Why are you lying? Are you a cyborg

sympathizer? We’ve gotten reports of their existence for years but until I got that

message from my nephew we never put stock in what we believed were false rumors. I

demand you answer me.”

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Kissing Steel – Laurann Dohner

She took a deep breath. “I assure you that I saw pirates,” she lied. “Maybe before the

ships blew up they forced Dell to lie to protect themselves by blaming someone else for

having stolen the
Star
and attacking us. I don’t know what to tell you. We ran into pirates

onboard that ship and I got a good damn view of them. They were mutated human beings

and definitely not cyborgs. My father was military, Sir, and he guarded them at a

detention center so I know what a cyborg looks like. There was no mistake on my part

about who I saw attacking us.”

Rage came across the speakers as the man spoke. “I’m reviewing your full file, Ms.

Gates. Your mother was a traitor to Earth Government and she stole five cyborg units

from the detention center she worked at and shot her husband helping those killers

escape.”

Fuck. Talk about my past coming back to bite me on the ass. This guy is never going

to believe me.
She took a deep breath. “Sir, with all due respect, don’t you think I would

hate their kind with that history? I grew up with a father who was bitter about his injury

and he lost his wife. I lost my mother and all because she felt sorry for cyborgs.”

“Order your pod to change course immediately to dock with the
Gordon Lee
,” the

man’s voice shook. “I will get the whole story out of you because I know Dell was telling

the truth. I don’t care if you’re a woman, Ms. Gates. I’m going to see you in hell if you

don’t tell me the truth and tell me where the hell those bastards are so I can find my

nephew to see if he’s still alive. I will order my men to cut the damn truth from you if

that’s what it takes to make you tell me where Dell is, so in the time it takes your pod to

dock, you’d better have a change of tune, young woman. End of communications.”

“Transmission ended,” Pod 3 stated. “Orders?”

“Full stop,” Rena said softly.

“Repeat order?”

“I said come to a full stop. Cut the engines. I need time to think, damn it. If the

general wants me, he can come get me. I’ll be damned if I have you pilot me closer to

him.”

“Order confirmed.”

She heard the engines cut off, the soft hum dying, but in seconds they executed again

and she knew the pod was reversing engines to slow their momentum. The sound died

within a minute and left her in utter and total silence, able to hear her own breathing. She

was dead in space.

“Orders?”

“Silence.”

“Confirmed.”

She took deep breaths, hearing each one in the eerie and unnatural quiet. The general

wasn’t going to believe her after pulling up her history. He was a man who had lost a

nephew, obviously not reasonable by the way he’d sounded over the com, and

determined to make her talk even by means of having her tortured. She hugged her chest

tightly, trying to find comfort in her own embrace. Earth Government was known to be

ruthless to humans they deemed traitors. She had no doubt the general would order his

men to do whatever it took to make her talk.

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Kissing Steel – Laurann Dohner

Shutting her eyes, she tried to calm her pounding heart, knowing that this couldn’t

end well for her or for Steel and his people. She’d be tortured until they broke her
. I know

too much! But I don’t know where their planet is, thankfully.
That was her single

comforting thought.

* * * * *

beat one of the control panels to pieces with his fists. “There is nothing we can do for

your human. The best we can hope for is that she doesn’t break if they do torture her.”

Turning to give the other man an icy glare, Steel took a ragged breath. “Open

communications to the pod now.”

Blackie shook his head. “If we heard their communications then they will hear us as

well if you try to talk with your human. They will know we are in range even though they

can’t pick us up on their long-range scanners thanks to the droid extending the signal

from the pod to us.”

“The pod has stopped advancing,” a black-haired cyborg said quietly. “She seems to

have come to a halt for some reason. Do you think she will try to flee? That is a class-B

starship and will catch her easily. She would burn her fuel up and even if she reached

Outpost Five they would just search it to arrest her.” He frowned at Steel. “She wouldn’t

reverse course to get back to us, would she? She has to know we’re no longer where we

were when we parted with her hours ago.”

Steel shook his head. “She wouldn’t risk exposing us.”

“She’s human.” Blackie sounded disgusted. “Why did you release her in the first

place? We are all at risk now. She is going to tell everything she knows about us to Earth

Government.”

“No,” Gene said softly. “I read her when I held her during interrogation. She is a

fighter and she feels fondness for Steel. She will do with the humans what she did with

us. She will fight until she forces them to kill her.”

Pain lanced through Steel’s chest, regret over letting Rena go a strong emotion that

gripped him. But he had been certain at the time that she would be safe. He had been

wrong. He turned to glare at Blackie. “I’m taking the
Bridden
. She’s still docked to us for

the crew to go over her specifications and to reprogram her computer. Tell them to start

the engines and clear out unless they want to test her capabilities with me.”

“Halt,” Blackie ordered. “Why are you taking the
Bridden
?”

Steel turned. “It’s heavily shielded, it’s a jumper shuttle so it’s faster than a large

ship, and the
Star
didn’t detect it until it was almost on them.” He paused. “I’m going to

attempt to reach her first and hope I make it before the
Gordon Lee
is in visual range and

can detect me. The pod won’t see the
Bridden
at all since we programmed it so all of our

ships are invisible to its sensors.”

Blackie’s mouth tensed. “No. You’re risking a jumper shuttle we need, the lives of

cyborgs, and for a what? A human? I realize she knows too much about us but it’s too

great of a risk to take. Stand down, Steel.”

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Kissing Steel – Laurann Dohner

Clenching his jaw, Steel shook his head. “I won’t let her die that way. I was held in

their detention centers and she won’t survive long. I’m going after her.”

“You’re being irrational,” Gene said softly. “You realize this, correct?”

Steel turned his head and met the other cyborg’s calm stare. “I’m in charge right now

and I gave you an order. Tell the programming crew to start the engines on the
Bridden

and to clear out the males who don’t want to go on this mission.” He headed for the door

at almost a run.

“Steel!”

Steel came to a halt, turned, and glared at Blackie. “What?”

“If you do this I’ll have to file a report and the cyborg council we answer to could

punish you. The
Bridden
isn’t your property to take, nor are any cyborg lives you’ll put at

risk if any of our men go with you. Is your human worth losing your status and possibly

your freedom if they deem your actions criminal?”

Steel spun around, moving fast for the lift that would take him down to where the

Bridden
was docked, no hesitation in his actions. The cyborg council wouldn’t agree with

what he was doing but he didn’t give a damn. Rena was in trouble, she needed to be

rescued, and he was going to try his best to reach her before the
Gordon Lee
did.

Dread assailed him as he entered the
Bridden
. He faced off against four cyborg

males, all looking at him grimly. One of them opened his mouth. Steel tensed, waiting for

them to deny him access to the helm, considering the possibility that Blackie had ordered

them to stop him. He glanced at each man, knowing a fight it would be a close call with

those odds, but he would fight if that’s what it took.

“Commander Steel,” Bricon addressed him. “The engines are warmed, we are fueled,

and I would be honored to pilot.”

The cyborg next to him smiled. “We’re going to open her up all the way and get to

see what she can do. I’m very excited.”

The third one smiled slowly. “This will be the ultimate test of our new programming

and to see what the shielding is capable of. I request to go with you.”

The fourth cyborg shrugged. “I’m bored and this should be fun. I’ll man the

ammunitions system in case we come under fire.”

Relief washed through Steel. “Let’s go.”

* * * * *

She turned and eyed the interior, a shudder running down her spine at the concept of

being captured. The pod couldn’t outrun a class-B ship.

“Pod 3? Time before the
Gordon Lee
reaches us?”

“Calculating their rate of speed.” It paused. “Thirty-seven minutes, nineteen

seconds.”

Surprised, she asked, “That soon?”

“They are traveling at their highest estimated rate of speed to reach our current

location.”

93

Kissing Steel – Laurann Dohner

I can make a run for it but where will I go?
The only thing out there was Outpost

Five and they would easily be able to search it to find her, even if the officials at the

outpost didn’t arrest her on sight at the orders of the general. “I’m so screwed.”

“Order not understood.”

“Shut up,” Rena ordered the pod.

“Confirmed. Going silent.”

What am I going to do?
Demco wasn’t going to help her, she knew that, not after

failing in her mission to recover the
Star
. Chuck would be embarrassed so he wouldn’t

lift a finger, her father-in-law made Chuck seem warm, and her boss would probably

testify against her if there were a trial. Rena walked to the pilot’s chair. “Pod 3, respond.”

“Orders?”

“Give me a five-minute warning before the
Gordon Lee
reaches us.”

“Confirmed. Five minute warning to be issued.”

Sighing loudly, Rena sat down and stared out into space. Space was beautiful in a

chilling kind of lonely way and this is where she’d die if she didn’t think of a plan.

They’d torture her, force her to talk, lock her up because she’d be considered a traitor to

the government and what was left of her life would be a living hell until they executed

her.

Her thoughts went to Steel. He’d try to find out how her mother died and he’d send

word to Earth for her. That was one message she’d never get. She hoped that he never

found out that she’d died after leaving him, not wanting him to think he was in any way

responsible. Closing her eyes to the view, she leaned back and let her shoulders sag.

Her entire life, she’d never known the kind of happiness that she’d had in the days

she’d spent with Steel in his quarters. She took comfort in that. Opening her eyes, she

stared into space again, wondering if a moon was nearby. She kicked off her shoes,