Galactic Cyborg Heat Series Book Bundle 5-8, page 48
part #5 of Galactic Cyborg Heat Series
Pushing his confusion aside, he connected his net again. Our contact is in the wind and moving fast. On me. He told his men and picked up the pace. They had a clear scent trail to follow.
***
Lou hovered in the background of the parking lot. This was their ‘go to’ site. It was empty apart from a few left vehicles. Nothing was open, it was way passed closing and it looked quiet. Seeing movement to her right, Lou moved deeper into the shadows and watched the person cross. The shape and build familiar to her. Lou came out of her hiding place and moved quickly to join her. She threw herself into Ameena’s embrace.
“You ok?” Came Ameena’s affectionate concern.
“I’m fine, but someone came to the apartment and blew it up. That’s not normal even for us,” she joked hugging her back. Ameena pulled back and frowned.
“Do I have to drag your ass out the fire again Lou? What did you do?” Lou raised both eyebrows as if to say ‘her’ and shook her head, she was too old to get away with that and she knew it. She gave in.
“Nothing really honest. I took a look at the software on the new contract and did a little digging is all. I wasn’t going to get what I needed remotely so, went and took a look and while I was there, I might have downloaded a thing or two or 3283…. “ Lou grimaced.
“You fucking downloaded 3283 files and didn’t think they’d come looking?” Ameena asked incredibly. Lou shrugged her shoulders.
“I covered my tracks Ameena, I’m not 19 anymore, I’ve been doing this for 10 years, I know what I’m doing and well, I kinda expected that they would but, thought it might take them longer and I’d be gone.”
Ameena raised both eyebrows as if her patience was being tested. Again. Lou thought it was a good thing Ameena loved her right now. She grabbed her arm. “Let’s go, we have a pickup we can’t be late for.” Ameena allowed herself to be dragged along for a bit, giving her a piece of her mind along the way. Then they hit the street and took off in single file. Lou leading the way.
***
Our youth has picked up her parental unit and is heading for the pick-up point. Fear relayed to his men.
We have a tail. Came a reply. Fear felt like hitting something. This simple pick up was turning into anything but. The youth was a menace. Trouble clearly followed him. They needed to stop this now.
Dissuaded them. He told his men.
Affirmative.
Fear hadn’t been able to hear the conversation between the youth and his mother. They’d kept their voices low and the distance of open ground, just too far to hear clearly. It was a good meeting point. Plenty of exits and all open ground. No one was getting up close and personal without them knowing.
The fact that somehow the youth or them had picked up a tail, meant a wider net was in force. They’d have to be quick before that net closed in. A fire fight would not be welcome. Too much exposure. Too many risks. He connected his net.
Stay with the humans I’m moving ahead to the pickup point.
Affirmative.
***
More than once Lou thought she heard grunts and groans near them as they ran. Some behind, some to their side. She’d never felt so scared. She glanced over at Ameena, by the look on her face she’d heard them too. Something was chasing them, they were being hunted and something was hunting the hunted. Her gut told her to get moving. She sped up. The pickup point was in a park up ahead. It was pin-pointed by location markers on her comm.
Lou spied the gate ahead and pushed on. Entering, Lou checked her direction, adjusted her trajectory and ran. Ameena close behind her. She was sure now that they were being chased, she could clearly hear running behind her. Lou glanced at Ameena, she looked worried. They pushed on rounding a corner, Lou looked at her wrist comm, the pickup point was 100 meters ahead. She couldn’t see any ship.
Fear connected his net to the pilot as he approached the pickup point.
Ready the ship. Disengage the cloak on my command. We are being pursued.
Affirmative.
His neuro net told him everything he needed to know. More pursuers had taken up the chase. They’d been close several times to taking his charges. The female and youth were running towards him, being herded by his men. He sensed movement from several positions. His men doing what they were good at, taking out the pursuers in their way.
A slight waft of the youth’s scent reached him. They were closer now, running in open ground. There was no chance for cover here. The ship needed space to move and this was the only place in this location. The space made them a bigger target. He moved towards them. His eyesight able to focus in the dark. Several men came out of bushes to their right and left, Fear lifted both his guns and opened fire taking out those nearest to them.
Disengage the cloak. He cried out over his net. “Move,” he shouted to the female and her child. The ship shimmered into focus.
They ran passed him, ducking as he’d fired and kept going towards the ship. They could see it now but so could the pursuers. Fear knew it would only make the pursuers more determined. He took aim and one fell. The female screamed as he fell behind her. He pushed them on to board and realised in that instant he’d been out flanked.
Fuck. Turning Fear pulled up his weapons and fired into the tree line on both sides of the ship. His men followed through, right behind the youth and took up firing positions into the bracken around them. The youth’s scent was much stronger now and laced with fear. Fear’s emotions exploded in that split second and he became his name. He roared his anger and kept firing until nothing more moved. No one took what’s his.
“Strap them in.” He bit off, confused by his own logic. Scanning the area he connected his neuro net. Lift off. And stepped on board as the ramp started to rise.
***
CHAPTER TWO
The off-worlder sped away carrying its cargo towards his ship. A number of impacts hit the ship as it soared into the air. Nothing that could harm them. Fear already knew that the instant they’d lifted off, its cloak would have engaged. They were now invisible to anyone looking for them. He glanced over to check his guests were strapped in and headed to the pilot.
We good? He asked over his net.
Yes sir, we are not being followed. Fear looked through the view screen out of habit. The city started to slip away. Satisfied, he moved back to the seating area. The youth still wore the baggy outfit with the hood over his face, the mother looked like she was ready to go to war. She stared at Fear, none too happy.
“You brought that to our door.” She told him. Fear stared back and ignored her, he’s focus completely on the youth. The scent of musk and jasmine clinging to the air. He could see the youth looking at him from under the hood breathing hard.
“You want to explain why I had to save your ass back there?” He asked with more bite in his voice than he’d intended. The youth said nothing. “The only thing I did was offer a job. Neither of you had to take it.” The youth still refused to answer him. His frustration itched to be free. Fear took a seat opposite the youth, the smell of musk and jasmine even stronger now. Logic told him the exertion of running must have intensified the scent. His systems sparked at the nearness of the human, Fear clenched his fists. The youth continued to sit with his head down, the hood covering it. It made him feel uncomfortable. The youth didn’t trust him. And strangely, that bothered him more. The need to explain came over him.
“I was tasked with finding you, giving you the job, and retrieving you if you took it. My name is Fear, these are my men, they work with me. You are safe now, you do not need to cover your head.” He told him. A snort came from under it, but he didn’t make a move to uncover his head. Fear wondered if the youth was disfigured. He had a strong desire to pull the hood back, to gaze on the face. It was irrational. “You do not need to hide your face from me.” He barked out. To his annoyance the youth ignored him again.
He looked at the mother. “You have nothing to fear from us.” He told her again. Clearly telling her that in her home, had had no affect at all.
She also snorted. “That’s to be seen.” Fear frowned. He did not understand the logic of the humans and decided to let it be. There were more important things to work on.
“When we get on board my ship, you will be shown your own accommodations. You can replicate or make your own food and drink. There are no restrictions on board. However, please do not engage my men unless necessary. I have isolated a work area for you and provided you, with the tech hardware I was told you would need. With our new engines, we are approximately 3 weeks away from the Space Station. I suggest you take the time to get to know your work. When we arrive the Admiral and his wife will want to meet you. Morgan will want to say hello too and possibly, every human female mated to a Cyborg,” he told them distastefully. “It’s how they are, suck it up.” The mother just stared at him. He closed his eyes to block them out and concentrated on his neuro net going over reports from the last three days. The youth’s scent lingering in his nose and all around him.
Lou wasn’t a chatty person, so when she’d seen the hand signal from Ameena to stay quiet, she was happy to go along. Being chased by who knows what, was not her idea of a good time and now, they were in a ship going to another ship and the destination not clear. None of which sounded too good right now. They had no real idea who these people were, apart from a connection to Morgan. On checking, that had turned out interesting and needed further investigation.
She wasn’t stupid. There was no doubt that what had just happened could have been quite deadly back there. She’d clearly stumbled onto something she shouldn’t, and she was itching to take a look and see at what was being downloaded. There was information on that download someone wanted dead. Lou casually looked around the ship from under her hoodie. It was clearly a shuttle craft of some kind. She wondered how long it would be before she could start taking the files apart. And if they couldn’t trust these people, they needed an exit.
***
Lou held on as the vessel docked and the ramp descended. The guy in charge, Fear, seemed to pass off information to his men, then walked back towards them.
“Your escort is waiting, they will take you to your rooms.” Lou stood with Ameena, grabbed her back pack and headed out. As she stepped off. She casually looked around, it told her all she needed to know. It was a fleet ship, a big one and the men on it were ……. Mountains! What the hell? She spotted one after the other from under her hood. There wasn’t one puny one amongst them. Did they drown those at birth? Who were these guys?
Then Lou remembered the crew she’d seen with Morgan. They were all huge guys too. There had to be a connection. Their escort moved off and Lou followed with Ameena by her side. A hand shot out and caught her arm. Lou stopped. She hadn’t seen him approach. Fear was lightly holding her arm and rubbing the fabric.
“Please, remove your clothing, shower and replace it from the replicator. The scent it carries, triggers our response’s, it is not easy to be around,” he told her. Lou’s body had heated at the mention of removing her clothes and showering. She could only nod in response and walked on quickly. Ameena was waiting on her.
She’d be doing just that as soon as possible. There’s no way she wanted anything ‘triggered’ around these guys and yet, when Fear had held her arm so gently, her breath had caught.
Fear watched the youth leave the hanger.
You smell that too? He asked the two Cyborgs who’d been on the surface and ship with him.
Yes. They both told him.
The mother’s scent intrigues me, his second, Marc told him.
Is that why you left yourself open to attack to protect her, back in the chase? He could hear Marc’s laughter over his neuro net.
You noticed that. How else am I to impress her? Fear didn’t know. He didn’t know anything about females. Females were not for him. He turned his attention to the Bridge. He needed to update the Admiral.
Make sure they have security. He told them. Both men grinned. Fear shook his head as he walked away. Heaven help him.
Affirmative.
***
Fear waited until the Admiral’s face came up on the vid screen. “We have them, it was touch and go for a while but they’re here safe. We are on our way to you.” The Admiral’s face took up most of the vid screen.
“Them?” Fear nodded.
“The mother came too.” The Admiral looked surprised.
“Any idea why?” Fear shook his head.
“None. It might have something to do with the faint the youngster pulled off to get some information from Earth Corp. I’d say it was a dumb and stupid move, but it was successful. However, those men hunting them were professionals. And I don’t think I’m liked much.” The Admiral grinned.
“Ok keep me posted.” He told him.
“Affirmative.” Fear cut the connection. The Admiral seemed to find amusement at him not being liked by the females. He didn’t understand the logic.
***
Lou looked around the room she’d been taken to and it calmed her nerves a little. They’d opened the doors to two room’s. One next to the other and given them the choice to choose. They were identical. Living area adjacent to the corridor, with a kitchenette in the corner. A room off that had a bedroom and two further smaller rooms, one a bathroom, one a walk-in closet. Lou had walked into the closet and thought she could happily live in there. It was clear these rooms were made to cater to important people. She’d taken the first one, Ameena the second. Their guards stayed at the entrances.
She was surprised by the luxury around her. The ship looked more like a war ship than a cruiser, but the rooms were very comfortable, made for diplomates not workers. It made Lou uneasy. What was the price of this? They were the only passengers as far as she could see. How could something be so important, that they’d send a fleet vessel to get her? No one did that unless, life and limb were at stake. She looked around nervously. What if she couldn’t deliver?
Old anxieties and inadequacies rose in her. It had been years since she’d suffered a panic attack. Lou closed her eyes, concentrated on her breathing and repeated her old mantra. She was here to try, she’d not promised anything, it was an experiment only, a trial, a piece of work, that would lead somewhere or nowhere. It’s significance, unimportant. One step at a time.
Lou opened her eyes and Ameena stood next to her. “A bit overwhelming isn’t it. Feeling better?” Lou gave a half smile and nodded. “Good, go shower, I’ll sort out some food.”
***
His men told him both humans were in the same room and it sounded like they were taking nourishment. He connected with comms over his neuro net.
Put me through to the youth’s room.
Affirmative. Connecting now.
The screen came on and the mother stood before it. Fear could hear the shower in the back ground. He guessed, the youth had taken his advice and showered. That was good. It might help loose some of that scent that refused to leave his system.
“I hope you found the accommodations suitable?” He asked her. The female nodded.
“Yes, thank you.”
“I expect tomorrow you would like to start on your work. My men will escort you anywhere on the ship you wish to go during your stay. This is for your safety. You are not prisoners. This ship is unknown to you and accidents can occur. I am responsible for your wellbeing while onboard my ship. I’m sure you understand the precautions.” She nodded.
“Good, if you inform my men what time you wish to start work, they will ensure it is ready for you. Should you require anything during your stay, please ask and someone will help you. I hope you sleep well female. Goodnight.” He cut the comm. He’d done his duty. Now if they would only stay out of his way …….
“Not the happiest chap is he?” Lou asked Ameena coming out the bathroom rubbing her hair dry.
“It would appear not. Any idea what all that was about? The showering and changing clothes thing?” Ameena asked. Lou didn’t understand what the problem was either. It wasn’t like she smelled or anything. She liked her hygiene in good order thank you very much!
“No.” She answered annoyed. They both looked at each other with weirded out expressions.
“Ok. Enough of that,” Ameena told her, “let’s eat.”
***
Fear had taken a sleep cycle, but it had not rested his mind. He didn’t need more than four hours sleep and as Cyborg. He could go nearly a week without it at all if he had to, but he’d been feeling the pull since securing his objective. He’d shut down, only for the scent of musk and jasmine to infiltrate his mind and disturb his rest. Images of soft skin and silky hair had plagued him, his body heating with need.
Images penetrating his processors woke him several times. Confused over his bodies responses and his instincts kicking in, he instantly looked for youth. Had he somehow gained access to his room? It was an illogical thought. There was no reason for the youth to be in his quarters. And yet, his senses told him he was. Fear had risen unable to ignore the sensation, he was rock hard and checked his rooms, twice. His scans of the rooms told him no one else had accessed his private quarters, and checking with security, told him the youth was in his own rooms.
Fear had paced, running another diagnostic. Nothing made sense. In the end, it had taken nearly nine hours to complete his broken sleep cycle. His attraction to the youth surprising and simply, not possible. Fear had never engaged feelings for another male. In fact, he had not heard of any Cyborg that had. Over their many years of existence, it was thought, their attraction to females was a part of their engineered DNA. It made only females attractive to them and only those of age.
