“Lucy,” Peyton said in alarm, running to her. “What’s wrong?”
She sighed more heavily at the concern in his voice. That natural empathy he seemed to have for anyone’s pain had even gotten through to her even when she’d been trapped in a cage and angry at the entire world.
“Got a phone call through a nearly disconnected line,” Lucy said hoarsely, reaching out her hand. “Help me up, Peyton. My legs gave out.”
Peyton did and was surprised when Lucy didn’t let go of him. “Talk to me. What’s going on?”
“Meara used the safest means she could to contact us. She said Aja was supposed to come back here for help. She asked if she had arrived.”
“Someone would have said something if Aja had returned. That woman is not subtle. I’m sure she would have at least looked you up.”
“Agreed,” Lucy said, sending back the only answer to Meara she could. Her ability to do more than a few words were broken, plus she had to use the limited vocabulary left in the device. She hoped Meara understood the old response.
“Does Eric have their coordinates? Are you experiencing severe pain?” Peyton asked, pulling her along by her arm. Lucy was stumbling and barely able to walk.
“Yes, to both questions,” Lucy said flatly. “It hurt when Meara contacted me, but I think I’ll be fine once she completely disconnects. My New World Companion communication ability is not in the best of conditions these days. I told Meara we’d be there as soon as we could.”
“Where’s Will?”
Lucy shrugged. “Meara didn’t say, but I assume he’s with her since Eric ratted them out to you both.”
Peyton chuckled under his breath. “Will needed to be there with her, and let’s hope it’s true. If they got Aja, you know Meara’s going in after her. I’d rather she not do it alone,” Peyton said.
Lucy nodded. The pain wasn’t letting up. “You’re right. I’m hoping for that too. Take me to Kyra or Nero before you take off. I’m not doing so well.”
Peyton scooped Lucy up in his arms and took off at a rapid clip toward the nearest cyber lab. “Don’t you worry about your team. We’ll find them and we’ll bring them back.”
Lucy nodded. “Before Meara shut off the link, she said something about getting back to her company. I think she was talking about the New World Companions. Sometimes you have to interpret what Meara says.”
Peyton laughed. “I almost never follow her words completely. Being with her is probably good for Will. I imagine she reminds him every second they’re together that he’s still human enough to be confused by a female.”
Snorting, Lucy grunted in agreement. “For damn sure, I know she reminds him that he’s still human enough be attracted to one.”
Meara peered through the trees before turning to William. “There are four guards on rotation. Two on outside at all times. They appear to be AI’s, but like none I’ve seen. I don’t read them being cyborg. They read like Norton’s top-of-the-line bots.”
Will watched one guard walk away from the other. No words were exchanged. No casual body language to indicate mood. “I agree. They look human though.”
“They do,” Meara agreed. “Thought that was illegal.”
“It is.” Will studied the guard as he returned. The other guard nodded without a word being spoken aloud. “I don’t know how they’re talking to each other, but their mouths aren’t moving.”
“They’re syncing wireless channels,” Meara supplied. “Aja and I used to do that so we could listen in. It’s very useful to know what yer captors are planning to do to ya. Sometimes it sets yer timeline for needing to escape.”
Will glanced at her. “Can you still do that? Listen in, I mean?”
“Maybe. That function uses my old processor.” Meara shrugged. “But not at this range. More like thirty feet.”
“You’d be on top of them.”
Meara nodded. “Yeah. I would. That’s unavoidable. We could just charge in and start taking them all out, but that might net us getting captured.”
“What happens if they capture you while you’re listening?”
“You’d have to come fecking save me. Is that not just common sense to ya?” Meara demanded.
Will fought his irritation and lost. “No. It’s not obvious. Your thought processes elude my understanding most of the time.”
Meara snorted. “Well, I guess I’ll just have to be clearer in the future. So, here’s The Plan, Captain Serious. I’m going to get as close as I can to those metal eejits so I can try and listen in to their chatter. Yer job is to watch my eavesdropping arse and come save it if the bots get after me. That will also fast-forward us into Plan B, which is to take out all the guards and get inside to look for Aja. Comprende?”
“I don’t like either plan, but okay,” Will said.
“Ya don’t seem to like anything I come up with when it comes to what I was created to do.”
Will turned a glare in Meara’s direction. “Not true.”
Meara reached out and punched Will’s chest, knocking him back about a foot. “I was created for a lot more than sex.”
Will rubbed his chest. “Did I say you weren’t?”
“Ya implied it with yer derision. Goddess,” Meara said, turning away from him. “Lucy was a fecking brilliant captain. I hope I live long enough to express my new appreciation for her military acumen.”
“I’m concerned about your safety, Meara.”
“Yeah? Well, I’m concerned about my safety too. I’m used to someone assertive and willing to kill having my back. So far ya haven’t exactly done anything that raises my confidence in ya being an actual partner.”
“You don’t want me to get that motivated. You wouldn’t like me in that condition.”
Meara studied him for long moments. She believed he meant that, but it didn’t help her free her friend or anyone else being held in that facility.
“If yar still that afraid of yer dark side, then ya best stay here. I’ll be careful and I’ll be back. Watch for people sneaking up on us and for the help that should be coming our way soon. Lucy’s sending the cavalry. She didn’t exactly say that, but I know how she thinks.”
Without waiting for Will to formulate another reason for delaying, Meara made sure her mask covered her face before she crept forward.
“Go with Peyton. Bring them back to me,” Lucy said.
“I can’t leave you. You’re in pain and it’s not turning off this time,” Eric argued.
Kyra turned when Nero entered the room. “Lucy’s old processor is causing her issues again. Do you have that chip you built?”
“Yes, but it’s not been tested sufficiently enough to be installed,” Nero replied.
Lucy grunted in agony. “Damn it, Nero. There’s no…”
Kyra put her hand over Lucy’s mouth. Her action surprised all of them into silence. She smiled at Nero. “I’m making a command decision to try the chip. If it doesn’t fix this issue, then we’ll have no choice but do another complete restoration. I’d rather avoid that if we can. We learned from restoring Eric that we could make minor repairs to each processor without a complete overhaul to either of them. That’s why you built the chip in case this happened to Lucy. Remember?”
Nero sighed and nodded. He walked forward and fished the chip out of his pocket. “Here’s the chip. I do not have the mental focus to help with a restoration of Lucy’s magnitude right now.”
Lucy pushed Kyra’s hand off her mouth. “Hell no, you don’t. Aja’s missing,” she said hoarsely. The pain was affecting other parts of her physical functions.
Nero’s indrawn breath was loud. “How is that possible when you track her? She said she was going on a mission.”
“She is on one,” Lucy croaked, closing her eyes. “Meara sent her back here to get help. Aja hasn’t arrived.”
Nero fisted both hands at his side. He scanned the room before looking only at Eric. “Marcus gave me one of his beta trackers to test. I installed it in Aja’s removable fingernail. Maybe
you can find her with that.”
Peyton huffed. “You’re tracking Aja without her permission?”
Nero lifted his chin. “Yes. That female is reckless and will go charging into any situation without thought. She is also precious to me. Not being a cyborg, I lacked other ways to keep up with her. Therefore, I am being resourceful in any way I can be. Isn’t that your military motto, Peyton?”
Peyton grinned. “Adapt and overcome. It absolutely is my motto. Very impressive move, Dr. Cyberstein.”
“Only until Aja finds out,” Nero said, shaking his head. “Then my life may be forfeit for real.”
“Eric,” Lucy whispered. “Go. Find Aja. I love you.”
Eric bent to kiss Lucy’s lips. “I love you too. Don’t give up anything you are.”
Lucy worked to smile. It was hard… and painful. “I won’t,” she promised and hoped she’d be able to keep the vow she was making.
Peyton waited until Eric left before turning to Kyra. “I have to gather a team.”
“I understand,” Kyra said. “I’ll take care of Lucy. Send Rachel in to help me. Girl’s getting good at assisting. Nero needs to go help Eric.”
“I do?” Nero asked, running a hand through his hair.
Kyra stared at her assistant, a man who was like a son to her. But under his white lab coat he was like every other stubborn, prideful male who didn’t want people to know his feelings.
“Nero Bastion… you’re the one who freaking tagged Aja with a tracker. Don’t you want to be the first to know where she is and what’s happened to her? Stop pretending you’re not insanely worried. Everyone already knows how you feel about her. Go help Eric.”
Swearing in his native language, Nero all but ran out the lab door.
Kyra stared after him and shook her head.
“Kids,” Peyton said with heavy sarcasm, grinning when his wife laughed. “God, I’ve missed your laughter.”
Kyra sighed as her laughter faded off. “I know. I’m sorry I’m not more resilient. I let this stuff get to me. It’s the way I’m made.”
“If you didn’t let it get to you, a lot of cyborgs would never be saved.” Peyton walked over, leaned down, and kissed his wife while Lucy’s pained-filled gaze never left them. He grinned when he pulled away from Kyra and looked down. “Meara and Will are right. You and Eric are perverts. Couldn’t you have at least turned your head?”
Lucy chuckled painfully before raising a hand to her head. “Can’t move. Hurts.”
Kyra sighed and patted Lucy’s shoulder. “We’re going to fix it. I promise.” She looked back at the cyborg she loved more than she ever dreamed possible. “If Marcus is with Rachel, send him to help me too. He’ll never leave without her and I could use the backup—just in case.”
“Good idea,” Peyton said with a brief nod.
They both knew Lucy could be more than a handful when she wasn’t in rock-solid control of her cybernetics.
Peyton kissed Kyra one more time and then headed out the door.
10
Meara moved quietly from tree to tree, letting the dense forest be her cover. With any luck, they’d think she was an animal moving about, though she hadn’t really seen any of nature’s creatures during her surveillance. She’d attributed their absence to the energy being emitted that was keeping her neural processor from scanning. Animals tended to stay away from such areas.
Though her head was still hurting from contacting Lucy, Meara focused on activating her old processor until she was able to get it to start scanning AI com channels. It wasn’t long before she was able to tune in to the guards.
Section A ready for transfer. Nine subjects. Hibernation command engaged and working in all of them. Transport currently en route to the facility.
Meara watched the first guard nod his head when he finished speaking. It looked very human-like, but for them, it seemed to function as a signal of finished communication. Instead of saying “over and out” or whatever, the bot was nodding once at the end of his communication.
Activation record L9AH6J created for other guards. Estimated time of transport arrival is two hours forty-eight minutes.
So, nine of something were being transported out of there shortly. Was it nine more New World Companions? Or nine of something else? Boy-o, would she like to know.
And was Aja part of them?
Meara listened to the same information being offered over and over with regularity. About every ten minutes, it was repeated. Then she got something new.
Section B subjects terminated. No transport needed. Cancel scheduled transport.
Again, Meara watched the first guard nod.
Acknowledged. Transport canceled. Disposal required?
The second guard nodded as well, even though he’d asked a follow-up question. That oddness of action completely gave away what they were, no matter how realistic they looked.
The first one was quiet for several long moments. Meara snorted as the first AI guard sought the grim answer.
Disposal not required. Facility destruction imminent. Request updates until scheduled.
Will query in twelve hours.
Acknowledged.
“Ya murdering mother-fuckers,” Meara said under her breath. “Who the feck did ya kill?”
Even though her words were no more than a whisper, she still saw two heads turn her way. Now she swore at herself, but she did so silently and in her head where no one could hear but her. Her runaway mouth always got her into trouble.
Meara stayed where she was behind the tree, grateful when the guards merely went into a stronger defense mode instead of coming to investigate. They must have orders to hold their posts no matter what.
Crossing herself in the sign of the Holy Trinity as Father Jacob had taught her, Meara vowed to Father Jacob’s god to do better at minding her tongue. Though she’d made the more forgiving Mother Goddess her favorite deity, Meara figured she shouldn’t completely alienate the ones of her youth.
The guards switched channels and once again Meara had to scan for several minutes to find the one they were speaking on.
Section C evacuation postponed. Subjects unable to travel. Do not schedule transport. Request updates until scheduled.
Acknowledged. Section C postponed. Will query in twelve hours.
Acknowledged. Report on progress submitted.
It was obvious that arrangements were being made to shut down the facility and transport those in it to another location. For both Will’s and Cassandra’s sake, she fervently hoped Rio Sanchez wasn’t among the terminated. Closure would be a long time coming if the Will’s ex-wife had to grieve the loss of a second husband.
If Aja had been with her, she would have fussed at her for wondering what would eventually become known with action. Meara pulled her mind away from thinking about Rio Sanchez and put her attention back on more immediate matters.
Why were they evacuating the facility at this exact time? That was the real question she needed to deal with. If the action had been because of her and Will being present on the grounds, Meara knew the guards would have already come to try to collect them. But they hadn’t. She and Will had been moving around pretty much without issue.
As far as she could tell, the guards had never left the small area outside the facility exit. At any given time, there had been two to four guards patrolling, but none had ever ventured even as far as the air transport landing area.
The most likely explanation was a freak-out caused by Eric’s satellite beaming down on the place with a root transmitting address from inside Norton. Everyone with any common sense was afraid of that unholy organization. Such a discovery would have certainly gotten their security person’s attention for sure—likely so even if the test facility was backed by the UCN. Norton might be funded by UCN blood money, but it also had people like Kyra Winters on its staff.
The worst-case scenario was that they somehow could have captured Aja and gotten her to confess. But again… if Aja had confessed, which w
as not bloody likely, wouldn’t guards have been out hunting for her and Will by now? And when would they have captured Aja without her and Will seeing them do so?
Any way she considered things, it all circled back to those inside leaving of their own accord and to Aja likely not being among them.
Meara listened to another hour’s worth of AI chatter. Nothing new was being added to the conversation. To her, that meant she’d learned all she could.
Finally, she went back to Will to report.
“Do you think Aja’s in that facility somewhere?”
Meara frowned before shrugging off the thought. “I can’t be sure, of course, but I have my doubts. If they’d found her, seems they’d have already come looking for us. Not that Aja would ever tell them we were here, mind ya. Wherever Aja is, she’s still alive. It’s a very distinct feeling when one of us falls off our connection. That’s how we always knew Lucy was still out there somewhere.”
Will nodded. “Guess we’re staying put until help arrives.”
Meara looked at the New World Companions still lying on the floor of the transport. She looked at the bound and gagged engineers who were dressed in white lab coats. “Not necessarily. My inclination is to do what I have to do to stop them from transporting the nine subjects they’re intending to move.”
Will shook his head. “You’re suggesting the two of us take out guards, transport drivers, and detain whoever or whatever they’re planning to move. Plus, this area we’re in has taken away our only ability to communicate. I’m not sure anything’s possible with our liabilities.”
“Neither am I,” Meara replied honestly.
“Then why in hell would we attempt such a thing?”
“To save the nine if we can,” Meara insisted. “Why else? I saw four New World Companions here when I found the place. We’ve nabbed only two. There may be more than I saw. I have to try and find out, Will.”
“There’s no way of knowing who or what is in the group they’re moving until we see them actually in the middle of it. Hell, it could be AIs and not people at all.”
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