Page 5 of Her Alien Cyborgs
“If they had complete control, we wouldn’t be classified as failures, but I know what you mean. Most of the time we can’t be sure our choices are reallyours.”
Kalan lapsed into silence, his gaze locked on his hand. “Do you think this is another experiment?”
“No,” he said, confident in his answer. Ansari’s fear, and her tears, were very real.
“Do you think the IAF will treat us better than thesebakaffadid?”
Fyr’enth considered the question for several minutes before giving his answer. “I think the enemy of our enemy could be our friend.”
“I like that.” Kalan slipped the data stick into the pocket of his pants. Like everything else in the cell, their clothes were an indeterminate gray color, cheaply made, and well-worn.
Fyr’enth pointed toward the sanitation area. It was just a tiled patch of floor with a drain and an overhead shower fixture. The only privacy they were allowed was a two-meter-high partition that screened off the toilet area.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m going to get cleaned up. Might as well try to make a good first impression.”
His clone scoffed and ran a hand through his too-long beard. “I think that ship left orbit already.”
He toed off his boots and stripped down while he talked. “That’s on you. The last time they let us have scissors, you tried to stab that asshole guard with them.”
“I didn’t try. Ididstab him. Twice.”
“Fine. You tried to kill him,” Fyr’enth clarified. “You failed, which is the only reason we’re still alive.”
He walked over to the tiled space and activated the shower. The water was little more than a tepid drizzle, but it was better than nothing.
“If we’re lucky, whoever finds us will let us have long, hot showers.”
“And real food,” Kalan said. “I never want to see or smell another bowl of algae broth ever again.”
They lapsed into silence after that, both of them pondering what this change in fortune might mean. Would they finally be free? Or were they about to exchange one set of bars for another? There was no way of knowing and nothing to do but wait.
Whatever the future looked like, he hoped it was better than this.
CHAPTER 3
When she’d agreedto come along on this mission, Hezza hadn’t expected high-octane adventures and action scenes. That was the stuff of holo-vids, not reality. The military loved their procedures even more than they enjoyed shooting things, but she still hadn’t been prepared to be this painfully, utterly bored.
For starters, theGambitwasn’t fast enough to catch up with the rest of the task force on her own, so she’d been parked inside a hangar of a much larger military vessel for the trip. Hezza had taken advantage of the opportunity to do repairs and maintenance on the old girl without needing to don an EVA suit. Once she’d joined the others, she’d assumed she’d be back in the cockpit.
Wrong.
The leader of the task force refused to allow it, citing some ridiculous regulations and claiming that civilian pilots couldn’t meet the same standards as their military counterparts. It would have stung more, but the stuffed-shirt colonel insisted that Archer’s ship had to be transported, too. Given that both Phylomenia’s husbands were former fighter pilots, no one oneither theDesperateGambitor theBat Out of Hellhad been happy.
They’d bonded over good booze and bad jokes at Barrios’s expense, but not even decent company could alleviate the boredom. In the end, she’d spent most of her time upgrading theGambit, using parts and equipment involuntarily donated by the IAF.
Arriving at Orio research base had allowed for some excitement, but watching everything unfold through relayed broadcasts quickly got old. Most of the ships had already evacuated before the task force was in range. One was destroyed, and another captured, but so far, there had been no information on who or what was on board.
Annoyed by her own thoughts, Hezza opened a channel to theBat. Phylomenia’s face appeared on the monitor almost instantly.
“Sorry to ask, but have you heard anything?” Hezza asked.
“Not afraxxingthing. Scott’s ready to go nova. He’s not used to being kept in the dark.”
“Why bring us all this way if they’re going to treat us like mushrooms?”
Phylomenia snorted. “Damn good question. Scott has sent some messages. Hopefully, someone with rank will find out what’s going on and lodge a well-polished boot up the colonel’s ass. The whole reason we’re here is to provide informed guidance and ensure that any cyborgs still on the station are dealt with properly. How can we do that if we’re stuck in this hangar?”
“I don’t like it. My gut is telling me something’s happening over there, and they don’t want us to know until it’s too late to do anything about it.”
