Adam 483: Man or Machine?

by Ruth D. Kerce

  Their last encounter, before duty finally called, readily came to mind. He’d found her vibrator in the bathroom and immediately put it to good use. He’d tossed her on the bed, tied her wrists and ankles to the side supports, then teased her clit mercilessly, not allowing her to come until, practically mad from unfulfilled desire, she’d begged him for release.

  Once he let her climax, he’d given her orgasms she thought would never stop—first with the vibrator pressed against her clit and three fingers pumping deep inside her pussy, then he’d replaced the vibrator with his talented tongue and licked her through two more massive climaxes. Finally, he substituted his cock for his fingers and used the vibrator on her nipples, all the while saying wild, sexy things to her, encouraging her to come harder and longer with each orgasm.

  After she was completely spent, his cock remained hard as steel. If he hadn’t come inside her pussy, up her ass and down her throat multiple times already in their affair, she’d have questioned if his cock was even real. He had exceptional staying power.

  Once she’d somewhat recovered from her own orgasm-a-thon, she’d crawled on top of him and ridden him like a wild animal, determined to work his cock hard. He came then, his shout of pleasure so loud she was surprised that crew members hadn’t busted in to investigate.

  He’d promised her something extra special tonight, extra-kinky with specially designed toys he planned to fashion himself. She could hardly wait.

  What he didn’t know was that she had erotic plans of her own. After she finished with him and his cock, he wouldn’t walk for a week. And he definitely wouldn’t seek pleasure outside her body or bed ever again.

  “Captain?” Hanson interrupted from his station.

  She looked up. “What?”

  “A patrol ship is coming up on us from behind. They’ve opened communications.”

  Tyree immediately went on alert. Her heartbeat increased, and her pulse began to race. She set aside the electronic pad and stood, looking toward the monitors. “Confirmed patrol ship?”

  “Yes. I have a visual.” He brought it up on his screen for her to see.

  The compact ship sported the silver, yellow and orange colors of an official patrol. “Okay.” She turned toward Corporal Pratt. “Put them on speakers.”

  “Yes, Captain.”

  A moment later, a male voice filtered onto the control deck. “This is Space Patrol Ship 1-1-4. Prepare to be boarded.”

  “This is Captain Tyree Samou, salvaging for Jenway’s Ambassador Samou. What is this about?”

  “We have reason to believe you’re harboring a male Cyborg on board. As such, we have authority in this sector to board and search your ship.”

  Tyree gasped. Adam. No!

  “Incoming pod, Captain,” Hanson informed her in a low voice.

  “There is no Cyborg on this vessel.” Raising her chin a notch, she fought to keep her voice steady. She didn’t want them suspecting her of deception.

  “We will make that determination. We’re coming aboard. Our pod is docking in your bay now. Any resistance will be deemed a criminal act and result in the confiscation of your freighter.”

  “Cut communications.” She raked her fingers through her hair, pulling the bun from its neat coil. “Shit!”

  “Captain?” Hanson asked with concern in his voice. “Your orders?”

  She glanced around the command deck. Each crew member looked at her expectantly. But suspicion knifed through her at what she didn’t see. “Where’s Ridgeway?”

  “I…don’t know,” Hanson answered. “He left about fifteen minutes ago, and didn’t say where he was going.”

  “Accompany me to the docking bay.”

  “Yes, Captain.”

  After a short, silent, but tense ride in the lift, Tyree and Hanson arrived at the freighter’s docking bay. They spotted Ridgeway already there, talking to the space patrol team. Tyree was so mad she expected steam to come out of her nose. “Ridgeway, what are you doing up here?”

  At the sound of her voice, the group of men standing next to the official hunter green pod turned toward her. The large yellow and burnt orange star painted on the side served as a reminder of just how much trouble awaited her.

  “Captain,” Mick greeted. He glanced at her loose hair.

  She flipped the long strands behind her back.

  “I’m doing my duty and following regulations, Captain. Let me handle this situation. We’ll talk later.”

  Had he just issued an order to her? Talk later, my ass. “Excuse me, Corporal?” If the patrol weren’t here, she’d grab him by the collar and jerk the insubordination right out of the idiot. “What the—”

  “Captain.” The patrol leader stepped forward, his face a mask of concentration. “My name is Lieutenant Stanton. My team will search this ship now.” He didn’t wait for her permission but simply moved forward, leading his men.

  She rushed to follow. “This is completely unnecessary.”

  “Then there will be no problems,” he answered over his shoulder.

  She glanced around for Hanson. He’d disappeared. What the hell was going on around here?

  She could tell from the smirk on Ridgeway’s face that he was the one who had alerted Space Command. She wondered how long he’d been in contact with them, and if the communication Adam had picked up had anything to do with this.

  Damn! She couldn’t even get a message to Adam. To warn him. Not without the patrol knowing. It would look too suspicious if she suddenly disappeared.

  “He’s probably in her quarters,” Ridgeway offered. “I’ll show you the way. The Captain doesn’t know anything about this. He fooled us all. I just recently found out myself.”

  They all crowded into the lift and descended. Tyree elbowed Ridgeway in the ribs when he pressed his groin against her butt in the close confines.

  What was Mick up to? And how had he figured out Adam’s identity? No way could Adam fool the space patrol. Their instruments would register his human side and his cybertronics.

  Instruments… Wait! Sheera. She’d said she examined Adam. She had to know he was Cyborg. Her medical equipment would have picked up his human tissue.

  The lift glided to a stop, the door slid open, and they all piled out.

  Where was her brain? Adam had totally screwed up her thinking. She should have connected everything before now.

  Her friend had betrayed her and told Ridgeway. There was no other way he could have known. A sick feeling clenched her stomach.

  Ridgeway easily opened the door to her quarters and the space patrol team ran in. A tremor ran through her. He knew her entry code. Tyree’s heart beat so hard it hurt.

  The patrol searched the bathroom, closet, under the bed, and even looked for hidden panels in the floor and along the walls. The room was empty. So, where was Adam? Hiding places on the ship were practically nonexistent. The odds of him evading the patrol weren’t good.

  “Spread out,” the patrol leader said to the other three team members. “Search the entire ship.”

  They rushed out, leaving Tyree alone with Ridgeway. The team leader must have believed Mick when he’d told them she had no knowledge of Adam’s Cyborg status, otherwise they would already have placed her in custody. Or maybe Mick was working with them, as an undercover patrol agent, and intended to take her in himself. No, she mentally shook the thought aside. He wasn’t smart enough for an agent, only a lowly informant.

  “I expect appropriate payment for protecting that sexy ass of yours, Tyree.”

  What? The scum-sucking leech wanted money?

  “Come to my quarters tonight after you get off duty. Oh, and don’t wear any panties. You need a man’s dick up your hairy cunt. Not some subhuman’s.”

  With an enraged shriek, she turned and punched Ridgeway in the jaw, sending him tumbling back into the bar. A glass fell and broke, spilling its liquid on the floor. Tyree wished it were Mick’s blood instead. “I’ll see to it that you never see the light of a real sun again,
you fucking bastard!”

  “Captain?”

  She spun around, her hand throbbing. She ignored the pain.

  Hanson stood inside the open door, pistol in hand.

  Her pulse raced faster. “Are you on his side or mine?” She fingered the knife on her belt. She would attack anyone who stood in her way. She needed to find Adam, before the patrol team did. She knew this ship better than anyone. She might be able to shuffle him from place to place unseen. If located by the patrol, he’d be killed, no questions asked.

  Hanson, looking wary, kept his eyes on her as he strode across the room. He bent down and checked Ridgeway. “He’s out cold. I’m on your side, Captain. Always. I’ll secure him so he can’t cause more trouble. Go to the command deck. When the space patrol can’t find Adam, they’ll go there.”

  “You know where he is then. Where?”

  “The less you know right now, the better. Keeps you from getting caught in a lie.”

  Frustration rolled through her like an electromagnetic space wave. “I don’t like this, Hanson. I want some answers. You disappeared on me in the docking bay. And now you expect me to trust you?”

  “You have to trust me.”

  “No, I have to—”

  “You’re running out of options, Tyree. Don’t blow Adam’s only chance.”

  Damn! She didn’t know what would be the right thing to do. Obviously, Hanson knew, too, that Adam was Cyborg. Too many people knew now. But if she went searching for Adam, it might look suspicious to the patrol and seal his fate, as well as hers. She needed to appear unconcerned. Not involved, and not guilty of the accusations. It could be the only chance to save them both.

  * * * * *

  None of the crew said a word to Tyree when she stepped onto the control deck. They only waited, the tension in the air palpable. She paced in front of the engineering panel, feeling guilty and rethinking her decision about leaving Adam to fend for himself.

  Finally, as Hanson predicted, the space patrol leader stepped out of the lift. She turned toward him, making sure she looked composed and in command.

  “My apologies, Captain. It seems the tip we received was wrong. My men are preparing to return to our ship. I’d like to speak to Corporal Ridgeway before we leave.”

  Relief spread through her. They hadn’t found him. Then a shaft of panic hit. Had Adam somehow escaped the ship undetected in a pod? No, he couldn’t have. Even if he’d managed to block sensors, he’d have been caught on visual. He had to still be on board somewhere.

  “I don’t appreciate the strong-arm treatment, Lieutenant.” She glanced toward the docking bay panel to make certain all pods were present and accounted for, but she was too far away to see the readings.

  “I do apologize. However, all Cyborgs must be destroyed, as you know, for everyone’s protection.”

  The door to the lift swooshed open and Hanson stepped out.

  Tyree still didn’t know for sure whether she could trust the Corporal or not, even though he’d been on several missions with her and had always done his job well. Trust was hard for her to come by these days. Like he’d said though, she didn’t have a lot of options.

  “Hanson, do you know where Ridgeway is?” She hoped he had some sort of plan and was truly loyal to her, otherwise, this was the end of the line.

  “He’s up on the docking bay. I found him trying to plant an explosive device on the space patrol’s pod. Here it is. Deactivated.” He handed a tiny, metal panel to the team leader. “He must have fabricated the story about a Cyborg to get you aboard.”

  Stanton suspiciously examined the device handed to him. “We have had several boarding team pods blow up upon reentry to our main vessels, as I’m sure you’ve heard.”

  “Yes, space chatter travels fast,” Hanson confirmed.

  Tyree was aware of the chatter, too. Some unknown organization was systematically trying to destroy Space Command, starting with all teams currently on patrol in this sector. Already, more than fifty officers had suffered injury or death due to bomb plants. The device Hanson handed Stanton was a standard explosive panel used to blast through titanium plates and other alloy-based materials. They carried a supply on the ship. His story held merit and might buy them some time.

  “Has Ridgeway served you long, Captain?” Stanton asked.

  “No. This is only his second mission with me.”

  “I see. We’ll take him back with us for questioning. I’m sorry for any inconvenience or delays we’ve caused.” He turned to Hanson. “He’s secured?”

  “I turned him over to your men. He’s denying everything of course. But I have him on disk.”

  Tyree shifted nervously. Disk? That wasn’t possible. Hanson’s story was certainly a lie.

  He took a silver disk from his pocket and handed it over. “The picture is grainy, but still visible enough to tell what’s going on.”

  “Thank you for your assistance. We’ll get to the bottom of this. Captain.”

  She nodded and watched the team leader leave the deck. She noticed Hanson’s nervous twitching out of the corner of her eye, but she didn’t move until the patrol pod redocked on the other vessel, and the ship disappeared from view. “Maintain our position for now. I’ll plot new coordinates and feed them into the computer from my quarters,” she ordered.

  Hanson whispered in her ear. “We need to go to medical.”

  She didn’t question or even acknowledge his words, only turned and followed in silence. Her mind raced, unsure of what to believe at this point. She kept her hand near her knife, just in case. She needed answers. Fast.

  * * * * *

  When Tyree and Hanson entered the medical unit, she was fuming. Hanson had refused to answer any of her questions in the lift, insisting she wait until they arrived at medical. Sheera greeted them.

  “Tyree. John.”

  “Where is he?” Tyree asked, dispensing with pleasantries. Her heart was pounding against her ribs and she felt ready to jump out of her skin.

  “Here.”

  At the sound of Adam’s voice, she spun around. Instant relief flowed through her. He was okay! And still on board, like she’d thought. The urge to run and throw her arms around him almost overwhelmed her. But she resisted in front of the other two crew members. “Someone better tell me what’s going on.”

  Adam stepped forward hesitantly, as if still not sure of his position with her. “Sheera is an old friend. She, unfortunately or fortunately, depending on your point of view, spilled the beans to Hanson about me. He came to your quarters and got me after the patrol boarded. Sheera hid me in the medical supply cold storage unit. It’s impenetrable to instrument scans when locked up.”

  She stared into Adam’s eyes, seeing a variety of emotions in those dark orbs. He was uncertain and wary. He didn’t think she’d planned to turn him in, she hoped. She nodded almost imperceptibly. He picked up on the movement, for his body visibly relaxed. A grin tugged at his lips. She smiled slightly in return, then looked over at Hanson. “Why would you help him?”

  “I’m loyal to you, Captain. Like I said. Besides, Sheera convinced me that Adam wasn’t dangerous, due to his advanced design, and he was worth saving.” When his gaze drifted to the other woman, his eyes softened.

  Ah. More than likely he was in love with her, and that’s why he’d done it. Men often did things they wouldn’t normally consider for the love of a special woman. Tyree looked at Sheera. “You lied to me about Adam. And I asked you straight-out.”

  “Sorry, Tyree. Your attitude at the time would have been dangerous to his safety.”

  “How did Ridgeway find out about Adam?”

  “I wondered about that, too.” Hanson held up a small device. “And this is the culprit. After you went back up to the command deck, I found this hidden camera in your bath. I figured a video plant was the only way he could have known, so I did a sweep. Nothing was in your main quarters, but this small cam was embedded in the ceiling close to your shower.”

  Mort
ification filled Tyree. The things Ridgeway must have seen!

  “I’ve destroyed the drive inside, so no record exists of anything. I didn’t watch it.”

  Tyree nodded, breathing a sigh of relief. Sheera and John really were true friends to her and Adam. “How did you get a disk of Ridgeway sabotaging the patrol pod? He didn’t really do that, did he?”

  “No. I programmed the images onto the disk.” He smiled, revealing a rarely seen dimple in his left cheek. “If they try, they can discover it’s a fake. But I think they’ll be more interested in locking up someone for the recent bombings, just to satisfy their own command, if nothing else.”

  Tyree wasn’t so certain of that.

  “Even if another incident occurs, we should be okay, since the space chatter is that a network of people planted the devices.”

  “And when the device you gave them doesn’t match the others?”

  He shrugged. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and different devices were used. I don’t know the details on that. The Lieutenant didn’t flinch when I handed him the explosive panel, so let’s not borrow trouble.”

  “I suppose.” She stared at Adam, her tense muscles finally relaxing. She slowly regained her composure and thoughts. They needed a plan. “What am I supposed to do with you now?”

  A smile crossed his face. “Well…”

  “I’m serious. You can’t continue to fool the rest of the crew. They’re probably already suspicious, especially with the patrol team coming aboard.”

  “I fooled a lot of people for a long time on Jenway Station. I’ll keep a low profile.”

  “It’s too dangerous.” There had to be a way to keep him safe—and keep him close. “How about we tell people you’re really human, and we only pretended you were a robot to make you more intimidating?”

  “Won’t work. Any sensor or monitor within a hundred meters will pick up my electrical circuitry. I can pass as robotic easier.”

  “Monitors would also pick up your human organs.”

  “True, but how often do you scan for human tissue when surrounded by humans, unless you’re a medic? Even patrols only monitor for dual existence when following up on a specific tip. They don’t generally scan for the heck of it. Full scans take too long, and filtering out one hundred percent human profiles uses up too many portable energy packs.”