Breathing Vapor

by Cynthia Sax

  She complied. He slipped off her useless shoes, placed her pale dainty right foot in the corresponding boot and fastened it. The boot was large but it would protect her.

  “Your other foot.” He reached for it.

  “I can put on the boots without any help,” she grumbled, her face pink.

  He liked taking care of her. She’d been alone for a long time and deserved having someone care for her.

  Vapor swept his fingers over her sole and she wiggled her toes. “You have help now.” He fastened the second boot. The hem of her garment concealed her footwear. “You’ll accept it.”

  Mira grabbed his wrist and squeezed it, not meeting his gaze, not saying a word. She didn’t have to. He felt the understanding in her touch.

  Vapor stood. “You’ll exit first. Strive and I will follow you.”

  She nodded. “I can do this.” Mira fixed a look of icy disdain on her beautiful face, and sailed out of the structure, her head held high, her shoulders straight.

  Frag. She was a force. Vapor trailed her, surveying their surroundings for possible threats. They didn’t see a single being as they made their way toward the ship.

  He pressed his lips together. The human warriors couldn’t be counted upon to safeguard any being, especially not his precious female.

  Tell the next stage cyborgs to be observant and wary. They must protect the youngsters, he informed Strive.

  The humanoids would be foolish to attack the compound.

  The humans consider us unprocessing machines, despite knowing we’re half organic. Vapor closed some of the gap between him and Mira. They believe my female’s lies. They wage war on beings that are more similar to them than different. Their foolishness knows no bounds.

  Mira entered her small ship, claimed her usual seat. Vapor and Strive sat across from her. The door closed. His female confirmed the ship hadn’t been tampered with.

  “Strive will navigate the ship through the fighting.” His friend had tapped into Humanoid Alliance communications and was monitoring the hot spots.

  “Thank you.” Mira gazed at Vapor for one moment and then moved from her seat to his lap, settling her curves over his battle armor-covered cock, relaxing into his physique.

  He wrapped his arms around her and breathed in the sweet scent of her skin. Her touch grounded him, giving him a contentment he’d grown to crave.

  “I’ve never intentionally killed a being.” Her voice was small. “Lydna is bad. The universe will be better off without her. But I don’t know if I can shoot her.”

  “You’re not shooting her.” Vapor covered her hands. “I am.”

  “She’s my kill.”

  He couldn’t argue with that claim. Lydna had killed Mira’s mother, Pepe, other beings she cared about. “You’re part of me and I’m part of you.” He layered his fingers over hers. “Let me be your hands. Allow me to do this for you.”

  She hesitated for one telling moment. His kindhearted female didn’t want to kill any being. “I can’t give you that guilt.”

  “There would be no guilt.” Lydna had no integrity and had hurt his female. That warranted death. Vapor would kill her and not think about her again. “I was designed for this.” As Mira was designed for saving beings, taught to do so at a young age by her mom.

  She didn’t say anything.

  Vapor held her and scanned their surroundings. Projectiles grazed the ship. One hit the hull. They swayed. Mira gasped, linked her fingers with his.

  Damage my female and I’ll kill you, Vapor warned Strive.

  If I damage your female, I’ll relish that death. The cyborg’s hands flew over the control panel. She’s the only being in the universe who believes in me, who thinks my life is worth saving.

  The ship steadied.

  Then you must think I’m a fool. Vapor gazed down at Mira. Her life means everything to me and I’m trusting you, a cyborg I supposedly don’t believe in, to safeguard it.

  Silence fell between them.

  I could have asked Ace or Thrasher or another cyborg to help me protect Mira, Vapor added. I chose you.

  I won’t disappoint you. Emotion choked Strive’s transmission.

  The fighting raged on. Vapor reached out to Ace and Thrasher through their private transmission lines. They updated him on their status. The transport ship remained in the docking bay. Supplies were being loaded.

  The crew had boasted that they’d physically and sexually abused the cyborgs they’d previously transported, promising to do the same to Vapor’s brethren. It had taken the combined efforts of both Ace and Thrasher to convince the cyborgs to wait to kill the human males.

  They needed the crew for takeoff clearance. Then they could end the humans’ dishonorable lives.

  Another projectile rocked the ship. Mira gripped him tighter. “They’re fighting in multiple districts. Quite a few beings must have escaped the purifying.”

  He heard the hope in her voice and braced himself.

  “Pepe might have survived it.”

  “She didn’t survive it, Mira.” She’d already grieved. He wouldn’t allow her to bring Pepe back to life in her mind. “That was her blood outside her domicile.”

  “Oh.” Her shoulders slumped.

  Vapor drew her closer to him.

  “X might have survived the purifying,” was Mira’s next shared thought. “Couldn’t he have?”

  He could have but it was unlikely.

  “Yes, X survived.” Her blonde head lifted. “He has the sun stones. He bought passage for himself and for some Tau Cetian children off the planet. Right now, they’re happy and safe, gazing out of their viewscreens at the stars, not knowing about the fighting here.”

  Vapor remained silent, listening to Mira’s musings, allowing her this possibility. He couldn’t disprove it and it seemed to bring her a sliver of peace.

  The insurgents are attacking the walls around the domicile, Strive observed.

  Can we make it through?

  The human warriors have created a hole in the enemy lines. We should make it.

  Vapor folded his body protectively over Mira’s curves. The ship shuddered, jerked to the right, corrected to the left, shot through the opened gates.

  He exhaled. They were inside the walls, safe.

  The ship slowed as it approached the domicile.

  “Lydna will test you,” Mira warned. “When she approaches you, don’t say anything, move, or show emotion. She can’t be trusted.”

  “We’re cyborgs, the best warriors in the universe.” Vapor’s tone was dry. “We’ll survive a confrontation with one human female.”

  She rolled her eyes. The ship stopped and she stood, preparing to exit. His reckless female was accustomed to operating on her own, taking risks she shouldn’t.

  Vapor wouldn’t allow her to do that. She was his universe and he’d perish without her. “Wait.” He blocked her departure with one of his arms. “I’ll leave the ship first, then you step out, then Strive will follow you.” His female would be tucked between the two of them. “We’ll protect you.”

  “I know you will.” The lack of doubt in her voice pleased him.

  Vapor exited the ship. Human warriors armed with long guns circled him. The males appeared shell-shocked and weary, smelled of sweat and urine. Their uniforms were tattered and bloody, their faces smudged, dark circles hugging their reddened eyes.

  A boom sounded. The pathway quivered under his feet. A male fell off the wall, screaming as he plummeted to his death.

  There would be more deaths before the planet rotation was over. Beings gathered in the tunnels below the ship.

  “It’s clear.” Vapor moved to the side, allowing his female and his friend to leave the ship.

  Mira had donned her Merciless disguise yet again. She sniffed haughtily at the warriors, picked her way prissily along pathway, expecting every being to get out of her way.

  And they did. The males shuffled aside as though she was their commander, giving her the respect she wa
rranted.

  Their deference wasn’t due to Mira being a socialite or the Designer’s daughter or because she wore the all white uniform of the higher classes.

  Her strength of character scared these rough warriors shitless. They instinctively recognized her as the badass she was.

  Vapor trailed her, proud as all frag that she was his female.

  Some being must have notified Lydna of their arrival because, as they climbed the ramp to the domicile, the doors opened and she strode out, white fabric swirling around her fragilely thin legs.

  Looking at her, a warrior wouldn’t know he was in the midst of a battle. Lydna’s blonde hair was perfectly coiffed, her face unnaturally smooth and her eyes hard with a cold he suspected was bone deep. A pack hung from one of her elbows.

  “You remembered my cyborgs.” Lydna flicked her gaze over them. “I knew you’d come through for me, Mira.” She kissed the air by Mira’s cheeks. “These human warriors are incompetent.”

  “These human warriors have been dying for your ungrateful ass,” one of them grumbled. His voice was too low for his mistress to detect.

  Vapor had cyborg hearing. He heard everything.

  Another boom echoed.

  “The savages are pounding at your gates.” Mira’s eyes gleamed. “You’re very popular. One of the perks of being the wife of a council member, I suppose.”

  “It’s a perk I could do without.” Lydna drifted her hands over Vapor’s stomach. He was grateful for the body armor protecting him from her touch.

  “You’ve paid a high price for your position.” His female’s eyelids partially lowered, hiding her eyes. “Was it worth it? I’ve always wondered.”

  Lydna examined Strive’s form. “Have you?” She smacked his ass. The cyborg grumbled through the transmission lines.

  “I have.” Mira’s reckless streak was showing. That worried Vapor. She could do anything. That spontaneity would make it more difficult for him to protect her.

  “Yes, it was worth it.” Lydna met Mira’s gaze. “I’d do it all again.”

  Mira’s breath hitched. “All of it?” She had to be thinking of her mother, how Lydna had betrayed her.

  “All of it.” The older female bared her teeth in a savage smile. “I’m proud of my contribution to my husband’s success. I’ve enjoyed every task I’ve undertaken.”

  “You’ve enjoyed them.” His little human stiffened. She slid her hands into her pockets.

  Vapor casually rested his palms on the handles of his guns. If she pulls her weapon, we’ll shoot the warriors, he transmitted to Strive. The humans would be dead before they realized her intentions.

  “You sound surprised that I’ve enjoyed them.” Lydna’s laughter was brittle. “You shouldn’t be. You derive the same joy from hurting others.”

  Mira took a step toward her. “You know nothing about me.”

  “I know everything.” Lydna stood in front of Strive. “I understand how thrilling it is to see others suffer, to bring them to their knees, make them beg, bleed, die.” She slapped the cyborg’s face. “It’s human nature for the strong to savor our power over the weak.”

  Can I kill her? His friend kept his face expressionless.

  I have that honor. Vapor doubted his softhearted female would be able to take a life. She wasn’t a killer like he was. She cared too deeply, felt too much.

  Then Lydna turned, giving him a clearer view of the pack she was carrying, and Vapor revised his prediction.

  Mira was going to shoot the socialite. Multiple times.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Lydna had enjoyed betraying her mother. Mira curled her fingers around the gun hidden in her pocket. She would do it again.

  But did she deserve to die? Could Mira kill her?

  Gunfire echoed around them. Two males fell from the wall. One screamed. The other was silent, already dead.

  Mira glanced at Vapor. His gaze was wary but not worried.

  A warrior jogged over to the males guarding them. Blood streamed down his right arm. His face was streaked with grime. Their conversation was too quiet to hear. Every couple of moments, they looked at Lydna, shook their heads, continued talking.

  All but three warriors left, heading for the wall.

  “If the insurgents breach the wall, we’re all fucked,” one of the remaining warriors explained.

  “What did you say?” Lydna raised her eyebrows.

  “The three of us will protect you.” He wisely decided not to repeat his words. “Ma’am,” he added as an afterthought.

  “Cyborgs are protecting me now.” Lydna smacked Strive’s chest. “There’s no need for you incompetent fools to hover around me.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” The three human warriors gave her sarcastic salutes and lumbered away to join their buddies on the wall, muttering more comments Mira was unable to decipher.

  “That mouthy male couldn’t protect any being.” Lydna curled her top lip. “He acts tough now, but during the purifying, he cried like a baby, said he didn’t sign up to kill kids. He looked at them as though they were humans, not the ungrateful savages they were.”

  Everything inside Mira froze. “You watched the purifying?”

  “As you mentioned, being the wife of a council member has its perks.” She preened, rubbing the side of her pack.

  Mira’s gaze dropped and she sucked in her breath, the pain slicing her into two. The M in the design was predominant, the letter formed with pure white feathers.

  Aumakua had created the pack for her. Lydna carried it.

  She had witnessed the purifying.

  Red veiled Mira’s vision. The socialite had watched Aumakua and her sweet three-solar-cycle-old daughter, Pepe, die, and had done nothing to prevent it. She viewed witnessing their killing as a ‘perk’, saw a child’s death as entertainment, had mocked a warrior for not wanting to fill the role of executioner.

  “Those so-called savages were innocent beings, Lydna.” Mira stepped toward her, unable to remain silent. “They were rebelling because we starved them. They were unable to feed their children, their elderly, themselves. We forced them to fight us.”

  Lydna’s smile wavered. “Careful, Mira. You sound like your mother, and we both know what happened to her.”

  “Yes, we both know what happened to her.” Mira glared at the female. “You betrayed her, sold your friend’s life for your cushy place in society.”

  More warriors toppled from the walls. The gates behind them shook.

  “This conversation is becoming boring.” Lydna waved her hands. “Your mother was a traitor. The locals were little more than animals. I regret nothing that I’ve done.”

  “That lack of regret is why you have to die.” Mira extracted the gun from her pocket and pointed it at her mom’s former friend. Her hands trembled. “You’ll never change, never become a good being.”

  She had to do this. She had to stop her.

  “Put that away.” Lydna rolled her eyes, not taking the threat seriously. “The Humanoid Alliance will suppress the rebellion.” The crack ringing through the air belied her words. The gate was straining inward. It wouldn’t hold for many more moments. “Your cyborgs will protect me from the barbarians.”

  They won’t protect her from anything. “Loyalty is earned.”

  “Oh, Mira, you are so naïve.” The older female laughed. “Loyalty is bought. If you have enough credits, you can purchase any life. Or, in this case, any machine.” She put her face close to Strive’s. “They follow my instructions.” She lifted her hand.

  Fuck no. Lydna wouldn’t hurt another being.

  Mira pressed the trigger. The boom-boom of gunfire temporarily deafened her. The recoil knocked her backward. She slammed into Vapor’s chest.

  Her cyborg held guns in both of his hands. He turned, taking her with him, and shot the human warriors approaching them.

  Mira looked over her shoulder. Lydna lay on the ground, her body still, red blossoming over her white fabric wrap.

  “I
killed her.” Waves of hot and cold swept over Mira. “I killed Lydna. She’s dead because of me.” Bile rose in her throat.

  “No, you didn’t.” Vapor’s voice rumbled along her spine.

  “I did. She’s dead.”

  “She is dead,” he confirmed. “But you didn’t kill her. You were honest when you said you weren’t a good shot. You were standing an arm’s length from her and you missed.”

  “That’s impossible.” She couldn’t have missed.

  “If I hadn’t verified it with my own vision system, I would have questioned it also, but I know what I saw. You missed.”

  Vapor was a cyborg. He didn’t lie. “But--”

  He flung himself forward, covering her body with his, the impact pushing the air from her lungs. An explosion blasted stone and other debris over them. Her cyborg grunted.

  “The insurgents have breached the walls.” Strive stood beside them, covering them with gunfire. His voice was muffled as though he was positioned at the far end of the site.

  “We’re moving.” Vapor pushed his form upward.

  Thunder rolled and the ground to the right of Mira sank. The scent of fuel burned her nostrils. She scrambled away from the gaping hole.

  Vapor grabbed a clump of soil. “Stay still.” He rubbed the dirt over her garment. “The white is a beacon.” He turned her, coating her back. “They can see you from across the yard.”

  “Vapor,” Strive yelled.

  Her cyborg rolled her until she faced him once more. “Strive will be in the lead. I’ll be behind you. Don’t look back and don’t decrease your speed unless he does, understand?”

  She nodded.

  “Fraggin’ hole,” Strive cursed. “They blew up the ship.”

  “It’s better that they did that with us not in it.” Vapor pulled Mira upright. “We’ll leave on foot.”

  There was no opportunity to glance at Lydna again or to absorb what had happened. They ran, passing destruction and death. Bodies lay around them, limbs severed, fingers twitching. The ship was split open, pieces of it scattered on the pathway.

  Blood splattered and more males fell as Strive and Vapor shot a gap through the incoming insurgents. They passed the crumbling walls.