“We had an arrangement! You failed to live up to your end of the deal,” he snarled.
“On the contrary. You agreed to undergo the experimental treatment in order to have more freedom on the planet surface.”
“I didn’t know it would turn out like this.”
“Hence the word experimental,” she said calmly.
Was that disdain on that perfect face? His hands itched to smack her down, but she had power in this place and he still needed her cooperation.
“I paid GenCon a giant pile of fucking credits. I expected to get what I paid for.”
“And I assure you that you got exactly that. I’m sorry if you didn’t realize all of the ramifications.”
Despite her words, she obviously didn’t care, and that incensed him even more. He threw back his chair, taking a certain amount of pleasure in the ease with which it went flying across the floor, and paced to the window. This godforsaken planet was even more desolate than he had expected. The official “town” consisted of little more than ramshackle bars and stores, none of them with anything to appeal to his more refined tastes.
Two cyborgs strode up the wide street beneath him and his scowl deepened. Supposedly GenCon had enhanced the process that created the fucking machines, but even though the two were obviously not human, they seemed more at home on Mars than he did. A small figure was almost hidden between the two, but they paused when a gust of air blew off his—no, her—hat, revealing a cloud of red hair. The familiar fury started to boil.
The woman looked like fucking Daisy, the reason behind his current situation.
One of the cyborgs returned the hat and she laughed up at him as he watched in shock. It was her. No wonder he hadn’t been able to find her on Earth. That fucking bitch. But then she opened her coat and he caught a glimpse of a small figure cradled against her side.
A child. His child.
The heat of his anger burned away, replaced by icy determination. She was going to pay.
“I have something to attend to,” he snapped at Serena. “But I’ll be back. And you will make good on GenCon’s promises to me.”
As he strode out of her office, his heart beat faster for the first time since the fucking operation. They had taken everything else from him, but they couldn’t take this. He was going hunting.
Chapter Twenty-One
“Who’s a good boy?” Daisy cooed as she settled Brian in his carrier. He gurgled up at her and her heart welled with love. Fortunately, neither the vaccination nor the trip home had upset him and he was his usual happy self. “Why don’t you take a little nap while Mama makes the bed?”
She placed the carrier on the table so he could still see her as she moved around the dome. As she was pulling up the sheets, she heard the airlock open. Bill must have decided to come back for lunch after all. He was working the mine today while Jonah had gone off to check on Kami.
“Couldn’t stay away?” she laughed as she turned to the door and froze.
Richard was standing there, although it took a minute for her shocked brain to realize that it was him. He looked… different. His former good looks had been replaced by an almost mechanical perfection. His skin was an unnatural white, all signs of humanity removed, his face frozen in a neutral smile. His mouth barely moved as he spoke, but his eyes blazed with hatred.
“No, I couldn’t. Not after what you did.” He laughed bitterly, but his face remained fixed in the same unchanging expression. “I take it you weren’t expecting me.”
Her lips felt numb. “How?”
“How did I get to Mars? By spending a lot of credits, both mine and my company’s.” He snarled, the sound even more unnerving coming from behind that frozen smile. “Good thing I had a source at the police office who tipped me off in time to grab as much as I could. Fucking GenCon took most of it to make me like this.”
“P-police?” Did he know?
“Don’t look so fucking innocent. I know you reported me. Earth Government was going to make an example of me—of me—because of a few worthless vagrants.”
The initial shock was wearing off, replaced by terror. Did he know about Brian? She desperately wanted to check on the baby, but she didn’t want to draw Richard’s attention to him if he didn’t know. She took a cautious step towards Richard, trying to place herself between him and the baby. A gun appeared in his hand with astonishing speed.
“Don’t move. And don’t think I don’t know about my son. Did you think you were going to keep him away from me?”
“Y-you don’t want him,” she whispered.
“Oh, yes, I do. He’s the only son I’m ever going to have now. GenCon didn’t tell me that all my fucking parts wouldn’t work after their fucking procedure.”
He approached the table, waving the gun again when she instinctively stepped forward.
“Doesn’t look like much, does he? Fucking red hair, too.”
She bit back the automatic impulse to defend her son. “You see? You don’t want him.”
“I suspect he’ll be very useful to me.” He poked at the carrier, nodding as the cover came up. “How convenient for transporting him.”
“Convenient?” Her lips were going numb again and she swayed dizzily as he picked up the carrier. “What are you doing?”
“I’m taking my son with me.”
“No! Take me instead. I’ll go with you. I’ll do anything you say. Just please leave the baby alone.”
“Take you?” he snarled. “After you betrayed me? Drove me to this fucking planet?” His eyes raked over her. “Even your body isn’t of any use to me anymore thanks to that fucking company.”
“P-please, Richard.” She took another step forward and he raised the gun.
“I won’t hesitate to shoot, you little bitch. I thought about it, you know, riding out here. Thought about shooting you. But I think this is better. Now you’ll have to live with the knowledge that I have my son and you don’t. He’ll never even know about you.”
“He needs me!” she said desperately. “I’m still breastfeeding him.”
He shrugged. “He’ll learn to eat something else.”
“You can’t do this.”
“I can and I will. I told you on Earth, Daisy. I’m one of the people who matter. I can do whatever the hell I want.”
He turned and disappeared through the door, moving with unnatural speed. She flung herself after him, making it outside in time to hear the roar of an engine and see him speeding off on some type of ATV, Brian’s carrier perched on the front like some type of macabre trophy.
“No!”
She raced after him but only made it halfway across the clearing before she started to pant. Her breathing mask. In her panic, she had forgotten to pull one on. Sobbing, she abandoned the useless pursuit and headed back to the habitat.
She barely made it, falling inside the airlock and hitting the door closure with the last of her strength. Her knees buckled and she collapsed to the floor, the world spinning around her in a dark haze. As the airlock filled with oxygen, her senses began to return and she forced herself to her feet, waiting impatiently for the inner door to activate. She had to get to the communicator.
In her panic, it took her three tries before she could reach Bill. The sound of his cheerful voice almost made her burst into tears.
“Bill, he’s taken Brian.” She could barely get the words out.
“What?! Who? I’m on my way.” His shock was immediately replaced by fierce determination. She could hear him running, even though his voice remained hard and steady. “Take a deep breath and try and tell me what happened.”
“It’s Richard. He’s here… was here. Took Brian.” Her breath was coming in short gasps and she started to feel dizzy again.
“Daisy, slow your breathing,” Bill ordered, and she did her best to obey.
“Jonah. I have to tell Jonah.”
“Call him. Do you know which way Richard went?”
“No.” Tears threatened to overwhelm her.
“Down the mountain. He was moving so fast and it’s such a big planet.”
“We’ll find him,” Bill said, his voice firm. “Tell Jonah we’ll meet him at Sam’s. Grab your coat and mask and release Galahad. I’m almost there.”
“Richard… He wasn’t wearing a mask.” The realization suddenly hit her. “And he moved so fast, like a cyborg. I think he had something done to him.”
“Tell Jonah. Have him tell Sam. Go on now.”
The sound of his voice had been like a lifeline she realized as he disconnected and panic started to overwhelm her again, but she took a deep breath and called Jonah.
Their conversation was even shorter, but she took comfort in his absolute assurance that they would recover their son.
“Tell Billy we’ll meet him at the base of the mountain,” he ordered, his voice reassuringly calm. “Don’t worry, Daisy. We’ll get him back. I love you.”
“I love you too,” she whispered as she disconnected.
Another tear rolled down her cheek, but she dashed it away with an impatient hand. She needed to be ready for Bill.
Galahad pranced in circles as she released him, obviously picking up on her distress. He reared twice as they crossed the clearing, tossing his head, his nostrils flaring.
“You know he was here, don’t you?” He pawed impatiently at the track as she caught onto his mane. “Not yet. Bill’s coming.”
She understood his impatience. Her own pulse was like a drumbeat in her ears, urging her to hurry. All she could do was stare at the mine, hoping that Bill would appear. Galahad lifted a hoof, putting it down in the exact same position. Now that he had calmed, she thought of another way to be ready.
“Will you let me mount you? But no rearing, or I’ll fall.”
The horse’s ears quivered, then he folded his front legs under him so that the saddle was in easy reach.
“Thank you.”
She climbed on his back and he rose smoothly to his feet. He seemed a lot taller from up here and she clung nervously to the saddle, hoping he’d understood the part about not rearing.
“Come on, Bill,” she muttered, her eyes fixed on the mine shaft. Galahad lifted a hoof again, once, twice, then Bill was there, racing towards them from the dark entrance. He flung himself up behind her and Galahad took off immediately, rocketing down the mountain road. She couldn’t suppress a gasp as they skidded around a corner, perilously close to the sheer drop.
“I won’t let you fall.” Bill’s arms were a tight band around her waist.
“I know. Don’t slow down on my account.”
Her fear of falling was nothing compared to the terror of losing their son.
When they reached the desert below, Jonah was waiting for them, Sam next to him on a big black horse. Galahad didn’t even pause, and the two other horses fell into step next to him.
“You said Richard was changed?” Jonah asked. Despite the speed at which they were moving, she could hear him clearly.
“Yes. He looked like a robot, but the kind you see on television, not human like all of you. He didn’t need a breathing mask and I know he couldn’t move that fast before.”
“GenCon,” Sam said grimly. “I guess they decided not to wait for Addie to finish her experiments.”
“He said he gave them most of his credits.”
Sam nodded. “From what I know of the company, that would be enough to convince them.”
“Do you think they’ll help us?” Her throat closed with terror. “He could be anywhere.”
Bill’s arms tightened around her.
“We’ll find him, sweetheart.”
“If anyone knows, it’ll be Serena,” Sam said.
Jonah frowned at him. “Serena?”
“Serena Gatling. She’s the managing director for GenCon here on Mars.”
“I heard she’s a ruthless bitch,” Bill interjected.
“She is, but there’s more to her than that. And I think she has a soft spot where children are concerned.” Sam hesitated. “Kami likes her, and I trust my daughter’s opinion.”
“We’ll start there,” Jonah agreed. “When we get to town, Billy, take Daisy to Cherry’s, then meet us at GenCon.”
“I want to come with you,” she protested.
“Baby, we can move faster without you. Can you trust that we’ll do everything we can to find Brian?”
As much as she wanted to protest, she knew he was right. She nodded reluctantly.
“Good girl. Then that’s the plan.”
“Yes, Jonah.”
“Billy, hold onto Daisy,” Jonah ordered. “Time to see what these horses can really do.”
Bill bent forward over Galahad’s neck, enclosing her securely between his body and the horse’s metal frame. Jonah yelled and all three horses leapt forward. She thought they had been going fast before but now they were almost flying across the plain. The landscape rushed by in an orange blur and she had to close her eyes to keep from getting dizzy, but it never occurred to her to protest. She simply clenched her hands in the flexible tubing that made up Galahad’s mane and hung on.
They slowed only slightly when they reached New Arcadia. Jonah and Sam headed down the main street while Bill detoured to the brothel. He swung her down, pausing only long enough to make sure she found her balance.
“I have to—”
“Go,” she urged. “I’ll be fine.”
“I love you.” The words floated behind him as he raced off and she hurried around the main building to Cherry’s small unit, banging on the door with an urgent fist.
“This had better be important—” Cherry’s words cut off as she took in Daisy’s appearance. “What’s the matter, child?”
“He took the baby! He took Brian!” she cried.
The other woman paled. “Who did?”
“His father. He’s an evil man, Cherry. They have to find him.”
Tears threatened but she refused to let them fall, afraid that if she started she would never stop. She had to be strong for her child, for her men.
“Someone took a child?” A male voice interrupted and she looked up to find a man, no, a cyborg, standing at the entrance to the bedroom. He was shirtless and she could see the golden metallic skin covering the left side of his chest. She suddenly realized that Cherry was only wrapped in a silk dressing gown, her hair tumbling down around her shoulders.
“I’m sorry—I didn’t mean to interrupt,” she mumbled.
“Don’t be silly,” Cherry said impatiently as she pulled Daisy inside. “This is far more important than a little… recreational sex.”
Did the cyborg look hurt? Before she could decide, he vanished, returning a minute later wearing a black shirt with a gold star on his chest. A ranger.
“Where are they starting the search?” he demanded.
“At GenCon. Richard has been… altered, and we think they’re responsible.”
“I’ll find them there.” He picked up his hat and swept Cherry a mocking bow. “No doubt you can find someone else to entertain you.”
The door closed behind him with a silence that was twice as loud as a slam.
“Well, that didn’t go the way I expected,” Cherry said ruefully.
“I’m really sorry.”
“No, it was for the best.” Sorrow filled those blue eyes. “You can’t resurrect the past.”
“He’s someone you knew from before?”
“He’s my husband,” Cherry admitted. “But that doesn’t matter now. What happened?”
“My past came back to life. In the worst possible way.”
“You poor child.” Cherry enclosed her in a comforting hug and Daisy let herself sag against the other woman. “Let me make you some tea, and you can tell me what happened while we wait to hear from your men.”
“What if they can’t find him?” she whispered.
“You don’t for one minute think that Jonah is going to let anybody keep him from his son, do you? And young Billy is just as determined.” A brief f
lash of longing crossed her face. “And I know for a fact that Wyatt never gives up. Everything’s going to be fine.”
“I know.” She managed a shaky smile. “And Sam is with them too.”
“Well, there you go. I can’t believe anybody can take on the Judge and come out on top. Now let’s get some tea into you while you tell me all about it.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Jonah gave Bill a quick glance as he caught up with the other men. His partner’s face was pale but determined. Two big security guards tried to block their passage, but he slung one across the entrance hall while Billy did the same with the other. Sam didn’t even pause, heading for the grand staircase that swept up on one side of the central atrium. In the distance, he heard the sound of yelling and running feet but he ignored them, following the others up the stairs.
“Daisy?” he asked.
“With Cherry.”
“Good.” She’d be safe there and he trusted the other woman to look after her.
At the top of the stairs, they followed Sam to the right, knocking down two more guards before they reached a set of wide double doors. They burst into a large, richly appointed office that would have looked more at home on Earth than Mars. The only occupant was a woman seated behind a big desk—an icy blond wearing an expensive outfit, not a hair out of place. She raised an eyebrow, seemingly undisturbed by three large cyborgs invading her office.
“Judge. Gentlemen. What can I do for you?’
“Where is he, Serena?” Sam snapped.
“I’m afraid you’ll have to be a little more specific.”
“That slimy bastard who doesn’t need a mask. Not a cyborg.” Sam leaned over her desk threateningly, but she didn’t flinch. “I know you were responsible. Addie’s formula isn’t ready.”
She lifted a slender shoulder. “We didn’t need it. He had a lung transplant so we could introduce the nanites that way.”
“Then he is a cyborg.”
“Not exactly. It’s an interesting legal point and the lawyers are currently arguing about it back on Earth. But his legal status doesn’t really matter up here…”
A Few Cyborgs More (Cyborgs On Mars Book 3) Page 14