Baring Grudge

by Cynthia Sax

  Power, the self-appointed leader of the Cyborg Council and Cadet’s sworn nemesis, was unaware she was retrieving their brethren left behind during the mass rebellion. The ass wouldn’t approve of the fleet, the weapons, or the warriors she was accumulating.

  Frag. There was a 99.9999 percent probability the E Model wouldn’t tolerate him. Grudge flexed the fingers of his left hand. He was permanently damaged, hadn’t warranted a rescue from the male. When he’d called for help through the transmission lines, only Cadet had answered.

  Only Cadet had his loyalty. His lips flattened. Power could suck on the butt of a gun.

  “You have earned the right to blow up the space station, warrior.” Cadet met his gaze. “Your service over the solar cycles—to your brethren, to our team—has been exemplary.”

  Grudge stood straighter. Praise from their leader was rare and hard-earned.

  “There is no one I trust more with that task.” Cadet lifted her chin. “It is yours if you desire it.”

  “I desire it.” Exhilaration lit up his circuits.

  He’d be in charge of obliterating the space station. It would be the largest, the most valued object belonging to the Humanoid Alliance—the enemy— he’d ever destroyed.

  “I would never ask you to stay on the space station for the entire duration.” Cadet relieved him of that obligation. “That would lack excitement, and there are many other warriors with more…sedate temperaments.”

  He would be bored out of his processors. There was an 85.1287 percent probability that would be the truth.

  And the destruction of the space station was no longer tied to guarding it. He could blast robots to bits with Rancor, fly a Class A Warship to Mercury Minor, and oversee the explosion of the imitation moon.

  But someone had to assume the guard detail. And he had said he would stay.

  “I will remain on the space station.” His word was his bond.

  After his arm and leg had been blown off and he was retrieved by the scrappers, he had been sold as a hunk of junk for a handful of credits. He had been at the mercy of those human and humanoid buyers and assigned the most menial processor-numbing of tasks.

  Humiliated and tortured and cut off from his brethren, honor had been the only thing he had left.

  He wouldn’t discard it now. “The role of guarding the structure is mine.”

  Cadet’s forehead furrowed with thought lines. She gazed at him for three, four, five heartbeats.

  “You do require extended access to the systems, to the structure, to devise the best demolition strategy.” She pursed her lips. “And there is a possibility the Humanoid Alliance has detected our commandeering of their plaything. They could attempt to destroy it remotely. You have the skills to stop that.”

  Grudge’s head dipped. He could complete that task.

  “If you can’t stop the remote detonation, if the Humanoid Alliance sends ships here to reclaim the space station, you are to immediately abandon your post.” Cadet’s tone was stern. “You are to take a warship and fly far from these coordinates. Once you’re certain they haven’t followed you, you are to return to Mercury Minor.”

  He could defend the space station. Grudge scowled at her. Even a permanently damaged warrior such as himself could do that.

  The structure had an advanced weapons system. Guns had been installed on its exterior. No ships would land in its docking bay without his authorization.

  “Vow to me you’ll do that, warrior.” Cadet barked that command at him.

  She processed that once he gave her his word, he’d never break it.

  He ground his teeth in frustration. His leader would force him to retreat, would give him no choice but to take that dishonorable action.

  “I vow I’ll do that.” Each word grated at him.

  Cadet’s stance eased. “Retreat is often necessary to win wars.” She must have heard the resentment in his voice. “And I will not lose another warrior to the Humanoid Alliance.” Her gaze slipped from his. “I’ve lost too many of our brethren already.”

  Some of the transmissions requesting help, their brethren pleading for rescues, had stopped. They all processed what that meant—those warriors had perished. They hadn’t been retrieved in time.

  Cadet took those losses to heart. It fueled her anger at Power. The E Model refused to send retrieval teams, refused to authorize other warriors to rescue the cyborgs left behind.

  She wouldn’t desire another loss.

  It irked Grudge, however, that she assumed she’d lose him.

  But his leader had no rational reason to project he would survive such a confrontation. His head bowed slightly, shame weighing on him. He had been damaged in battle, hadn’t been able to free himself from mortifying servitude, had to beg her and others for help.

  That was the past. He pushed those misgivings to the back of his processors.

  The future would be different. He had an opportunity to change his leader’s view of him. His simulated spine straightened once more. He would demonstrate he was the equal of any other warrior.

  “I’ll safeguard the space station.” His vow only required he leave his post if he was certain he couldn’t stop a remote detonation or if multiple ships belonging to the Humanoid Alliance arrived to reclaim the space station.

  If any other situation arose, he could stay and fight. He would master the space station’s defenses, would jettison robots to use for target practice.

  He would create his own excitement. A smile lifted his lips.

  The planet rotations of solitude would be anything but boring.

  He would prove his worth…to Cadet, to the rest of the team, to himself.

  Chapter Two

  Twenty-one planet rotations later

  * * *

  Taelyn didn’t do relationships.

  Her mission to save the universe from killer robots was dangerous. She could die at any moment. Forming connections with others could only result in pain for everyone involved.

  Unfortunately, some fuckin’ beings didn’t respect her wishes.

  Seated on the bridge of her battered freighter, she stared straight ahead of her. The image of a Humanoid Alliance space station, designed to resemble one of Rohini 9’s moons, dominated her main viewscreen.

  That was her target.

  Her gaze slid to the right.

  That was the bane of her fuckin’ existence.

  A humanoid female with ten solar cycles was curled up in the chair beside hers, lanky leather-clad legs tucked under her small ass, her green-eyed gaze fixed on the main viewscreen. Her green hair was short on the sides and back, a little longer on the top…as Taelyn’s hair was. The girl’s scrawny form was clad in skintight black leather garments. That clothing choice also mirrored hers.

  But the fuckin’ kid wasn’t hers.

  Jasny had shown up at the medic bay two solar cycles ago, completely alone. Her clothing had been mere rags. Critters inhabited her shaggy hair. Dirt covered her green skin. The wound where her left arm had been severed was putrid.

  Taelyn had stopped by the medic bay to drop off some supplies. Medic Neidan had recruited her to tend to the kid. Jasny attached herself to Taelyn and hadn’t strayed far from her side since that time.

  That was really fucking with Taelyn’s perilous plans. It was one thing to put herself in danger. It was another thing to put a kid in danger also.

  But the stubborn little ass wouldn’t be left behind. Taelyn’s lips twisted. The kid was determined to follow her everywhere, had hidden on board her ship again and again. When the youngster managed to wedge herself between the landing gear, coming within a breath of getting herself crushed to death, Taelyn gave up trying to stop her.

  Now, she focused on minimizing the threats to the girl…which meant every step of the mission took much, much longer.

  The freighter was currently situated a length of two ships outside the space station’s standard monitoring range. They had been watching it closely for three planet rotations
, looking for any signs it was occupied.

  Lifeform scans had been rendered useless due to the thousands of battle robots floating around the structure. Some of the cursed things were whole. Many more of them were in pieces.

  There must have been a breach in one of the space station’s chambers. The robots had escaped the structure, and their presence fucked with the freighter’s monitoring systems, overwhelming it with inputs.

  She had to shut those systems, including the lifeform scans, down. The flashing lights and wailing sirens warning them about possible collisions with the robots had frayed her last nerve, the one she needed to deal with kids who didn’t have the good sense to stay on Antares II, their peaceful home planet.

  “Eat this.” She tossed a nourishment bar. The kid tended to hoard her food, not consume it, and she was too damn scrawny for Taelyn’s comfort.

  She glared at Jasny until the girl took a bite of the treat, and then she resumed gazing at the space station. The presence of the robots suggested the structure was unoccupied.

  That was the only explanation she could give for the lack of recovery. The robots were valuable, much more valuable than a little human girl’s arm…or her lifespan. Her lips flattened. The Humanoid Alliance would have collected them and returned them to the space station.

  If she was wrong about that, if the enemy occupied the space station and they landed on it, she was dead.

  She’d take that chance if she was alone. But she had the kid with her. Her decision could end the girl’s lifespan also.

  Taelyn drummed her fingers against the console, weighing the risks.

  Jasny did the same. Her drumming was much louder because she hadn’t yet mastered the use of her mechanical arm. She hadn’t Taelyn’s solar cycles of experience.

  “Did you see that, Tae?” The kid shot forward. “Something moved.” She pointed at the viewscreen. “There.”

  She obliged the kid, magnifying the image, zooming in on that section of the space station. There was nothing, only the simulated surface of a moon. She shifted the view to the right, moving it slowly, slowly.

  The blank face of a gleaming white robot filled the viewscreen.

  The kid jumped.

  She did too. “Fuck.” She cursed at the hated thing, feeling like a blasted fool.

  “Fuck.” The kid echoed her response.

  Taelyn turned her head and narrowed her eyes at Jasny. “We don’t say that word in front of Medic Neidan. You got that?” Her former guardian believed kids should be sheltered.

  Taelyn doubted there was much the kid hadn’t heard or seen.

  “Got it.” Jasny stuck out her chin. “The fucker is moving.”

  She suppressed a sigh. Medic Neidan was going to kick her ass. She returned her attention to the viewscreen. The robot was floating out of view.

  “It’s deactivated.” She shifted the display to the robot’s face. “Its eyes are dark. It is moving due to inertia only. Deactivated or not, you are never to touch one of these fuckers.” Her voice sharpened.

  That was how Taelyn had lost her arm. The Humanoid Alliance had severed it when she had nine solar cycles, for the crime of touching one of their robots—one of their beloved weapons.

  She hated the Humanoid Alliance and she hated their weapons, had made it her mission to rid the universe of them.

  “I can touch it with a projectile.” The kid grumbled that under her breath.

  “You aren’t shooting anything on this mission.” Taelyn scanned the area, detected another robot…and another…and another. Her skin crawled. The cursed things were everywhere.

  It was her worst nightmare come to life.

  She shuddered as her fear escalated.

  If she waited much longer, she’d have a fuckin’ emotional breakdown.

  “We’re going in.” She guided the freighter forward.

  In the past, she would have flown directly to the initial landing site. But in the past, she had been alone, could be that daring. Now that she had the kid with her, she orbited the space station, flying a breath inside the monitoring range.

  If the Humanoid Alliance contacted her, she would feign ignorance, act like she believed it was merely a moon, say she didn’t know it was Humanoid Alliance space.

  No one contacted her. She altered her course, heading toward the site of a not-so-hidden control panel giving her access to the space station.

  “Recite the rules.” She barked that order at the kid.

  “I’m to stay on the ship.” Jasny muttered her reply. “I watch the console and the viewscreen, look for any movement, tell you if anyone approaches.”

  Taelyn landed on the surface of the space station. “And what do you do if someone approaches?” She left her seat, grabbed her exterior garments.

  “I flash the lights.” The kid flicked that switch on and off.

  Taelyn swallowed a groan. If there were beings on board the space station and those beings hadn’t been aware of their existence prior to landing, they knew about it now.

  She dressed quickly, sealing off each section of the suit, attaching the big boots. “You’re not to leave your seat.” She grabbed the helmet and marched to back of the ship.

  “I never leave my seat.” The kid placed her much-smaller booted feet on the console.

  “Put your feet down.” Taelyn yelled at her as the doors closed between them.

  The kid was a menace.

  She donned her helmet and opened the exterior doors. It took a moment for her vision to adjust to the brightness of the space station’s surface. It took another moment to find the panel.

  She set the chip Mulls had designed for her on the screen. Code scrolled.

  “Hmmm…” She frowned. The security systems had been deactivated.

  Something nudged against her right arm. She jerked, turned her head.

  A robot’s dark eyes filled her view.

  “Fuck.” She reacted without thinking, slamming her fabric-covered fist into its face.

  The punch sent the robot hurtling into open space.

  She watched its journey for a heartbeat. The breach that jettisoned the robot was likely responsible for the system deactivation.

  Satisfied with that explanation, she relaxed, focused on the tasks she had to complete. She tapped the control panel and opened the docking bay doors.

  No ships exited. No alarms sounded. The guns hidden in the surface panels didn’t rise.

  They were alone on the space station. She trudged back to the ship, closed the doors behind her, and removed her exterior suit as she returned to the bridge.

  The kid hastily dropped her booted feet from the console. “Was I supposed to flash the lights when I saw the robot?”

  There was no need for the lights to ever be flashed. Taelyn had relayed that order merely to give Jasny a task to do. She grunted her noncommittal answer.

  The kid did the same. It wasn’t an attractive sound.

  Medic Neidan wouldn’t be happy with that either.

  Blast it. She was fucking up this mentoring shit.

  Taelyn plunked her ass into the captain’s chair, started the engines. “What are the rules for this part of the mission?” The ship lifted off. She turned it, directing the vessel between the docking bay doors.

  “I stay on the ship. Always.” The kid rolled her eyes. “And I take the packs you fill, arrange them in the cargo chamber by their contents.”

  “Medic Neidan is counting on those supplies.” Taelyn strove to make the kid’s tasks seem more important than they were. “Don’t fff…mess them up.” She quelled the cuss word in time.

  “I won’t mess them up.” The kid slumped in her seat.

  Taelyn lowered the freighter to a free space in the docking bay. There were a variety of ships occupying the space. Some were older. That was unusual.

  But it wasn’t a reason for alarm. The second space station she’d blown up had hosted a similar mix of vessels and that mission had been completed with no complications.
r />   “What do you do if someone other than me enters the freighter?” She continued to drill the kid.

  “I stun them.” Jasny tapped the handle of the tiny gun strapped to her hip. “Multiple times.”

  The weapon was only capable of stunning beings. Taelyn had modified it after the kid accidentally blasted a projectile through her favorite mechanical hand, shattering it to pieces half a solar cycle ago.

  She cut the engines.

  “Why are you sitting on your ass?” She scowled at Jasny. “You have packs to set out.”

  The kid ran toward the back of the ship, hustled down the steps.

  “We don’t have all planet rotation to do this.” Taelyn quashed her inappropriate grin. The quicker they loaded the freighter, the sooner they would leave the space station, be out of danger.

  But fuck, she also loved getting the kid going.

  She tugged on her leather hand coverings, adjusted her arm coverings, ensuring most of her skin was covered, and she exited the freighter.

  A wave of scent—male, potent, powerful—hit her. She reeled backward, arousal sweeping over her. Her nipples grew taut. Her pussy became wet.

  “Fff…fuselage.” She murmured that replacement profanity. Her chest was tight.

  She gazed around her, looking for the source of her arousal.

  Bots rolled over the white-tiled floor. Bigger versions cleaned the side panels of the ships parked near the freighter.

  There were no signs of the battle robots, no indications of any lifeforms, of anyone watching her.

  Turning her on.

  “Shit.” Her laugh was shaky. “I need to get laid.”

  The mere air of the space station was making her hot. She sucked back her unseemly desire and grabbed the empty pack the kid had set out for her.

  During previous missions, when she had been alone, she would take a couple of moments and explore the space station. Now, she had to focus, retrieve what they needed, set the explosives, and get out of the structure as soon as fuckin’ possible.