Page 5 of Agrippa's Acceptance

He leaned in until his nose almost crushed hers. She shrank back, wishing more than anything to be under the covers and merely dreaming this. “Enemy.”

“N … no I’m not. I really am not your enemy.” She didn’t sound very convincing, but who could blame her. A big hulking cyborg had her in an iron grip, ready to murder her. And she’d seen him do murder before. It would not be an easy death.

“How did you get on board.” His eyes narrowed. “When did you get onboard? I ordered you to be gone in two hours.” Before, when she’d see them working on the ship, the cyborgs would be eerily quiet and follow the clones’ instructions without comment. Cyborg 321 had only spoken to her when it was necessary, but he was subtly different now. More commanding.

She swallowed, licked her dry lips and he stared at her lips with the kind of suspicion a murderer would get. When else did he think she could’ve come on board? She heard herself say, “oh I got on board when the pursuing clone ship caught up with this one and I sneaked onboard.” She felt her eyes widen when she realized what had spilled from her mouth.

What was wrong with her? Cyborgs tended to be literal, he would never stop searching for the clone ship supposedly following them. She was as dead as a temple rat. His grip on her upper arms tightened and he drew her up until she dangled in his hands, her feet just above the floor. “Where is the clone ship now?”

“Wait, I’m sorry okay. There was no clone ship. Please I was being sarcastic.” Big bad cyborgs had no sense of humor. She knew this, the cryo sleep must have fried her brains.

“Where is the clone ship?”

Sheer terror gripped her. He was a cyborg, he’d go on asking where the ship was and if she couldn’t convince him there was no clone ship he was going to kill her. His voice wouldn’t change and he would not hesitate. She could only hope for a quick death if she couldn’t get him to believe that there was no pursuing clone ship.

“Answer clone.”

“Please, I was just scared and just said what popped into my mind. It’s not true, I don’t know why I said it. that. I don’t know why. That last time when we spoke, I went into the crawl space and I fell asleep and when I woke the ship had launched.”

For long moments she hung above the floor, held firmly in his hands and her shoulders were aching by the time he said, “You lie, female.” He shook her. “Now tell the truth.”

Chapter Five

She bit back a moan. “Please put me down, my arms ache.”

To her surprise, he gently lowered her to the floor. “I am allowing you to be on your feet, because I do not wish you to be injured before you confessed the truth. Not because I am soft and willing to listen to female pleas.”

That struck Bunrika powered terror into her already terrified heart. “It’s the truth. Look at me, I’m a natural, not a clone. Go ahead, measure me, I’m shorter than a clone. You know they would reject a clone who does not meet the prescribed height and dimensions. Look at my ryhov, it’s brighter than a clones’.”

His eyes dropped to her cheek and then her vulnerable throat. Something she couldn’t identify flashed through those savage eyes.

He still held her with his hands firmly clamped around her arms. She desperately wanted some distance between them, but she forced herself to remain still. It won’t take much to set him off and she didn’t want end up like the captain.

“Clones lie.”

Did he ever stop? “I. Am not. A clone. How can I convince you?”

“You cannot, but the doctor can.”

They had a doctor onboard? A clone or maybe one of the humans from the planet below? No, it would have to be a cyborg. She had no doubt they killed anyone on board that was not one of them. When she’d gone into the crawl space, she’d kept far away from the areas where the cyborgs worked and recharged. But in none of her forays did she see clones. “Let him test me, he will tell you I am not a clone.”

“Come, clone.” He grabbed her upper arm and dragged her through what felt like the whole ship. She was out of breath and about to collapse when he entered what was clearly the infirmary. Cyborg 321 dragged her to the bed and putting his hands under her arms threw her onto it as if she was a toy. He did it so fast and smooth she didn’t have time to react.

“Hamurabi, I found the stowaway.” There was pride in his voice in the way he stood straight.

Another cyborg emerged from a room beyond the one cyborg 321 had brought her to. “Who?” He stopped in his tracks and his fists clenched. “Clone.” She struggled not to shrink back. “I am not a—”

He rudely interrupted her. “It says it’s not a clone. I need you to make sure.”

“It?”

They both ignored her and she clenched her hands. “Where did you find it? Did it do any damage to the ship. Are there others?”

“I found it in the storeroom. The scanner didn’t detect any more of them and the air consumption is in accordance with one of it of this size.” He motioned to Agrippa. She pressed her claws into her palms to stop herself from doing something that would get her killed.

Cyborg 321 glanced at her hands but continued speaking. “We need to know if it’s a clone. It’s urgent.”

The doctor looked her up and down. “She is small.” At last, someone who might listen to her.

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