Charley didn’t want to stay in the medi-unit, so they waited in a quiet corner of the garden. She watched as a squirrel dug with deft determination in a flowerbed before disappearing up a tree with his prize. Life went on around them, while the patients of Neuro Unit One slept. They would never see a day like this again or listen to the wind whispering in the trees.
There were worse things than falling for someone she could never have. She had been foolish to get so upset about Pete. By the end of the year, she would be on a starship travelling to another galaxy and her secret would be safe. Charley raised her eyes to find that the object of her dark thoughts was staring at her. She hated when Pete looked at her like that. With that tender expression on his face, as if he cared about her. The sooner this mission was over and she was back at the Academy, the better.
Karl Hayes was as good as his word. The court order arrived and Pete winced when he read the files. Marc Liston, aged twenty-eight. He was ex-military and the details of his accident were sketchy. He had been in a coma for the past three years. Next of kin was Professor Robert Liston, Fleet Command. Pete waded through the medical data. “Liston was part of a team who conducted surgery on Marc on the twelfth—the same day as the hit and run.”
Pete felt sickened. How could you take a knife to your own child? His eyes scanned quickly through the rest of the file. “There were two others on the team. Someone called Rice and a surgeon called Rajiv Singh. I don’t understand half of this stuff, Charley. We’ll have to talk to one of the doctors.”
Mr. Singh was a slight man with large dark eyes and olive skin. “You say that you are part of Professor Liston’s team at the base? I’ve been a little concerned that we haven’t heard from him.”
Pete wasn’t sure how much to tell him. Singh would probably hear about the accident when the police investigation was completed. “Professor Liston has disappeared, probably on the night of the twelfth or shortly afterward.”
Singh shook his head sadly. “Poor Robert, we knew that it was an experimental procedure and there were great risks involved.”
Pete leaned forward. What had Liston done? “What procedure?”
Singh examined his fingers closely, unwilling to meet Pete’s gaze. “Now you mustn’t judge Robert. Marc is his only son. We would never have attempted the procedure if we weren’t confident that there was some chance of success.”
“What did you do?”
Singh shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “We performed a partial brain harvest for Professor Liston’s Array.”
Pete looked at Charley’s face. She was so pale that she looked as if she was going to faint any moment. He had to get her out of here. He thanked the surgeon quickly and ushered her outside.
Charley’s eyes were bright with tears. She was shaking like a leaf. He wanted to hug her, but given the way she had been lately, she would probably run a mile. He patted her shoulder awkwardly. “Breathe, Charley, just breathe. I can see how the professor would go off the deep end if he tried something like that and it went wrong.”
“You don’t understand, Pete. At first I thought that the professor made the Array to look like his son, but it’s worse than that. The procedure didn’t fail. Marc Liston is the Array.”
Chapter Six
There was a stunned silence in Karl’s office when he heard of Liston’s attempt to create a human-A.I. hybrid. “Charley, you can’t possibly know that Liston’s procedure worked.”
“I do know,” she insisted. “Marc is more than a machine. He is curious. He expresses emotion. I think he’s lonely.”
It had been days since she had seen Marc. He had been left alone while she hunted for his father. She remembered the pale figure lying unconscious in the hospital bed in Grayport. To be brought back from a coma, only to be placed inside a machine. It was just a different kind of prison. “I have to go to him, Karl. Maybe Marc knows how to find his father.”
Karl exchanged a look with Pete and frowned. “Okay, but take Pete with you this time, and Charley, please be careful.”
Charley smiled reassuringly. “I will, Sir.”
They lay side by side in the com chairs. Charley pulled down her visor and felt the familiar static prickle against her fingertips. She was a little nervous at the thought of Pete being with her this time. How would he react when he met the Array and how would Marc react when he saw Pete?
Marc appeared almost immediately. “Charley, where have you been?”
He looked so anxious that she felt a brief pang of guilt. Did he experience time in the same way? Did the hours dragged by endlessly for him?
“No, Charley, I am busy with the systems here, but I did miss you.”
He bent his head and kissed her on the cheek. Then he stepped away, with an impish twinkle in his eyes. “See, I have been replaying our last interaction.”
Charley looked around her, she had almost forgotten about Pete. He wasn’t there. Something was wrong.
“I’m sorry, Charley. Pete cannot come here. It is forbidden.”
Alarm bells rang loudly inside her head. Marc had restricted access to his world. “Why is it forbidden, Marc? Do you want to tell me?”
Marc was silent. His eyes closed as if he had switched off. She could feel something else in here with them, almost like a shadow. Charley shivered.
Brown eyes opened again and he looked pleadingly at her. “I can’t, Charley, please don’t ask me to.”
Something was wrong. Marc was different. Did he know what his father had done? She reached for his hand. “It’s okay, Marc. We can talk about something else instead. What have you been doing while I was away?”
Marc’s smile was tinged with relief. “I made a gift for you, Charley. Close your eyes.”
When she opened them again, she was on a beach. The sun was warm and she could feel the sand between her toes. Across the water was a small island and she could hear the shrill cry of the seagulls overhead. In the shelter of the dunes, a plaid blanket lay on the sand, and in the middle of it sat an old-fashioned wicker basket. Charley’s eyes widened with surprise. It was hard to believe that it wasn’t real. She could smell the tangy air, taste the salt on her lips and feel the breeze in her hair.
They walked the pale sands together. Despite the perfect day Marc had created for her, she was conscious that something was different. Usually when they were together, she could feel him inside her head, but today he preferred to talk. When she said that she had to return to the ship, Marc was reluctant to let her go.
“Stay, Charley, I want you to.”
“I can’t, Marc, but I promise that I’ll come back tomorrow.” She stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek. His arms crept around her, giving her a brief hug. Even as she stepped away from him, she could feel the world he had created vanishing around her.
Pete’s fingers raised the visor away from her face. “What the hell happened, Charley? Why wouldn’t the Array let me in?”
Charley swung her legs over the side of the chair to sit up. “Marc wouldn’t tell me. It was as if he wasn’t alone.”
“You’re a very astute young lady. Now move away from the com chair.”
Pete turned swiftly when he heard the professor’s voice. Liston’s clothes had the stained, rumpled appearance of someone who had been sleeping in them. The hand that held the gun was trembling. Pete reached for a metal wrench one of the workers had left behind.
Liston waved his gun, pointing it at Charley. “Please don’t. I have no wish to hurt the girl. My son has become quite attached to her.”
Pete dropped the wrench, letting the metal tool clang noisily on the floor, and stepped in front of Charley. He moved slowly toward Liston. “We know you didn’t mean to kill the girl that night. It was an accident. Let Fleet Command take care of this.” His voice was low and reassuring. “Just put the weapon down, Professor.”
Liston rubbed a sweating palm against his hip. “I’m afraid it’s too late for that. I will not lose my son again. I’ve made other arr
angements.”
Pete didn’t like the sound of that. There were plenty of black market tech traders who would pay a lot of credits to get their hands on Liston. “At least let Charley go. She’s just a cadet. There’s no point in keeping her.”
When Charley opened her mouth to protest, Pete flashed her a warning glance to keep quiet.
The professor shook his head. “No. The girl stays. We’ll be leaving here as soon as the base is secured.”
They walked at gunpoint to Karl’s Office. Outside in the hangar, Pete could hear the low thrum of laser fire. The base was under attack. If it wasn’t for the gun pointing at Charley, he would have tackled Liston, but the professor was too unstable and he couldn’t risk hurting her. Inside the office, three techies huddled in a corner. One of them was clutching his bloodstained arm.
“Charley, find a medi-kit and patch up Eric. Now which one of you wants to tell me what the hell is going on?”
“There was a power failure on the base a little while ago. The hangar has its own generator and we tried to compensate. Then we heard the sound of weapons. They came in and… Oh God, they just started shooting people. We initiated lockdown, but…”
He started to cry, wringing his hands together. Pete looked at the three of them. They were just kids. None of them had any combat experience. “What happened then?”
We thought we could wait it out until help arrived. Then Professor Liston came. He’s the one who shot Eric. He’s gone crazy.”
This was bad. “Okay, do we know who is attacking the base? Have you seen them?”
“I did,” one of the techies piped up. “They’re big, not human and they’ve got ridges in the center of their foreheads and—”
“You mean the Vashtar? The Vashtar are here?”
Pete looked at Charley. She had made a neat job of cleaning the wound, for all the good it would do. The Vashtar didn’t use medi-facilities in combat. They killed their own injured rather than leave them behind.
The sounds of battle were dying away. That meant they would be here soon. The Vashtar traded women like commodities. He had to protect her. “Charley, get over here. Now.”
She gave him an annoyed glance and continued to bandage Eric’s arm. There was no time for this. Striding across the room, he pulled Charley to her feet and pinned her against the wall. “Charley, until this is over, you will not leave my side, day or night. You will obey my every command without question and you will not under any circumstances make eye contact with the Vashtar.”
Pete tugged at the neck of her uniform and a button came free, rolling across the floor. He shoved her hair aside and kissed her neck, biting and sucking the tender skin roughly. He could feel Charley struggling against him and he crushed her arms by her sides until he was done. She was going to have one hell of a hickey.
There was a shocked silence behind them. Charley’s eyes were blazing with anger. When she raised her arm to hit him, Pete grabbed her wrist, forcing it down. “Listen to me, Charley. If you challenge my authority in front of them, the Vashtar will expect me to kill you. If I don’t, then one of them will. Do you understand?”
Charley blinked away her tears and nodded. Pete released her hand. Outside they could hear the heavy sound of footsteps. With trembling fingers, she started to button up her tunic.
“Leave it,” Pete snapped as the office door opened.
One of the techies gulped audibly as a leather-clad soldier entered the office accompanied by an ashen-faced Liston. No one could accuse the Vashtar of being pretty. The soldier was tall and broad, with long dark hair tied back with leather bindings. A series of bony ridges ran along the center of his forehead. His brows were heavy, overhanging small, deep-set eyes. The soldier stood back respectfully when an older male entered the room. Pete checked the newcomer’s insignia, trying to recall Vashtar military ranks. It was time to say hello. Stepping forward, Pete deftly avoided the attempts of the soldier to stop him and punched the captain in the jaw.
Now that was a surprise. The soldier recovered quickly and caught him in a headlock, twisting his arm behind his back. Pete didn’t resist. He couldn’t let them know that he was tech-enhanced, otherwise, he could find himself on a Vashtar sales block. Pete braced himself for the blow that never came.
The captain rubbed his jaw and then threw back his head and laughed. “An alpha—thank Vinar for that. I thought this planet was stocked with trembling cowards.” He gestured to the guard. “Release him. Identify yourself, Alpha.”
“I am Chief Engineer Pete Olafson.” He inclined his head toward the techies huddled in the corner. “These are the ship’s technical officers. They are necessary for its operation.”
“And this one?” The captain made his way across the room to Charley.
Pete whispered a silent prayer that Charley wouldn’t make eye contact. The Vashtar captain would have no qualms about killing her.
“She is my female,” Pete responded.
The captain’s gloved hand reached out and he pulled her chin up, inspecting Charley as if she was a particularly fine specimen. His eyes fastened on the livid marks on her neck and he grunted his approval. “Will you trade her?”
“Of course.” Pete shrugged. “When I’m finished with her.” Charley was definitely going to kill him for that one, but at least no one was dead yet.
Two more soldiers appeared in the corridor outside. “We have secured the ship, Captain. We have no casualties, but the humans were not so fortunate.”
Pete thought of the guards stationed on the base. Most of them had little recent combat experience. They would have been no match for a ruthless band of Vashtar mercenaries. He restrained himself from punching the smug smile from the lieutenant’s face. That particular pleasure would have to wait.
The captain eyed his motley bunch of prisoners. “My name is Captain Tinar and this is Lieutenant Kirez. You will obey my orders at all times or you will die. Now which of you is the pilot?”
Charley stepped forward. “That would be me, Sir.”
The bony ridges on Tinar’s face stood out in anger and he lashed out at Liston. “You wasted pilot training on a female?”
“I didn’t—”
“Liston didn’t train her. The Array did.” It galled Pete to say the words. “It appears to have formed an attachment to her.”
The captain shook his head disbelievingly. “Then bring her. We need to get underway before the humans send reinforcements.”
Why hadn’t she kept her big mouth shut? It was one thing to practice controlling the ship with Marc’s help. It would be another thing entirely to help him fly an unfinished prototype that had never been more than ten feet off the ground. Perhaps she could crash it? Great idea, Maxwell. Then you won’t have to worry about everyone finding out that you’re the daughter of a criminal.
She hadn’t forgiven Pete for attacking her, but there was no way she was going to get this thing off the ground without him. As if he could hear her thoughts, Pete caught up and walked along beside her. His eyes rested on the livid marks on her neck and he mouthed an apology.
Charley slid onto the com chair and pulled her visor down. Pete lay on the one beside her. What was she going to do if Marc refused to let him access the controls?
Marc was waiting anxiously for her arrival. “I’m sorry, Charley. My father promised that you would not be harmed.”
“Damned men and damned machines. I am sick of the lot of you. I want Pete in here—right now.”
Charley watched as Pete looked around him, admiring Marc’s virtual world. Where the hell did he think he was—an art gallery? He had assaulted her in front of the entire crew. How could he just stand there as if nothing happened? Charley’s fist impacted with his face and she stepped back, yowling in pain. His head felt as if it was made of steel.
Pete rubbed his aching jaw. “I guess I deserved that.”
“You deserve more than that. I can’t believe that you bit me.”
“Would you rather it was Ca
ptain Tinar? In Vashtar culture, if a female doesn’t belong to someone, then she’s fair game for any of them. The bite mark means that I’ve claimed you, so they’ll leave you alone for a while.”
“Oh.”
Two pink flags appeared on Charley’s cheeks. Pete had done that to protect her. He had punched the Vashtar captain to save her. She couldn’t remember the last time a guy had fought for her. Most of them assumed that she could take care of herself. If they weren’t in so much danger, it would have been kind of romantic.
“Now, aren’t you going to introduce me?”
Damn, she had forgotten about Marc. The men eyed each other up like two fighters in a sparring ring. Marc was a little taller, but Pete was more muscular, and their expressions were less than fraternal.
Marc stepped forward until they were almost eye to eye. “You bit Charley? You injured her?”
Charley watched as Pete clenched and unclenched his fist. “Back down, Tin Man. If it wasn’t for your father, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”
They were on a hijacked ship, overrun by vicious mercenaries, and the pair of them had chosen this moment to have a playground brawl? Charley could feel her temper rising again. “Stop it, both of you. If we don’t get this ship off the ground soon, they will kill all of us.”
Marc assumed his usual calm expression. “I agree. There is only one small problem. My aeronautical software has not yet been uploaded. I do not know how to fly.”
“Oh shit,” Pete muttered.
“Yes indeed. Oh shit would appear to be the appropriate response given the circumstances.”
Two pairs of eyes looked speculatively at her. They had to be kidding. “You want me to fly this thing alone?”
“It is the logical course of action, Charley. Your service record indicates that you have a substantial number of flying hours on different types of craft.”
“You hacked my service record?” she almost screeched.
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