“I think so.” The other woman sighed. “I just dread the next phase—testing on live subjects. I’m trying to figure out how to do it without involving GenCon because I don’t trust them.”
“Not even Serena?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.
Addie laughed. “I think that’s another yes and no answer. She has been very good to Kami and she hasn’t pushed me for results, but she works for GenCon after all. Will you listen to me? I keep forgetting that I work for them as well.”
“I suspect your motives are a little humanitarian.” She looked around the cozy room. “And at least you get to work here where Sam can be with you.”
“I’m still thankful every day that we are together again.”
“Again?”
“Yes, we knew each other on Earth.”
She started to laugh. “I guess it’s a small world after all—or maybe that should be two small worlds. I mean, since Wyatt and I were together on Earth as well.”
“I would really like to take a look at that chip,” Abbie said, tapping her chin, then changed the subject. “Would you like something to eat?”
“I’m too nervous to eat. Maybe just some tea?”
She followed the other woman into the kitchen area. Addie told her a little more about her work, but they avoided any discussion about what was happening with Sam and Wyatt. Cherry could see that Addie’s anxiety matched her own and did her best to distract the other woman.
A short time later, Kami entered the room and went straight to Addie, burying her face in her mother’s side.
“What’s the matter, baby?”
“I don’t like it out there anymore.”
“What do you mean? You love playing outside.”
“It feels funny.”
“Funny how?”
Kami shrugged and nestled closer. “Like someone was watching me.”
Addie’s eyes flew to Cherry’s and she automatically reached for her gun, only to realize it was with her discarded clothing. She stood up to go and retrieve it as the airlock door flew open. One of the white-faced cyborgs stood in the entrance.
“Don’t move.”
Despite his order, she instinctively stepped in front of Addie and Kami. Kami’s eyes were wide and terrified, and Addie pulled her close.
A bullet hit the floor in front of Cherry’s feet.
“I said don’t move,” he snarled.
His face was the same expressionless mask, but his eyes moved constantly, traveling around the dome in a random pattern.
“Which one of you is the scientist?”
“I am,” Cherry responded without hesitating.
His eyes darted back to her face, then he shook his head.
“No, you’re not.”
“I’m the one you’re looking for,” Addie said quietly, stepping up next to Cherry. Kami was clinging to her side and she gently nudged her behind Cherry’s legs. “What do you want?”
“I want you to fix me!” he yelled, and Kami trembled against her. “Fucking GenCon took all of my credits. Told me that I’d be able to survive on Mars. That part was true but they lied about everything else. They turned me into a fucking monster. I’m not even a real man anymore.”
“How can I help you? I don’t know what they did to you.”
“Maybe not, but you’ve developed a way to introduce nanites into other humans so that they’re still human.”
Addie opened her mouth, but he waved his gun again.
“Don’t bother to lie to me. I hacked into the system. I know how your research is going.”
“Then you know that it’s still ongoing.”
“I don’t fucking care. Fix me!” he screeched, and Cherry heard the edge of insanity in his voice. They wouldn’t be able to reason with him.
Even though she didn’t have her gun, could she take advantage of her newfound speed and strength? He wouldn’t be expecting an attack from her. But two small hands were clutching her legs. How could she make a move without exposing Kami?
She started to nudge the little girl back towards Addie so that she could step away and draw his attention but as soon as she moved, he focused on her again.
“I said don’t move!” He waved the gun again and it went off. Time seemed to slow down—just as it had when Tony attacked. She grabbed Kami and whirled to one side, snatching her out of the path of the oncoming bullet. Addie cried out and tugged Kami back into her arms, checking frantically for injuries.
The stranger ignored them, his eyes focused on Cherry.
“You’re one of them. You already have the nanites.” He turned and glared at Addie. “Fucking liar.”
“No,” Cherry said. “Addie didn’t do this. I had a transfusion.”
His voice rose again, excited this time. “That’s it. That’s the secret.”
“We don’t know that!” Addie said desperately. “She’s the first one.”
“And she’s normal. So you’re gonna give me a transfusion as well.”
“I don’t know if that will work.”
He stepped closer, and Cherry caught a whiff of something rotten. “It had better work, or your kid is gonna pay.”
Addie gave her a helpless look. “Cherry, I…”
“It’s fine,” she said immediately. They couldn’t take the chance on this madman hurting Kami.
Addie’s shoulder slumped as she obviously reached the same conclusion. “My lab is through there.”
He gestured with his gun again, but fortunately this time, it didn’t go off.
“Please, can my daughter stay out here? She doesn’t need to see this.”
“No. Now move.”
Kami clung to her mother’s hand as the three of them entered the lab, her eyes wide and frightened, but she didn’t say a word.
“Baby, I want you to go sit over there by the window and don’t look around. You promise me?”
“Yes, Mama,” she whispered, but Addie had to peel her fingers loose before she moved away.
“Now what?” the man demanded.
“I have to set up the equipment,” Addie said quietly as she began to make preparations.
Cherry admired her composure as she tried desperately to think of a way to get them out of this situation. She studied the hybrid under the cover of her lashes, but although he paced impatiently back and forth, the gun remained firmly in his hand and he never came close enough for her to make a move. Her newfound speed was of no help against an opponent who was equally fast.
She hadn’t managed to come up with a plan by the time Addie had finished setting everything up. The other woman gave her an imploring look, but she shrugged helplessly. She didn’t see any alternative but to comply with the man’s demands.
Addie pointed at the lab tables. “I need both of you to lie down.”
The man frowned suspiciously at Cherry and made her climb onto one of the tables first. He took his position on the other table but didn’t lower his gun. When Addie reached for that arm, he shook his head.
“I’m not that stupid. Use my other arm.”
She silently inserted the IV into his other arm and then moved over to Cherry.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I don’t know what—”
“Stop talking,” the man ordered.
Addie bit her lip and obeyed. Cherry tried not to wince as the other woman deftly inserted an IV into her wrist. A moment later, she saw her blood flowing into the thin tube. It ran from there into a central machine and then out again into the man’s arm as he watched it eagerly.
At first, nothing happened.
Then a faint rush of warmth began at her feet and traveled slowly up her body, coursing through her system, and she realized that her nanites were trying to cope with the blood loss. It grew hotter still, and she started to feel lightheaded.
“Yes!” The man gave an ecstatic cry and she looked over to find him staring at his arm—an arm that was transforming from dead white to a healthy pink. The color washed up his arm and into h
is face and for just a moment, he looked normal. Only his eyes still indicated his underlying madness.
But then the flush of pink deepened and his skin began to turn bright red.
“Why do I feel hot?” he demanded. “What’s happening?”
“The heat is a side effect of the process,” Addie said calmly. “Can you handle it?”
“I can handle anything that will make me a man again,” he snarled, and for the first time, his anger was apparent on his face. A face no longer locked in a frozen mask.
Her heart sank as she realized that the process was working but she still couldn’t see any alternative. The heat in her own blood was continuing to increase, but she didn’t make a sound.
“Are you all right, Cherry?” Addie’s anxious face hovered over her. “Just hang on.”
Was there a hidden warning in her words?
“I’m fine,” she managed.
The man suddenly groaned, and when she looked over at him, she saw black streaks racing up his arm.
“This isn’t right,” he gasped.
“It’s just part of the process,” Addie repeated.
The tide of black licked across his face, and Cherry watched in horror as his skin started to melt. He tried to speak but his words were already unintelligible. He fumbled for the IV and managed to snatch it out of his arm, but it was too late. In front of her eyes, he literally dissolved into a black puddle on the other table.
Addie quickly removed the IV from Cherry’s arm.
“Are you all right?” she asked anxiously.
The heat in Cherry’s veins had already started to subside and to her relief, her skin was still as pale and smooth as always.
“I think I’m fine.”
“Oh, thank God.” Addie gave her a relieved smile, then rushed over to where Kami was still staring obediently out the window. Addie lifted her into her arms and tucked the little girl’s face against her shoulder before she turned back to Cherry. “I have to get her out of here.”
“It’s fine.” She already felt strong enough to sit up and swing her legs over the edge of the table. “Just give me a minute and I’ll be right behind you.”
Addie nodded and disappeared through the door. Cherry cast an unbelieving gaze at the black puddle that was all that remained of the man, then stood up. Her knees felt a little shaky, but by the time she had retrieved her gun and joined Addie and Kami in the main room, she felt as strong as ever.
“What the hell did you do?” she asked, staring at Addie in amazement.
Addie’s lips trembled. “That’s what happened with the first experiments. The nanites just reproduce uncontrollably, destroying the host in the process.”
“Did you know that was going to happen?”
“I suspected.” Her eyes filled with tears. “I didn’t want to do it, but I didn’t see any other alternative. I couldn’t let him hurt either of you.”
Cherry shook her head. “Remind me never to get on your bad side.”
Addie gave a slightly hysterical laugh and a moment later they were both crying in each other’s arms as Kami stared at them.
“Someone’s coming,” the little girl said just as Cherry caught the sound of movement from outside the dome.
She was on her feet, her gun in her hand, standing in front of the other two when the door flew open and Wyatt and Sam appeared.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Daddy, Daddy!” Kami bolted across the room. Wyatt noticed that she took a flying leap from at least six feet away and easily landed in Sam’s arm’s, but he was more interested in Cherry. To his relief, she was standing tall, her gun in her hand but apparently unharmed. Her eyes closed with relief at the sight of him, then she was throwing herself at him just as eagerly.
“A bad man came and Mama melted him,” Kami said proudly.
Addie winced as she joined them. “You weren’t supposed to be looking, baby.”
Kami blinked up at her innocently. “I just peeked a little. Just for a minute.”
“What bad man?” he demanded, as he tightened his arm around his wife, the relief of having her back in his arms overwhelming him even though he was filled with guilt that he had left her in danger.
“Another one of those new cyborgs.” Cherry shivered. “Tony was mean, but I think this one was actually crazy. He was babbling about not being a man anymore and demanding that Addie fix him.”
“Maybe not entirely mad,” he admitted. “Apparently the GenCon process removes their ability to, um, function as a man.”
“What did he expect you to do?” Sam asked his wife. “Everything you’ve been working on is still experimental.”
“While I agree with Cherry that he was definitely unstable, I think he was also intelligent. He said he had read through the GenCon reports and thought that I was on the verge of a breakthrough.”
“What did you do?” Sam pressed Kami’s head against his chest and covered her ear. “And what did she mean that you melted him?”
“You remember those early experiments that I did? Where the nanites took over and dissolved the host?” Addie’s eyes filled with tears. “I didn’t want to do it, but I didn’t know what else to do.”
“You did the right thing,” Sam said soothingly. “As long as the three of you are safe, that’s all that matters.”
“But where did you get the nanites?” Wyatt asked, then looked at Cherry, his stomach churning. Did she look unusually pale?
“Addie took them from me. We didn’t have a choice, Wyatt. He threatened Kami.”
The growl that erupted from Sam’s throat was echoed by his own.
“What happened in town?” Cherry asked anxiously. “Do you know how many of them there are? You guys are tough, but they scare me.”
“According to Serena, there were twelve. There are now nine, one of whom has been captured. I fully intend for the rangers to take care of the rest.”
“Do you know where they are?” Addie asked.
“The prisoner is at GenCon headquarters and there are two more in the city. Supposedly the others have scattered out to the other GenCon sites.”
“What sites?” Addie and Cherry asked simultaneously.
“You mean like that place in Tom’s valley?” Cherry added.
“Exactly. GenCon has been building these secret cities in places that they believe are—or will be—strategically important.”
Addie’s eyes sharpened. “If they’re secret, how are you going to find them?”
“Serena gave us their locations.”
“Auntie Seena!” Kami cheered, and Sam and Addie exchanged a rueful look. Apparently, the little girl’s nanites had equipped her with the same enhanced hearing as the rest of the cyborgs.
Cherry stiffened, just a little, against his side.
“How helpful of her,” she said, her voice cool.
“She was attack—” he broke off with a quick look at Kami. “I think that ended any allegiance she still felt to GenCon.”
“How noble of her,” Cherry said, sarcasm even thicker this time.
“Don’t you like Auntie Seena?” Kami asked, her eyes wide.
A wash of color swept across Cherry’s cheeks. “I’m sorry, Kami. I know she’s your friend.”
“She is.” The little girl gave a firm nod. “And I think she needs a husband just like Daddy.”
Wyatt’s eyes met Sam’s and he had to fight back a grin as he remembered J-100 hovering over Serena. Kami’s prophecy might come true after all—although he didn’t envy the cyborg one little bit. He much preferred his own sweet wife. The fear which had haunted his frantic ride back to the habitat was evaporating now that he had her in his arms again, but need was rising in him in a monstrous wave.
“If you’ll excuse us, I need to be alone with my wife.” He swept Cherry up in his arms then gave a frustrated growl. There was nowhere to take her.
“We have an extra bedroom,” Addie said, her eyes dancing. “Second door on the left down the corridor.”
>
He was moving before she finished speaking.
“How come he’s carrying her like a baby?” He heard Kami ask behind them.
Cherry started to giggle. “Why are you carrying me like a baby, Wyatt? Don’t you think I’m capable of walking?”
Despite her teasing, she had wrapped herself around him and he caught the sweet, exotic tang of her arousal.
“I think you’re capable of anything, but I want you to save your energy.”
He opened the second door and came to a dismayed halt. It was a bedroom all right—a bedroom for a baby. The only bed in the room was a sturdy white crib against the far wall.
“Fuck. This isn’t what I had in mind.”
She giggled again, the sound breathless and excited.
“There’s a rug.”
Oh, yes. In his frustration, he had overlooked the fact that the floor was covered with thick padding. Good enough. He dropped to his knees, carrying her with him. He knelt there with her across his lap, studying her beloved face as the laughter died away.
“I was so fucking scared, darlin’. The whole way back here, I was picturing you at the mercy of one of those monsters.”
“I would have fought him,” she whispered. “But I was afraid he would hurt Addie or Kami.”
“You did the right thing,” he said. “I’m just so sorry that I wasn’t here to protect you. That I haven’t been here to protect you all these years.”
Blue eyes sparkled with tears, but she smiled at him. “I managed to take care of myself. I told you—what matters is right now.”
He clutched her tightly against his chest, relishing the feel of her in his arms. Despite the urgent throb of his erection, he was content to hold her until she finally drew back and smiled up at him, her eyes misty.
“But you’re more than welcome to take care of any more of those things.”
“Did Addie really melt him?”
She shuddered. “She certainly did. I’ve never seen anything like it, and I hope I never see it again. She’s a scary woman.”
“I hope I never have to see it.” It was his turn to shudder at the thought. “If I had, I’m not sure I would have had the courage to give you the transfusion.”
“But you did.” Her serious expression faded, and she gave him a challenging look. “And now I’m just as strong as you are.”
The Magnificent Cyborg Page 16