Choosing Chuckles

by Cynthia Sax

  Chuckles targeted their kneecaps next, calmly shooting one after another. That was retribution for what their kind had done to him.

  The humans toppled over, their screams growing louder as their wounds slammed against the stone. The big one writhed, clutching his legs.

  The shorter one managed to grab his long gun, aim it, press the trigger. Projectiles whizzed past Chuckles. One grazed his cheek, leaving a trail of pain.

  He ignored that agony, stalked toward them. “Where are the others?”

  “Fuck you, machine.” The big one yelled that unhelpful response.

  “That’s the wrong answer.” Chuckles shot him in the groin.

  The human screamed. Blood sprayed, tinting the rock red.

  “The bovine you’re fucking is going to die.” The shorter one shot frantically at Chuckles.

  He twisted his torso, avoiding most of the projectiles. His body armor protected him from the rest.

  “That’s also the wrong answer.” He peppered the male’s wrists with projectiles.

  The long gun dropped to the ground, taking the human’s hands with it. The male screamed. Loudly.

  That should attract attention.

  He did the same to the big human’s wrists. The male tried to avoid the damage, quickly thrashing his arms. But Chuckles was a cyborg, had a cyborg’s reaction time. The flailing didn’t stop him from removing the male’s hands.

  “In what direction did Dusta and the two other males go?” He aimed his guns first at the short human and then at the tall human.

  “We’ll die before we tell you.” The short human yelled that answer.

  Chuckles sensed beings behind him. “The short one is yours, Leader.”

  The furry beings scurried forward. They tore the human apart limb by limb, slicing the skin off his form. The scent of freshly spilled blood tainted the air. The male’s screams rose in pitch higher and higher and higher and then abruptly stopped.

  The big human curled into a ball and whimpered. “Please don’t kill me.”

  Chuckles hadn’t yet killed any beings this planet rotation. His softhearted female would be proud of him. “Where are the others?”

  “Scanned the terrain. Saw lifeforms in that direction.” The human gestured with his damaged wrists, blood pulsing from the stumps. “They entered there.” He pointed to a place farther west.

  The humans weren’t as lacking in logic as they seemed. Instead of following the most direct path from their landing site to the location where Chuckles had left his female, they planned to circle around it, attack from a different angle.

  His female wouldn’t be expecting that. And she was one being facing three better-armed, more-skilled males.

  Chuckles had to return to her side. Quickly.

  “Retreat to the tree line.” That instruction was for the furry beings.

  Leader snatched the bodies of his brethren from the big human’s garments and scurried toward the safety of the trees. The other furry beings followed him.

  The human couldn’t move. He was damaged too badly.

  “I can’t retreat.” A whine edged the male’s voice.

  Chuckles ignored him. He picked up the missile launcher, balanced it on his right shoulder, pointed it at the ship.

  “You said you wouldn’t kill me if I told you where the others went.” That was the next complaint.

  “I never said I wouldn’t kill you.” He issued no such vow. “I won’t be the entity responsible for your death, however.”

  He pressed the trigger and dropped face-first on the ground.

  The boom temporarily shut down his auditory system, the sound louder than he had expected. An unanticipated level of heat and amount of projectiles rushed along his form, removing the skin from the back of his head, stripping some of the body armor from his back.

  Fraggin’ hole. The humans must have had a huge stockpile of explosives on board their ship. He hadn’t factored in that variable, would have positioned himself farther away if he’d known.

  The pain he was experiencing was his reprimand for being sloppy. It could have been worse. He might not have survived his mistake.

  That would have left his female alone, unprotected. He would have failed her, the sole being in this universe he was responsible for safeguarding.

  The chaos stopped. Chuckles jumped to his booted feet. Some of the trees behind him had fallen. The rest should have sheltered the furry beings from the blast.

  There wasn’t much left of the human. His skull had been removed from his body. Shrapnel was embedded in his torso.

  “The blast killed you, not me.” Technically, Chuckles hadn’t ended that lifespan. There was a 65.9283 percent probability, however, his female would assign him accountability for the deed.

  He jogged to the end of the tree-covered terrain, the site the human had indicated. The ache in his knee was now rivalled by the agony coursing along his scorched back. He disregarded both, scanning his surroundings.

  Vegetation was crushed. The path the humans had taken was easily visible. Dusta and his males hadn’t attempted to hide their trail.

  Chuckles tracked them easily. He allowed his left foot to drag, snapped off small branches as he passed trees, seeking to divert the humans’ attention to him.

  His female waited for him, unaware of the danger approaching her. He had to stop the males from accessing her location.

  Energy pulsed through his circuits. His heart pounded.

  Blood dripped on his face. He glanced upward.

  “The back of your head resembles the shiny sticks.” Leader’s fur was stained red. “The other furless beings were not that way.”

  “The other furless beings weren’t my kind.” He was a cyborg, not human.

  “Ahhh…the inside of furless beings determines their kind.” Leader nodded, readily accepting that logic.

  The male’s model for determining the nature of beings might be correct. Chuckles’ female had originally been human, like the Humanoid Alliance males they were chasing, yet her insides, her soft-hearted nature and her giving, trusting soul placed her into a different classification of being.

  “We will not know which furless beings are good and which are bad by looking at them.” Leader tilted his head, his brown eyes bright with processing. “We will only kill the furless beings that point shiny sticks at us.”

  “Some furless beings are very fast.” Chuckles had fought humanoids like that. “Keep out of their range before you know their kind.”

  Leader nodded. “I will keep my kind safe.”

  Chuckles would keep his female safe also. He hunted the humans, following them through the treed terrain.

  “They wore my brethren like I wear your female’s decoration, furless being.” Leader’s voice was soft, his words edged with intense grief.

  Chuckles had felt the same pain when his friends had died. “They cut my brethren open while they were alive and removed their parts.”

  “Why would they do that?”

  Chuckles shrugged, not having an answer to that question. Humans were illogical. His systems would spin endlessly if he assigned them the tasks of making sense of those beings.

  Gunfire rang out, the rat-a-tat-tat never ceasing. The humans must be shooting at anything and everything, wasting projectiles, not caring if they damaged the innocent.

  Something ahead of Chuckles crashed through the vegetation. His lifeform scan identified it as a large human heading in their direction.

  “Get back.” He waved at the furry beings, indicating they should retreat.

  Projectiles whizzed through the air, punching holes in leaves and shattering the bark on trees. The human was blindly spraying the area in front of him.

  The furry beings were now high above Chuckles. They should be protected. Humans rarely processed to shoot upward.

  Cyborgs, in contrast, processed that threats could originate from anywhere.

  Chuckles evaluated tactics to deal with the approaching human. He could s
hoot back. That would kill the first being, but it would scare away anyone following him.

  That was not optimal. There were three Humanoid Alliance males, three threats and Chuckles had to stop them all.

  He braced his booted feet apart and waited.

  Projectiles zinged in a straight line from left to right at chest level. He turned, reducing the target area, jumped to the right at cyborg speed. Pain skimmed along his bare back.

  The human appeared on the makeshift path, a long gun in his hand. Their gazes met. The male’s eyes widened. His mouth opened.

  Chuckles threw a dagger. The blade pierced the human’s throat, sinking hilt deep into skin and flesh and bone.

  The male made a gurgling noise and clutched the source of his pain with both of his hands. The long gun fell.

  Chuckles rushed forward and caught the weapon before it hit the ground. The long gun was calibrated for use by anyone, the humans not bothering to lock it. He continued shooting, not missing a beat as the human flopped over, his arms and legs twitching.

  “Your sharp shiny rock killed him?” Leader hung from a branch over his head.

  “Yes.” He waited for one, two, three heartbeats, firing at nothing.

  No one approached them. The human had been returning to the ship alone.

  That meant the two other males continued to move toward Chuckles’ fragile human female. One thrown dagger could end her lifespan also.

  Fraggin’ hole. Chuckles tossed the long gun away from him and ran at full cyborg speed along the trail. His holsters and sheaths were filled with weapons, and the long gun would only slow him down.

  One of the furry beings tried to pick the weapon up. It was too large and heavy for him to easily handle.

  “Leave it.” Leader barked that order at his brethren. “We will return for it later.”

  “They want to kill my female.” Chuckles’ knee, back, and skull pained him, but all he could think about was her. “Stop that from happening, Leader, and I will show you how to manufacture sharp shiny rocks.”

  Primitive versions of those weapons could be fabricated from stone.

  “I would stop that from happening for no reward, furless being.” Leader huffed as he tried to match his speed. “I consider your female to be one of us.”

  Because that was his female’s skill. Chuckles pressed his lips together. Beings liked her, accepted her, considered her to be theirs.

  Yet she was his, only his, and he adored her, couldn’t envision a future without his baby. He had to save her, protect her.

  She was depending on him. He wouldn’t fail her.

  “But I do want to learn how to manufacture sharp shiny rocks.” Leader finally admitted to that.

  Chuckles would teach Leader anything he wanted to learn if the furry being helped him save his little human.

  He had to reach her before the evil humans did.

  Chapter Sixteen

  The gunfire sounded as though it originated closer to them. Bettina peered ahead of her, couldn’t see much. The terrain was thick with trees and other vegetation.

  There was a tug on her right arm. She looked down, met Blue Eyes’ gaze.

  Her friend chattered, turned, gestured at the females and offspring positioned behind them. She wanted to join them.

  Blue Eyes didn’t understand what they were doing.

  Bettina pointed the other way. “Bad bad.” Her furry being vocabulary was limited. She pointed at herself and flattened her palm, turning it so it was vertical, representing a wall. Then she pointed at the other furry beings. “Friend.”

  Blue Eyes nodded. Her expression darkened. She pointed to herself, made the wall gesture also. “Friend.”

  They would both guard the others.

  Bettina holstered one of her guns and grasped her friend’s small hand. Blue Eyes chattered. She recognized every fifth word and struggled to follow the conversation. But the stream of communication was comforting. It took her mind of the very real possibility her cyborg could be in danger.

  Or injured. Or worse.

  “Come back to me in one piece, sir.” She said that under her breath.

  “Friend?” Blue Eyes heard her and didn’t understand.

  “It’s nothing.” Bettina indicated that with her hands. She had to learn more words. Chuckles could teach her.

  If he ever returned. Her stomach twisted with apprehension.

  Blue Eyes must have sensed her turmoil. Her friend squeezed her hand.

  Something crashed through the underbrush, coming toward her. That wouldn’t be her cyborg. Chuckles, even with his battered knee, walked quietly.

  Bettina raised her gun, braced herself for the confrontation.

  An air-splitting twang made her jump.

  “Fuuuuuuccccckkkk.” A male cursed.

  One of the traps had been activated. She ran toward the sound.

  Blue Eyes swung up into the branches. Her little friend was much faster than she was, racing on ahead.

  Gunfire sounded. Who was the male shooting at?

  Oh shit. Bettina accelerated, pumping her arms. “Blue Eyes, come back.” Her muscles strained. Sweat dripped between her breasts.

  She spotted the male. He dangled from his feet, high in the air, a long gun in his hands. Projectiles whizzed above her head.

  The bastard was shooting at the furry beings.

  She lifted her gun, lined him up in the sights, and pressed the trigger. He instantly froze in place. The gunfire stopped.

  “Blue Eyes.” Bettina searched the trees for her friend’s form.

  “Friend.” A bright-pink furry ball fell, whacking branches as it plummeted toward the ground.

  Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Bettina dropped her gun and held out her arms, taking two steps forward, a step to the right, a step back.

  Blue Eyes missed her hands but landed on her large breasts. The contact drove the air from Bettina’s lungs.

  Her little friend bounced. She grasped her small form, preventing her from falling farther.

  Blood gushed, coating Bettina with warmth. There was too much of it.

  Blue Eyes had been shot. The projectile wound was huge. And she was tiny, so very small.

  “Don’t die.” Bettina kneeled, trying to cover her friend’s injury with her hands, seeking to stop the loss of her vital fluids. “Don’t you dare die on me, Blue Eyes.”

  She didn’t know what to do. The medic pack had been in the escape pod, which was now destroyed. Healing wasn’t one of her skills.

  “Old Mother.” She yelled for the elderly furry being.

  “Friend.” Blue Eyes touched her face. Her fingers were stained red.

  “Yes, friend.” Bettina turned her head and kissed Blue Eyes’ palm. “Here.” She knew that word also. “Here.” She was here for the female.

  Blue Eyes tapped her pendant, the decoration Bettina had made for her. “Happy.”

  Oh stars. Bettina tapped the female’s chest. “Happy.” She was so happy to know her. She wouldn’t lose her friend. She couldn’t. “Old Mother.” She yelled again.

  A hand grasped her shoulder. She looked at the being.

  Old Mother shook her head, her expression sorrowful.

  “No.” Bettina refused to accept there was nothing they could do to save her friend. “Friend. Friend.”

  “Friend.” Blue Eyes pointed to her eyes and then at Bettina.

  As she’d done that first moment they’d met.

  “Friend.” Bettina pointed at her eyes and then at the female.

  Blue Eyes smiled, her little face glowing. She looked at Bettina, as though she trusted her to heal her, to make everything okay.

  Bettina didn’t know how. She pressed on Blue Eyes’ wound. The blood continued to flow. There was so much of it.

  The light in her little friend’s eyes dimmed. Her chest stopped moving.

  “No.” Bettina pushed on her friend’s chest and let go, pushed and let go. Nothing happened.

  She opened Blue Eyes’ mouth, blew
air into her body, repeating that once, twice, five times. There was no reaction.

  “No. No. No.” Bettina shook her friend’s tiny form. She couldn’t be gone. She had to live, had to recover from this.

  “Yes.” Old Mother grasped her shoulder again. Sympathy and a shared sadness softened her voice.

  “Noooo…” Bettina hugged Blue Eyes to her body and rocked back and forth.

  Her friend was a good being, a gentle, loving being. She had accepted her and her cyborg with open arms, her soul innocent and trusting, her heart much bigger than she physically was.

  And now she was gone, her lifespan ended too quickly.

  Bettina wailed, sorrow pouring out of her. Old Mother backed away, leaving her to her grief.

  She cried for her friend, taken from her too soon, for her cyborg, tortured and betrayed by the being he trusted, for her father, used, lied to, discarded.

  There was so much unwarranted cruelty in the universe.

  But there was also goodness and love. Her crying eased. There was a little being with blue eyes who had reached out to strangers on a strange planet.

  She laid Blue Eyes’ body on the ground. “Friend.” She placed her friend’s hands on the pendant she’d crafted for her and she closed her blue eyes one final time. “I will never forget you.”

  A twig snapped. It could be Old Mother or another one of the furry beings. The sound came from that direction. But her gut said it had been made by someone else.

  Someone evil.

  Bettina reached for the gun in her pocket.

  “Don’t even think about it, slut.” Dusta told her. “Put your hands in the air.”

  She complied, slowly getting to her booted feet. The entire front of her was painted crimson, sticky with drying blood.

  “Where’s the machine?” The male pointed a long gun at her.

  “He left me.” That wasn’t a lie. Chuckles had left her. He merely hadn’t left her permanently. “You found me.” She forced a seductive smile. “I hoped you’d do that.”

  “You’ll change your mind about that in a few moments.” Dusta smirked. “Remove your garments. Let me see the body so many stupid males have risked their lifespans for a chance to fuck.”

  He was one of those stupid males. She didn’t say anything, slowly unfastening her flight suit. Her mind spun as she tried to derive a plan, a means to escape him, to survive.