Mech Girl

by Kate Donovan

  Don’t think about that effing press conference or you’ll go crazy again, he warned himself, remembering that he still had an overdose of adrenaline in his system. How could he forget? The moment that suspension chamber’s lid had opened, he had awakened with a jolt that sent him straight into a semi-psychotic state. All he had cared about in that instant was Zia. He had wanted to kill for her. Die for her. Erupt in a blaze of murderous glory for her.

  Not just because of the adrenaline, he reminded himself wryly. You had some pretty hot dreams about her too, remember?

  Those dreams were fading fast, but he could still remember the gist of them, mostly involving him playing air paddle with a pretty, bikini-clad Zia. The game had always devolved into foreplay, and then he was sacking her on land, at sea, and in the air. Interspersed with those adventures had been dreams of glorious mech combat. Oddly enough, he couldn’t remember any dreams of clearing his family’s name, or becoming president of the United States, although those were the logical outcomes of a Stone-led victory on Malara, weren’t they?

  Stop fixating on that, he ordered himself as he approached the medical facility where Zia and the honor guard were being revived. Just focus on your mission: keeping Zia safe from the Vekzori, and convincing the Malarans to let you pilot a skirmisher. In that order. Nothing else matters.

  At least, not for now.

  * * * *

  The shower nozzle was a full two feet above Zia’s head, but the spray was intense enough to reach her with great force, helping her focus as she scrubbed away two weeks’ worth of stale oils and flaky skin. She felt calm now—rested and alert, although slightly mortified by her irrational behavior with young Annur and his staff.

  Her only clear memory of the two weeks in suspension were of dreams that had been varied and vivid. Especially the romantic ones. Staring up at Rem during the medal ceremony, and then being swept up into his arms, this time with a nice, long kiss. Dancing at the hotel, where again they kissed, and then he carried her off to his room. And they had kissed in the colossus again and again too.

  She licked her lips. Even now, in this Malaran shower, she could almost taste him. What was it the young version of Annur had said?

  You hallucinated a great deal.

  She smiled sheepishly, wondering what he would think if he knew the content of those visions. Not just the hot ones, but the others. The ones during their air paddle game, where Rem’s lean, tanned body had begun to change—to form patches of metal armor, so that he was half man, half mech. In those dreams, she had feared him, but it wasn’t Zia he wanted to fight, it was Commander Sean Logan, who would appear out of nowhere. The two males would clash, attacking each other brutally while Zia darted around them, her air boots propelling her forward as she tried to stop the fight before someone was killed.

  Like the dreams of love, these had been so real she half believed they had actually taken place. But that made no sense. Hadn’t Logan told her to trust Rem? Why would he fight him? Or rather, why would Zia dream that he fought him?

  Because of the “love triangle”? Jenni is going to love hearing about this.

  Laughing, she turned off the shower, and a warm wind began swirling around her, drying her gently. It was wonderfully soothing, reminding her that the Malarans were a highly advanced society. She probably had dozens of technological surprises in store for her.

  Sifting her fingers through her hair, she allowed the breeze to dry it. Then she stepped into the dressing room and donned her dark gray flight suit and her lightweight, medium-heeled boots.

  Her first priority was to find Rem, which turned out to be easy, since he was loitering right outside the dressing room with Annur.

  “Hey, Zee. How are you feeling?”

  “I survived. Looks like you did too.”

  “Yeah.” He stepped closer. “I was a maniac when I first woke up, but I walked it off around Pangua for a while.”

  She eyed him warily. “Did you wear your O2 mask? And your goggles?”

  “Yeah. It’s wild out there. No offense, Doc,” he added quickly.

  “For a human, it is indeed wild,” Annur told him. “Zia is wise to be concerned.”

  “But we’re safe indoors, right?” she murmured.

  “Yes, you can breathe easily in all large public buildings, and most homes and hotels. The particles play havoc with the temperature systems, and so we filter the indoor air diligently. Also, the military and diplomatic transports you will use here have filtered air, so you need not worry about those either.” Annur smiled. “I should give you two a chance to chat. And I should check on your other bodyguards. We finished bringing them out of suspension a few minutes ago.”

  “I hope they didn’t give you as much trouble as we did,” she said with an apologetic smile.

  “So far, they are quite calm,” he said. Then he smiled again and left her with Rem.

  “You gave them trouble too?” Rem asked as soon as they were alone. “How?”

  She shrugged. “I was disoriented. Nothing worth mentioning.” She hesitated, then asked, “Did you have crazy dreams? I did, and they were so real—almost more real than real life. I think that’s why it took me a few minutes to figure out I was safe.”

  “You dreamed that you were in danger?”

  “Actually, I dreamed you were in danger.”

  “Yeah,” he said with a laugh. “I had that dream too. Alluvans in giant mechs swarming me and my skirmisher.” Stepping closer, he asked gently, “Are you still mad at me?”

  She shrugged again.

  “I screwed up,” he admitted. “It just took me by surprise when the press secretary invited me to speak. Even at the medal ceremony, I never had that chance. Then suddenly I had an opportunity to be myself in front of all those reporters. I didn’t want to look like Jared Quito’s lapdog, tacitly supporting him by staying quiet. You can see that, can’t you?”

  “He made an effort to include you. And you threw it in his face. And my face too.”

  Rem nodded. “I tried to limit the subject of questions to the mission.”

  She sighed. “Those OmniVid vultures don’t respect boundaries.”

  “Yeah, I know that now.” He touched her shoulder. “So? You dreamed about me? That’s nice.” His blue eyes twinkled. “My memories are fading fast, but trust me, you were in mine too.”

  She had to struggle not to blush, and was glad when she saw Humber enter the infirmary from the far end. “Look, a familiar face! Humber, we’re over here.”

  The ambassador hurried to join them. “You are both looking well. How are you feeling? Captain Quito, I hope you are not going to spit on me.”

  “Spit?” Rem asked, then he burst into laughter. “And I thought I was bad. All I did was threaten to kill everyone. You spit on them?”

  “One nurse, one time,” Zia said, eyeing Humber with pretend annoyance. “You’re in such a good mood, Ambassador. Does this mean you’ve been off making love to your wife?”

  “Of course I did. Twice in fact.”

  Zia groaned, remembering too late that Malarans were blunt about sex compared to Earthlings.

  Refusing to seem naïve, she shrugged and said, “Well, good. Now maybe you can take Captain Stone off my hands. I know he’s dying to see an army of sixty mechs, all lined up in rows. And I’d like to go to the hotel and unpack. So? Do you feel like playing tour guide?”

  “I’m not going anywhere without you,” Rem objected. “We’ll both go to the hotel.”

  “My three bodyguards will be with me. I’ll be fine.”

  “And my government is supplying four extra guards,” Humber interjected. “Zia will be perfectly safe every moment she is on my planet.”

  “Sorry,” Rem told him, arching an eyebrow slightly. “I’m not letting her out of my sight. I have orders to protect her, and that’s what I’m going to do.”

  Zia could just imagine Commander Logan giving such an order, so she scowled and said, “Fine, then we’ll all go look at the mec
hs.”

  “You are anxious to see them for yourself?” Humber’s huge green eyes twinkled. “I have heard that once a person wears the helmet and experiences synergy, they are never the same again.”

  She rolled her eyes at the concept. “Okay, I confess. I’ve given up shopping and partying. All I care about now is piloting.”

  Rem and Humber laughed, then she continued. “Seriously, Ambassador, what’s the plan? The Alluvans are probably watching, right? We want them to think I’m Pilot Girl, don’t we?”

  “Yes. In fact, you are invited to dine tomorrow night with the minister of Malara to discuss strategy. It will be well publicized, and with luck, will unnerve our enemy.”

  “Mech strategy,” Rem murmured. “Unbelievable.”

  “You will be there too, Captain Stone. And thereafter, you and Zia will spend every day at the practice fields, where you will appear to train with our pilots. That is the plan. But if you wish an early glimpse, I can arrange for a hovercraft to take us to the fields right now.”

  Young Dr. Annur had returned to the room and asked with a smile, “Are you stealing my patients, Mr. Ambassador?”

  “They want to see an army of mechs,” Humber explained, and the two Malarans started chuckling as though Humber had just made a hilarious joke.

  “Must be lost in the translation,” Zia murmured to Rem.

  Annur smiled. “You two may go, but the others are not ready. They have showered and dressed, but we are still monitoring them. It will be another hour at least before they are steady on their feet.”

  “We don’t need them. I can protect Zia,” Rem assured him.

  “With the help of four brave Malaran soldiers,” Humber reminded him sharply.

  “Right! Sorry, sir. I didn’t mean any disrespect. I appreciate their help.”

  “Shall we go, then?” Humber asked.

  “Wait.” Zia glanced toward the second recovery room. “I don’t want to hurt their feelings. Can I talk to them for a minute, Dr. Annur?”

  “Of course. Come with me.”

  * * * *

  Rem followed Zia and watched from the doorway as she approached the three bodyguards, who were sitting on the sides of their beds with monitoring devices attached to their arms. Even so, they all stood up and saluted crisply when Zia appeared.

  She greeted each of them by name, her tone warm with respect. “I didn’t get a chance to thank you for volunteering to protect me. I feel so much better knowing you’re here. Otherwise, I’d be on the next transport back to Earth, believe me.”

  The men beamed with pride, and Rem nodded in approval. Despite Zia’s claims that she wasn’t a politician, she had a definite flair for making people feel good. And for knowing instinctively what they needed to hear—the hallmark of any great leader.

  “I know you guys are still recovering, but I have some extra assignments for you. Commander Logan probably told you your only job is to guard me, but I’m not that easy.” She flashed a playful smile. “I need you to teach me too. I’ve never held a blast gun or laser rifle. I wouldn’t know what to do if a Vekzor attacked me. I can’t even salute! I’m counting on you three to help me with all that. Which means you need to go to the hotel and rest. And check it out, so we’re sure it’s safe. I’m going on a quick hovercraft tour of the base with Ambassador Humber and Captain Stone—”

  “We need to go too, then,” Lieutenant Harada protested.

  “Then who will check out the hotel? I can’t just wander in there without being sure it’s safe, can I? Ambassador Humber is sending four Malaran guards on the hovercraft in your place. Four Malarans for the three of you—that sounds okay, doesn’t it?” She smiled again, this time with a hint of apology. “I know I’m asking a lot for your first day, but I really need you to secure the hotel. And I’ll need those saluting lessons soon, too. Until then, you’ll have to settle for this.” She gave them each a kiss on the cheek, then backed up and smiled at them again. “Do what Dr. Annur says, please? When I go to sleep tonight, I want all three of you rested and on guard. Please?”

  Rem could see that the three guys were mesmerized—not to mention madly in love. It was unbelievable. She was ditching them, but making them feel great about it.

  He needed to learn a lesson from this, and not let his guard down around her, no matter how sweet and sincere she seemed.

  She left her new converts and strode past Rem, giving him a frown that told him she hadn’t realized he was watching. It also told him she hadn’t really forgiven him for mouthing off at the press conference, which concerned him. If he was going to protect her, he needed her absolute trust. Apparently, he had lost that, and would have to regain it somehow.

  As he trailed her and Humber to the roof where the hovercraft awaited them, he reminded himself that there was another possibility. Maybe she was just embarrassed because of the dreams she had had during suspension. He had seen that blush of hers and knew what it meant—her fantasies had been as wild as Rem’s.

  Plus, she had been worried about him, because of the dreams where he was in danger. That was a good sign too, wasn’t it? She wouldn’t worry if she didn’t care, at least a little.

  To be an effective bodyguard, he’d have to capitalize on all of those feelings, which wouldn’t be too difficult, considering that he was feeling them too.

  * * * *

  The hovercraft soared above the gigantic buildings of Pangua for a few miles, then the landscape changed dramatically. Dense forests, craggy hills, sandy expanses—the most varied topography Rem had ever seen. And the perfect setting for mech practice fields, where “half the battle,” according to all accounts, was the ground on which it was fought.

  Zia had taken the seat next to the pilot in the front, leaving Rem and Humber to sit in the row behind them, with the huge Malaran soldiers planted in the back rows. Luckily, the front half of the craft was all window, so everyone had a great view.

  “Did they unload my grandfather’s giant yet, Humber?” Zia was asking the ambassador. “They need to make sure it wasn’t damaged during the flight.”

  “It is safely on the ground,” Humber said, adding slyly, “It was Quito’s skirmisher that attracted most of the attention though. The skirmisher that brought down a colossus.”

  Zia rolled her golden eyes, clearly refusing to be goaded into defending her colossus. “Are we almost there?”

  Humber nodded. “We are there already. You must understand, both of you. We do not have armies of mechs, and so your dream of seeing them in lines and rows is inaccurate. They are solitary warriors, or working in teams of two or three. And so that is how they train. See if you can spot them.”

  “Down there!” Rem jumped to his feet, energized by the sight of two skirmishers sparring with each other. “Can you see them, Zee?”

  “I almost missed it,” she admitted. “It’s so hilly.”

  “They practice on all types of terrain,” he told her. “I’ve seen the vids and they’re amazing, but this is frigging unbelievable. Remember, since Alluva challenged Malara, Malara gets to pick the site for the battles. And the configuration.”

  She rolled her eyes again. “You just eat this up like candy, don’t you, Stone?”

  “Yeah. Hey, look!” Rem shifted to the other side of the craft and pressed his nose against the window. “A prowler. What’s he after? That hoverbot? Seriously? A prowler versus a hoverbot?” He watched in disbelief as the smaller, stealthier craft threaded through the underbrush, approaching the hoverbot, which was maintaining a height of five feet above the ground. “He’s going to get it! Unbelievable. Do they use paint as ammo for these practices, Humber?”

  “Yes, a form of paint that is easy to see, easy to remove.”

  “Damn.” Forcing himself to calm down, he returned to his seat. “What’s the overall strategy? Does Alluva have a weakness? Do they prefer a certain configuration? Will Malara pick its best team on paper? Or will they focus on pilots who have already seen battle? Have any of them seen
battle? Your last challenge was with Zellot, right? Seven years ago. Are those guys still active?”

  Humber smiled. “Malara’s greatest hero at Zellot was a female named Carrak. She now trains all of our warriors. And she still pilots a colossus, although I do not know if she will see actual battle in this conflict. Those decisions will be made by the ministry.”

  “Tomorrow night during our meeting with them,” Zia agreed.

  “Well . . .” Humber gave a sheepish laugh. “The outside world will be told that the meeting is to plan strategy. But I imagine those decisions will be made by a much smaller group—one that does not include you or me. The minister is very secretive about such things, for obvious reasons.”

  “I’d kill to be part of that strategy session,” Rem admitted, half to himself. “They won’t just be choosing the place and the configuration, they’ll be choosing pilots too, right?”

  Humber gave him a sympathetic smile. “They are aware of your interest, Captain. But do not have raised hopes. We have many talented pilots. Not all will see battle, or at least, we must hope they do not. That would mean the conflict lasts too long—too many months, possibly even a year.” To Zia, he explained, “Based on past history, a war that is won in the first battle is always a victory for the challenger, which makes sense, because they must have tremendous confidence to issue the challenge in the first place.”

  “Especially because if the target ever did win the first battle, they’d collect double the challenge bounty, right, Ambassador?” Rem demanded.

  “Yes, those are the rules. But as I said, that has never happened. The challenger’s advantage is too strong. But after that first battle, a short conflict usually favors the target—it is a sign that the challenger underestimated its opponent. But when the conflict lasts for many battles, the challenger is once again the more likely victor.”

  “Well,” Zia replied thoughtfully, “at least you have more robots than they do now, so if it lasts a really long time, you’ll win by default, right?”