Captured by the Cyborg (16 page)

“The AOP is all roar, no bite. Not like the Ka-Tȇ
.
”
A smile lit his face, and he glowed. She still recognized his beauty, but it chilled her that a man so evil, so devoid of morality, could appear so handsome. There should be some outward appearance of his vileness. But it explained why few suspected him, and the ones who did soon succumbed to his persuasion and manipulation. His was the face of refinement unless you peered beneath the surface.

“You loved me once,” she said. Had he? She doubted it now.

“I still do, Illumina.”

His declaration sickened her, but she forced herself to continue. “Remember our marriage ceremony? We were so happy.” He’d been self-assured, doting, and tender as he repeated his vows, and she’d considered herself the luckiest woman alive that he’d been chosen as her mate.

“I remember it fondly. Our wedding was the event of year on Faria. Rulers and VIPs from across the galaxy attended—” He drew his brows together. “Do you hear that?”

If the engines had been running, she couldn’t have heard them through the blood rushing in her ears. “I don’t hear anything.”

“That’s right. There’s no engine noise.” He rushed from the cargo bay.

It wouldn’t be long now. Alonio would figure out she was responsible and kill her in a fit of rage, or he would get the ship moving on course for Katnia. She closed her eyes and conjured up Dale, seeing his grin and dancing eyes, hearing the gravelly timbre of his voice, feeling his body against hers, the hardness of muscle, the roughness of hair, the gentleness of his touch.

She cleared her mind of all but memories of him, of the intimacy of their lovemaking and the awareness of his consciousness when she’d integrated into his microprocessor during climax. Her breathing and heart rate slowed.

In her imagination, his presence seemed as real as if he stood in the cargo bay. In her mind, she felt his worry. Love. Rage. Her stomach clenched as his did. Her hands tightened into fists like his. He was determined, ready to march into battle.

How she wished they’d had more time to speak before he’d left. That they’d had that conversation they’d planned for later. Later would never come. For words left unsaid, she wept.
I love you, Dale.
Tears trickled out of her closed eyelids and slid down her battered cheeks.
Help me, Dale.

Illumina? Speak to me, babe. Where are you?

She jerked. No. His words weren’t real. They couldn’t be. He was too far away. There was no physical contact to facilitate a mental connection. But if she couldn’t be with him, she could pretend she was.
He’s taking me to Katnia
.

Fuu—
The broken curse sounded just like him.
Where are you now?

I don’t know. He locked in me in an electronic cage in the cargo bay.

Are you hurt?

Illumina squeezed her eyelids tighter, afraid to open them in case the delusion evaporated.
He cut my hair.
Her head and battered face throbbed.

I know, sweetheart. March found your hair on the shop floor.

On the shop floor? Her eyes flew open. This couldn’t be hope, imagination. Was she truly communicating with him
? Is it really you?

It’s me babe.

She’d snapped. She’d gone as crazy as her ex.
Tell me something I don’t know. Say something I wouldn’t think of on my own.

Um…uh…Mares eat oats, and does eat oats, but little lambs eat ivy.

What?
What was he saying? It didn’t make sense.

It’s an old Terran children’s nursery rhyme. When spoken, it sounds like gibberish even though it has meaning
.

Dale!
She burst into tears.

Don’t cry, sweetheart. I’m coming to get you.

He’ll kill you like he did Carter and Sonny.

No, he won’t. I’ll be fine. Sonny will be fine.

No mention of Carter. She sucked back the tears. She had to stay strong until he could find her.
You know now what he can do. He can harness energy and transform it into matter. His arm can turn into a saber, a knife, or, I suspect, anything he wants.

I can handle him. If Charlie hadn’t let him in, he never would have gotten to you. I’ll find you—

The door slid open. Alonio clenched his fists.
“What did you do to the ship?”

Illumina? Are you there?
She’d been inside his head and then she wasn’t. “Illumina!” Dale shouted, anxiety flooding him in a wash.
Don’t panic.
Anything could have severed the transmission.

Focus. Focus.
He concentrated, trying to bring her back. Nothing. Shit.

March stared at him like he’d lost his mind. “Are you all right?” he asked.

“Illumina was in my head,” he said. “We were talking.”

“She’s a cyborg?”

“No. A gifted computer sensate.”
After
he rescued her, they would investigate her abilities. Apparently acts of physical intimacy weren’t the only circumstances under which she could integrate into his microprocessor.

Dale opened a circuit to Brock Mann of Cy-Ops.
Alonio is taking her to Katnia. Send a ship to intercept.

On it.
I’ll also dispatch teams
to trace known routes and will continue working a grid search in case he changes plans.

Good idea.

We’ll get her, don’t worry.

Brock attempted to reassure him, as he’d tried to soothe Illumina. The awful truth was failure was a possibility. Not for an instant did he doubt justice would prevail. That part they could control. The manhunt would continue until Alonio had met his end. But would Illumina meet hers before they could rescue her?

The idea was too horrible to contemplate. He blocked consideration of possible explanations for why the transmission had cut out.

Focus on the operation
.
Keep a clear head.
For Illumina’s sake, her abduction needed to be treated like any other Cy-Ops mission. If emotions interfered, he wouldn’t make the best decisions.

Bored with Moonbeam, he had longed for more action, more excitement, to be involved with Cy-Ops again.
You got what you wished for. How’s it working for you?

It sucked.

Dale looked at March. “How long will it take to install a cloaking device on Baby?”

March rubbed his chin. “A couple of hours.”

“That’s a hundred and nineteen minutes too long.” he replied, and signaled a flight line worker.

“Move Baby off the launch pad and prep the Lamis-Odg craft,” he told the man.

“Right away, boss.” He sprinted off.

“Walk with me,” Dale said. “I need to suit up.”

“You’re going to try the anti-piercing body armor?”

“This is as good a time as any to test the prototype.”

“I didn’t know it worked against bioelectromagnetic weapons,” March said.

“I don’t know that it does, but it’s the best thing we’ve got.” It was the
only
body shield they had—not that he intended to get close enough to test its effectiveness. Knives and sabers were short-range weapons. If he remained out of reach, he would be okay.

Blaster trumped saber. He’d take several of the former and some microexplosive devices. The MED-21 targeted soft tissue and wouldn’t compromise the ship’s hull and result in them all being blown to bits or sucked into space. In his plan, only one of them ended up dead.

“There’s a lot of area between here and Katnia,” March said. He’d been in on the comm link with the other cyborgs.

“I know.” He raked a hand over his head in frustration. “Intercepting the arrival of the shuttle once it reaches Katnia is no problem. Depending on his current location, that could take a day or two. Who knows what he’ll do to Illumina on the way? He cut off her hair! I have to get her away from him as soon as possible.”

“She didn’t give you a clue where they were?”

“No. She didn’t get the chance.” Dale expelled a breath, forcing back the worry that edged in. “But I’ll find them.”

They approached the office stairs. “I’ll get the weapons. Do me a favor and grab the body armor from the testing lab.”

“On my way.” March turned to leave.

“Mr. Homme!” Jesse the Arcanian hurried across the shop floor.

Not now
. He bit off an expletive. He’d given the Arcanians a fair shake by hiring them, but dealing with them required an extraordinary amount of patience on the best of days. And today was not that day.

“I’ll handle it,” March said under his breath.

“Thanks.”

Bug-eyed bastard is lucky he’s still alive,
March communicated via wireless.
He got up on the dock and bumped into Alonio as he was leaving.

“I need to speak to you. Mr. Homme!” Jesse skidded to a stop. Dale didn’t stand on ceremony. Employees either called him by his first name or “boss,” which was more a term of affection than authority, although no one doubted he was in charge. “It’s a matter of vital importance.” Jesse enunciated clearly instead of mumbling the way he usually did.

Had Jesse’s Terran improved?

Didn’t matter. Didn’t care. “Later, Jesse.” He turned toward the stairs. There was no time to spare.

“We’ll talk tomorrow, Jesse,” March said.

“No. I must speak to Mr. Homme immediately, and my name isn’t Jesse—I am agent Wivo of AOP Internal Affairs,” he said, and produced a badge. Son of a bitch if he wasn’t legit. “We have had Alonio under investigation for crimes against the galaxy.”

Dale blinked and glanced at March. Until the abduction, he’d gotten the idea the AOP had all but awarded the Faria a free pass. The AOP meant well, but they focused too much on political correctness to be effective when affairs got nasty. In a galaxy where terrorists like Lamis-Odg attacked innocent bystanders in worship to their mythological Great One, predators like the Ka-Tȇ hunted sentients for sexual pleasure, and dangerous sociopaths like Alonio were allowed to ascend to power, nasty didn’t begin to cover it.

While a dialogue with Wivo might be informative, more exigent matters demanded attention. Talk would not rescue Illumina. “I’ll be happy to meet with you at a future time. As you’re probably aware, we have a crisis. I’m leaving to bring Illumina back.”

Would Alonio go straight to Katnia or detour with the assumption he’d had a tail? The longer the delay in departure, the farther away he would get, lessening the chance of interception. Every second counted. Not finding Illumina was unacceptable.

“That is the matter I wish to discuss.” All six of the Arcanian’s eyes focused on Dale’s face. “It would help, would it not, if you could pinpoint his location?” From his vest pocket, Wivo extracted a small device. “I planted a micro-transmitter device on his person. You can track him with this.”

Dale hoisted Wivo up by the shoulders and planted a kiss on his mouth before setting him on his feet.

Wivo wiped his face. “Mr. Homme, that was so inappropriate.”

* * * *

The calling of her name
brought her to consciousness. The cold, hard metal floor pressed against her throbbing cheek. Sticky. Her face felt sticky. Blood? One arm curled awkwardly beneath her body. Hurting. Why? A whisper of caution had her stifling a groan of pain, and then she remembered.

Alonio’s rage. The beating. He’d shut off the cage, yanked her out, and kicked and shoved her to the bridge. Slammed his fist into her face. “Fix it!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” she’d lied. His punch had smashed into her temple, knocked her to the ground.

By the remaining sprouts of hair, he’d shaken her like a child’s toy. An undercut to the abdomen had punched the wind from her lungs. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t speak. He rammed her face against the nav dash. Blood spurted from her nose, adding to the red streaks across the computer screen from before.

She had to delay arrival on Katnia. If they got there, she would be gutted
before Dale could rescue her. Although, given Alonio’s escalating madness, he might kill her himself long before then.

If you kill me, you die, too.
Dale’s brotherhood of cyborgs would see to it.
Telling Alonio that would do no good. His insanity had progressed too far for him to respond to reason or even self-interest. Nothing existed of the man she’d known since childhood, whom she’d married with expectations of a promising future.

“Fix the ship!”

The next blow had hurtled her into blackness, and she knew no more until regaining consciousness on the floor of the bridge.

She lay in silence and pain, her eyes squeezed closed, but her ears and tactile sensations open. She could hear Alonio breathing, but no engine hum or vibration. The ship was still inoperative. He’d failed to get it started. Despite her peril, smug satisfaction flowed through her veins. He wasn’t the computer sensate he thought he was. But that had fueled his rage. He’d been unable to undo something she’d done. In that one thing, she’d bested him.

And paid the price for it.

Illumina! For goodness sake, answer me!

Her eyes flew open as Dale’s thoughts flowed into her brain.

“You’re awake, good!” White boots appeared in front of her face. Alonio hauled her to her feet. Bile belched into her throat on a booster of agony, and malevolent features faded to gray.

She staggered and fought not to retch.
I’m here.

So am I. I’m in a cloaked spaceship right behind you.

Her eyes widened. It was fortunate her face was averted. She schooled her features to blankness.

Are you all right?

I’m okay. Not as good as before
, she answered truthfully.
But okay.
Still alive. That’s what counted.

Is there a chance you could open the emergency launch bay?
In the event the ship became inoperable, spacecraft were equipped with escape pods programmed to land on the nearest inhabitable planet.

I think so, but there’s probably a pod in the bay.

You’ll have to eject it.

Light flashed, and a blade stroked her throat. “If you do not repair the ship, I’ll kill you now.” Her skin stung as he nicked her. A rivulet of warmth trickled down her neck and between her breasts.