Human After All

by Connie Bailey

  Mino took a long look at the holopad before he picked it up. When nothing happened, he held it out to Jaymes. “It’s likely keyed to your prints or the oil in your skin.”

  Jaymes took the holopad, and the lumafield screen floated up to hover a slight distance above the smooth black surface. As Mino moved out of the line of sight, a man’s image formed on the screen.

  “Hi, Jaymes,” Arkay said. “Linus tells me that the plan failed. I’m sorry, but I had to take the Fox to make sure you’d continue to support us. You’ll be contacted by some of our people in the Cloister about the new mission. That’s all for now, but someday I want to hear how you got out of the Attorney Exec’s office alive.”

  The screen sank back into the rectangle of silica/carbon alloy, and Jaymes looked up at Mino.

  “Let’s go get him,” the murk said.

  JAYMES looked around nervously as Mino worked on the opsys of a diamond black Luxaero armored coach. It was in the mechvalet area of the parking garage, and there were regular camera sweeps.

  “Score,” Mino said under his breath, and Jaymes hurried to the passenger side of the long, shark-shaped vehicle.

  Mino disengaged all the locks, and Jaymes got in. As the T-bred buckled the safety harness, Mino opened a compartment under the dash.

  “Score!” the murk said again as he gazed at the small arsenal. “These are going to come in handy.”

  “The owner is the legal rep for a loan bank.”

  “That explains his fear of murder.” Mino backed the coach out of its berth, and a light flashed on the control panel. “Murd! I thought I found all the disconnects. Hold on.”

  Jaymes braced himself as Mino threw the throttle all the way forward, and the coach leaped down the corridor lined with equally expensive vehicles. The murk blipped the atmobrakes at the corner, and the back end slewed around. With the snout pointed toward daylight, Mino opened the throttle to full again. More lights flashed on the panel and over the exit, but they were through the opening before the gate slammed down.

  “Where are we going?” Jaymes asked as they dove at a steep angle.

  “To get your slank.”

  “Good,” Jaymes said with exaggerated calm. “But I was hoping for a physical location.”

  “Am I making you nervous?” Mino asked as he guided the coach through a barrel roll.

  “This thing’s a bit large for close-quarter aerobatics.”

  “Relax. This buggy is designed for maximum maneuverability. The brakes and the stabilizers are tweaked for evasive tactics.”

  “It’s still big. You’re coming awfully close to tolerance on the starboard side.”

  Mino leveled the coach out and sat back in the well-padded seat. “We’re going to the Cloister’s Pyg enclave. They keep the location secret, so they’ll probably hold the Zot there. It’s exactly the kind of thing they’d do.”

  Jaymes watched the city flash past and did his best not to think about what might be happening to Drue. He was falling into a kind of trance when the murk’s voice startled him.

  “It was the way you treated the lobo.”

  “What?”

  “You wanted to know why I care about you.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “It’s not because you’re beautiful, even though you’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. And it’s not because I want to prong you ’til I drop from exhaustion. I do… but that’s not what put the hook so deep in me. It was the way you treated the lobo. You didn’t use him and forget about him. You honored him and that touched something in me that the military tried to burn out.”

  “You actually sound sentimental.”

  “Yeah, I think IndMilCorps fragged it when they decided to take emotions out of the equation. They wage war for profit, and they forgot that most soldiers fight for other reasons. I don’t want to offend, but someone like you….” Mino cleared his throat. “People like you are why people like me have been going to war since the beginning of time. To me, you represent something worth fighting for… if that makes any sense.”

  “It does, and I’m flattered. I shouldn’t be. You’re a cryo-cold killer and you scramble my circuits.”

  “Well, shake it off, boychick. We’re here.”

  Mino put the coach in a stationary configuration in a line of massive, boxy cargo floats.

  “Where are we?” Jaymes asked, looking around at the unfamiliar clumps of low buildings and queues of livery vehicles. “I didn’t know a place like this existed in the Cloister.”

  “You see? If I’d told you where we were going, you wouldn’t have been any wiser.”

  “I’m becoming more certain by the second that you and Drue are somehow related. You even have similar bone structure, though you’re much larger. If you had hair, I bet it’d be red.”

  “You’d win that bet, but if you compare me to the Zot again, I’ll—”

  “No need to strain yourself coming up with creative threats. Tell me how we’re going to get Drue back.”

  “We’re going to go into that building and blast anyone who tries to stop us getting to Drue.”

  Jaymes swallowed. “All right.”

  “I know you have hand-to-hand skills, but have you ever fired a weapon?”

  “Yeah.” Jaymes swallowed again. “My throat is really dry.”

  Mino got a skwib of water from the refrigerated console and handed it to Jaymes.

  Jaymes bit the end off the skwib and swallowed the piece of edible packaging. After taking a few drinks of water, he spoke again. “For a few months, I was Companion to a real prince from the place where the pyramids are. I don’t know what they’re calling it this week. He liked to go out into the desert and shoot antique weapons. His arms master showed me how to use a lot of different weapons.”

  “Were you any good with any of them?”

  “I don’t know. He just showed me how they worked for safety’s sake.”

  “You’re awfully cute,” Mino said as he handed Jaymes a lightweight hand weapon.

  Jaymes slid his hand into the basket grip and wrapped the strap around his wrist. He ran his forefinger over the firing stud and found the frequency slide with his thumb. Mino reached over and rubbed a fingertip over a lume strip.

  “Safety’s off,” the murk said. “So don’t point it anywhere near me. Ready?”

  Jaymes nodded, and Mino disengaged the coach’s lock. The murk climbed onto the roof of the vehicle, and Jaymes followed him. They jumped from the roof to the top of a cargo float and continued down the line until they reached the edge of the Pygmalion compound. Inside the fenced area looked like a collection of warehouses, crisscrossed by wide lanes to accommodate freight vehicles, but there was no activity.

  “If the Pygs were smart, they’d run a lejit biz out of this place,” Mino said as he shouldered the long weapon he carried. “Think you can jump over that fence from here?”

  Jaymes measured the distance with his eyes. “Yes, but I’m more worried about the landing.”

  “Watch me.” Mino backed several steps and then ran to the edge of the float. He dove headfirst, clearing the fence and going into a tucked position. Hitting the ground, he rolled and popped to his feet. Gesturing to Jaymes to follow, he moved into the shadow of the nearest building.

  Jaymes did exactly as Mino had done and made it safely over the fence. He joined the murk by the wall and took his weapon back out of its holster.

  “If you don’t want to kill anyone, stay behind me,” Mino said.

  “I don’t want to kill anyone, but if anyone tries to kill me or Drue, I’ll do it.”

  “And me?”

  “Well, of course you. Present company is always excepted.”

  “I didn’t know that little rule of conversation.” Mino looked around the corner of the building. “No guards, so we can assume the area is under defensive surveillance. Chances are they already know we’re on the grounds.”

  “Then we should probably hurry.” Jaymes’s dark brows drew
together as he concentrated. “Drue’s in a building in the row opposite us.”

  “I like your style, boychick,” Mino said as he moved around the corner and blew open the door of the only building with wire over the windows.

  Jaymes followed Mino inside, flinching each time the murk fired his weapon. Armed men and women were thrown several feet by the impact of the rounds, hitting the floor with smoking craters in their chests. Hearing a noise behind him, Jaymes turned and fired without thinking. A Pygmalion fell to the ground, and her weapon flew from her hand. Jaymes tried not to look at her as he ran to the door and locked it.

  “Good work,” Mino said as Jaymes turned from the entrance.

  Seven Pygmalion activists were scattered around the room. None of them were moving. Jaymes swallowed hard and pushed aside his revulsion. “This way,” he said, moving in Drue’s direction.

  Mino was already in the hallway that divided the building. The doors were metal with small grated windows, and the rooms behind them were empty… except for one.

  “Hey, Zot!” Mino called out. “If you’re all rested up, let’s go for a hike.”

  “Prong me,” Drue said. “What are you doing here?”

  “He came with me,” Jaymes said. “Stand away from the door, okay?”

  Drue went to the back of the cell and pulled the cot’s mattress over him. Mino took aim at the lock and punched a semi-circle of solid steel out of the door. He landed a kick near the blast hole, and the door swung inward.

  “I’m really glad to see you,” Drue said as he hugged Jaymes.

  Jaymes hugged him back before letting go. “Once we’re out of here, I’m never letting you go,” he said.

  “Just try and lose me,” Drue replied.

  Mino handed the Exotic a gun like Jaymes’s.

  “Does this work like in the holodrams?” Drue asked as they hurried down the corridor.

  “Yes,” Jaymes said. “And don’t point it at me or Mino.”

  “So you’re an expert on weapons?” Drue said archly.

  “I’m rapidly becoming one. Care to join me?”

  “I wouldn’t want to make a habit of it.”

  “Could you stop flirting for two secs?” Mino said as they reached the door.

  “Wait!” Jaymes stopped. “There are more people out there.”

  Mino lifted the big weapon to his shoulder, but Jaymes moved in front of him before he could fire. “Out of the way. This thing will go right through the building, the Pygs, and the building behind them.”

  “Why don’t we try talking to them first?”

  “This is your party, but don’t forget that they kidnapped your breau to force you to do what they want.”

  “I just don’t see any reason any more people should die.”

  “Can you hear me?” Arkay’s voice came clearly through the wall.

  “We can hear you,” Jaymes answered.

  “So it is you. Are my people dead?”

  “I’m afraid so.”

  “The thermascope is showing three people. Who’s in there with you and the Fox?”

  “You’d know me as Minotaur,” Mino answered.

  There was a long silence before Arkay spoke again. “I don’t suppose there’s any chance you’ll put down your weapons and talk about reuniting with our cause? I really think that would be the best thing… for everyone. There are a lot of armed Pygmalions out here.” The sound of Arkay swallowing came clearly over the linx. “The man with you… I know he’s listening, but I have to say this. You cannot trust him. He’s genetically incapable of feeling anything like loyalty, or much of anything else.”

  “And how are you any better?” Jaymes asked. “You sent me to kill the President-General without telling me I was carrying the trigger of a bomb.”

  A new voice joined the conversation. “Is that true?”

  “Shut up,” Arkay said. “You just make sure your squad is ready to go in.”

  “Lorez?” Jaymes said loudly.

  “Yeah?”

  “Who gave you Lochler’s pack tag?”

  “Arkay did. He said the doc gave the tag to him with a message from the lobo for you.”

  “The tag was the trigger,” Jaymes said. “I have the word of an incendiaries expert.”

  “You can’t believe him,” Arkay said. “He’ll say anything to get out alive.”

  “His story makes more sense than you doing something so sentimental,” Lorez said. “Tell me the truth. Did you send Jaymes out as a suicide bomber without telling him?”

  “You’re a soldier,” Arkay said. “I don’t expect you to understand the intricacies of the campaign, but it would be nice if you kept quiet and followed orders.” The Pygmalion leader paused. “What are you doing? Don’t you dare point your weapon at me. Someone shoot him!”

  “Jaymes?” Lorez called out. “Give us a few seconds, and you and your friends can come out.”

  “Thank you.” Jaymes turned to give Mino a significant look.

  “What?” the murk said.

  “Our problem is solved, and we didn’t have to kill anyone else.”

  “If you’re waiting for me to say well done, then consider it said.”

  “What a bite in the tookies,” Drue said under his breath.

  “Jaymes!” Lorez called. “You can come out when you’re ready. You’re free to go.”

  “I like the sound of that,” Jaymes said.

  “THANKS for coming to get me,” Drue said, rubbing the tip of his nose against Jaymes’s.

  “I owed you one.”

  “It was nice of the Pygs to bring us home.”

  Jaymes looked around his apartment and wondered how long it would be his home. “I’m still mad at Mino for slipping off without saying good-bye. I had a few more things to say to him. Not that he’d care how much he hurts people. I doubt anything I could say would stop him from killing again.”

  “You’re probably right,” Drue said.

  “I’m not sure he’s capable of stopping. Not with his programming.”

  Drue sighed. “Do we have to talk about the murk?”

  “You sound a little jealous.”

  “Do I have something to be jealous about?”

  “Actually, you sound more envious than jealous.”

  “Well, who wouldn’t want a body like Mino’s? He’s messed up in the head, but his body is massive.”

  “I wouldn’t,” Jaymes said, running a finger down the midline of Drue’s wiry torso. “I like my men hard but not too bulky. And without homicidal tendencies.”

  “I’m hard,” Drue said, taking Jaymes’s hand and guiding it to his crotch.

  “You’re getting there.” Jaymes palmed Drue’s cock through his trousers.

  Drue leaned toward Jaymes. His lips were a millimeter from the T-bred’s when celestial chimes rippled the air. “What the frag?”

  “That’s the apartment’s commlinx telling me I have a call. Interesting. I think I’ve used it twice in the entire year I’ve lived here.”

  “Are you going to answer?”

  “What do you say?”

  “Yes, answer it and then come into the kitchen.”

  “Are you hungry? I thought we were going to—”

  “Yes, we’re going to, but that doesn’t mean food can’t be involved.”

  Jaymes smiled as he kissed Drue’s fingers. “You’ve reached the Prince,” he said, silencing the chiming.

  “This is the Attorney Exec’s office. Please hold for hold for the Attorney Exec.”

  Drue stopped halfway to the kitchen area.

  “This is Ulrikka Fronzay. Am I speaking with Jaymes Randle, Persona Tag Prince?”

  “This is he.”

  “I have good news for you.”

  “I’d be glad to hear it.”

  “The Pygmalion Movement has admitted their part in the death of Deputy President Ampery and turned over one of their leaders. You’ve been cleared of any wrongdoing.”

  “Thank you. That was quick
.”

  “In addition, your Gentren contract has been paid in full. I’ve expedited the process, so you can expect to receive notification from the Citizenship Council very soon.”

  “I—I don’t know what to say.”

  “Don’t thank me. You did our government a great service.”

  “Thank you,” Jaymes said.

  “If you find yourself in need of a job, call me.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “I’m sorry to have disturbed you at home. Please enjoy the rest of your evening. Good-bye.”

  “Good-bye.”

  Jaymes turned to look at Drue. Drue grinned and launched himself at Jaymes. Both men landed on the couch in a tangle, hugging and laughing.

  “I’ve been working for this my whole life,” Jaymes said, kissing Drue lightly. “But it wouldn’t mean anything if you weren’t here with me.”

  “I’m really happy for you.” Drue returned the kiss.

  “You know the first thing we’re going to do?”

  “Yeah.” Drue rubbed his hard-on against Jaymes’s crotch.

  “No, not that,” Jaymes said. “Well, yes, that, but then we’re going to buy your contract out.”

  “I don’t have that much Capital.”

  “I do.”

  “I can’t let you—”

  Jaymes stopped Drue’s words with a kiss. “You will let me,” he said. “Because I can’t marry you if you aren’t a Citizen.”

  Drue’s eyes were very bright as he kissed Jaymes. “We have that mind link thing, so you know what I’m feeling now, right?”

  Jaymes nodded. “I love you too,” he said.

  Epilogue

  “IS THAT the fragging commlinx?” Drue groaned as Jaymes reached over him.

  “I’ve got it. Go back to sleep.”

  Drue snuggled into the cumulus pile of pillows and closed his eyes.

  Jaymes swiped his thumb across the room’s commlinx card. “Hello?”

  “Are you enjoying your stay in the Pasha Suite?”

  Jaymes recognized the voice and cold dread froze his heart. “Mino!” he said as he sat up, and Drue opened his eyes again.

  “Turn on your holocast screen.”