Programmed To Protect (The Tau Cetus Chronicles) (2 page)

Good God. Theus was sharing some incredibly sensitive information with him. The traitor on the Council… the pre-emptive move to avoid a potentially bigger confrontation with this aggressive regulator Egidia…

“Permission to speak freely, sir.”

Theus narrowed his eyes, but nodded. “Of course.”

“This is a test.”

“Yes. For Anson Carron
and
for you.”

Wyatt was not surprised at the answer. “And assuming I pass?”

One corner of Theus’ mouth twitched. “I’m glad you’re confident you will be successful in this.
Assuming you pass
, you will continue as the High Council’s liaison. Tau Cetus needs good men. We need peace. We cannot risk another Great War.” He paused. “Will you accept the assignment?”

Wyatt blinked. “I have a choice?”

“Of course. But I hope you’ll agree. You’re an… interesting man, agent Wyatt. Few people have the courage to stand up to me or question my actions. Whether you realize it or not, you’ve shown me your character in just the few short minutes we’ve been together.”

Wyatt shifted on his feet. “I don’t know about that….”

Theus unfolded his arms. “The fate of our world is literally in our hands. I need people who realize that. I need people who can help me keep Tau Cetus safe.”

The hairs on the back of Wyatt’s neck stood at attention. The fate of the world was in his hands?

Great. No pressure there, right?

Then again, this was why he’d become a police agent in the first place. To ensure the peace, and the continued existence of his people. Having seen and survived the devastation of the Great War himself, it was now his job to protect. He just hadn’t expected his part in saving the planet to be on such a grand scale.

“I’m sorry about the death of your former partner, Joran Breaux,” Theus said quietly. “But you may be relieved to know that Jai Turner is safe and happy, living with Marque Callex,”

Wyatt’s eyebrow rose. Coupled with Theus’ plea to help him keep Tau Cetus safe, the mention of Wyatt’s former partner Jai forced Wyatt to reassess his opinion of the premier. Perhaps the man was not as cold and imperious as the world believed. Wyatt had no idea where Jai and Callex were, but Theus obviously knew. And, to Wyatt’s surprise, it even sounded like he
cared.

That aside, did he trust Theus’ risky strategy to safeguard the planet? Did Wyatt have a choice in the matter? What was the alternative?

Dangerous men with access to dangerous weapons needed to be kept under control. Which meant Anson Carron, as well as this regulator Egidia of Terra Radix. That was the bottom line here.

In the end, Wyatt didn’t really have a choice at all.

Wyatt gave Theus a formal salute, signaling his agreement.

Chapter Two

The next morning, Leith Wyatt decided to take a cue from Theus, and donned his best police dress uniform. He didn’t actually expect the crisp white tunic and knife-pleat navy pants to intimidate Anson Carron with Wyatt’s show of rank, but Wyatt would take any advantage he could get. And it didn’t hurt that the form-fitting tunic showed off a body honed by his obsessive workouts at the gym.

Truth be told, he’d love to use his physical strength to beat Carron to a pulp after what the man had done to his ex-partner, Jai. Carron’s bullet had nearly killed her; she’d ended up with an artificial heart and mandatory retirement from the police agency.

Wyatt scowled. Keeping his anger under control when dealing with Carron would be a big part of this assignment. Wyatt would have to settle for channeling his anger into keeping the oily ex-purveyor of prostitution in line.

Which was probably exactly what Theus was counting on – Wyatt riding Carron’s ass. Hard.

Setting his jaw, Wyatt took one last look at himself in the full-length mirror of his housing pod’s sleeping quarters, and then, satisfied, drove his personal transport vehicle to the Beautiful Dolls factory.

The massive factory no longer created its legendary sexbots, which had famously been ‘programmed for pleasure.’ Instead, the structure was now in the process of churning out robot soldiers for the High Council’s military use.

Wyatt parked his transport and got out. The armed guard at the entrance to the facility was apparently not impressed in the least with Wyatt’s full dress uniform. The heavily muscled man raised one dubious eyebrow as Wyatt approached, his right hand tightening around the shaft of a nasty-looking particle discharge weapon.

Wyatt ignored the threatening gesture. “Leith Wyatt to see Anson Carron. I’ve been sent by premier Theus.”

At the mention of the High Counselor’s name, the guard’s other eyebrow shot up to join the first, his expression changing to one of obvious surprise. Wyatt felt the same. Hadn’t Theus sent word of Wyatt’s new position to Anson Carron?

Apparently not. Interesting strategy by the chess master.

Bruiser the guard glanced to the side and jerked his head. A second guard quickly scurried over, and Bruiser indicated Wyatt. “Search him.”

Wyatt endured a pat down while the muscled guard kept his weapon trained on him. Gritting his teeth at the deliberately
thorough
inspection by the second guard’s hands, Wyatt was soon parted from his gun. He’d considered leaving his weapon at home so as not to add additional tension to what was sure to be a tense situation here, but no police agent on Tau Cetus would go around unarmed.

The second guard dropped his hands. “Aside from the firearm, he’s clean.”

The first guard nodded, and lowered his weapon. Bruiser gave Wyatt one long look, then turned his head and spat. The insolent gesture was his way of telling Wyatt that he wasn’t afraid of him, even if the most powerful person on the planet
had
sent him.

“This way.”

Wyatt’s boots echoed on the concrete floor as he followed the guard into the building. They headed down a huge, empty hallway, through a sliding metal door that squealed on its track, and then onto the main factory floor.

Wyatt paused briefly. The noise inside here was deafening; the machinery was obviously operating at full capacity. He caught a glimpse of a naked form inside a pneumatic tube being carried along by a conveyor belt, but before he had a chance to get a good look at the technology, the guard veered off to the right.

Wyatt set his jaw and followed.

A makeshift office with floor-to-ceiling windows allowing a view of the entire factory floor was nestled into a corner, elevated by about six feet. The guard mounted a dozen steps to the door, with Wyatt close behind.

One bang on the wood from the side of the guard’s fist signaled their visit. Without waiting for an answer, he opened the door and stepped inside.

Wyatt followed, grateful for the immediate and blissful silence of the room.

That is, until Anson Carron opened his mouth.

“What the fuck are
you
doing here?”
he roared, as he shot up from behind his desk.

The guard had his weapon aimed at Wyatt’s chest even before Wyatt could put up his hands in a calming gesture.

“He said Theus sent him,” the guard explained quickly, in his own defense.

If possible, the look on Carron’s face turned even more outraged
. “What?”

Wyatt slowly lowered his hands. “Theus has named me as his personal liaison between you and the High Council. I’ve come to give you your first orders. From here on out, you and I will deal
directly
where your robot soldiers are concerned.”

“The
hell
I will,” Carron spat. “I answer to no one but Theus!”

“No,” Wyatt corrected deliberately. “There’s a new chain of command. As of today, you answer to me. I am your conduit to the Council.”

Anson Carron’s face was quickly turning an unhealthy shade of red. Wyatt knew from his previous dealings with Carron that the ex-owner of Beautiful Dolls had tried to kill Marque Callex in order to usurp Callex’s position as Theus’ right-hand military man. It was a powerful and coveted position. So for Carron to now have to answer to Wyatt, well, Carron must be incensed. It was a bitter pill to swallow.

Wyatt gave a mental nod to the High Council premier. Theus was a brilliant strategist. As surely as he knew Wyatt would ride Carron’s ass to keep him in line, he apparently also knew that having Wyatt as Anson Carron’s superior would keep Carron off-balance. Less smug in his new role. And subsequently, less dangerous, perhaps.

“You’re welcome to contact Theus for confirmation of my position, if you like,” Wyatt drawled. He couldn’t resist the barb. He knew there was a tiny chance Carron would actually do it, but it was just as likely he wouldn’t take the risk of being humiliated by Theus for doubting Wyatt’s word.

Besides,
no one
ever misrepresented Theus’ orders and lived to tell about it.

Carron knew that as well as Wyatt did.

Wyatt threw a pointed glance at the communications console on Carron’s desk, but Carron made no move toward it.

“All right, then,” Wyatt continued, savoring his small victory. “Before we get down to business, I’d like a tour of your factory floor.”

Carron’s hands fisted and unfisted at his sides, as he obviously tried to get his anger under control. With a low growl, he came around his desk, pushed roughly past Wyatt, and headed for the office door.

Wyatt followed him down the metal stairs, the security guard right behind them. Once again, the piercing noise of the machinery grinding through its creative robotic procedures assaulted Wyatt’s ears and set his teeth on edge, but neither Carron nor his bruiser of a guard seemed affected by it.

Carron walked the entire length of the factory floor, to where the process of making the robot soldiers obviously began. He spoke briefly to a technician dressed in what looked like sterile scrubs, then turned to Wyatt.

“Since we stopped manufacturing Beautiful Dolls six months ago
,
we’ve been concentrating on creating only male models and converting the existing females to males. The process of building them starts here.” He laid a hand on a large gun-metal colored machine about four feet long and three feet high. “This is where the initial lump of polymer is fed. The torso is created first.”

As if on cue, a naked male torso was extruded from one end of the machine and into a pneumatic tube. Wyatt noticed that the torso was not anatomically correct. He’d never seen an actual Beautiful Doll – only his ex-partner Jai’s imitation of one – but the sexbots were legendary for fulfilling every sexual fantasy, in part because they were so incredibly lifelike, down to every intimate detail. This example was far from it. Instead, it reminded Wyatt of the simple toy soldiers he used to play with as a child.

Carron started walking alongside the pneumatic tube’s conveyor belt, which seemed to connect various similar machines of differing sizes throughout the room, all apparently programmed to create select body parts. The torso disappeared into the second machine as they approached it. “This one makes the arms…”

Carron proceeded to the next machine, a longer one. “This one, legs…”

Next machine. “Heads…”

Carron walked a few more feet, and then paused at a more complex-looking device. The technician, who’d been pushing buttons on a console, stepped aside.

“Theus has asked for an initial order of five thousand soldiers,” Carron said. “As you can imagine, it’s a very delicate process to make them, especially creating the hands and feet, since those are responsible for such dexterous work as firing a weapon or engaging in combat. This part takes a little longer.”

Wyatt would dearly love to take a closer look at the technical workings of a machine that could create human-like fingers and toes, but that would have to wait. Carron had started walking again, stopping in front of what possibly was the last machine on the floor. “We have the ability to create twenty-five soldiers a day, but in order to meet that ambitious deadline, we’ve stripped the androids of most of their… personality.”

Carron crooked his finger and motioned around a corner of the room. Wyatt stepped forward to have a look.

His eyebrows reached his hairline. He estimated
four thousand robot soldiers stood lined up in neat rows in a cavernous storage area. Bloody hell, Carron had already created an army. Wyatt took note of the soldiers’ identical bland, homogenous faces with their slightly luminescent glow. The men were all dressed in the one-piece duty uniform of Tau Cetus police agents – except that theirs was a camouflage print, not Wyatt’s standard navy blue.

“Of course, creating their body is the easy part,” Carron said, motioning Wyatt to follow him out a back door and away from the factory floor. “Their sophisticated programming is another matter.”

Wyatt tried to quiet the ringing in his ears as Carron led him down another hallway and through two sets of double doors marked ‘programming lab.’ Inside the first room, a dozen latex-gloved and masked technicians worked on what looked like delicate computer chips mounted underneath high-powered magnifying devices. The bright light in the room was nearly blinding, but Wyatt assumed the techs needed the intense illumination for their intricate work. Carron paused only long enough to let Wyatt register what was going on around him, and then led him to the adjoining room, where a score of lab-coated programmers hunched over computer screens, obviously writing code that would direct the robot soldiers.