by Susan Hayes
“So, you’re saying I’m not as charming as I think I am? My ego disagrees.”
They reached the doors of the Nova Club, nodded to the two guards on the door, and walked inside.
Once they were in, Owen stepped into the shadows, pulling Royan with him. “I know you were joking, but there’s something you need to understand. If we’re serious about Tianna, if we want her in our lives, then you need to take your ego out of the equation.”
He thought about it, then nodded. “I can do that.”
“I know you can.” Owen stroked his cheek. “I’m going to need your help, too. Trusting someone with my heart is not easy for me.”
“I know.” Royan leaned his head into Owen’s caress. “So, we’re doing this? You, me, and Tia makes three?”
“I don’t know how we’re going to make this work. Hell, I don’t know if it will work at all, but yeah, I’m willing to give it a try. But, if it doesn’t work, or she refuses to reconsider, then we have to respect her choice.”
He groaned. “Life was so much simpler before I met you. No relationships, no regrets.”
“And no me. Come on, admit it. I’m worth the sacrifice,” Owen said.
The last of Royan’s anger and hurt melted away. Tianna’s rejection stung, but he hadn’t lost everything. He still had Owen. “Yeah, you are. I know I don’t say this often, but I’m lucky to have you in my life.”
“Right back at you.”
They kissed and then headed to the bar to put in an order. “We’re going to need coffee and food.”
“You’re going to need to be a little more specific,” Teenie said, grinning up at him. She was a fixture around the club, part hostess and part bartender with all the energy of a supernova stuffed into a pint-sized package.
Owen chimed in. “Make it two black coffees and two orders of cherry pie.”
“Inspiration?” he asked.
Owen nodded. “If we’re going to figure this mess out, we’re going to need all the inspiration we can get.”
“Coffee and pie coming up, just as soon as you get some clothes on. You know the rules, Owen. Nebula knows you enforced them often enough.”
“I’ll grab something out of the back. They still keep spare gear in the staff room, right?”
“Nothing’s changed around here since you left. Go on, I’ll have coffee waiting by the time you get back.”
“You’re making him get dressed? Way to spoil my fun, woman.”
Teenie just laughed and waved them off. “Grab a table. I’ll have the coffee to you shortly. Whatever you’ve done, I hope you can fix it.”
“So do I, Teenie. So do I.”
Chapter Sixteen
Tianna pushed her body to limits she hadn’t tested since she’d left rehab, but nothing she did helped clear her mind. Fragments of memories came and went, echoes of past fights with her father, of angry challenges and frustration fuelled workouts just like this one. There were other flashbacks, too. A few jagged recollections of lying in the wreckage of her skimmer, broken and bleeding. That’s when everything changed. Lying there, she’d bargained with the universe, promising to be better, to do better, if only she lived somehow. The universe had delivered on its side of the bargain, and she’d done her best to do the same. The accident happened years ago, though. She’d come to terms with everything, embraced her role as the heir. So, why did it feel so wrong all of a sudden?
She slammed her fist into the punching bag she’d been beating on for the last fifteen minutes. Royan. Owen. They’d done this to her. From the second she’d stepped onto the Sun Sprite, she’d been tempted by them. Not just physically, though stars knew they were sexy enough to tempt an old Earth saint. They were a reminder of everything she renounced after the accident. Everything she couldn’t have.
“I should have never have given in.” Slam. “I was an idiot.” Thunk. She punctuated each statement with another blow. “I put all that nonsense behind me years ago.”
She pulled her next punch, distracted by what she’d said. What the hell? Nonsense? Her choices hadn’t been nonsense. That was one of her father’s pet phrases. Why the fraxx had she said that?
More memory fragments crashed into her awareness. She was barely conscious. In pain. Terrible pain. Someone was talking. “Whatever it takes. I know the risks. But she can’t…” The voice faded. Had it been her father?
She winced. Her headache was back. Or maybe it had never left, but she’d managed to ignore it for a while. Pain was funny that way. She’d learned that during the months she’d spent in rehab, learning to control her new limbs and undergoing countless procedures until everything worked the way it should. She’d had to relearn everything. Walking, eating, dressing herself. It had been frustrating, depressing, and painful.
There were so many times she had wished that her implants included pain control. Cyborg soldiers had the ability to temporarily block input from their pain receptors, along with a host of other abilities she lacked. Of course, cyborg modifications were done while they were developing in their maturation vats, which allowed for far more extensive modifications.
Frustrated with the way her thoughts flowed from one topic to another, she hit the bag one last time, nearly tearing it out of the ceiling. Exercise wasn’t the answer, which meant it was time for extreme measures. “Tink, have the food dispenser prepare a cherry pie and a litre of vanilla ice cream. And yes, I mean a whole entire pie. Freshly baked.”
“Submitting request now. Your food will be ready in seventeen minutes.”
“Thank you. I’m going to use the steam room and then head back up to shower.”
“Do you wish the music to continue playing?”
“Change music to relaxation playlist and leave at the current volume.”
The music changed, the pounding beat replaced with the sound of ocean waves crashing against some unseen shore. Usually this track helped calm her mind, but she didn’t have much hope it would work this time. She stripped off her gear and dropped it to the floor for the household bots to deal with, pausing just long enough to toe off her shoes before entering the small steam room one of her predecessors had installed.
The whole gym area wasn’t shown on the plans she’d reviewed. There was no mention of where the funds came from, either. She had no doubt the money had been rerouted from a maintenance project somewhere. What did the executives care if the lower levels’ air quality dropped? They weren’t breathing it.
Royan and Owen had helped her understand the problems with the station. No one here had mentioned anything about it. She wondered if they even noticed, or if they stayed in the safe, well-maintained sections where a fleet of bots kept everything spotless and the air was perfectly purified.
She pulled two towels out, wrapping one around her waist as she stepped into the steam room and took a slow, lingering breath as she sat down. The warm, cherry-scented air fill her lungs, and she smiled at Tink’s choice. If anything would help her relax tonight, it would be that scent. “Thank you Tink. That smells wonderful.”
The more she thought about Royan and Owen, the stronger her regrets became. They deserved better than what she’d done to them, throwing them out in the middle of the night. Owen didn’t even have shoes on. She recalled the day they’d arrived, and how he’d carried her so her bare feet hadn’t touched the filthy floors of the station. She hadn’t shown Owen even that much consideration. Dammit, she owed them an apology. Pushing them away was the right thing to do, but she’d handled it wrong. Why was that? Why had she gotten so angry? She planted her elbows on her thighs and leaned forward, breathing in the steam. So many questions, and no fraxxing answers.
A shadow flitted across the frosted glass door of the steam room. Must be one of the household droids tidying up the gym. She’d left it in a bit of a mess, just like everything else she’d touched tonight.
The shadow returned, and this time she caught a better look. That was no droid. The shape was wrong. Too tall. Too…human.
&
nbsp; Adrenaline coursed through her as she got to her feet, rewrapping the towel so it covered her breasts. Had they come back? If it was Owen and Royan, why hadn’t they said something by now?
She raised her hand to her mouth and whispered. “Tink. Vibration response only. Is there someone in the gym? One for yes, two for no.”
Her bracelet buzzed once, then paused and buzzed twice in rapid succession.
“Two attackers?”
One buzz. Fraxx.
She backed away from the door, angling her body so she could still see it, but wasn’t in direct line of sight. Then, she whispered another command. “Notify the guards there’s a problem.”
Another buzz.
There was nothing in the small room but herself, two towels, and a whole lot of water vapor. There was no place to hide, and her options for weapons were limited. She grabbed the towel from the bench, shook it out, and started using it to soak up the water from the floor and walls. As soon as it was wet, she spun it into a rope and coiled it in one hand like a whip.
She waited another minute, heart pounding, mouth dry despite the steam. The music droned on, but it would take more than the sounds of the ocean to soothe her frazzled nerves, now. Where were the guards? They should be here by now.
The shadow reappeared, and then a second one, and all hope that it was her guys vanished. One shadow was much smaller than the other.
They’d been right about the danger she faced. If she lived through this, she owed them both a long list of apologies. She stopped herself. There was no if. She would survive. She wasn’t a helpless heiress. She was almost a cyborg. If it came to a choice between protecting that secret or dying, she’d deal with the consequences. One day, the universe would have figured it out. She’d just hoped that day was a few decades from now.
She crouched, tensed, and waited. If they wanted her, they’d have to come and get her.
Another minute crept by and still the guards didn’t come. She was on her own.
More movement, the door was yanked open and blaster bolts tore through the air, shattering the tiles on the back wall. The broken tiles hit her like shrapnel, tearing through her towel and bare flesh alike, and leaving her bleeding from dozens of cuts.
The second the firing stopped she charged the door, using every bit of her enhanced strength. Through the steam, she saw the larger shape fill the doorway and she hit them square on. She felt his ribs give way beneath her shoulder, heard the grunt of pain as all the air left her attacker’s lungs, then they were both on the ground and she was scrambling to get to her feet. Someone moved behind her and she spun around, lashing out with the wet towel she held. It snapped, striking the second assailant on the arm. A woman. Like her partner, she was dressed all in black.
Another bolt of blaster fire. Agony tore through her left shoulder. Fraxx. She spun around again, saw the man she’d knocked down had drawn his weapon. He fired again, but she was already moving. She was faster than he expected and the next shot went wide. The tattered remains of her towel slipped, and she tore it away without looking down, tossing it in the man’s face on the ground as she sped past him. She couldn’t fight two at once, not with one arm. She had to even the odds.
There was a rack of free weights set up against one wall. They’d have to do. She dodged another flurry of blaster fire, barely feeling the one that grazed her hip. It slowed her down, though, and that made her an easier target. Shit. Shit. Shit. She made it to the rack and grabbed the first weight she could reach, spinning around and hurling it at her male attacker. He’d made it to his knees, which meant he couldn’t move out of the way as the weight came flying at him. It hit him in the face with a sickening crunch and he crumpled to the floor.
“Bryce. No!” the woman screamed as her partner toppled backward.
Tianna took advantage of her adversary’s distraction to look for the dead man’s weapon. There. On the floor. Under his hand.
She was too far away. She’d never get to it before the woman fired again. The wound on her hip burned, her left arm was useless. She needed one more distraction.
“You killed him.” The woman was sobbing.
“He tried to kill me.” Tianna took a step back, closer to the weights.
“But you won’t fraxxing die. What the hell are you?” The woman raised her blaster, pointing it straight at Tianna.
“Hard to kill,” she retorted, then dropped to the floor as a bolt sizzled through the air where she’d been standing. Nanotech and sheer stubbornness were the only things keeping her on her feet right now, and she was reaching the limits of both.
She grabbed a weight and flung it at the surviving attacker. Her position didn’t give her much of an angle, so she aimed for the only thing she felt certain she could hit, the woman’s legs.
This time, the impact was more of a snap than a crunch, and her target went down with an anguished wail. Running on adrenaline and fear, she pushed herself to her feet one-handed and bolted to the downed man, grabbing the blaster from his hand. His dead hand. A shudder of revulsion passed through her. She’d need a vat of disinfectant and a year of therapy after tonight.
With the blaster trained on the woman, she finally let herself take a deep breath and think instead of simply reacting. “Who are you, and who sent you?”
The woman groaned. Her face was as pale as starlight and there were tears of grief and pain etched into the lines of her face. She was still on the ground, her ruined leg at an unnatural angle.
Tianna walked over to her, kicked the second blaster out of reach, and backed away again. “Answer my questions.”
“Fraxx, you.”
Now that she had time to look more closely, Tianna could see the resemblance she’d missed until now. “No, Katy Valentine, I’m pretty sure you’re the one that’s fraxxed.”
“You know me?” Owen’s sister asked.
“I know your brother, Owen. He was on that ship you tried to attack back at Taza 4. Did you know that?”
Katy wheezed with laughter. “That fool always did have lousy luck. If he hadn’t interfered, you’d be dead and I’d be collecting my payment.”
“Your luck doesn’t seem that great either. Three attempts on my life, and I’m still breathing.”
“I only tried twice. The first time wasn’t me. I got tapped for clean up.”
Now they were getting somewhere. “Tink, are you recording this?”
“I am now. I have also contacted Corp-Sec. Officers are on their way here.”
“And the guards upstairs?”
“Have still not responded to their comms.”
“They’re dead. Bryce took them out once I let him in. Been watching you for days, but my brother and that idiot you’re both fucking were always around, so we had to wait.”
Days. She’d convinced herself she was safe, but she’d been a target the whole time. “Who sent you?”
“No idea. The order came down the chain of command.”
“What chain? Who do you work for?”
“After Corp-Sec and those IAF bastards broke up the cartels, the survivors started working together.”
“You work for the cartels? Why do they want me dead?” This didn’t make any sense. Not that she was thinking clearly at the moment. Adrenaline and pain were making it hard to focus, and staying on her feet was taking up a lot of her attention.
“No idea. Maybe because you’re an abomination?”
“I’m not.”
“Well you’re not human, either.” Katy gestured to her with an unsteady hand. “You’re covered in blood, full of holes, and you’re still standing. Not to mention you threw a hunk of steel so hard it broke my fraxxing leg.”
Tianna glanced down at herself. Katy had a point. She looked like she’d walked naked through a slaughterhouse. She was slick with blood, and more of it was pooling at her feet. Well, that explained why she was dizzy. Not even her medi-bots could keep up with this kind of damage. She gave up trying to stand and sat down, keeping the blaster
trained on Katy the whole time.
“How long until help arrives, Tink?”
“They’re entering your residence now. I’ve indicated you will require medical treatment. Medics are also on their way.”
“Great.” She didn’t need a medic. All she needed was a few hours of rest while her body repaired itself.
“What about me? Whatever you are, you’re clearly going to survive. I’m the one with a broken leg.”
“I’m sure Corp-Sec will see to it you get medical treatment. It will probably come faster if you cooperate, though.”
“If I cooperate, the first thing I’m telling them is that the heir to Astek’s fortune isn’t even human.” Katy said with a sneer.
It finally hit her. This was it. Her secret was about to be revealed, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She expected to be angry, or afraid, but all she felt was a calm acceptance. It was out of her hands, now.
“You’re some kind of cyborg, aren’t you?”
Heavy footsteps thundered down the stairs and she belatedly remembered she was naked. She couldn’t do anything about it, though. She only had one good arm, and she needed to keep the blaster aimed at Katy.
“What I am is …complicated,” she said as the door crashed open and a familiar shape charged into view, blaster in hand.
“Tia!” Owen roared.
Royan arrived next. “Holy fraxx. What happened in here?”
“This is the part where you both get to tell me you told me so, I apologize, then hopefully one of you gives me your shirt so I don’t have to meet everyone else naked. And before you ask, I’m okay. It looks a lot worse than it is.”
“I’m glad to hear it, because you look like hell, sweetheart.” Royan skinned his shirt over his head and started to hand it to her, then paused when he saw her mangled shoulder. “She shot you?”
“They both did,” she told Royan. “Tink, tell Corp-Sec things are under control, please.”
“Confirmed.”