Striking Freedom

by Viola Grace

  Lacey was the newest member of the station before the explosion, but she lost her future right after the blast.

  Lacey had grown up with privilege, but she learned early exactly how deals got made. She used to use her skills to get Adaptation Station their hard-to-come-by supplies, but after the blast, the family that she had been gaining was pulled from her.

  Lacey was transported across the stars where she sat at the side of her grandfather while he bargained away the human race. When she objected, she became a test subject that the Splice took apart.

  Wallowing in depression lasted for a while, but when she got back on her feet and stood tall, she realized that she had work to do, and no one was going to do it for her. Time to get a plan into position and get her band back together.

  The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Striking Freedom

  Copyright © 2019 by Viola Grace

  ISBN: 978-1-987969-71-9

  ©Cover art by Carmen Waters

  All rights reserved. With the exception of review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the express permission of the publisher.

  Published by Viola Grace

  Look for me online at violagrace.com.

  Smashwords Edition

  Striking Freedom

  Mechanical Advantage Book 6

  By

  Viola Grace

  Chapter One

  Lacey was stunned, and she huddled against the wall. Her ears rang, and the world was sideways. Becky and Timi were dead, chunks of the nearby chairs impaling them. She had been just out of the range of that deadly projectiles, but she was now covered with blood.

  Someone had called emergency medics, and they slowly moved through the room, evacuating those who had a chance. Hands eventually lifted her, and she whispered, “I am fine. Get someone else.”

  They ran a scanner over her and helped her into the hall where chairs had been set up. She slumped into her seat and looked through the open doors. Lucky was being treated for the acid burns, the bomb had burned her tissue. The negligee that Lacey had bought her for her birthday was smoldering in an acid-burned heap.

  Lacey hung her head down, and she breathed in and exhaled slowly. One moment just shattered her life and the lives of all her friends. Over a dozen women had been in that room, and only five made it out alive.

  She stared at the bodies and let the image get burned into her mind. This is what hell looked like.

  Two days later, everyone was gone. She was told that they had been sent to the best stations to assist in their recovery, but Lacey had her doubts.

  She sat in the shuttle as the pilot left what was left of the base. “Where are we going?”

  “General Adams has requested you as his aide. He is on one of the distant bases and needs you at his side for negotiations.”

  She made a face. “My grandfather rarely needs anyone.”

  “He has requested you.”

  She grunted. “Great. Can’t wait.”

  Her grandfather was the most manipulative man on Earth. She wasn’t surprised to find that he was sleazing around in the stars. She had left Earth to get away from her family, and now, he was here and pulling her back in.

  She really hated that man.

  “How long until we reach his base?”

  “Two days. Get comfortable and feel free to roam the shuttle. There is plenty of room, and you have complete access to all of the features of the meal supply.”

  “Thank you.”

  She didn’t smirk or laugh at him. He genuinely thought that it was special treatment.

  Her time on the vessel was spent looking for her friends from the station and sleeping. She knew her grandfather, and her time with him was not going to be restful.

  Lacey sat next to her grandfather with a metal gag over her mouth, shackled to the edge of the table. She was forced to sit there while he drank with members of the Splice high command. She listened as he and others like him traded the access codes for the Earth’s new shields to the species that wanted to take humanity apart.

  She listened to the growls and murmurs, understanding one very important thing. She was being handed over to the Splice to seal the deal. She was the good-faith offering. A pure human with no touch of nanites in her body. They could experiment on her all they liked and find out how best to use the billions of beings they had just been given the keys to.

  When the Splice dragged her off to their lab, she fought. She wasn’t giving in. She had one life to live, and they were not going to get it from her.

  Lacey was lying on the gurney and trying to ignore the screaming pain in her body. She carefully formed the words that she needed. “Have you ever simply done robotic implants?”

  The physician working on her looked up in surprise. “You can speak our tongue?”

  “I can. So, have you ever done robotic implants? They would be an excellent way to create nearly instant strength and stamina. The body can make better use of circulation, and the stamina is inherent in the complete oxygenation that can be offered by a few breaths. Everything is more efficient.”

  The doctor paused and tapped his chin with a brilliant blue arm. “You have brought up an interesting subject. I will consider it.”

  He considered it for twelve days, and then, he arrived with long robot limbs tucked under his arm and a determined expression.

  What followed was four of the most hellish days of Lacey’s life, but when the tests were over and she was sitting up and moving the limbs, she nodded. “Very well done.”

  The doctor nodded and grinned. “This is an amazing technique. I am going to share it across the Splice network.”

  Lacey sighed. “No, you are not.”

  The robotic hand sliced through his neck, and her foot kept him still while she went through his databases, got all the information she could, and then destroyed the works.

  The doctor had gifted her with mobility after her limbs had been removed for other purposes. She lit the data port on fire, and then, she moved carefully through the base, wearing a sheet for concealment. She killed every single communications node that she could until she reached the shuttle bay.

  Moving her body into the hatch and getting settled behind the controls took a strange sort of crouch. She got the engines warmed up, and then, she throttled forward, knocking one after another of the Splice aside.

  She shot out and up, pulling a lot of gees in order to get her off the world as fast as she could.

  The nav computer was being taken over, so she let her fingers fly over the keys of the programming station in order to defy them until she was out of range.

  Where the hell was she going to go now?

  She opened the nav computer and worked out the location of a world she had traded with before. They wouldn’t offer her sanctuary, but she would be able to get the Splice shuttle torn to pieces in a matter of minutes and use the proceeds to start her plan to get a message to the Earth, and from there, she had to work at protecting the population in the grand scheme of things.

  She hated the word scheme. It always sounded so smarmy.

  Her Delocothan was rusty, but she could manage a few words, enough to get her point across. From there, she could buy a small building and begin to work on thwarting her only living relative. It was nice to set goals.

  When she made contact with one of her fixers, he agreed to meet her just outside the scrapping ground. It was rather fun for him. He had never met her in person.

  Lacey ran scans, and she found seventeen men where she was only
to be meeting one. The others were all hidden in the shadows of the wrecked metal. So, it was an ambush.

  She had crafted a caftan of sorts out of the medical wraps at the back of the ship. The spots where metal and flesh connected were still not very happy.

  Lacey settled the shuttle and powered it down. Demor stepped toward the small ship, and she waited until he was near to the hatch before she blew it outward. She stepped out, one long limb at a time, and finally stood upright properly for the first time. “Oh, dear, Demor. That was close.”

  He looked at her and the metalwork that was projecting from her body. She stepped toward him and extended her hand, flat for him to place his hand on top of.

  It was a formal greeting between equals.

  He swallowed, his grey-blue skin paled even more. “Lacey? Lacey of Adaptation Station?”

  She smiled slightly and used her free hand to pull the loose hood away from her face. “Fresh from a Splice lab.”

  “What!”

  She was surprised by his surprise. “I thought you knew. Who put the bounty on my head?”

  “Earth Defense.”

  She sighed. “Ah. Well, they are trying to destroy their own world in order to profit. I admire the sentiment but despise the billions who are going to die.”

  He let out a sharp whistle, and his men came out of the shadows, but they didn’t move.

  “Lacey, what do you want from me?”

  “Just what I said. I want this ship sliced to pieces and sold off for components. I am going to take the money gained and parlay it into an empire.”

  “You are safe in my company. If you came from a Splice lab, you are definitely stronger than I gave you credit for. Your language skills are also impressive.”

  She inclined her head. “Balance has become easier. How tall would you say I am?”

  “Eight feet. You are definitely imposing.”

  She chuckled. “Good. And thank you for the offer of temporary safety. I just wish for some rest and a meal if one can be arranged.”

  “I can give you those. It is simple enough. The ship will be taken to bits in the next few hours, but they have put a lot of money on your head.”

  “Will you try and claim it eventually?” She smiled slowly.

  “I might but not now.”

  “Let me rest, and then, I think you should. If I turn myself in, will you share the bounty with me?”

  His shock was evident. “They mean to kill you.”

  “I know. I am dangerous. But, if they want me, they can pay for it.”

  “What are you doing?”

  “I need money, and I need it fast. The easiest way to obtain it is by having Earth Defense pay me for my own body.”

  “You are willing to split it down the middle?”

  She laughed. “I am, it will be more than I have now. How much are they offering?”

  “Nine million credits.”

  Her mouth opened in shock, and she closed it with a snap. “Right. Half of that can definitely get me started.”

  “If you manage this, I will propose a partnership.”

  She pursed her lips. “I think I will want to keep the rest of my profits for myself.”

  He slowly grinned. “No, just for fun. I want to see what you can do with a small bit of help on worlds you haven’t been to. What is your grand plan?”

  “Punish Earth Defense and extinguish the Splice.”

  “I can get behind both of those goals. If you want an operational assistant, I am offering my services and that of my family. We can spread the word and help you hide in this system.”

  She nodded. “That is a tempting offer. All I need to do is pull off the bounty?”

  “That money will purchase my assistance for decades.”

  He put his hand over the metal claw that she held out. “Then, I am glad to have chosen you out of my contacts.”

  He grinned, and his lower canines jutted up and to either side of his nose.

  “Right. One nap, a few human-capable rations, and then, bring on Earth Defense.” She squeezed lightly, and he winced before she let him go. “I cannot stand those who betray me.”

  His wide-eyed nod indicated his understanding.

  He led her to his warehouse, and his men attacked the shuttle with saws and cutting lasers.

  She was burning her bridges behind her, but she was hoping that she had chosen the best partner to build ahead of her.

  Chapter Two

  Her hands were tied with rope in front of her, and she was carried in a wad to the Earth Defense ship two days later.

  Demor spoke to the leader, and he gestured to her. “She ran here because I have traded with her in the past. The funds of Earth Defense are far more impressive than past transactions.”

  One of the humans came up to Lacey, and he pulled back her hood. “Lucrezia Adams?”

  She looked at him and smiled tightly. “Fuck off.”

  “What is wrong with your body?”

  She looked away. “Splice lab.”

  He had been reaching for the edge of her robes, but he pulled his hand back. “What did they do?”

  She gave him a disbelieving look. “After my grandfather sold me to them, they removed my limbs so that they could run experiments on a pure human. A female at that.”

  Demor was getting the transfer, and when he gave her the nod, she continued her discussion as she snapped the rope that hid the metal of her hands.

  There were six men from Earth Defense, all pure human. “Since I believe General Adams has sent you, I believe that you should report on what you have found.”

  The man near her stepped back as she rose to her feet and continued to rise.

  She spoke calmly. “A man takes his only blood and gives it to the Splice for profit. That man does not have Earth Defense in mind, he wishes for profit and perverted luxury.”

  She stepped toward the man who had confirmed her identity. “He will see you destroyed, he will see all of humanity destroyed, and it will be all in the name of his own glory.”

  The men were backing toward their shuttle, but she sent the command signal, and it sealed.

  She smiled and pulled her robes to one side as she walked. “I will be taking your vessel. You can summon another one. Also, do let my grandfather know that I am coming for him. He will meet his end far before the Earth does. I will make sure of it.”

  They looked at her with horror. Demor had provided a bodysuit with truncated limbs, and the joins of metal and flesh were concealed, but there was no mistaking the lack of human appendages on her body.

  Two of the staunch military men vomited. She closed her robes and walked past them to the shuttle.

  A blast struck next to her, and the leader looked at her with his skin grey and his hands shaking. “We have orders to take you in, Lucrezia Adams.”

  “Don’t worry, honey. As of now, she is dead. I am Lacey, or as the Delocothan say, I am the Tall One.”

  “What do we tell the general?”

  “You saw me, and I died escaping. This shuttle will record an explosion in low orbit, and then, the tracker will go dark. Simple enough. I have even included a recording of my death.”

  He frowned. “How?”

  “Oh, pumpkin, you have no idea what my grandfather made me learn. Acquisition, espionage, wiring, and command of all Earth Defense transport, and of course, table etiquette and cotillion.”

  She set foot on the ramp and met the leader’s gaze, eye to eye. “I am going to save Earth by reassembling the best team I have ever seen in action. It isn’t going to be quick, but the Splice have been delayed in their attack plans.”

  “What?”

  She leaned toward the man while her multi-jointed legs stepped back and into the ship. “General Adams and some of the other command jackasses found another species that is close to humanity, and they directed the Splice toward them, to strengthen themselves for the attack on Earth. They are low tech and haven’t even left their own world yet. They will be sla
ughtered.”

  “They wouldn’t!” One of the pukers muttered it.

  “Yes. Of course, they wouldn’t, and these metal limbs are birth defects. They aren’t human, and that means that only an alien could have applied them. Since I was in Splice custody until a few days ago and the joins are mostly healed... who do you think put them in? Who do you think our leaders are working with to set themselves up on paradise planets with alien mistresses and concubines of either sex? Take a long look at where they are and who they are with. You can either join them or be with the collapse when it happens.”

  The men looked at each other, and the leader asked, “What choices do we have?”

  “Life or death. You can go to Khiron Base and settle in. When we start to make our move, you will know.”

  “We? Who is we?”

  She nodded to Demor, who held up his data pad. The transfer was complete. She had the money for her arrest, now she just had to blow up the ship.

  Easy.

  She shook out the robes and looked at the building that she was purchasing. It was her thirtieth on as many worlds. Lacey had never imagined that she would have set foot on all those worlds, but it was now normal.

  “Madam? Do you like it?”

  “What kind of labour situation is it? Can I get builders in to make some modifications?”

  The elegant and wispy Leklara smiled. “Of course. How discreet?”

  “Very discreet.”

  “It will be extra.”

  “That is understood.”

  “What did you have in mind?”

  Lacey turned and looked at her. “Are you the builder?”

  The agent paled. “No, Madam. I... apologize.”

  Lacey chuckled. “It is nothing extreme. I have certain height requirements that need to be accommodated in every room that I will frequent.”