Melting Iron (16 page)

“Don’t make me regret this,” he warned softly. “I am already rethinking my impulsive decision.”

Staring up into his eyes, she saw worry there. She was shocked he was letting her go so it made sense that he was admitting to not thinking over his invitation. “I’m a good damn mechanic, Iron. I’ll work my ass off and I’ll be happy to do it.”

His hold on her hand tightened. “If you try to run or if you cause me trouble in front of anyone, you will pay for it.”

Dawn believed him. “No worries, sexy.”

A low growl sounded from his throat.
“None of that today.”

She managed to hide her amusement as she saluted him with her free hand. “You got it!”

Taking a deep breath, Iron looked grim as he gazed down at her. “I mean it, Dawn. Do not make me look bad in front of anyone. I’m a commander and they respect me. I would have to be very harsh with you to set an example. Neither one of us would enjoy that situation if it arose.”

He was serious and she realized that, wondering what he’d do to her if she did mess up, but not daring to ask. “I’ll be on my best behavior.”
At least I’ll try
, she thought.

Dawn could barely hide her excitement as Iron activated the doors and moments later she was walking at his side through the
Star
. She had to look at everything and everyone they passed, eager to see anything that was outside of Iron’s small quarters. She was led to the
Rally
once again, only this time she wasn’t locked up in a cage in the cargo hold. Iron leaned against a wall and then tugged her closer to his body. Their eyes met and held. Eight other
cyborg
males occupied the cargo area with them, some carrying bags with equipment. Dawn ignored their curious stares directed her way.

“It is a rough trip to the surface. I want you to climb up my body and wrap around me. My friend Flint warned me that it was difficult on his human female with the strong vibrations on the floor. My body will cushion them so it’s not as stressful on your more fragile system.”

“I’ve done plenty of rough drops before,” Dawn was grateful for his concern. “But thanks. I can handle it.”

A red eyebrow arched but he shrugged. “If you change your mind let me know. We’re dropping from the
Star
in moments so brace then. You may hold onto me.”

She looked up at the mounts high on the wall that Iron reached up to grasp. She was shorter than he was by nearly a foot so she’d have to really stretch up on her tiptoes to reach. She grabbed him around his waist, locking her fingers there, knowing he was just as good to grip as the wall. He was one strong man and she was confident he would not let go of his hold.

There was no warning as the shuttle released. The sudden drop was the first indication the docking clamps had been disengaged. The engines roared to life, vibrating steadily under her feet and in seconds they hit the planet’s atmosphere.

Dawn was grateful to be holding on to Iron. She bent her knees a bit and went onto the balls of her feet. It helped with the sharp jarring going up her legs. She was used to rough drops where she worked. The oxygen-making generators were always malfunctioning on the planet’s surface, forcing Dawn to repair them. She clung to Iron as the shaking grew worse.

“Climb on me,” Iron ordered her softly.

She shook her head. “It’s not so bad. I’ve been through worse and often. This planet can’t be any harsher than Arian Nine was when we first started the conversion.”

In minutes the shaking stopped and the floor only vibrated from the engines. They had punched through and would now fly to the surface. That was a smooth ride. Dawn relaxed and her fingers slid a little lower on Iron’s body, rubbing the area right over the waist of his pants through his shirt next to his spine.

“What are you doing?”

Dawn glanced up, a grin on her face.
“Nothing.”

Beautiful blue eyes locked with hers. His full mouth curved downward just a hint as he released one of the mounts. His hand curved her waist, gripping her at her hip.

“Dawn…”

“I like touching you,” she admitted softly. “No one can see and once we land I have a feeling that we won’t get another chance to be this close.”

“Behave,” he whispered.

“Always,” she grinned, whispering back.

Every wicked bone in her body was urging her to do something shocking, such as lean up and plant a kiss on his lips with his fellow
cyborg
pals watching, but she refrained. She knew Iron wouldn’t see the humor in it and he sure wouldn’t kiss her back. With Iron’s serious attitude, he’d probably return her right back to his quarters on the
Star
. That dimmed some of her playful spirit.

The shuttle sat down easily, a great skill for a pilot and the engines powered down. The men in the room went instantly in motion, lifting their bags and heading for the docking door. Iron waited until they passed and then he nodded at her.

“Follow them and stay close. You do not speak to anyone. Are my orders clear?”

“Sure. Why can’t I talk to people?”

Iron hesitated. “You’re my property, Dawn. These aren’t
cyborgs
from Garden. We’re civilized but I’m not so certain these
cyborgs
are. Just follow my orders.”

She wasn’t sure what that meant but she was going to find out as she followed him down the ramp of the shuttle, getting her first look at the alien planet. Shock tore through her system as she stared at big blue puffy trees, their drooping branches a thick curtain of wispy vegetation. Her gaze lifted to the bright blue sky with light blue clouds, a pretty sight.

“It’s beautiful.”

Broad shoulders shrugged as Iron led her down the ramp toward thick trees. “It’s very blue.”

“That’s my favorite color.”

He glanced down at her. “I’ll take note of it.”

She grinned. “Okay. You do that.”

The encampment they found stunned Dawn as she took it all in with a sweeping gaze. Homes had been built out of bulkheads and spare parts from an obviously large starship. One of the homes had her flinching as she stared at the metal, recognizing just how much of the interior they had salvaged to make homes, knowing the dwelling in question had come from a latrine tank.

“That had to smell pretty damn bad until they got it clean.”

Iron’s look followed hers. “They are detachable on most of the older ships so it was probably easier for them to remove it to bring it down to the surface.”

“That had to have been a shit job, literally.”

Dawn could have sworn she saw a smirk on his features before he turned his face away as a noise drew his attention. It also drew Dawn’s and she inched away from him to watch as a large group of big gray-skinned women came from the thick woods. The small camp had gone from totally devoid of life to suddenly bursting with it as dozens and dozens of them emerged around them.

Close your mouth
, Dawn mentally ordered herself, her eyes going wide with shock at the mostly naked women.
Cyborg
women were big, muscular, fit, and tall. Most of them wore nothing but half shirts that had seen better days and had made shorts that were tied together to hang low on their hips, exposing a lot of skin and muscled, thick thighs. Breasts moved freely beneath those thin shirts, revealing that bras weren’t considered as a
cyborg
woman’s must-have clothing since none of the ones Dawn glanced at wore one.

Behind the women came children. Dawn’s body shook slightly as she studied at least two dozen of them. Her heart broke instantly as she saw more than half of them using crutches to limp along. A small
boy
who was totally naked, probably about three years old, was being carried by his arms by two older girls. His legs were thinner than his body, obviously defective in some manner so he couldn’t walk.

“My God.”
Dawn realized she’d said the words aloud when Iron suddenly spun to softly growl at her.

“Don’t look at them.” His voice was so low she barely heard his words, her focus jerking away from the children to stare into his furious eyes.

“What is—
”

Iron cut her off. “They were left without the technology to fix their children.” His tone was soft and gruff. “We can fix them once we get to Garden and some of them before then on the
Star
and the
Vontage
. They are sensitive to their flaws so do not stare or show your disgust.”

If he’d slapped her it would have hurt less than what he’d said. “You think I feel disgust?” She hissed the words at him, anger instant. “I feel bad for them and I’m horrified that they have to live this way. My heart is breaking for those children.”

Dark blue eyes studied Dawn for a long moment. “They just returned from their daily baths at the river. Let’s get to work.” He jerked his head. “Their shuttle is that way.
Move.”

Chapter Ten

Dawn was fuming still as she studied the old shuttle in front of them. She wanted to groan as she realized just how old it was. She hadn’t seen one of those models since she’d been a kid and her father had taken her to a spaceport to buy parts for an antique shuttle he was restoring for a friend.

“We have to replace the charging cells to restore power, one of the tanks is ruptured, and the entire hull has to be checked. We detected some damage to it so those flaws will have to be patched so it will make it through space.”

“Why?” Dawn turned her attention on Iron. “It’s old. Hell, I wouldn’t trust this rust bucket in space. When your people stole it all those years ago this thing had to be already wrecking-yard standard. It’s got to be forty-five years old.” She inched away from him to walk to the port thrusters, seeing dents there, and what looked similar to a bird’s nest. “I wouldn’t trust this thing to lift off and I sure as hell wouldn’t want to be aboard her in space.” She glanced at him over her shoulder. “I’d be really worried about the integrity of the hull, Iron. This puppy could crush like a tin can because, without tests, which we can’t perform here unless you brought a space dock with you to orbit, we don’t know what these planet conditions have done to the materials it’s made of. It’s just not safe.”

The
cyborgs
from the shuttle had followed behind them. One of them, a handsome male with gleaming white hair and dark blue, glittering eyes walked close to Dawn, frowning at her before he turned his attention on Iron.

“She’s the mechanic we got from the
Piera
shuttle, correct?”

“Correct, Ice,” Iron said softly, looking at Dawn as he spoke. “We’re aware of the danger but we aren’t transporting them on it. I am going to pilot it back into space myself. We’re taking it for salvage.”

Dawn faced Iron. “It’s too dangerous. If the hull won’t hold you’ll be killed.”

Ice chuckled. “Who gives the orders in your quarters?”

In a heartbeat Iron took a step toward Dawn, going chest to chest with her, anger in his narrowed gaze. “Enough, Dawn. It is my life to risk and I will wear a space suit in case of rapid decompression. I am intelligent and more than aware of the risks. The shuttle has value so we are taking it with us. Once I dock it to the
Moonslip
I will transfer out of it and it will be transported back to Garden.”

She feared for his safety. “What if the damn thing won’t make it? It’s a damn dinosaur, Iron. If you have system failure before you break into the atmosphere you’d fall like a damn rock to the surface. These weren’t designed to glide down for easy landings like the modern ones and I doubt it even has an active backup system in place that would enable you to restart the engines if they fail.”

“It’s my risk to take.”

Bullshit. You’re mine
, she thought but she kept her mouth shut. Her teeth clenched together and she gave him a sharp nod before jerking her attention from him to glare at the shuttle.
“I guess I better make damn sure it’s fly ready then.”

A loud sigh came from behind her as Iron moved away. “Let’s get to work. Daylight hours are passing.” He started assigning tasks.

Dawn walked over to the thruster and reached up for the rim of it, her hands gripping the bottom and instantly knew she had a problem. Turning her head she saw that Ice was watching her curiously. She gave him a smile, eyeing his muscular frame.

“Ice?”

An eyebrow arched. “That is my name.”

“I’m Dawn. Come here and give me a boost, would you? I don’t see a ladder around here so you’re it.”

Shock made his lips part but to her pleased surprise he walked toward her slowly. “Why do you want up there?” He stopped inches from her, staring down.

“The thrusters aren’t going to clean and inspect themselves. I am going to visually examine the casings and the coils.”

His broad chest expanded as he took a deep breath. He gripped her, big hands enclosing over her hips and he lifted. Dawn gripped the rim hard and tensed her body as her feet left the ground. The strong guy easily raised her high enough so she was able to scramble into the large round tube. He shifted his hold on her once she braced her upper weight inside and gave her a gentle push on her lower legs, sending her the rest of the way up. Dawn got to her knees, easily able to kneel inside the generous-sized tube.

“Thanks. Do you have a light on you and perhaps a kit?”

He nodded. “I’ll get them.”

Dawn turned her attention to the thruster, cringing at the abundant signs of birds taking up residence in the long tube. She knew she’d have to clean it out and then go over every inch of both thrusters on each side of the shuttle. Iron had said they had to replace the charging cells so it wasn’t as if they could ignite the thrusters without power while she was inside them.

“Here you go,” Ice said from below.

She gave him a smile, accepting the pack he gave her. “Thanks. Please tell Iron I’ll be up here.”

Ice backed away. Dawn turned her gaze to Iron, whose back was to her while he spoke to two males, one of whom nodded at whatever was being said. She looked away, gripped the repair kit and opened it. She had her work cut out for her. She dug out a power light and flipped it on, getting a better look inside.