by H. C. Brown
He squared his shoulders. He’d give her one more shot. Yes, she was his dream girl, but he’d be damned if he’d stalk her, or worse, beg for a date. If she refused him—again—he would walk away. He remembered the feel of her in his arms, her response to his kiss. The look in her eyes had told him she found him attractive before the aphrodisiac saliva came into play. Hell, he had no doubt she wanted him. He had smelled her intoxicating, feminine arousal. The thought of losing the chance to get to know her made his heart ache. Perhaps his enhancements had frightened her away. If she gave him a chance, he could act like a normal man and not a Dom. He would forgo his personal preferences to have her in his life. Then again, after getting to know him, she might enjoy having her delicious, round bottom spanked.
A long, black hovercar dropped into a space in front of the doctor’s surgery. Two men alighted and walked into the office. Out of interest, Fane used his AI to examine the unusual vehicle. Most hovercars of this time were compact, but this one had a reinforced shell, and the windows were two inches thick. The computer chip had an unusual encryption. Fane set his AI to work hacking through the code. He sighed at the result. Research and Development. What the hell did they want with Tamara?
The two men loitered inside the reception area until a patient emerged from Tamara’s office, then they strode inside. A few long minutes passed, and the men appeared at the door, holding the doctor between them. Fane’s heart pounded. He began to cross the road, weaving between traffic. By the time he reached the other sidewalk, the men were opening the car door. Tamara glanced around wildly, and her wide-eyed gaze locked on Fane. He moved swiftly toward her. She shook her head and her lips formed the word run.
Computer, lock on Research and Development vehicle. Engage tracking. Is Tamara carrying her phone? Fane’s AI gave him the affirmative. Lock on her phone. Scan Research and Development mainframe for any reference to Dr. Tamara Bright. Link me to Jace.
“Yeah.”
Fane hailed a cab. “Some government agency has picked up Tamara. I’m accessing their files now.” He climbed inside the vehicle’s cool interior. “Strand Hotel… no… I want to buy a flybike. Do you know where I can get a good deal?”
“Sure.” The cab driver grinned at Fane over one shoulder. “High Flybikes on the corner of West and Vine is the best place in town.”
“Jace, meet me at High Flybikes. I’ll send the coordinates. We can’t rescue Tamara in a cab.”
“Rescue… is she in danger?”
Fane rubbed the back of his neck. “According to the files, they picked up a body scan of me when I got shot last night. They picked her up for questioning.”
“Shot? You got fucking shot last night and forgot to mention it?”
“It was no big deal. I’ll need help deleting files. The government has some strange encryptions. I’m forwarding all the information to your AI. We’ve gotta get her out of there now. What if the Feds will think she’s a spy? They will torture her for information. How do you feel about breaking into a restricted government facility?”
“Don’t do anything. I can break any encryptions. I’m on my way.”
Chapter Six
Tamara sat back in her chair and glanced around the sterile room. Hell, the air had the smell of snow. The air conditioners must be working overtime. How far underground had she travelled? An iron bed with a rubber mattress and a pile of bed linen rested against one wall. A desk with a plastic jug of water, paper cups and a chair either side sat in the middle of the room. The two burly men who had escorted her into this underground labyrinth stood each side of the locked door. Another doorway, on the opposite side, blended into the shiny metal walls.
Had Fane gotten away? Lord, her heart had ached seeing him running to save her—again. No other man had made an impact on her like Fane. Jesus, he had become an obsession in a matter of days. Now she would save him. These bastards could torture her, and she would never give them any information on Fane. She eyed the guards suspiciously and remained silent, her hands folded in her lap. The door buzzed and clicked open. Lord, she was a prisoner. A tall man with dark hair graying at the temples took a chair at the desk in front of her and shuffled a stack of papers.
She glared at him. “Who are you, and why am I here? If you’re planning to keep me here any longer, I want to see my lawyer.”
“You are in grave trouble, Dr. Bright. In matters of this nature, we may keep you indefinitely without legal representation. My name is Peterson. Dr. Bright, are you aware that the government logs all technical abnormalities in medical equipment? The other night, the Bio Scanner in your office crashed. Subsequent system analyses have revealed the scanner was compromised.” The man leaned his elbows on the table, his fingers making towers. “We also discovered the last scan recorded on the device could not belong to any human walking the earth today.”
So, Mr. Peterson, you’re out of the classified research loop. There’s no way I’m telling you about Fane. You will hunt him down and exterminate him. Tamara narrowed her eyes. “You are talking gobbledygook.”
“Do you deny a man rescued you from a gang attack outside the clinic?”
Tamara noticed a hint of a smile on one of the guard’s lips. Her stomach clenched. They had checked the damn CT cameras. She drew a steadying breath. “No, why should I? How in God’s name does that relate to the Bio Scanner?”
“The man apparently received a gunshot wound, and yet you neglected to notify the authorities or enter his details into the system.” Peterson leaned forward and stared unblinking at Tamara. “That in itself is a concern. Who is this man, Dr. Bright?”
Tamara smoothed her skirt over her knees and lifted her chin. She gave Peterson a small smile. “You mean, my knight in shining armor?” Her gaze fell on the paperwork on the desk. A printout of a holo-image lay on the top of a file. “There was nothing to report. In truth, Mr. Peterson, the man recovered and left. If he had the injuries you suggest, he would be in the hospital. If you check the police records, you will discover I put in an incident report about the gang attack the following morning. In any case, patient-doctor information is privileged. You have no right to question me about my patient.”
“This is not a man, Dr. Bright.” Peterson held up the scanner image. “This is a machine.”
Leaning forward in her chair, Tamara feigned interest in the document. She raised a brow and laughed. “Good Lord, you don’t expect me to believe that bit of nonsense, do you?” She snorted. “I’m a doctor. That’s science fiction. Someone is playing you for a fool.”
“I’m no fool.” Peterson got to his feet and rounded the table. “This,” he pushed the image under Tamara’s nose, “came off the Bio Scanner in your clinic during the time you were inside with the man you refuse to name.”
Cold chills ran down Tamara’s back. Peterson’s black eyes bored into her, his broad body menacing with its closeness. She cleared her throat. “I will not subject my patient to this lunacy. The man saved my life, and as I stated before under patient-doctor privilege, I refuse to name him.”
Peterson returned to the desk, his face dark with fury. A trickle of perspiration ran between Tamara’s breasts. With a humming sound, a vid-screen dropped down from the ceiling. The recording of the gang attack began to play. Tamara’s heart threatened to break out of her chest. At the time, she had failed to notice how fast Fane moved. The gunshot wound had not slowed him down. He fought with remarkable skill and sustained several punches without flinching. The blow from behind with a baseball bat floored him. Heaven’s above, the strike would have killed most men. Hell, she could not remember seeing a damn baseball bat.
“Replay and slow it down.” Peterson pointed to the screen. “See that flash of light, that’s the gunshot.” He gave Tamara a gaze carved from granite. “If your knight in shining armor wasn’t hit, why are you ripping off your shirt and pressing it to the wound?” He walked to her chair, clasped both armrests, and stared into her face. “The blow to the back of the head was sign
ificant in itself, let alone the hole in his shoulder. I want information on this man. I don’t care how long it takes, or what I have to do to get you to talk. You will tell me what I want to know.”
Classified, Fane said the project that created him was a military secret. These idiots have no idea they are investigating their own government research project. Peterson stood so close Tamara could smell peppermints on his breath. She did not intend to give up national secrets to this idiot. Sighing, she met his gaze. “Sorry, I’m very patriotic, Mr. Peterson, and I have absolutely nothing further to say on this subject.”
“Patriotic? That’s a strange thing to say.” Peterson pushed away from the chair. “What did the injured man tell you?”
Tamara smiled. “Anything he said to me is privileged information. I swore an oath, Mr. Peterson, and I’m not breaking my patient’s confidentiality for you or anyone else.” She brushed a hand through her hair. “This interview is over.” She pulled her phone out of her jacket pocket. “I must contact my office. I have patients waiting. How much longer do you intend to keep me here?”
“You won’t be able make calls from inside the cell.” Peterson scooped up the file on the desk and headed for the door. “And to answer your question, you will remain here until you give me a name.” He walked to the exit and motioned the guards to follow him. “We’ll leave you alone to think about your decision. Make yourself at home. The bathroom is through that door.”
Drawing a deep breath, Tamara watched them leave. Their behavior was probably standard procedure to soften her up. Intimidate the poor, feeble woman. Threaten her and see what happens. Stupid assholes. She lived for this excitement. The stand-over tactics were mild compared to those she’d submitted to in the past from the Doms at Depravity. She got to her feet and walked to the bed. She unfolded the neat pile of bed linen. I might as well make myself comfortable.
* * * * *
Jace grasped the arms of one of the government agents they had high jacked on their way to work at the Research and Development facility, and dragged his body over to the cave. He found it hard to believe these Earth people were so vulnerable. All the agents had to do was log in their ETA at the R & D facility on the company’s security mainframe, and he had them. Stopping a hovercar that ran on a simple computer was child’s play for his AI.
He grinned at Fane. “This is too easy. I used their own Taser technology to subdue them. They should be out for some time. When we return the car, they won’t remember a thing. They’ll think their Tasers malfunctioned and knocked them out.”
“Are you sure they don’t have body scanners in the building?” Fane dragged the other man inside and propped him against the wall of the cave. The man’s head dropped to his chest, spittle leaking from his slack mouth. Fane grimaced and turned to Jace. “If they discover we’re not agents, we’re toast.”
With a laugh, Jace turned to his friend. “They use retina scanners. I’ve uploaded everything we need to pass as agents. The hovercar is standard Government Issue and will pass the security scans—it’s our ticket to get inside the complex. There are two mainframes in the building. One runs general security and one is classified. The one we need is inside a lead-lined room, as far as I can gauge. I’ll need to be in the same area to pull this off.”
“It’s times like these I’m really glad you designed all this stuff in your past life. I’m grateful you taught me so much… but I had no idea of your skills… what you’re doing here is way out there.” Fane rubbed his chin. “What about Tamara?”
“They have holding cells underground, so I’m guessing Tamara will be there. I’m trying to create a secure connection to her phone, which is difficult with their technology. My AI is upgrading her phone’s communication module. We should be able to contact her by M. S. in a few minutes. If she inserts the module under her skin, the connection would be permanent.” He chuckled. “I guess, her pussy will have to do for now.”
“She isn’t likely to want a permanent connection with me. I’ll have enough trouble convincing her to insert it inside her body.” Fane rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m not too sure she’ll want to get involved with me after finding out what I am.”
Jace regarded his friend with interest. Rather than indulge his needs at Depravity, Fane had sat at the bar drinking heavily. Dr. Tamara Bright had made some impression on his friend. Fane was walking around like a lovesick pup. After one brief meeting Fane had fallen hard—hell, apparently, love at first sight really existed.
“Worry about your love life later. Right now, we need to rescue a woman who could blow our stay on this planet.” He frowned. “What do you plan to do if she intends to squeal on us?”
“She won’t.” Fane smiled thinly. “She’s too fucking ethical. That’s probably why she decided a relationship wouldn’t work between us. It must have been something like that, because this woman had it bad for me.” He shook his head slowly. “Then she just closed up, but her eyes… man, they were begging me to make a move.”
“She’s not the woman you know from your dreams.” Jace sighed. “You have to take it slow. You’re a stranger to her, and in truth, your AI probably intimidates her. After spending four years as sex slaves, we expect a female to beg us to fuck her. We have to start again and act like normal people. Me, I’m happy with the subs at Depravity. I don’t have to be something I’m not with them. Perhaps, one day, I’ll find myself a sweet sub and settle down.” He communicated with his AI and then grinned at Fane. “Send a message to her phone.”
* * * * *
Tamara’s phone vibrated in her hand. She glanced up at the camera and lay down on the bed, turning toward the wall. She flipped open the phone, read the message, and swallowed hard. Did Fane really expect her to remove the plastic covered module from inside her phone and insert it in her pussy? How the hell had he managed to contact her, anyway? Another message flashed. Do it now.
Turning over the cell phone, she slid off the back cover, removed the battery as stealthily as possible, and dug out the miniscule module with her fingernails. She reconstructed the phone and pushed it back into her pocket. Clasping the tiny module in her hand, she rolled over and got up slowly. She made her way to the bathroom and used the toilet. Her face grew hot. I’m an idiot. She inserted the module. I can’t believe I’m doing this. If this were some trick by Peterson, she would die of shame. She straightened her clothes and moved to the basin to wash her hands.
“Hey, babe. Don’t say anything. You can communicate with me by thought. When you want to speak to me, think the words ‘connect me to Fane’. Can you do this for me?”
Tamara stood in front of the mirror and stared at her reflection. Her stomach clenched at the sound of Fane’s deep, sensual voice. Heavens above, this was real. If the world had this technology, why was she paying so much a year to her phone company? “Yes.”
“I’m with a friend, someone like me. His name is Jace. Same goes with him, okay. We’re going to break you out.”
“I haven’t told them about you.” Tamara bent over the sink and splashed water on her face. “You should leave before they find you. Contact your commander and tell him to sort this out.”
“We can rescue you and wipe all trace of the incident from their files.”
“They have a hard copy of the scan.” Tamara dried her hands slowly. “And CT footage of the fight; it’s obvious you were wounded. You can’t erase their brains, Fane, they won’t give up.”
“You mentioned you’d seen my technology in a movie. Can you tell me which one? Jace insists he can use it as a Trojan in the Bio Scanner program. It will cover the scan. We’ve already added notes to your private files to say my shoulder wound was a nick from a bullet and you attributed the blood loss to exertion.”
Running a hand through her hair, Tamara walked casually back into her cell and sat down on the bed. “You can access my private files?”
“Afraid so.”
She stared at her hands. “I’m going to wake up soon.
This has to be some terrible nightmare.”
“It’s not a nightmare. I’m sorry you were involved in all this; I wish we could start over. Can you remember the name of that movie?”
“Sure. ‘Cyborgs from the planet Zion.’ Do you think it will work?”
“Yes.”
“So why rescue me? If you can do what you say, I should be able to just walk out of here in a few minutes.”
“It’s not that easy, I’m afraid. We’re coming in as field officers. We’ll need to access the government mainframe on site. The damn thing has so many firewalls… we have to be careful we don’t trip a hacker alarm. If all goes according to plan, we’ll arrange to interview you and then escort you from the building.”
Tamara stretched out on the bed. “Won’t they recognize you from the CT video?”
“No, I’ll change my skin color, and before you ask, no, I’m not divulging any more military secrets, okay?”
She crossed her legs at the ankles and stared at the ceiling. “Fine, but I’m still trying to comprehend how you just happened to turn up both times when I was in trouble. It’s too coincidental… and a little creepy. And why are you doing this for me? You must have known I wouldn’t rat on you to these morons.”
“I had no idea you existed before the other night. I was just walking by when the gang attacked you. It was my first night in town. I might be way off base, but I think we have a connection, Tamara. It’s true; I was heading to see you when they grabbed you. I wanted a chance to ask you out again… I still do. If we don’t click, that’s fine. I’ll walk away, but you have to give a man a chance. When this mess is over, will you have dinner with me?”