Or maybe he should keep quiet about his artistic preferences.
He smiled at the brute.
To his left, Zarr sat in the front passenger seat. The truck was headed toward a cascade of light. Orange and yellow flames shot up occasionally, as did debris, both burning and dark. The whistles and air-cracking booms said a battle was still happening.
Ari slouched beside him, legs out, ankles crossed in a nonchalant and yet petulant way. She had her lip turned down and set in place. He guessed she was afraid. Par for the course when a man took you into a firefight along with dozens of well-armed soldiers when she didn’t even own a nail file.
“Why drag me along?” she muttered. “I gave you a sword.”
“You did. This is true.”
“Then... We need to let this be. To forgive. Forget. I just want to go home. Please. Let me go.”
My god, that please wriggled in and did evil things to him, made him want to hurt her with more than words.
He still had his fingers circling her wrist. Despite the unsettling psychic waves that ebbed and flowed from her and made his dick almost get whiplash as erections came and went, this satisfied him – keeping her close. Eyeing her cleavage from above, her breasts, those long legs and the V made in the cloth where they met, knowing he had hold of her, yeah, nice. Smelling her hair even. Washed, it had a fine, fresh scent. The other, that problematic buzz she sent him – however she did that he’d deal with, eventually.
He added, casually, “You almost got me killed. Aimed to have me castrated.”
The brute looked up at those words, his brooding gaze penetrating past his straggly locks. His eyebrow tweaked upward then he looked at Ari as if figuring out what sort of woman thought to do that – castrate a man.
“Don’t bother. She’s not worth it.” Saw winked. “And she’s mine.”
Ari let out an exasperated sound.
The brute grinned. “Sure. You own the world too?”
“Soon.”
“Stop!” She tried to shake loose. “Stop saying that!”
He tightened his grip. “I’m a determined man.” How he loved riling her.
Zarr had been impressed that he’d survived, that he had balls. All he needed to do was put icing on the top then...he inhaled slowly...he’d make sure to claim her.
Somehow it had climbed to the top of his list – owning her.
Icing on the balls? Had he just thought that? He grinned.
Onward and upward.
The truck slewed to a stop, rocking on whatever it used for suspension.
Zarr put on a headset, connected by a cord to the dash of the truck. He nestled it into his ears and touched one side. “What’s happening? Nothing? No return fire? Then yes, cease to attack and watch. I’m here just behind the trees.”
Short-range radio?
Zarr turned his head to speak to everyone in the back. “Let’s go. We’ll move forward to join the others. Quietly. No firing unless you’re shot at. We have zero casualties so far and need to keep it that way. This is some sort of large mech that’s past a man’s height. It has to have come from the swathe.”
Saw jumped out via the open back then helped Ari to get down.
Her automatic thank you was cut off as she remembered her predicament. He couldn’t hold her wrist forever and was beginning to wish he had a piece of rope. It was possible she’d try to run into the night. He would. Around him, Scavs were creeping forward.
Ahead was a sparse line of trees and beyond that a glow and a crackle where some underbrush was on fire. No one was shooting.
Something called out in a loud, inhuman voice. “Help me. Do not shoot. I’m peaceful and won’t hurt you.”
“That’s the mech,” someone whispered loudly.
Zarr hunched down, talking to whoever had spoken, and Saw found a place to stop a couple of yards to their right. From there, he could observe the situation. An irregular mass lay ahead, maybe a hundred yards away; sections of it glowed pink. Part of it moved, and he thought a limb had been rearranged. Definitely, this was the mech.
Who are you? The unexpected voice in his mind startled Saw.
Then he remembered. Mechlings on the landship of the swathe had been similar. They had rarely addressed humans directly, had tended to go past him with thoughts muttering in circles as they performed duties, but they had spoken to all the people, human people, he’d questioned. This felt the same.
I can hear you.
Would that be enough to let it know? If there was some protocol to be done –
I hear you too. Your name, sir?
Sawyer. I’m a human. From Earth. You are?
JI. Emery called me JI. My full designation is JI-mech 34. Can you help me? I mean no harm, and they have damaged me with their ordinance.
Well now. This thing did not sound like any mechling. It sounded smart. He sat back on his haunches and, for the first time, he let go of Ari. “Don’t you fucking run, girl. I have things to do. Run and I catch you.”
Her eyes reflected orange from the flames and seemed to widen. “You think I will obey you,” she scoffed. Not a question, more an indignant taunt.
A Scav was beside Saw, having moved between him and Zarr – the brute with the long curls and the purple gun. “Keep a watch on her? I have to talk to Zarr about that mech.”
Ari muttered a few curses under her breath, and he grinned.
The man cocked his head, shrugged. “You will owe me though. My name is Sassik.”
“Of course.” He slapped the guy on the shoulder as he went past. “That’s my man, Sassik.”
“Do not slap me unasked again or I will hurt you.”
“Hah. Noted.” Scary dude. He sneaked along until he came to Zarr. “Would you like to hear how I can fix this?”
“Fix it?” Zarr’s face was half in shadow, half in flame light. “I don’t want this simply fixed. I can do that by firing the rest of our rockets.” He pointed toward where most of the vehicles were parked. “It’ll cost us too much weaponry though. I want this fixed cheaply. What is your solution?”
He thought those rockets would destroy that mech?
It won’t. JI added. I’m made of harder metal. My brain cannot be injured, though it already suffers... He trailed off as if distracted. My joints though. My finer applicators. Those they have injured somewhat, alas.
Alas? What robot said alas? I’d like to come out and talk to you.
We are talking just fine now.
No. I need to be closer. Trust me.
Zarr frowned. “What do you propose, Saw? Are you wasting my time?”
I will trust you. I trusted another human, and they did not betray me. You may come closer.
“You can’t destroy it with rockets. That’s a JI-mech 34.” He waited to see if that meant anything to Zarr.
The other Scav swore. “I’ve heard of those. Really old tech. High-grade military mech. One of those could kill us all if it wanted too. We have nothing likely to kill it.”
“How do you know this, human? You’re from another world.”
Saw shrugged. “I’m smart.”
“And as annoying as a bag skeeter. I should have had you made into a pleasure slave. I shouldn’t trust you.”
A curious echo of what JI had said.
“I can talk to it and get it to surrender. Maybe you and it can become friends. What do you suppose a Scav warband could do with a JI-mech? Could it ram its way into a landship?”
“Doubtful,” muttered the Scav waiting in shadow. “And I always thought those were bigger than this thing.”
“You have good, if stupid, ideas. You talk more than any slave ever has without being asked, to my knowledge.”
“And I fight dirty.”
“Hah! Very well, Saw. I still don’t trust you, but you get it to surrender for me. It must stand up and wait while I send men forward to look at it. Hopefully, they will not have to step over your corpse.”
“They won’t. That’s a deal, as long as
you declare me free, let me join your warband, and –”
“Let me guess. You want the woman. It is a...deal.”
“Good.” He glanced down at his bare feet. “I need boots. The ground is burning in places.”
After some discussion a Scav with similar foot size gave him a pair of leather boots he could squeeze into.
He’d bet a billion that Zarr would reverse this if it so pleased him to do so. He didn’t plan on letting anything slip. Once free, he’d stay free, even if he had to murder Zarr in his sleep to do it.
“Wish me luck,” he muttered, crouching low and heading toward the heap that was JI.
Twigs snapped underfoot. He stepped carefully over and around the patches of smoking grass and dirt, pushed aside blackened branches that left soft ash on his skin and clogged his nostrils with the smell of smoke. As he neared the mech, he appreciated how big it might be if it stood. Not super-tall but much wider than a man.
It’s me, JI. You hear me?
This thing, once he was next to it, he could see it had curled over into an angular metal mound with only its back exposed and its legs and arms tucked beneath.
Of course. Is this a subterfuge to trick the Scavs? What do you plan? Know that I have not yet remembered how to kill.
Remembered? So you have done it before?
Many, many years ago then I was injured. Emery helped me to wake and heal. We came here to the lands of Scavs and grounders; she went back to the Royal Swathe with Mako, a Mekker who seemed to love her. Love is a difficult concept for me.
Emery. I remember an Emery at my sister’s wedding. I saw her after too. Here. On the swathe ship.
Yes. She was my friend.
He stopped talking in Saw’s head. Was this thing reminiscing? Sad? There was a vague sense of that. All the more strange since this was what most on Earth would call a robot.
She taught me Shakespeare. Hark what light through... I forget the rest and I never forgot before. Or did I?
“Ah-huh.” Shakespeare and this JI spoke like a human, if stiffly. Thought like one, rather. Tentatively Saw put out a finger. Heat radiated from JI. He could cook an egg on this thing. “How about we get you to move off this spot?”
Oops. Forgot to do it this way, can you move fro—
I heard you Sawyer, you do not have to speak in your head when we are close like this.
“You have ears?”
Something like that. I can also speak aloud.
“Then let’s go. Zarr, the Scav leader, won’t shoot if you do this slowly and then stand still so his men can come to you and check you over.”
I have no weapons, Saw.
Good. That will help.
JI began to uncurl and stand. Ashes fell and slid from the metal. The scent of smoke strengthened, and the ground squashed aside from his large square feet as he put weight onto them.
“You’re a big guy.”
This is small. My true form was far larger. I feel cramped and my thoughts hurt me sometimes. This was once my baby mech.
Should he care? Saw frowned. Maybe it was the thought sharing, but he truly felt this JI’s pain. Wasn’t much he could for it, though. “Take it slow. Don’t want to frighten the Scavs.”
He straightened fully and ended up a few feet above Saw’s height.
This was small JI?
Little crunches, and whirrs which rattled, made him wonder at the damage from the rockets. He almost wanted to put his hand out for the mech to hold as it hobbled forward, away from the patch of hot ground.
“You seem intelligent, JI.”
For the first time JI spoke out loud. “As in like a man? Yes. I have taken that next step, though I have things to learn, many things. Perhaps you can help me to do that?”
“Yeah, sure.” He eyed the mech, which increasingly reminded him more of a socially inept teenager than a robot. “I’d like that.”
Chapter 7
Ari watched pensively as Saw went forward, picking his route to avoid the worst of the fires.
To her right, a Scav jumped from the back of a truck, joining another man who leaned against the hood. They laughed and speculated whether the mech would squash Saw. Bets were being taken.
Serve him right if the thing did flatten him.
Sassik wavered, looked to her – she tried to look cowed – and he wandered over to the others. Either the betting or the derision of Saw had enticed him. Her guardian was fickle, and she didn’t mind at all.
Should she run? Obeying was almost too horrible to contemplate. Yet if she did run, even if she managed to get a fair distance, Zarr would have his men track her down. The man was particular about his image, and he’d agreed Saw could own her afterward.
Own.
She’d never before hated that word with such intensity. The world had flipped. Seeing slavery from the other side changed things. She’d been an ass. If free again, she would to look at people who were slaves in a different light.
Saw had been a slave, yet he was happy to own her. Either that was revenge or he was a man of poor morals or both.
If Zarr handed her over, he might do anything to her.
Saw had reached the mech and seemed to be talking to it, though only a few quiet words carried to where she crouched.
She squeezed shut her eyes, holding one hand in the other to steady herself.
Doing something was a priority. Minutes, merely minutes, and Saw might have triumphed.
An obvious possibility waved for her attention.
The rocket truck had its weaponry trained on the JI-mech. She’d seen those used, years ago and had studied it because mechanical things fascinated her. Simple. Pull a trigger, a double click to initiate firing, and the rocket flew.
Not even as complex as a long gun, if you looked at the internal mechanisms.
No choice, really. Be brave or become someone’s toy, someone’s possession.
She opened her eyes to check where the men were, then began to move stealthily – aiming not to attract attention.
If Saw died...tantalizing paths opened. She might become still a slave. She might be ransomed. The latter was more likely, providing they thought her innocent of any wrongdoing.
Be slow and careful and don’t trip. Every blade of grass seemed to whisper her intent. Every sliver of light seemed to broadcast her position. The men kept talking.
Once by the side of the truck, she waited a few seconds to be sure no one had seen her. All were looking toward the mech – the Scavs fascinated by whatever Saw was doing. The mech was unfolding and standing, wobbly perhaps, but this was what Zarr had wanted. No doubt the Scavs were coming in their pants imagining having such a mech to use in battle.
Breathe quietly, and...if she stretched...
Ari stood taller, taller...
A bit more and she’d reach the trigger of the closest rocket. The waxing moonlight and the remaining firelight spun gold on the yellow-toned metal.
Aiming it herself would’ve been perfect, but she couldn’t risk that.
She touched it, the curve of the trigger cool and smooth under her finger.
If she were seen, they’d know what she did in a mere glance. Her toes teetered as she tiptoed to extremes.
The mech and Saw were moving. The aim of the rocket might be true, but if they shifted enough it would fly past them and explode yards beyond, probably in the far trees.
Pull it. Her eyes watered, her head throbbed, so did her calves.
A click transferred into her skin, as her finger moved past the first stage of the trigger.
Killing him should be easy.
Should.
Someone would see her any second, and her feet were getting tired.
Her or him.
Her life or his.
Obvious. She pressed harder and felt the second click of the internal switch. The rocket thrummed, roared, and flew, trailing a curling wash of blue that sent the remains of the trees and undergrowth rustling and sweeping aside.
The mech
crouched, whipping its arms inward. Instead of slamming into the mech, the rocket hit the ground about halfway to its target then caromed upward, spinning wildly.
It was going to miss.
The blue spiraling mist shrouded the rocket. Ari’s heart went into overdrive. She’d risked all for nothing...
With a thud-craack, the rocket smacked into the JI-mech’s side – the explosion illuminating the clearing so blatantly her sight blanked for a few seconds.
She’d done it! Everyone’s sight would be dark for several seconds. Keeping low, she dashed a few yards, before drifting the last couple of yards toward her original position. Her heart thudded slower, the blows still rocking her ribcage.
He’d surely be dead. Must be. She wanted to murmur prayers for his death to the stars, but it’d be more than a little wrong. Anxiety held her in its scratchy clawed grip. Even after she reached her old spot, her pulse banged away crazily.
What a terrible thing she’d done – she’d killed a man. Terrible but necessary. Her body shook as if it wanted to wake her. Killing was blasphemy. No matter how tough she wanted to act, deep down she knew it was wrong.
She felt dirty and awful, but the deepest undercurrent was one of relief.
Yet, until she saw his body, nothing was certain. Zarr would have to decide what was to be done. What if he survived? If he were badly hurt, she’d not be given to him. What would be the point?
“Dead,” she whispered. “Please, dead.”
Seeing his corpse would be confronting, and she mustn’t look nervous.
The Scavs sent a group forward, at a run, to see what destruction the runaway rocket had wrought. She pretended fascination, while ignoring whatever the men did at the truck to the right. Their shouts of dismay made her want to smile.
Sassik returned and loomed at her shoulder.
Had Saw been entirely evil? No. But this was what most people would have done. He’d left her no choice.
Home was a few decisions away. A few days, a few steps. She’d never leave home again, she promised herself, knowing how absurd it was to think a promise would persuade Fate to give her what she wanted.
Beyond the fires, the mech rose, with the dark silhouettes of men surrounding it like worshippers. It had survived.
Claimed Possession (The Machinery of Desire Book 2) Page 5