by Kit Tunstall
They were soon kissing and caressing, and when he surged inside her a few minutes later, it was both physically and emotionally satisfying well before she even approached a climax. Just being joined with him felt right and was a simple pleasure on its own. It couldn’t compare to the brief, intense rush of pleasure that accompanied her orgasm, but that was different, leaving her feeling not only physically replete, but emotionally content as well when she curled into his arms and went to sleep a short time later.
***
DVS—Davis as he tried out in his head, since she had called it out in his ear more than once during the past hour—marveled at the feel of the human woman cradled in his arms, with her soft curves conforming to his hard body. The sex had been a strange mix of tender and frantic, leading him to the conclusion that he would never get enough of her.
The thought alarmed him slightly, but it was purely from the fear of losing her now that he’d found her. He was surprisingly unafraid of the intensity of the emotions he felt for Carrie. The abrupt realization that he never would have known her had it not been for Rote’s interference caused his heart to squeeze painfully in his chest, and his arms tightened around her. He had to practically be crushing her for a moment, but the sound that escaped her was one of contentment rather than protest as she simply snuggled closer, nuzzling against his neck where her face pressed against his skin.
For a moment, he was moved to wake her and indulge in her body again, but as soft snores escaped her slightly parted lips, he reined in the impulse. As much as he wanted her, he also wanted to take care of her. There would be plenty of time for lovemaking, or so he told himself, because he needed to cling to optimism to embrace the emotions rocketing through him.
He couldn’t fully accept everything she represented if he held back from the fear of losing her. Fear was a rarely-felt emotion, and had never related to a bed partner before. Normally, fear was a weakness that he ruthlessly excised, needing to keep it firmly in check to do what must be done. With Carrie, like so many other things, it was different.
Rather than weaken him, the fear of losing her made him feel stronger and more determined to protect her and keep her as long as possible. With the technology they had, thanks to OWN’s research into rapid healing, it wasn’t outside the bounds of possibility that they could have centuries together, as long as he kept her safe.
His arms tightened around her once more, and he vowed to himself that he would do whatever was necessary to keep her out of harm’s way and away from the humans, who would rip her away from him if given the chance. They might be her kind, but she was better off with the cyborgs than those creatures.
Chapter Six
It was two days before Owen deemed it safe enough for Penny to move back into their room and resume daily walks. Once Carrie had the opportunity to reveal what had happened with the two cyborgs from whom MX had rescued her, he’d insisted she have a companion whenever she was outside his quarters. Carrie probably should have fought him harder on it than she did, in an attempt to maintain her independence, but she was secretly relieved to have a bodyguard protecting her and Penny. That it was usually Raven certainly made the situation easier, because they had become fast friends.
Her circle of friends had also expanded to include the ever-growing crowd of crocheters who came and went as their schedules permitted. Ever resourceful, Raven had provided the answer to the dwindling supply of yarn and sundry supplies by showing Carrie the replication system that took up one room in the base.
To her, it was a bit like a 3-D printer, though far more sophisticated. It was capable of replicating just about anything, and what it produced was made from whatever the material should be, not necessarily plastic, as it had been from 3-D printers she recalled seeing.
They hadn’t yet been commonplace in her time period, so she was uncertain how they had actually functioned, but she was certain they weren’t capable of producing yarn and crochet hooks as easily as edible food, provided the replication device had the necessary building blocks of nutrition loaded into it.
When she had asked why they didn’t use the machine to create their food instead of preparing it by hand, Raven had revealed a simple and pragmatic explanation. The machine required too much power and too many resources to make it practical to use daily to create hundreds of meals.
Her days were full, and her nights were even fuller, because as soon as they returned to Davis’s quarters, they spent hours in each other’s arms, until they were too tired to continue. Often, either he or she would wake in the middle of the night and reach for the other, just to repeat it all again. Carrie was definitely feeling the lack of sleep, but it wasn’t enough to deter her from enjoying the hours she had with him without wasting too many of them on sleep.
They had just settled into what she considered her new routine, and she was feeling comfortable with everything—and even fairly safe to move around the base without a companion, though she always had Raven nearby—when the return of a squad of cyborgs that burst into the mess hall during dinner that evening shattered the briefly peaceful interlude.
She dropped her spoon in shock as a rough group entered, clearly having been run through the ringer. There were burns and abrasions marring their bodies, and more than one was leaning heavily against a comrade.
As soon as they’d entered the room, Davis had scooted his chair back and stood up, moving around the table to meet them. “What happened, ED32?”
“We were ambushed, General. We went out to destroy the facility at the coordinates you gave us, and we were successful, but they caught us on the way back. It was a large group of synthetics, which we could have handled, but they had a new weapon.”
“What weapon?”
“I’ve never seen anything like it, and the closest thing I could compare it to was the pulse they used sixty years ago that destroyed so much biological and organic matter. VX52, JIN4, and LSP67 bore the brunt of the first wave of the weapon. It disintegrated the bonds between them and their mechanical components more quickly and rapidly than their immune system and healing abilities could repair. We lost those three, sir, and most of the rest of us are in bad shape.”
Owen and NKI had already joined Davis, and Carrie watched them work quickly and methodically as she moved a bit closer. She hovered outside the perimeter, allowing other cyborgs to press closer. They had more at stake than she did, though she wished she could push her way through and close the distance separating her from Davis.
“OWN, you and NKI take care of these troops. If you need anything, just ask.” He turned his attention back to the leader, and his expression was full of determination. “I need the coordinates of where they ambushed you, and all the details you can provide. We have to destroy that weapon before it can be used against us on a large scale.” It was clear he was planning to draw the squad leader away, but he paused to look over his shoulder at Jason. “Deal with the remains and arrange a memorial for a couple of days from now. Not tonight or tomorrow though. We have to act as soon as possible.”
He left it unspoken, but she could infer part of the reason for delaying the memorial service was because they might have casualties to add to the list. It took every ounce of self-control she had not to cross the distance between them and throw her arms around him.
Carrie wanted to beg Davis not to go out there to try to deal with the weapon that had killed three of his people and threatened all of them. She wished they could just hide away in the base, even though she knew that was impossible. Even if they could logistically manage it, she knew Davis well enough to understand he would be dissatisfied with going into hiding and not trying to actively remove the threat to him and the other cyborgs.
That didn’t mean she had to like or agree with his decision to go out and destroy them immediately, but it kept her from speaking out against his plan when he returned with the squad leader a few minutes later and announced they would leave at first light.
Her heart groaned for her to protes
t, but common sense cautioned there was no point. He was going to go either way, and she didn’t want him to leave with a negative note between them, or irritation that she had spoken about something he might not consider her business. It was very much her business, because it risked her mate along with everyone else, but she accepted the lack of alternatives with a heavy heart.
Tonight might be at the only time they had together, and she was determined to spend it loving instead of fighting. If it was their last night together, it was going to be a night neither one of them forgot.
***
By the time she woke the next morning, he was already gone. It wasn’t a surprise, since she knew they had planned to leave before first light—though she had no idea how they really could tell what was first light in the dismal atmosphere outside—but she was still bereft to be without him.
Carrie picked up his pillow and cuddled it against her face as she breathed in his scent and blinked back tears. She tried to tell herself he would be fine, and he would return to her in one piece. If anyone was capable of doing so, she was certain it was Davis. He wouldn’t be content to return alone either, and she was confident they would be back. It was her heart that was betraying the weakness, prompted by worry for him to inflict the most heinous images of his suffering and dying on her via vivid mental imaginings created from her tortured brain.
When Raven arrived a short time later, it was a welcome distraction. It also reminded her she’d been planning to discuss something with the cyborg woman before, but hadn’t had an opportunity until then. As they took Penny outside while her pups remained behind, snoozing in their makeshift bed, she brought the subject around to the transmission. “What can you tell me about it?”
“It’s been going on for at least ten years, and it’s a slightly different message each day. It’s a trap, but I confess I’m curious. I’d like to know what she—the sender—gains by it, though I guess with their new weapon, now we know. I don’t think they had it three years ago, when the transmission started though. If they had, we would’ve all been destroyed by now.
“You said they change slightly every day? Can I hear one?”
Raven hesitated for a moment, looking torn. “I’m not sure General DVS…Davis, would like that, Carrie.”
Carrie shrugged a shoulder. “He didn’t specifically say I wasn’t allowed to hear it, did he? And it’s just a transmission. I only want to hear what they’re saying and judge the sincerity for myself.”
After biting her lip for a moment, Raven nodded and squared her shoulders. “Okay, I’ll take you to the communications room after Penny finishes her business. HRY might refuse to play it for you though, and I certainly don’t have the authority to override him.”
“Who is HRY?”
“The Communications officer. Do you still want to hear it?”
With her hands on her hip, Carrie nodded decisively. “I definitely do.” She couldn’t explain why it felt important, but it seemed like the key to everything, and she had to hear it.
A few minutes later, they left Penny in the quarters with her babies before making their way down the corridor into the lift. They descended two levels and entered the communications room.
It wasn’t what she had expected. Based on television shows from her time period, along with the golden age of television, she’d expected a room full of equipment with flashing lights and an array of buttons that did a myriad of things. Instead, it was all contained to one workstation, and while there were buttons across the console, they weren’t flashing. It was all very sedate and a bit of a letdown compared to how she’d build it up in her mind.
She shoved the thought aside as she and Raven stopped beside HRY. She gave him a smile, and it seemed to win him over easily. Along with that, she put a hand on his shoulder and leaned a little closer. Her demeanor wasn’t flirtatious, but it was definitely friendly and confident. “I need to hear the transmission from the human group. Raven says it comes every day, though there are slight changes.”
The blond cyborg with faintly glowing blue skin nodded at her, and it was obvious the idea of refusing had never even crossed his mind. “The only real change is the coordinates shift on a regular basis. She never designates the same place twice, though sometimes the general vicinity is similar.”
“So you’ll play it for me?”
At her prompting, he slid a switch on the console in front of him, and a rough voice filled the room a moment later. The voice itself was actually delicate and pleasing to the ear, other than the desperation underlying each word. “This is Gwen Harrison of the human enclave, reaching out to the cyborg faction. It’s imperative we make peace. As always, coordinates will follow, and we’ll be watching and hoping you show up. Our offer is sincere, and we simply wish for peace.”
There was a brief pause, and the message repeated again. It was word for word the same. “Is it always the same message?”
HRY nodded. “Yes, ma’am. Like I said, the coordinates vary, and the wording is occasionally different, but it’s basically the same thing over and over.”
“And no one has ever met up with her?”
HRY frowned.
At the same time, Raven said, “The last time we tried, which was more than fifty years ago, it was a trap. Instead of the humans showing up, they sent a huge army of synthetics. We managed to destroy quite a few and escape relatively unscathed, but it made everyone wary.”
“I understand why.” Disappointment surged in her chest, and she turned away from HRY and the communications console. For a moment, tears threatened to overwhelm her, but she blinked them back. She had pinned too much hope on the idea, but after hearing the last attempt ended with an ambush and fierce battle, she understood why they ignored it now.
***
It was later that night, after the cyborgs had returned from their latest mission, and she’d fallen asleep in her mate’s arms, that she woke up and jerked upright in bed. Her heart was hammering in her ears, and excitement rushed through her. She turned slightly to face Davis as she reached for his hand and squeezed it between hers. “I think I figured out why I’m here.”
He looked half-asleep, and his voice was little more than a mutter. “I thought we already established it was to be mates.”
She nodded, eagerness bubbling up inside. “Yes, but I think I’m here for another purpose too. He told you I’d help you win the war, right?” At his nod of confirmation, she continued, “I think I know how. I’m supposed to meet with the humans. The transmission is different every day, and the coordinates change, but if I listen early enough, I’ll catch them for the day. I think this is how we get peace. Maybe they’ll listen to me because I’m human, but I’ve lived with you and seen the cyborg side of the situation too. This must be what I can do to help end the war.”
Suddenly fully awake, Davis sat up beside her. He shook his head, and his arms crossed over his chest in a fearsome manner. “You aren’t risking yourself to go running off to meet with humans.” He spat the word as though it was something foul.
“I’ve long reached the conclusion that Rote just told me you were there to help win the war so that I’d show up and fall in love. If he had told me that he was bringing me my mate, I would have ignored him and gone about my business. I wasn’t smart enough to see the value in a mate at that point, and the little alien knew that. There’s no way you can help end the war. Your heart is in the right place, but you don’t have the skills or the experience to contribute in a meaningful fashion to the actual clash with the humans.”
She was disgruntled by his lack of enthusiasm in the idea, not to mention his complete opposition to it. She understood he was being cautious, but she was convinced she was meant to do this. The humans and the cyborgs just needed someone to bridge the gap between them, someone who could make both sides see the other as human—well, poor choice of words—um, living, breathing beings with similar goals and needs.
The more she thought about it, the more convinced she was th
at she was meant to be the ambassador to broker peace between the two groups. It was a good thing Davis didn’t try to elicit a promise that she wouldn’t meet the humans, because she wouldn’t have been able to agree to that promise, knowing she was going to break it. She was convinced she was on the right path, and the idea of ending the conflict between the groups once and for all motivated her to ignore his words and seek out the humans to hasten the process of bringing peace between them.
Chapter Seven
She got a chance sooner than she had expected, because Davis and several of the cyborgs went out with the intention of destroying another manufacturing facility the next day. She’d overheard them talking about it amongst themselves and knew this was to target one of the places where they were making the new weapon that rapidly dissolved their ionic bonds.
The fear weighed heavily on her, but the idea of being able to do something without sitting by passively waiting for his safe return spurred her on. When she asked HRY to listen to the daily coordinates less than an hour later, he didn’t argue with her. She made a note of them discreetly, aware of Raven watching her closely. When they exited the communications room a short time later, she still didn’t have a cover story in place.
“You’re planning to go out there, aren’t you?”
She nodded. “I think I can get through to the humans. And then I just have to bring the cyborgs on board with the idea.”
“It’s a daunting task,” said Raven with evident skepticism. “I’ll come with you.”
“No, you can’t. You’re acting under orders not to respond to the transmission, and I don’t want you to face disciplinary actions. Plus, I’d feel safer knowing that someone’s here to keep an eye on Penny and the puppies. I do need help finding the coordinates though.”