by Eve Langlais
“Did you lose the gear? I thought you said you had it?” Wulff grumbled.
“I did. I do. Kind of.” A term he’d learned from Aggie that exasperated to no end. It worked just as well on his friends.
“Last we heard from you, you were on Earth fetching it.”
Zak interrupted. “How was it? Earth, I mean. I hear the humans are still living in structures made of dead wood and polymers.”
Jwls nodded. “They haven’t even moved past the wheel. And they’ve yet to rein in their food supply management in ratio to their population.”
“They’ll end up running out at some point like we did.” Ray being unusually wise. It didn’t last. “Good thing you snagged one of the inhabitants. I hear they fetch a pretty penny on the obsidian market.”
“Funny you should mention her. The problem I was mentioning has to do with the gear and the Earthling. The two accidentally merged.”
“Accidentally how?” Wulff barked. “Accidental is the excuse used when your dick somehow ends up in someone because the booze made her seem hot. Gears require blood.”
“Apparently human blood works because, in the extraction of it, the human was injured, the piece touched it—”
“And decided to take her as a host.” Ray sighed. “By all the gears in my fucking penis.” Which, for the uninformed, wasn’t as many as he made it sound. “So we will need to reset it since it started the bonding process. Have you called a surgeon for extraction?”
“I spoke to one already. It can’t be removed without killing the host.”
“And rather than pay and have it done, you brought her here?” Ursy exclaimed.
“I guess we could do it ourselves,” Zak mused aloud.
“Last time you carved someone, you made a mess,” Jwls countered, looking for a way, any way, to slow them down.
“Then we’ll get the doctor in here or take her to the surgeon since you don’t want to get your floors dirty.” Wulff rolled his eyes in mockery.
“She’s a screamer, too.” And a back scratcher when she came. The reminder had him dropping his head into his hands. How to explain?
“So we’ll drug her first. We aren’t monsters.”
Weren’t they? Jwls looked around at his friends, each sporting extra mechanical parts. People he owed his life to.
“Where is she? I’ll knock her out.” Ray had out his dagger.
Jwls couldn’t help but dart a glance at the elevator down to the lower level. It hadn’t moved. She was still asleep downstairs.
Thump. His head snapped up, and he looked to see Ray grappling with Zak.
Arguing over who should be the one to cut open his Aggie. Who had the most skill to kill her.
He needed to handle this now. Time to get his cogs into gear.
He made a noise, loud enough to be heard. “No one is knocking her out because we are not taking the gear out of her head.”
That stopped all talk dead.
Ursy fixed him with a stare that would have shriveled most males. “Excuse me? I thought I heard you say we couldn’t have the gear.”
“No, I said you couldn’t kill her for it,” Jwls clarified.
“Then how do you suggest we get it?” Ray asked.
“And before you tell us to forget it, let me remind you”—Zak tucked his hands behind his back and paced—“the plan was we’d work together to find these things. Pool our resources because together we stood a better chance of getting them all.”
They had kind of agreed. Still…Jwls couldn’t just hand Aggie over. “Technically none of you helped me find it. You all thought I was crazy for going to Earth.” The single black hole out of that galaxy was a cause of concern for many. Sometimes black holes disappeared.
Wulff snorted. “None of us seriously thought you’d actually go all the way.”
“Fact is, I did. I found the gear, and Aggie.”
“What’s an Aggie?”
“You mean who. It’s the human with the gear in her head.”
“The one you don’t want us to cut open?” Ray nodded his head in understanding, which masked his sudden movement as he slammed into Jwls. “You went and fucking fell for a human didn’t you, you dumb cunt?”
Jwls didn’t bother to lie. “Yup.”
“And now he don’t want to give up the prize,” Zak sighed.
Ursy didn’t take it as well. “She’s just a hole. Find a new one.”
“I like the one I have.” The glare didn’t make Ursy back down one bit.
“Your human has a priceless gear in her head,” Ray reminded.
“I realize that. It means I’m gonna spend the rest of my life guarding her ass.”
“Is it a fine ass?” Wulff asked.
Ursy slapped him. “Women are more than the sum of their body parts.”
“Don’t get your cogs in a twist. It was a valid question.”
“I thought you said his human was—“ Zak didn’t finish the thought, as Ursy glared at him.
Ray interrupted. “I don’t care if she’s got the finest breasts and a magical vagina. We had a deal. Without that gear, the other pieces won’t be as valuable.” Ray wasn’t budging yet.
“The chances of us finding the whole set are pretty slim.” Zak was the one to jump in to his aid. Then stab him. “That said, even the individual pieces would be rather priceless.”
All eyes went to Jwls. He sighed.
This would cost him.
A lot.
A fortune, as a matter of fact, by the time the haggling was done. But worth every credit and favor. Aggie was worth it.
He’d bought her a chance. He couldn’t wait to see her, which was why he kicked out his friends, ignoring their jeering and the kisses Zak blew him.
The elevator with its clear panels slid down the shaft, the gears turning silently. On the sleeping level, he went quickly to his bedroom. The door opened soundlessly, not that it mattered. Her bed was empty.
15
Lying in bed, Fizbin tucked under her chin, Aggie had to wonder if Jwls knew their conversation would carry. Then again, how often was he in his bedroom while entertaining in his living room.
Either way, she heard every single word. But it was when his friends argued over who would get to kill her that she took off.
She knew the ins and outs of this place. However, it was the exit he didn’t know of that she took. The one her little fluffball showed her.
Her pet hadn’t let her leave the ship without him. He’d smuggled himself off the ship, tucked inside her shirt. Jwls was less than impressed when she found it cuddling in bed with them.
Her friend helped her out now. Fizbin slithered to the bottom level of the mountain house, to the engine room full of clanking machinery and whistling steam. The walls were rough down here, and it was behind some giant boiler thing Fizbin wiggled, returning to waggle a tentacle at her to follow.
Her giant fur coat tucked over an arm, because she didn’t want to be sweating when she hit the cold, she followed.
There behind the hot machine was a gap in the stone wall. Entering it, she found herself in a narrow icy stone tunnel, a mere slit in the mountain that appeared raw and new. Possibly a shift in the ground itself had created it and Jwls hadn’t yet noticed. Whatever the reason, it helped her now. She ran for safety, tears rolling down her cheeks.
Screwed. So screwed. She should have listened when Jwls told her once you own a gear, you were never safe.
But stupid her, she’d thought she could trust Jules. Only he’d never loved her at all. He planned to help them get the cog in her head.
Which would kill her.
While the thought of casting out on her own terrified, it remained a better option than sticking around and dying.
All because of a gear. A gear she couldn’t even feel anymore. A hand to her cheek showed the flesh thickening over it, hiding it now even when she looked in the mirror.
Not something that happened with all of them, according to Jules. Only the reall
y special cogs could apparently grow flesh over them. The new flesh was heightened in sensation. Running the tips of her fingers over it caused shivers. The nice kind. Jwls and his friends had more than one. Did they feel the same ecstasy when they stroked theirs, too?
Or am I just weird?
She would have to figure it out later because she’d be dead, too, if she didn’t move faster.
“How much farther, Fizbin?” she whispered in this quiet place. Only to yelp a moment later when she tripped and banged her hand on rock.
Surely that hadn’t caused the rumble? Her pet tucked into a ball and rolled, not a good sign. She began to run, chasing it as the rumbling got louder. There was creaking, and was it her or did the passageway tighten?
She emerged, the edges of the stone tunnel scraping her. A glance back showed only a tiny slit in the rock.
No more passageway. She glared at her pet. “Dude, that was super dangerous.”
Her pet didn’t seem to care. It rolled off in the snow, and she followed it, trudging through the fluffy gray stuff. Cursing the fact she’d hooked up with a cyborg who lived on an ice planet instead of a nice beachy one. She kind of expected Fizbin to take her back to the ship.
Only the route took them instead to a forest with giant conifers, the boughs heavily laden with snow. A glance over her shoulder showed they’d left a trail behind them, one that the three full moons showcased and that the wind didn’t erase quickly enough.
“He’s gonna find me,” she mumbled. If it wasn’t the blazing trail, then it would be something else. For all she knew, that chip he’d put in her could act as a locating device.
Maybe he’d find her before she froze to death finding her way out of the mountains. She cursed as she tripped for the fourth time and landed face first in the cold snow.
A gear in her head and still clumsy as ever. Just her luck.
Rising to her knees, she froze as the muzzle of a gun appeared, aimed at her face. Worse luck, she recognized the man holding it. The same one that had accosted her during her short stay at the devil’s. “Oh dear.”
Bazl’s minion smirked. “Hand it over.”
“Hand what over?” She blinked and played stupid.
“The gear. I want it. Give it to me.”
“What gear? Do you see a gear? Because I don’t.” Just the big, black bore of a gun right in front of her eyes. It made her wonder if she could get one of those replicator things to make a pair of those panties they had on Earth. The kind that made sure no one knew you’d peed yourself. Wasn’t just women who’d had babies who sometimes sneezed too hard.
In her case, fear made her wish for a pair.
Especially because the devil’s minion’s reply was, “Give me the gear in your head.”
She grimaced. “And how would you like me to do that? You just said it yourself, it’s in my head.”
“I’ve got a knife.” It appeared in his hand, the cool laser kind usually wielded by kind Jedis.
“Can’t we talk about this?”
“Not really. You’ll just cry. I’ll be heartless. I’ll still win in the end.”
Good point.
Still, she wasn’t about to allow him to kill her. But how to escape? To ease him into a false sense of security, she stayed kneeling, head slightly bowed, watching the glowing shadow of the knife, knowing she’d have to move fast.
It arced. She twisted sideways, worried she didn’t move fast enough.
Heard a thump. The kind of sound heard when one body hit another.
Only it wasn’t her who’d been attacked.
A rapid flutter of her lashes meant she saw Jwls atop the man with the knife. Jules pummeled him, fists fast and furious.
“How dare you!” Jwls roared.
Angry because someone had almost stolen his prize?
The pair rolled on the ground, a big brutish affair of straining limbs. Weapons fired at random, blowing up chunks of trees, the splinters just narrowly missing her. Sprays of dirt flung into the air.
It occurred to her as she watched the men brawl that Jwls had come after her.
Come to murder her most likely. He wanted the gear just like Bazl’s minion did.
She turned her back on them and ran, hoping they would kill each other and save her the trouble. Wondering why tears streamed down her cheeks.
She ran through the woods, breath hitching, her flight less than graceful, full of stumbling, flailing arms, and frantic glances over her shoulder. Seeing the branches move. Knowing he was close.
So close she saw the glint of his eyes. The grim determination. “Aggie, stop.”
As if she’d hand herself willingly to the slaughter. She ran faster, legs pumping, almost gazelle-like as the slope deepened. She was flying. She glanced over her shoulder to see him right there.
Reaching. His eyes wide with fright, his lips moving as he yelled, “No.”
She stopped flying as she ran past the edge of the cliff that suddenly appeared. Legs pedaling, nothing beneath them. She looked down. No river. Nothing to cushion her fall but her soft, squishy body.
16
Jwls never even thought twice about it. She ran off the cliff, and he dove off to save her.
He arrowed his body toward her, caught her in his arms, and rolled them so he hit the ground first. Hard enough he sank in the snow. Cracked a few things, jarred a few gears.
His system went into a reboot mode while it tried to heal his injuries. He could feel, see, and hear nothing for a moment while he lay in a healing coma.
But when he did finally begin to recover his wits and system, it was to find Aggie lying atop him sobbing.
“Why are you crying?” he managed to ask.
She sniffled. “Because you’re dying. You jumped off a cliff to save me.”
“Of course, I did.”
“But I thought you wanted me to die.”
“Where the fuck did you get a fool idea like that?”
“I heard you talking to your friends.”
“Not the whole conversation, obviously, or you’d have gotten to the part where I told them they couldn’t have you and I paid a ridiculous sum to buy them out of their portion of the gear.”
She blinked wet lashes at him. “You did that for me?”
“Yes.”
It only served to increase her wailing.
“I thought you’d be happy.” He had to yell to be heard over her shenanigans.
“So very happy,” she sobbed. “I just wish I’d known you loved me before you died.”
“First off, never said I love you,” he grumbled. Love was a weakness for those without gears to guide their actions. “And I’m not dying.”
“You’re not?” She pushed away from him. “But…you weren’t moving.”
“Just until my gears got going. I am injured, but I’ll heal.”
“Good.” She slapped him.
“Hey. Why are you hitting me?”
“Because you said you didn’t love me.”
“Not exactly,” he corrected. “I might have never said it, but I can’t help but feel it.” He grabbed her hand and lay it on his chest. “Do you know how long I’ve felt like something was missing inside me? I’ve been looking and looking for a gear to make me feel complete. And now I’ve found the missing piece.”
“In my head,” she said with a turn down of her lips.
“No, you idiot. You. I mean you are the missing piece. I need you.”
“You do? You do!” She threw her arms around his neck, putting pressure on parts not quite healed, but he didn’t mind.
He hugged her back and then wished for a gun when Ray drawled, “Guess since he survived the fall we still can’t cut the gear out of her head.”
It wasn’t just the fluffball that guided Jwls to Aggie that hissed.
Even Ursy slapped him and muttered, “Leave him alone. If he settles down, then it’s more gears for us.”
Him, settle down? He looked at Aggie, who cuddled the vicious Sefalo, cooi
ng as she scratched it between the balls under its chin, and thought, yeah. It might be time fabricate a baby of his own.
He even already had its first little gear.
Epilogue
Sitting in his best suit, which was the one with the least amount of oil and blood, Wulff scowled. “Guess this means we’d better get looking for the next piece of God Gear.”
“I can’t believe he chose a human over the treasure of a lifetime.” There was still surprise in Ray’s voice.
“Whatever turns his crank.” Zak shrugged.
“You guys are concentrating on the wrong thing. Today isn’t just about one of the best of us retiring from the hunt.” Ursy impatiently bounced a thigh. “It’s about not having to share the loot five ways when we find our next cog.”
“Don’t you mean if?” Ray grumbled. “We could have used this one to help with the others.”
“Stop whining. We’re not getting it, so we’ll figure something else out.” Zak shifted in the pew.
“I still can’t believe he paid us for the one in Aggie’s face,” Ray said with a snicker.
“Love makes a man do stupid things,” Wulff replied, casting a glance at the happy couple, currently signing a binding contract.
A moue of distaste twisted Ursy’s lips. “Getting married. Who does that anymore?”
Not too many people since they eliminated divorce and brought back the term for life.
Zak couldn’t help needling Ursy. “Just because you’re a shrew that no one will want forever doesn’t mean it’s not a beautiful thing.”
“One person?” Ray also had a complaint about it. “I mean, at the very least, you want, maybe three.”
Not if the one proved very complicated… Wulff glanced at Ursy.
He found himself doing that more often than he should of late.
Which was why, when he heard a rumor from a Siyborgh who heard it from a ship’s captain, he said, “Wanna come with me to the Obsidian Market? I might have a lead on a piece of the God Gear.”
Being Ursy, she replied, “Only if I get to drive.”
Didn’t she know yet that she drove him wild?