Touching Ice (22 page)

“Not necessarily. They are unstable and were always messing with their own

programming.” Megan stared up at Ice. “I say we fry them just to be sure. Since the

codes weren’t changed, nor were their flaws, they are still vulnerable to electrocution.”

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“No.” Zorus shook his head. “We could study them. We’ll take them to the
Vontage

and use that ship to secure them while we bring a team of our best scientists from

Garden to run tests.”

Megan glared at the man. “Let me tell you something, sir―”

“Shut it up,” Zorus yelled, glaring at Ice. “I do not speak to humans. Silence her.”

“They escaped a high-security testing facility,” Megan spoke louder, unwilling to

be shut up by the rude cyborg. “They would have turned them off and the only way I

can figure they may have escaped is by bypassing that command somehow. You can bet

that the guards didn’t just allow them to walk out the doors. They―”

“I’ll shut it up myself permanently,” Zorus snarled, taking steps toward Megan.

Ice grabbed her, pulled her out of the advancing cyborg’s path, but then another

cyborg moved in his way as well. Zorus was blocked from getting closer to her. Ice

glanced down and shook his head at Megan, silently ordering to her not talk anymore.

She sealed her lips and kept them together.

Flint glared at the councilman. “They are dangerous. They lured us here to find out

our numbers and obviously planned to trick us into leading them to our home world.

We should end the threat now.”

“If we are destroying all threats to us then every human should be taken out as

well.” Zorus marched right up to Flint and glared at him. “I give the orders.”

“A human, my Megan, just saved us from making a fatal mistake to our future,” Ice

snarled. “These Markus Models should be destroyed. You refused to listen to her advice

before but you were wrong. If she thinks they pose a danger, we should listen to her.”

“I give the orders,” Zorus snapped. He looked away from Ice and glanced at a few

of the cyborgs around him. “You, you, you, and you. Come with me. We’re going to

pilot this shuttle to the
Vontage
.”

“Perhaps the human is correct.” One of the council members spoke.

“I refuse to listen to one of them.” Zorus turned and stormed toward the doors that

led to the interior of the shuttle they were on. “We’re not going to pass on an

opportunity to study the technology that Earth has come up with to make them. They

could be the next threat we face if Earth Government ever sends these things after us. I

want to know their weaknesses.”

Two of the council members nodded, following Zorus while one remained. He

sighed, glancing at the men around him. “You heard him. I believe it is a possibility that

we may face this threat in the future. We have a rare opportunity to study them.”

They were making a big, stupid mistake
, Megan thought. She glanced up at Ice, seeing

the frustration on his face as he stared at Flint. Flint had a grim expression as he

shrugged.

“You heard their orders.” He paused. “We’ll warn the
Vontage
crew what is coming

their way. Steel will take every precaution.” Flint focused on Megan. “Will you share all

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your information with us so if this goes bad they can at least attempt to neutralize the

threat?”

“Of course.” She turned and looked up at the sex bot still hanging. “Ice?”

“Yes, Megan?” He inched closer.

“Can you please get the bot down? Please? I can’t stand to see her that way. I think I

can fix what they did to her.”

Ice glanced at Onyx.

Onyx nodded. “I’ll cut it down and bring it aboard the
Rally
.”

“Thank you,” Megan whispered, looking away from the damaged bot. What had

been done to it was horrible. She didn’t know if she could fix it but she couldn’t stand to

see one that way. “What about the other bots?”

“Coal? Find the other eleven bots if they are still on the shuttle and transfer them to

the
Rally
quickly please, before they undock this shuttle from the
Star
. I figure you have

about half an hour while they assess if they booby-trapped the systems before

attempting to take control of it.”

“Of course.” Coal headed for the doors that the council and the four ordered

cyborgs had gone through.

Ice shook his head. “Let’s contact Steel now and warn him.” He held out his arm to

Megan. “He’ll want to talk to you, Megan. He’s going to want to know everything you

can tell him about those things, in case they somehow reboot since they are going to be

on his ship. He’s a good friend of ours and he’s also married to a human. He’s going to

be furious that not only is Zorus bringing danger aboard the
Vontage
but that he’d dare

go there in the first place. Zorus once attempted to prevent Steel from forming a family

unit with his female.”

“I really don’t like Zorus,” she muttered, wrapping her fingers around Ice’s arm,

allowing him to lead her back to the
Star’s
cargo bay.

He answered her by snorting. “No one likes him.”

They were walking toward the
Rally’s
docking door when a cyborg approached. Ice

turned to face him and his body tensed. “Darius.”

The cyborg’s attention wandered leisurely over Megan’s body. “Aren’t you afraid

you’ll break something so weak?”

“No.” Ice’s silvery-blue gaze narrowed dangerously. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll break

you for insulting the woman in my family unit?”

Megan glanced between Ice and the other cyborg, wondering what was going on.

The dislike between them was evident. Ice tugged her closer to his body and put his

arm around her.

“What do you want? Your father is aboard the Earth shuttle.”

“I’m aware. He linked with me and ordered me to find you to give you orders. You

turned off your link. Your female is ordered for duty to assist with his new project. He

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is expecting her on the Earth shuttle immediately so she’s on hand if there is a

problem.”

“No,” Ice snarled. His arm dropped from around Megan’s waist and he stepped

forward, going nose to nose with the other cyborg. “She’s the female in a family unit

and I do not give my permission for her to be assigned to a dangerous mission.

Councilman Zorus has no right to do that.”

Darius took a step back and his dark eyebrows rose. “My father assumed you’d

take that stand. I am to remind you that your DNA is no longer needed on Garden, nor

is your female’s. We don’t want to contaminate our gene pool with your contributions

any longer.” He lowered his gaze, staring at Megan. “And she is just useless in general

unless a male needs sexual release.”

Ice took a threatening step toward the other cyborg and Megan saw rage on his

features. She grabbed his arm to stop him from hitting the jerk. If Zorus was his father

then Ice would probably get in trouble if he decked the rude cyborg.

“It’s okay,” she said quickly as Ice jerked his head to stare down at her. “He’s the

one not worth it.”

Ice stepped back and glared at the cyborg. Darius smiled coldly. “My father wants

her on the Earth shuttle now.”

“I go with her.”

Relief was instant for Megan. She didn’t want to be on the same shuttle with the

Markus Models without Ice.

Darius paused, obviously listening to a voice in his head. “My father said that is

acceptable. Proceed now.”

“We need clothes.”

“He said now.” Darius jerked his head and smiled coldly. “Right now.”

Ice glared at the other man and his hands fisted at his sides. Megan rubbed the arm

she still gripped. She wasn’t happy to be stuck in the heavy leather uniform for

however long it would take to reach the
Vontage
but she was too grateful to still be with

Ice to really allow it to bother her.

“What is his problem?” she whispered as they walked away.

Ice stopped walking and met her curious gaze. “He’s a completely sterile male in

my breeding pact. The drugs do not work on him. His female requested my DNA as her

donor for his child and the one for herself. It was successful both times and then she

called upon me for a third time. After each breeding session, she offered me a place in

their family unit but I refused. She already has two males in the family unit and he did

not like her wanting me to join their unit.”

Cyborgs do get jealous
, she thought. “I understand.”

Ice nodded. “We do not get along. He is angry that three offspring in his family are

all from my DNA.”

“I got it.”

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Laurann Dohner

Ice sighed. “Let’s go. Councilman Zorus can be an ass when he’s made to wait.”

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Touching Ice

The bot had been taken down and was no longer within sight when they returned

to the cargo hold of the Earth shuttle. Megan was grateful she didn’t have to see that

view again. The Markus Models stood frozen where she’d shut them down, their

eyelids closed the way they were mandated to do to protect their cloned-tissue eyes.

“If they aren’t going to destroy them, then within a few days, they are going to need

maintenance.”

Ice stopped walking and stared down at her. “Recharged?”

She hesitated. “Their living tissue needs supplements as well as recharging their

power sources.” She really took a good look at the room around her and saw the name

of the ship painted on one of the bulkhead beams.

“Oh crap!”

“What is it?” Ice frowned, his gaze following to where she stared.

“This is the
Nugget
.”

“Is that supposed to have meaning for me?” He arched an eyebrow as he met her

gaze.

“This is Victor Barcarin’s luxury shuttle.”

“Who is he?”

She bit her lip and then sighed. Cyborgs really were out of touch with Earth if they

didn’t know the name of one of the richest men on four planets.

“You know how I work for Barcarintellus? Victor is the Barcarin in that first half of

the company’s name. His partner is Roy Tellus. This ship was designed for him last

year and it’s probably the envy of every person who owns a shuttle.”

Ice’s disbelieving expression almost made Megan laugh, even under these tense

circumstances, as she watched him carefully run his gaze around the cargo hold.

“It looks standard to me.”

“How many shuttles have you ever heard of that boast the best of everything?

Remember how fast you were told this shuttle came at us when they were after the

bots? That’s just an example. The news on Earth ran tons of stories about it when Victor

Barcarin first took possession of this baby. No cost was spared. It can hold thirty people

comfortably so he can have his full personal staff with him wherever he travels—that’s

ten more than standard and we’re talking really nice quarters with fresh water baths

and showers. The plating on this thing is supposed to be superior to anything on the

market.”

Ice still frowned.

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Laurann Dohner

“From what I heard, you could fly it through a meteor field and it won’t even

dent.”

“That’s impossible.”

“That’s what the news said.”

“They lie.”

Megan stared up at him, having to agree since she knew, according to everyone on

Earth, that cyborgs were all supposed to be dead. That had to have been posted on the

official news channels at least once for everyone to believe it.

“I wonder how they stole it.” She stared at the still Markus Models. “They had to

have escaped while Mr. Barcarin visited the testing facility.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

That was true enough. They had escaped, stolen the
Nugget
, and for some reason

had come after the bots. A horrible thought struck Megan. “I bet those things activated

the thief modes on the bots, looking for Clara.”

Ice had started to move again, tugging her toward the doors to the interior of the

shuttle when he paused. “Clara was the main computer on the
Folion
, correct?”

“Yes. If they had gotten their hands on her they could have controlled a lot of the

company’s assets. They could have blackmailed them to hand over more Markus

Models. I bet they were disappointed when they realized
Folion
had been destroyed and

Clara with it.”

“We must have been their backup plan.” Disgust laced his tone. He told the two

cyborgs standing guard by the interior doors, “Don’t take your focus from them.”

“We won’t,” one of them promised. “They are nothing similar to us.”

Ice glanced at the four still models and nodded his agreement. “They escaped Earth

somehow and Megan doesn’t trust that they will remain powered down.”

“Understood,” the other cyborg said softly as his hand reached for his weapon and

his fingers curled around it. “We will remain vigilant.”

Ice touched the pad by the door and it opened. He got his first glimpse of luxury

living as they entered the hallway. He paused, staring at the floor and then the tiled

walls. His eyebrows rose.

“Is that carpet and stone?”

Megan nodded. “Yeah.”

“It’s a shuttle. It’s illogical.”

“I know. Check out the paintings too.”