The Doc looked at her data pad. “You’re 26?” Kate nodded. “Puberty from 13-14 years?” Kate nodded again. “No reactions like this before?” Kate shook her head ‘no’.
“What World did you come from?”
“Commander Fear came to our world. It’s a tech world.”
Mac nodded at her. “I know it. No man?”
“None that I wanted full time no.”
“What about being around Cyborgs? That happen before now?”
Kate shook her head. “No. None before the cruiser and this is a first for me.”
“Are you a virgin Kate?”
Kate laughed. “Err hardly no. I have a high sex drive. Hetero and I enjoy it.”
“No inhabitations?”
Kate thought for a moment. “No not really. Consensual sex in any form is ok with me.”
“What about craving it?”
Kate nodded. “Yeah at times, I get that itch that says I need to get laid, don’t we all?”
Doc smiled. “Yes we do, but I’m guessing yours in more frequent and probably has a more urgent feel about it, like time ticking away?”
Kate thought about that. She’d had that feeling more than once. “Maybe. I was seen as a bit, reckless when younger. Not that I was alone in that though. But told I should be more careful. You know the drill.”
Doc nodded. Much to Kates relief she genuinely seemed to understand. “So this is what we think is going on. The Cyborgs that followed you, scented you at the docks and Bann are all part Puma in their DNA. Your estrogenic levels indicate that you are ‘in heat’ as Pain pointed out earlier. The good news is that Mated males do not seem to be attracted to it, a passing interest only to mated Cyborgs with Puma DNA, the bad news, it’s a genuine pull to those who are unmated. Hence the queue in your corridor. It’s strong enough for all Cyborgs to sense. I expect a human would never pick it up but if you were within a live Puma’s range, they probably could too but that isn’t likely to happen out here or anywhere else in the universe for that matter.”
Kate wasn’t sure what to say. “Are you seriously telling me they made me part animal? What do I do with that?” she asked dumbfounded. Of all the things she’d thought about being the cause of this, this was not it.
“You manage as you always have. I’ve taken samples of Bann and the other Cyborgs. The med bed came up with some options to neutralise the scent based on your scans. Medical technology has moved on greatly in 20 odd years. Using fabricated male Puma hormone, I’ve mixed it with a strong contraceptive shot, it should bring you off being in heat and reduce your pheromone levels. There is also a chemical cocktail to mitigate your own needs. You should lose that itch. We know what to look for now and can add biometrics to your room to scan you for signs that you care coming back on heat and if you don’t want it, you can medicate or choose to go off Station while experiencing it. Once we know the routine, I can prescribe for you.”
Kate blinked frowning. “Are you saying I’ve been in heat since puberty? Cos that would explain some really questionable choices I’ve made.”
Doc grinned. “No sorry not all the time. Several times a year for a week or two more likely.”
“Ok then I’ve made some poor choices.” Kate smiled back getting used to the idea. “Got to own it right?”
“This is a new dynamic for us,” Mac told her. “We’ve not come across female DNA manipulation before this so it’s interesting to us. I’d like to monitor how things go. You’ve read the manual. Being on the Station requires all humans to do a number of things. They are compulsory in some cases. Classes to take, exercise, therapy, all to keep you healthy while being here we don’t want any space sickness. And if you want to stay on the Station, I’ll have to give you the shot now, within minutes the effects of your pheromones should dissipate along with any strong desire to get laid. It will also stop mixed messages being sent to the other Puma Cyborgs.”
“Will it stop me being me?”
Doc shrugged. “I shouldn’t think so but that will be dependent on how much you relied on your Puma DNA to get by. This first shot will be the strongest one. After this, they should be less potent. Only you will sense the difference if there is any. This will stop the craving but how much of that is really you, only you can tell. Give it some time.” She loaded an injector and came around the table. “If you’d rather not have it, you can refuse but I have to tell you that because of the implications to the Cyborgs here, I’ve been given orders that your employment will not be continued if you do. It’s just too disruptive to the Empire to allow it to roam free and, I will need to report these findings, privacy is not an option here but I will do what I can to protect you.”
Kate looked at the injector. She didn’t believe there was anything harmful in it. Bann came to mind again. She didn’t want to lose this chance.
“Ok Doc, give it to me.”
The shot was painless, a hiss of gas and done. “It might make you drowsy for a short time.” She pressed an intercom requesting a nurse as Kate brushed her sleeve back down. The fizz was almost gone. Part of her mourned its loss or what it might mean. The nurse came in. “Day bed for a couple of hours, please monitor for no adverse reactions.”
The nurse smiled at her. “This way.”
Kate got up. “Thanks Doc.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll let Bann know to come back in a few hours.” Kate nodded and followed the nurse out.
She’d been in heat like an animal? How long had that been going on? Kate got on the day bed she was shown to. Thinking back, she’d always been a bit intense on the sex front. Hitting puberty had been a difficult time. Often scaring the boys off and later, some men too. Their comment was always the same, too aggressive, not feminine enough, a ball breaker, wouldn’t let them lead.
Well if she waited for them to take the lead, she’d have been old and grey! Besides, why should she have to wait?....
She felt the pull of sleep and closed her eyes. Bann didn’t like her going after him either….. where her last thoughts as sleep took her.
***
The information relayed across his optic told him the female was finally awake, had seen Mac, had to go back in 24 hrs and was ready to leave medical. He’d been biding his time for over three hours. Irrationally, it seemed like a long time which interfered with his logic. Time was a set factual event. Nothing compromised it. It continued to move forward no matter what at the same steady rhythm.
Walking into medical he nodded to the receptionist. He knew her, she was dating Ted, a Cyborg, he was big even for a Cyborg. His commander was an enhanced human and wouldn’t allow a full mating, feeling the female was too young. But in reality, they were together.
Kate walked out of the corridor and into reception. She was given her appointment for the following day and turn to see him. It was notable that her fizz was gone. “You still stuck with me?” she asked.
He sensed her anxiety in her tone and mannerisms and moved away from the wall and automatically breathed her in. Tasting her on his tongue.
His eyes flared with something she didn’t recognise. “The scent is almost gone…” Did he sound sad?..... Kate nodded walking out into the Gallerea.
She did what she always did and deflected her own concerns. “Yeah well, can’t have all you Cyborgs sniffing my ass, it would get boring quick.” She turned to look at him and was sure for a moment she saw a snigger but just as quickly it was gone. “I need a drink, you coming?”
He gave a sharp nod and she walked off in the direction of the nearest bar. At least he’d stopped sniffing her. That was good right?
***
His data told him alcohol wasn’t the answer and would only make matters worse. He also knew the female wasn’t going to listen if he told her that. He hoped the data was wrong but, it never was. Maybe it was for one drink?..... His data provided the chances of that. Not good then. … Following her, he looked for any reactions from the Cyborgs around her. None…. It could be that they had no Puma
DNA. Not every Cyborg did. Every batch created had something else thrown in the mix depending on what the Designers had been trying to achieve. Lion. Bear. Gorilla. Pure bloods and mixed. Most were a combination of several animals. Pure bloods were rarer because they were found to have more animalistic traits of the one kind of animal. Designers found they didn’t like that, it made them harder to manage.
The bar was pretty full. Mostly humans, several mixed couples of Cyborgs and human mates, a couple of groups of lone Cyborgs. His data showed him it looked the standard ratio. Alcohol didn’t affect Cyborgs as it did humans. Their nano’s quickly purged it from their systems but for the smallest time they had a buzz. And they were learning to be social. Something never considered important in the Earth Corp days or before their evolutionary jump to seeking mates, but the humans needed to see it was possible and the mates, demanded it.
The female took up a position at the bar and waved her hand at the barman. He filled her order and she knocked it straight back and asked for another. Bann sighed internally. Like he said, his data was never wrong….
Damn that was good… “Hit me again.” She was a cat. An Old Earth creature. A Puma. She never saw that one coming…. She threw back the next one and told him to hit her again. What was she supposed to do with that information?
“That is your third in as many minutes.”
Bann…. He had Puma in him too. That was the only thing that explained earlier….. She turned to look at him. He was standing right there, and she hadn’t noticed he’d moved. So quiet and that annoyed her. “What are you, the alcohol police?”
“No. Such a thing does not exist.” Kate smiled the alcohol taking effect. So literal. The literature had said so but it was still strange to see it.
She wave her hand at him up and down. “Puma right?” He gave her a sharp nod. “So is there a club or something I should join?”
Bann turned his head to look at her curiously. A club she should join? Was that human humour?..... He wasn’t sure and often Cyborgs got it wrong. She had a sense of humour that appealed to him. His sensors lit up. “There is no club. We are who we are.”
Kate nodded and threw back the next one. The barman smiling at her while looking her over. Kate smiled back. He was cute but not as cute as Bann….. Whoa, where had that come from? Her hormones were dulled right? No more itching to get laid… No more fizz. Only…. That…. Wasn’t quite true…
She put her hand over the shot glass. “Need a minute to catch up,” she told the barman giving her handprint on the data pad for her drinks. Something was tickling the back of her neck. Kate stretched it as the barman corked the bottle and walked away, she turned to look up at Bann. The place was getting rowdy. Music started from somewhere and people were getting up to dance and her fizz was getting stronger.
So not her thing. Maybe he was right about the alcohol…
“Ever met a female Puma before?”
Bann sensors were going off all over the place. His optic was lit up. He didn’t have to look at it to tell he didn’t like the way the barman had looked at Kate or the way the conversation was going. His data had already made the connection in her DNA. This just confirmed it.
“No. No such thing exists anymore. The animals are long dead.”
He could scent she was annoyed by the answer. “Sorrrry,” she told him exaggerating. “I wasn’t clear enough. A female human hybrid Puma?”
“Is that your official category?” he asked.
Kate shrugged. Hell if she knew…she had a category now?.... “I don’t know but something like that.”
“I have never met a female with spliced Puma DNA. The Designers didn’t mess with female genos in that way. They only wanted male warriors.”
Kate nodded looking away from him taking in the bar. Bloody great. She was an abnormality…..One the fucktard designers didn’t want…. Trying to save her was one thing, what the Designers had done to Cyborgs was horrifying. Did she really have anything to complain about compared to that?....
“I’m sorry that happened to you.” She told him.
He could scent her concern and worry. His systems flagged red again. A tightness in his chest registered and his system automatically ran another diagnostic looking for the cause.
“It was how we were created and although the circumstances were not good and many humans and Cyborgs died during those research years, for those of us that have survived, we have a life now that we never thought possible.”
“That doesn’t make it right.”
“No it does not. Earth Corp are paying for that. The Empire has many cases going through the Intragalactic Courts of Justice.”
“Good. This was done to me to save me. Gran agreed to it. What happened to you guys, something else entirely. I don’t know how they got the Puma DNA in the first place. Black market I expect, it was over 20 years ago so who knows.”
He didn’t say her parents would know, they were dead shortly after she was born. It wasn’t clear how. “Did you check your records?”
She shook her head. “No but I’m guessing Mac did. She had more info than I had. Apparently, I was infected by a parasite and dying. Probably stumbled into something that was heavily contaminated as kids do. It was a halo throw of the dice to save me. There were similarities to Old Earth diseases and Puma were naturally resistant and fought it off. So they gave it to me. Guess it worked.”
“You are unique. Only now you have these side effects?”
Kate shrugged. “Not sure. Mac thinks I’ve always had it from puberty. It probably manifested then, but humans can’t smell it and I just thought it was me enjoying what life gave you.” She wiggled both eyes at him. “Maybe I was and maybe it was the Puma. Hard to say. Here, it seems you guys can smell it. Which I have to say, is unsettling, no one likes to be niffed.” She mock sniffed the air.
Bann had the impulse to smile. “We do not go around sniffing females.”
She raised an eyebrow at him. Cyborgs didn’t lie but they could edge dependent on the context. “Really? What did you do when you first met me?”
“Your scent naturally came to me as does everyone else’s. The difference was concerning, I pinpointed it and naturally limited my breathing and put more effort into filtering it out.”
“Umm which you couldn’t do without taking a niff.” She told him happily.
Bann wasn’t ready to concede. “We appear to be at an impasse on the subject. Your pheromones are much reduced. But I can still sense them.”
Kate nodded. “Mac gave me a shot. It should hold it off but if it goes nuts again you need to tell me ok. If this works, I can start work. I’m going to need something to do so I hope it doesn’t take too long.”
“There are many things to do on the Station.”
“Yeah I know, I’ve read the brief. And I’ve got classes already laid out.”
“Then you have a schedule to keep. Mix it up.”
Kate thought that wasn’t a bad idea until she got the all clear but not particularly keen on any form of exercise. “I don’t like exercise,” she wrinkled her nose. She said more to herself than anyone else.
“There are many forms of exercise and all available on the Station. Walk, swim, keep fit, Tia Chi, meditation, palates, yoga, to name but a few. There is also self-defence that is compulsory and weapons training if you want to do it.”
Some of that didn’t sound so bad. “What do you do?” she asked curiously.
“My designation is a Seek and Destroy Cyborg. My programming reflects that. I maintain that I function at 100% and find what I need to find and kill it.”
Chapter Three
Holy shit that sounded so sexy! Kate froze. Her fizz spiked. She nearly jumped for joy. He smelt soooo good. Was her shot working? “Female, I can scent your desire and pheromones, they are back, stronger than before.”
Kate stared wide eyed up at him, liking the look of him more and more. The burning in her pit told her she was in trouble. The ache in her nipples that more w
as going on here. Her clit pulsed and she tried not to squeeze her thighs together. “I think that’s just me. Your one sexy dude,” she told him leaning in.
Bann put his hand out and held her away from him. By the scent of her skin and the heat coming from her body the alcohol was seriously kicking in or the shot failing.
“The alcohol is having an effect on your body.”
“Umm… Kinda liking that. You smell so good… how about a quickie to take the edge off?” Kate couldn’t have been more surprised as the words slipped passed her lips.
His sensors sent warning across several systems. He liked her directness. “I do not understand the ‘quickie’ reference or how it would take the ‘edge’ off anything.”
BANN Explosive! Page 4