Stealing Coal (3 page)

“No!”

She backed up and then realized her mistake as all heads swung in her direction,

their frowning faces staring back at her.
Shit!
Her reactions needed to live up to being a

heartless bitch who worked for the meanest, nastiest, bloodlusting trader ever born.

Watching someone be tortured should have been something entertaining to the

character she played, not horrifying. She thought fast.

“I’m running late already and it’s going to piss Big Jim off if I don’t undock now. I

never want to do that. You don’t want to do that either.”

The captain swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “Yeah. You better get on

your shuttle.” He motioned to his men. “Let’s store the new cargo. We can watch the

freak suffer when we’re done.”

Jill had to look away from the struggling cyborg. He kept fighting the restraints in

an attempt to break free, though it wasted his energy. She didn’t blame him. He wasn’t

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just going to be tortured by the crew but faced the eventual certainty of being beaten to

death in a cage when he reached Arris. Pity and remorse slammed into her. Sometimes

the shit she saw while trading made her wish she’d never left Earth. Not that Earth

ranked that much higher but at least there humans attempted to hide their ugly sides.

In space they flaunted their brutality as though it were a badge of honor.

Jill spun on her heel and forced her legs to move. Regret tugged at her conscience

for the poor man she walked away from.
Is he a man?
She didn’t know and her mind

had no answer to give. She guessed he rated as one considering he must be made of

flesh and blood if he could bleed. He obviously could feel pain. She had a limited

education on the subject of cyborg history. Aunt Mary hadn’t told her anything about

them except the fact that they had been decommissioned for being too dangerous. Later,

as she grew older, she’d realized what that entailed. The Government had slaughtered

them.

Big Jim had insisted she be reared on Earth by his sister but Jill had been kept

secluded from other people for her own safety. If any of her father’s enemies―there

were many of those―had known he had a daughter, they would have killed her long

ago. The irony of using his name to survive as an adult hadn’t been lost on her. As a

child she’d been forbidden to even mention him for fear someone would discover her

connection.

She lowered her chin when she approached her shuttle. “Open up, says me,” she

whispered into the com at the outer door.

The docking door slid upward and a ramp slowly lowered to the floor in front of

her feet. She’d had to fly her shuttle up into docking port of the larger ship to secure it

to the freighter. She glanced nervously around when she moved forward, her boots

making a metallic sound on the thin metal floor, and breathed out a sigh of relief after

she stepped inside the cargo hold. One more safe trade had been accomplished.

She turned then, peering out at the large cargo bay. Her gaze instantly homed in on

the cyborg and she knew he would haunt her. Guilt could be a horrible thing. He still

fought his chains, his muscles flexing and bulging, something she could see even from a

distance. Her teeth dented her lower lip over the conflict his situation caused her.

“Close the doors,” she ordered aloud. The ramp slid upward to return to the under

floor she stood on and the shuttle door lowered to hide the sight of the cargo bay. She

could no longer view the cyborg.

Jill stood here breathing slowly, her heart heavy from the reality that her life had

turned to shit a year before when she’d received a message that her father wanted to see

her. Aunt Mary had traveled with her and they’d met the dreaded Big Jim. His brutal

lifestyle had finally taken its toll. He’d been on his deathbed and his body hadn’t even

grown cold before his crew of brutal killers revolted.

Hot tears burned behind her eyelids when she closed them. Aunt Mary had given

her life to save Jill’s. None of her father’s crew had survived to spread the word that Big

Jim had died. All she’d been left with was the shuttle she now lived on, her father’s

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reputation, and the trading schedule on the onboard computer. She’d opened up an

account with a space bank, used the cargo she’d found secured in the shuttle’s hold to

make her first trade, and her new life had begun.

The doors to the interior section of the shuttle opened and it pulled her from self

pity. She turned at the loud noise to stare at Roid. His forest-green, artificial skin drew

her attention first—not her favorite color but beggars couldn’t be picky. She’d salvaged

him from a dead ship she’d come across a year before.

“You are safe and we have another successful trade.” His speech came out high

pitched, almost feminine, but it had been the best she’d been able to do with her limited

knowledge. “They paid?”

“Yes. I’m safe and the transaction went smoothly. We’ll be set for a while.”

The android stood there, unmoving, waiting for orders.

“Prepare for takeoff, please. You’re better at navigating so you’re in the hot seat this

time. I don’t want us to hit the sides of the freighter on our way out of the docking

section. Wait for my order before we separate from them.”

He turned, moved through the doors, and she knew he’d head for the pilot’s seat.

His programming included flying small shuttles, to her immense luck. Her head turned

and she stared at the closed exterior door toward the freight ship’s cargo area. Though

she couldn’t see the cyborg, she still imagined him struggling against his chains in a

frantic attempt to break free before they hurt him more.

The door opened behind her again and she turned to face it. Fray, one of the three

androids aboard her shuttle, entered and stopped, his head tilted a tiny bit to the left,

making him appear thoughtful. “Do you require assistance?”

“No. Strap in and recharge.”

The android turned away to do as she’d ordered. Jill opened her mouth before she

even thought about it. “Tell Arm to come to me.”

“Of course,” Fray confirmed, leaving the cargo area.

“Fuck,” she muttered, shaking her head, and fought the disgust that rose in her. She

walked to the cabinet by the door, jerked it open, and looked hard at the weapons

stored inside. “What are you thinking, Jill?”

She sighed and after only hesitating for a few seconds, reached in to grab the gas-

ball shooter. “Stupid, really insane, and pathetic,” she muttered, hoping that hearing

her voice aloud would make her reconsider her actions. Instead she spun around to

glare at the exterior door. “Dumb, Jill. Really dumb. He’s not your problem. You’re a

hardened trader, a bitch, just like your ex-husband said. Remember? Heartless shrew,

cold-blooded hag. And don’t forget frigid.”

The doors opened and she winced when Arm entered the room. He squeaked badly

as he came forward. She turned her head to watch him advance. He had extensive

damage to his face and chest that she hadn’t known how to repair. He looked hellish

but there wasn’t much she could do about it. The only thing on him not messed up in

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some way had been his left arm, hence the name she’d given him after she’d pulled him

from a scrap pile on a distant junk moon when she’d discovered the android while

searching for spare parts compatible with her shuttle.

“Orders, Sir?”

She’d given up on asking him to stop calling her that. He was military issue and

had proven to her yet again that Earth Government wasted money by throwing great

assets into the trash.

She took a few breaths and then blinked back tears that blinded her. “I’m a sucker,”

she announced to Arm. “You should call me that instead of Sir. Yeah, man down, Arm.

He’s male, gray-skinned, and the enemy has him in the cargo area just outside. What is

it you always tell me about a man down when we talk about what happened to you?”

“We don’t leave them behind the way they did me.” Arm turned his big frame

toward the weapons cabinet, and studied the contents. “How hostile is the threat?”

“They aren’t military but they are hardened criminals. No kills, okay? Chase them

out of the cargo bay since we need to blow the seal. I don’t want them dying when the

air vents out.”

“Understood. Advanced scare tactics, grab our man, and retreat.”

“Exactly.” Jill wanted to smack herself over her hasty, stupid decision. The cyborg

wasn’t her problem but that didn’t change her mind. “Um, he’s injured so do not free

him from the restraints. He’s on a flatbed freight table so bring him inside on it. Repeat

that order. It’s important. Do not unchain him.”

“I don’t understand. He’s our man.” Arm spun to stare at her with his strange

glowing eyes. They didn’t match since she hadn’t been able to find two lenses the same

color but they were better than leaving him without cover for his sight sensors.

“He’s been tortured and I’m afraid he’ll hurt me,” she admitted softly. “He needs to

learn that we’re not the enemy before I can trust him not to attack. Is that clear

enough?”

“Protecting Sir is my number-one priority. Order is understood.” Arm spun

around, grabbed weapons from the locker, and then faced her again. “You provide

cover while I retrieve our man down. That plan puts you in the least danger.”

“Got it.” She moved to the wall and hit the com. “Roid?”

“Yes, Jill?”

“We’re undocking hot once we retrieve some additional cargo.” She paused,

pushing back the fear that gripped her. “You may have to blast through their docking

sleeves to shake us loose. Monitor Arm and me. As soon as we’re back inside the cargo

hold with the freight, get us clear. Don’t wait for me to order you to start engines. They

have cannon flares so heads up and try to avoid allowing them to hit us if they open

fire.”

“Understood. I will get us free from this ship and full blast with evasive maneuvers.

I haven’t failed to do that yet.”

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Yeah, we’ve been in this situation a few times before
, she remembered with a flinch. She

took a deep breath, released the com, and then ground her teeth together. She ripped a

breathing mask from the wall near the door and tossed it to Arm then grabbed another

and tugged it over her face. Her gaze locked on Arm while she gripped the gas-ball

shooter with trembling hands. “Let’s do it. Make sure you put that mask on him so he

doesn’t choke. You are in charge of this mission. I’m a green soldier.”

“I have taken remote control of the doors.” He moved forward. “I will take

incoming fire until you’re able to lay down gas cover safely. I will retrieve our man.

Stay behind me to shield yourself, Sir.”

She moved behind the big defense model android and said a silent prayer that this

wasn’t going to be suicide. It was crazy, stupid, and flat-out insane to steal a cyborg

from a ship the size of the freighter. She didn’t want to think about losing an

opportunity to make more money from dealings with this ship in the future, but she

figured if she just left, knowing what the fate of that poor bastard would be, she could

never face herself in a mirror. Even Jillian Maris still had moral lines she wouldn’t cross.

“Go,” she whispered. “Before I chicken out or remember I don’t have a set of balls.”

The exterior doors opened and the ramp slammed down hard when Arm hit the

fast release. The loud noise made Jill’s ears ring.
Damn Arm and his military tactics.
He’d

wanted to make an entrance and he certainly had. She opened fire, the gas balls

whistling through the air and exploding into the deck across the large cargo bay as she

turned the gun to spread them out. The smoke rose instantly, spread fast, and shouted

alarm came from the surprised men who found themselves in the midst of the

unexpected attack.

Arm ran down the ramp and took careful aim to spread out more gas pellets near

his perceived enemy without hitting them. Jill’s gaze darted around, happy to see only

four crew members in the cargo bay, all of whom rushed for the exit doors to escape the

smoke that quickly filled the room. The retreating men hopefully mistook the harmless

yellow, smelly smoke as poisonous when it temporarily blinded, disorientated, and

choked them.

Arm moved forward quickly, tearing across the cargo bay toward his target. Jill

glanced at the cyborg, his expression openly shocked while he watched the android

rush toward him to shove the breathing mask over his face. Arm grabbed hold of both

sides of the freight table and then sped back toward the ramp, dragging the cyborg and

freight carrier into the cargo hold of Jill’s shuttle.

Jill jumped out of the way and backed up as the door across the large bay opened.

The captain who had flirted with her rushed forward with gun in hand. Their gazes

locked before the smoke doubled him over in a fit of coughs. Jill fired again, laying

down more gas balls between the captain and her shuttle to prevent him from shooting

at her.

“We’re in. Go!”

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Jill dropped her weapon, tore off her mask, and grabbed for the wall to find a