The Android Chronicles Book One: The Android Defense (33 page)

“I want to be by myself,”
Mandelie said.

Luke stood and went to her.
He put his arms around her and held her tightly. Mandelie could
feel him shaking. She could feel the heat that coursed through
him.

“I love you,” he said. “I
love you, Mandelie.”

Mandelie drew in her breath.
She pulled herself away from him.

“You can’t feel love, Luke,”
she said. “You’re not programmed for it.”

“And Damian Foster can?”
Luke said.

Mandelie sat on the couch
and put her face in her hands.

“I can’t do this right now,”
she said.

Luke began to move towards
her and then he stopped.

“I’m returning to Vienna
tomorrow,” he said.

“What a surprise,” Mandelie
said.

“Maybe I’m not programmed
for it,” Luke said. “But I feel it. It’s real.”

He went out and shut the
door behind him.

Chapter 16.

Mandelie did not know when
she fell asleep on the couch, worn out from sheer exhaustion. A
knock on her door roused her.

She pulled her tangled hair
back from her face and went to open the door.

Damian stood
outside.

“I had to come back to see
if you were okay,” he said.

“Come in,” Mandelie
said.

Damian sat down on the couch
and Mandelie dropped down beside him. Automatically he put his arm
around her and Mandelie did not pull away. She leaned into him and
closed her eyes.

“He’s going back to Vienna,”
she said. “I don’t know why. I didn’t ask. He probably wouldn’t
tell me, anyway.”

Damian’s arm tightened
around her.

“I don’t care about any of
that,” he said. “I’m just glad you didn’t go back to
him.”

“Luke, please tell me what’s
wrong,” Brigite said.

She was sitting up on her
cot, staring across at Luke who was lying stretched out on his cot,
his arm thrown over his face.

“Nothing’s wrong,” Luke
said.

“You’re a terrible liar,”
Brigite said. “Tell me.”

“Mandelie slept with Damian
Foster,” Luke said. “While I was gone.”

Brigite scooted across the
floor until she was sitting beside him.

“I’m sorry to hear that,”
she said.

Luke sighed. He turned over
so that his back was facing her.

“Please don’t blame
Mandelie, Luke,” Brigite said. “She’s only a human, after
all.”

“Microsoft wants to know
when the technicians are going to have those drawings done,” Carlie
said.

She looked healthy once
again, in a brown jacket and skirt and her high heels, her iPad in
her hand.

Damian glanced up from the
thick stack of data he was looking through at his desk in his
office, and raked a hand through his hair. He was his usual cool,
suave self in his long-sleeved blue shirt and dark blue
tie.

“Tell them by Thursday. And
tell the technicians to get a move on.”

“The Innovators Summit
dinner got moved again,” Carlie said. “It’s going to end up in
Mexico if they don’t find a good location for it soon. But at least
you have your speech all ready. Also, Ted from Worlds Elements
called. He wants to meet to discuss those new designs. Should I set
up a time for this evening?”

“No,” Damian said. “I’ve got
a prior engagement.”

“What prior engagement?”
Carlie said, amazed that something had slipped her
notice.

Damian put his stack of
papers down. He leaned back in his chair and put his arms behind
his head.

“You might as well be fully
briefed now,” he said. “I’m dating Mandelie Miles.”

Carlie looked
startled.

“Does she know that?” she
said.

“Clever,” Damian said. “But
she definitely knows. It’s on.”

Carlie adjusted her
iPad.

“Well,” she said. “I really
don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say
anything,” Damian said, looking amused. “I’m just keeping you
informed.”

Carlie still looked a little
amazed.

“You should probably go let
the technicians know,” Damian said.

“That you’re dating Mandelie
Miles?”

“No, Carlie,” Damian said.
“About Thursday.”

“Oh, right.” Carlie hastily
left.

Chapter 17.

“You seem a little
preoccupied with something, Luke,” Dabya said.

Luke started. He was having
dinner with Dabya in the lush dining room of the palace – one of
many. Around them attentive servants hovered, bringing an endless
supply of plates and drinks.

“Forgive me,” he said. “What
were you saying?”

“The construction is going
smoothly so far,” Dabya said. “Pierre says that Gustaf intends to
show us his android designs at the next meeting.”

“Good,” Luke said. “That’s
crucial information.”

He took a sip from his glass
of champagne and tried not to think of Mandelie.

“You are completely
elsewhere,” Dabya said, with a smile. “Should we go for a walk in
the gardens after dinner? It might help clear your
head.”

Luke knew he definitely
needed that. He took another drink of champagne.

“Of course,” he said. “I
would be glad to.”

Dabya, Pierre Alsouvi, and
two of her bodyguards including Niklaus Shroder traveled together
to Stockholm for the meeting where Gustaf Jorg was going to show
them his ideas. They descended from the private jet at the airport
and got into a waiting car that drove them to Gustaf’s modest
dwelling.

Gustaf was waiting outside
of his home for them.

He took Dabya’s hand and
kissed it with not much more ceremony than he had
before.

“Welcome to my house, Your
Highness,” he said.

“It’s perfectly lovely,”
Dabya said, smiling as she stepped inside it, her bodyguards
following close behind her.

Mikael was already seated at
the table in the kitchen, which was covered with tea and plates of
sandwiches.

“It’s not a fancy spread
like you’re accustomed to, Your Highness,” Gustaf said. “But I did
not wish for you to be hungry.”

“I’m not, but thank you,”
Dabya said, sitting down in one of the chairs. Pierre sat beside
her.

Gustaf cleared his throat as
he stood in front of them.

“I intend to make this
collection of androids the greatest I have ever designed,” he said.
“Their sole purpose will be to serve the Society.”

“Wonderful,” Dabya
said.

Gustaf took a rolled up
piece of paper and unfolded it.

“These are some rough
sketches of my androids,” he said. He gave the piece of paper to
Dabya who looked down at it.

Pierre and Mikael looked as
well.

“You’ve outdone yourself,
Gustaf,” Pierre said. “These look magnificent.”

“And very intimidating,”
Dabya said.

“These androids are just the
first wave,” Gustaf said. “There will be more designs to come.
These androids are nearly twelve feet tall. They change from a
normal-looking human appearance of average height to their gigantic
state in a matter of seconds. Their strength is unsurpassed. They
can also shed their human façade at will and take on their android
appearance if needed.”

“Brilliant,” Mikael
said.

“With these androids serving
us, the Society is unstoppable,” Gustaf said.

He rolled up the paper again
and gave it to Dabya.

“This copy is for you, Your
Highness. A token of esteem. I had it made especially for
you.”

“How generous of you,” Dabya
said. She took it with a smile.

“Please keep it safe,”
Gustaf said. “Those plans are extremely important to
us.”

“I will,” Dabya
said.

Chapter 18.

Luke sat in his bedroom,
staring down at his cell phone. He had nearly called Mandelie a
number of times, but had stopped himself each time.

He got up and went to his
window and opened it. The cool air somewhat eased his sense of
restless despondency.

He heard a knock on his
door.

“Come in,” he
said.

The door opened and Dabya
came in. She was slightly breathless from excitement and still
dressed in her jacket and trousers from her flight on the
plane.

“Gustaf gave me a copy of
his designs,” she said.

She gave the rolled up piece
of paper to Luke.

The instant Luke took hold
of it he dropped it on the floor.

“What’s wrong?” Dabya said,
confused.

“That’s not ordinary paper,”
Luke said. “It’s been programmed. It’s got sensory detectors that
identify anyone that touches it, and sends the information back to
Gustaf.”

Dabya looked
shocked.

“Why would Gustaf give me
something like that?”

“He knows,” Luke said, in
realization. “He knows what we’re doing.”

Suddenly the room was
plunged into darkness.

Luke heard Dabya scream and
felt something pull her away from him.

“Dabya!”

A hard, painful object
struck him over the head and he fell to the ground, the electrical
current racing through him flickering.

Luke adjusted his vision for
the darkness and saw Niklaus holding Dabya, his arm against her
neck.

The lights came on in the
room again. Dabya struggled against her guard.

“Niklaus, what are you
doing?” Luke said.

The Imperial Guard stared at
Luke with dislike.

“There are those of us in
the Society who would rather die than see its secrets betrayed,” he
said. “I am one of them.”

“You’re in the Society,
Niklaus?” Dabya said. “You can’t be serious.”

“I was appointed by Lataun
to keep an eye on you,” Niklaus said. “To keep you loyal. You are
much too valuable to lose. You were too valuable to lose. Now a
traitor is worthless in every currency. I have direct orders from
Gustaf Jorg.”

He twisted his arm and broke
Dabya’s neck. She slid to the floor.

Luke threw himself at
Niklaus and crashed into him, knocking the guard to the ground.
Niklaus pulled his gun from his belt and placed it against Luke’s
chest.

He fired.

Luke barely
flinched.

“I’m an android,” he
said.

He struck Niklaus with all
his strength in a vital part in his chest. Niklaus collapsed back,
dead.

Luke dropped him and raced
to Dabya. He picked her up in his arms but he knew it was too
late.

Gustaf stood on the neat
front porch of his house, smoking a cigarette as he stared out into
the night with his pale, cold eyes. He dropped the burning
cigarette to the ground and crushed it under his foot.

“Farewell,” he said. “We
will go into the future without you.”

Epilogue

Mandelie awoke in her bed
with a strange feeling of loss and heartbreaking sadness. She
shivered and moved closer to Damian, who was deeply asleep beside
her.

She picked up her phone and
checked for any new messages, but there were none. She leaned back
into Damian’s arm and closed her eyes.

An ocean and a continent
away from her, Luke stood in front of a simple gray tombstone in a
quiet graveyard. He wore a dark gray jacket and jeans. His dark
blond hair fell into his eyes.

The inscription on the
tombstone read

“In memory of Dabya. A
princess who saw the future.”

Luke leaned down and placed
a gathering of fresh flowers on the gravestone.

He looked at it one last
time. Then he got back on his waiting motorcycle, and roared away
down the road.

Get Ready for Book II in The
Android Chronicles

THE ANDROID
DEPARTURE

Coming November
2013