Rystani Warrior 02 - The Dare (12 page)

DORA HADN’T BEEN human long enough to collect many objects that meant anything: a holovid of her and Tessa, another of their entire family, and her link that permitted direct access to Ranth. Tessa had taught her that Federation credits might not be accepted currency everywhere, so Dora had stocked some luxury items that might be of use for barter.

Traveling on a starship didn’t allow much room for baggage, but since Dora didn’t have much to pack, she was finished before Tessa breezed into her quarters. Her friend brought a coffee mug and a platter of Miri’s home-baked chocolate chip cookies, a Terran delicacy that Dora had come to appreciate as much as Tessa. The scrumptious scent usually made her mouth water. Too nervous to eat, she knew she wouldn’t be able to swallow a bite until she’d divulged her secret.

Tessa took one look at Dora and set down both coffee and cookies. “What’s up?”

“I’ve deceived you.”

“Okay.” Tessa shot her a searching look. “I’m sure you had a good reason, but even if you didn’t, I want you to know that no matter what you’ve done, I love you.” Tessa’s gaze shifted to the packed bag, then back to Dora. “Whatever you’ve done, don’t ever forget that you have a family, you belong with us, and it’s very human to make mistakes. You don’t need to leave. We’re here for you.”

At Tessa words, Dora throat clogged with those horrible tears and her nose turned all stuffy. She sniffled, hating the idea of leaving her very best friend, a friend who gave love so unconditionally. “Thanks.”

The two women hugged, and Dora praised her lucky circuits that she had such a dear friend. She was going to miss Tessa.

Tessa broke their embrace and slugged down half her mug of coffee. “Enough of the mushy stuff. Fess up.”

Dora paced, her hands loose by her side. “Although I always wanted to be human, I also liked being a machine.”

Tessa frowned. “You want to go back? Is that possible?”

“I don’t want to go back, and it’s a good thing because it’s not possible. My brain is integrated on a cellular level and can’t be disconnected.”

“Sorry. I shouldn’t have interrupted. Go on.”

“When I made this body, I gave my brain extra capacity to link with Ranth.”

“And?”

“I merge with him.”

“What do you mean?” Tessa looked at her with an odd expression, half-thoughtful, almost excited.

“Can you explain your sense of smell to an Airnithian who has no nose?” Dora paused, allowing Tessa time to think but not to answer the rhetorical question before continuing. “Trying to explain my ability to you is similarly frustrating.”

“Try.”

“When I plug in, I can’t do everything Ranth can do. But I can enter his control center and be one with him at that locale.”

“So your brain is in two places at once?”

“Yes.”

“What can you do from inside Ranth that you can’t do by talking to him?”

Leave it to Tessa to spear straight to the core of the matter. “The link strengthens my abilities to work with other machines. Together, Ranth and I, we are much stronger than either of us alone. Productivity is increased exponentially by a factor of—”

“Spare me the details, please. Give me the bottom line and remember that I only learned college math, most of which I’ve long forgotten.”

“We entwine ourselves with other machines that aren’t linked to our network.” As a computer, Dora had required human help to infiltrate the holosim house to find Zical’s secret program, but when she’d linked with Ranth, she could penetrate the separate system through her psi.

“You mean you can spy on our enemies?”

“Possibly. We haven’t yet tried.”

“So what
have
you been doing?”

“Searching for information on the Perceptive Ones that goes beyond Federation space. I didn’t want to say more …”

“Because you didn’t want to disappoint me if you were unable to find anything?” Tessa surmised.

“Because I want Zical to think of me as a woman. He’s already unhappy with my link to Ranth. Revealing my ability sets me apart. Makes me less human.”

Tessa shook her head, helped herself to a cookie, and employed null-grav to float into a comfortable sitting position. “Dora, if he is the man for you, he’ll accept you the way you are.”

“Rystani men are stubborn,” Dora countered, using Tessa’s own words. “Remember how long it took Kahn to accept your fighting skills?”

“Point taken.” Tessa broke a cookie and handed Dora half. “So what’s the plan?”

Despite her nervous stomach, Dora nibbled. “I need additional time to convince Zical that we could be good together. I want to go on this journey with him.”

Tessa sighed, almost as if she’d been expecting Dora’s request. “Suppose he never comes to feel about you the same way? Then you’ll have left on what could very well be a one-way trip.”

“Zical believes that I’m emotionally vulnerable.”

“He said so?” Tessa looked surprised and disappointed.

Dora shook her head. “I’ve been human only a short time, but I’ve known Zical for several years. While I understand his natural reluctance to become involved with another woman after the death of Summar, I worry his exposure to the golden light has brought out his deepest fear.”

“You think he’s afraid to fall in love again?”

“And I’m afraid to embrace my humanity.”

“But you’re doing better all the time.”

“I don’t want to give up. Not on me. Not on him.”

“You shouldn’t. He can get over the past. Give him time.”

“Being patient is hard. Being human takes more courage than I imagined.”

“It’s in you. No other computer has ever risked what you have.”

Dora sighed. “For him to accept me, I’ll have to grow into being the right woman.”

“The more you live and experience as a woman, the more you’ll grow. But suppose you grow into a woman who doesn’t want him? Will you be sorry that you’ve left?”

“I don’t know.” Dora grinned. “But I can contribute to this mission in a way no one else can. When I merge with Ranth, I have a better chance of reaching the Sentinel than Ranth alone, or anyone else Zical might take on the ship. However, I’m not ready to let him know about my ability. He dislikes when I hook into Ranth.”

“You’ve thought this through, but I’m going to miss you so much.”

Dora’s hopes rose. “Then you’ll help me?”

“Shame on you for doubting me. Of course, I’ll help. But I expect frequent hyperlink calls for as long as communication remains possible.”

“That’s going to be expensive.”

Tessa laughed. “Don’t worry. We can afford it. Our trading partnership with the Osarians is more profitable than I ever imagined.” Her expression sobered. “However, Zical is going to be one unhappy male. I suspect he’ll take out his aggravation on you. Are you sure you can deal with him?”

Dora grinned, sharing her happiness. “The last time I annoyed him, he kissed me.”

Tessa brushed crumbs from her hands, straightened, and signaled her with a thumbs-up. “Ah, that’s a good sign. A very good sign.”

THE MISSION WAS a go. Zical and his crew would leave soon. Since Tessa was paying for the journey, the Federation leaders had sent unofficial approval. Now Zical spent busy days supervising innumerable details. Under Cyn’s supervision, a bevy of engineers crawled over every inch of the starship. Vax oversaw robots that stored replacement parts in the cargo hold, food supplies in the materializers. They brought aboard weapons, trade goods, and the latest starmaps, spare parts, and medical equipment.

Zical worried most about choosing the scientists who would accompany them. He and his officers had picked the remainder of his crew from a bright contingency of volunteers that were mostly Rystani and Terran, but included several other species. All were experienced spacers—except Dora. Every time Zical thought about her joining the crew, his edginess elevated. She’d spent over three hundred years in space—as a computer—but none as human.

She was unprepared for danger, and yet Tessa had made such good points in Dora’s favor that she’d convinced him that he needed her—for the sake of the mission. Dora’s unique ability to understand complex machinery might be useful if, no,
when
they found the Sentinel.

THE FATE OF THE Federation could rest on the success of his decisions, and the responsibility caused him to come to conclusions he might not otherwise have made. Now was not the time for Dora distractions. Not when he had to keep his mind focused. Too much planning and expense, never mind the lives at stake, was going into this mission for him to be thinking about a woman—any woman.

He would keep Dora as a friend, nothing more.

He would accept Dora as part of his crew, no more, and no less. He would ignore his attraction to her, ignore his erotic dreams, ignore how much he yearned to kiss her again, and would set a professional tone, establish a comfortable working relationship.

Zical stood on the bridge of his starship, eager to be on his way when he finally received the news he’d been waiting for. Ranth lit up the near quadrant of the Milky Way Galaxy on a holovid monitor. Out near the rim, where the stars thinned, a purple light blinked.

Ranth spoke with an edge of excitement. “The marked system is named Lapau. According to ancient records the Lapau system was colonized by a humanoid race called the Lapautee. Not much is known about them. However, they have a legend that suggests their planet may be an outpost for a protector, a great, living, godlike machine that will stand between them and the galaxy we call Andromeda. Please keep in mind that all my theories are pieced together from legends carried back from the homeworld, a homeworld that no longer exists due to their star going supernova.”

“Then from where does your information come?”

“It’s gathered from hundreds of planets within their previous territory. Bits and pieces of history were passed down through the ages of the Lapautee people. At one time their race had spread through half a quadrant of the galaxy.”

“And the reason their civilization fell?”

“A warlike horde that came from—”

“Andromeda?”

“Yes. Conceivably the Zin. It’s possible the Lapautee were what we now call the Perceptive Ones. However, they might have been two races that formed an alliance against the Zin. Or they may have lived during two different epochs and one race learned from the other’s mistakes. Too much time has passed to be certain.”

“What else have you learned about the Zin?” Zical asked, all too aware that the information was so ancient that nothing might be accurate.

“Nothing except they are ruthless, relentless, and …”

“And?”

“Have the extraordinary patience to wait for opportunity and prey on weakness.”

“Weakness?”

“If one’s guard was ever let down, the Zin were waiting to attack.”

A cold shadow seemed to pass over Zical, and no matter how irrational, as the meaning of those words sank in, he knew the Zin were still out there, still waiting for the Milky Way to exhibit weakness. While it seemed impossible that one machine could hold off an invasion from another galaxy, the Perceptive Ones had made scientific advances far beyond those of the Federation.

“What else?”

“There is an account that the Zin attacked and penetrated our galaxy before they suffered a great defeat and withdrew.”

“What about the regions of space we fly through? What kind of conditions do you anticipate?”

“We don’t know much about the rim. However, there have been signs of massive destructive weapons in the region, indicating war and instability.”

Zical would obtain updates on the specific areas during their journey. Perhaps he should be taking a fleet of warships with him, but that was impossible. They couldn’t afford to leave Mystique undefended.

Besides, one starship could sneak past danger where an entire fleet would be challenged. As Zical mulled over Ranth’s information, he paced the bridge of his starship. Little was known about the Perceptive Ones, and for Ranth to have pieced together even this much data seemed fortuitous, but suspect.

“Ranth, how have you added so much knowledge to our database, so quickly?”

“My systems have been … upgraded.”

Zical frowned. It seemed odd to him that Ranth had accomplished so much when just a few short months ago, Dora had known so little.

“Upgraded?”

Zical expected a technical explanation. Instead he received another long pause. “Dora has found a way to increase my ability. Due to her unusual background, she has a gift that allows her to think along non-linear lines. She’s made some innovative alterations to my systems.”

“She altered your hardware or your programming?” Zical kept his voice steady, but alarm crested through him. As the most powerful computer known in Federation space, Ranth’s systems were critical to his people’s survival as well as his mission.

“The programming modifications are marginal.”

“Who approved them?” Zical tried to check his irritation. Although Dora had been a computer, he was aware that she couldn’t have transferred all her technical knowledge into her human brain and could now make mistakes like every other human.