Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
I feel well.
Those words replayed in Drift’s processors.
He bred with his female three additional times. They bred against a wall, in the captain’s chair, and again on the console. Those experiences surpassed…everything.
Being inside his little human was better than fighting, better than teasing Cure, better than flying, better even than breaking speed records.
And he hadn’t projected anything would ever be better than that.
Breeding with her served a more important purpose, however. It repaired his little human. He breathed deeply. His nanocybotics had multiplied inside her sufficiently that now they would never fade. She would always have that protection.
She would always feel well.
Between breedings, they ate nourishment bars. His female consumed three in rapid succession. She raved about them as though she hadn’t eaten those treats in many planet rotations. He provided her with beverage.
They chattered about ships they had flown. He shared more about the Humanoid Alliance training, the battles he fought, and his brethren on board the Dauntless. She relayed insights about the Cancri culture, the monster-maker ore and other elements of the planet’s terrain.
His female didn’t directly talk about herself or her activities or the beings she associated with. But the warmth in her voice when she mentioned Cancri B and the beings situated on it conveyed a tremendous amount of intel about her.
She loved the arid, hostile-to-life planet and the Cancris.
And she was protective and proud of them.
Drift gazed down at his sleeping human. She was curled up on his lap at the moment, restoring her energy levels.
He had inserted a cable into his right wrist socket. That ensured he remained at full functionality also. He couldn’t project what the upcoming planet rotation would hold.
As he held his female, he rubbed her back, savoring that skin-on-skin contact. He’d already cleaned her from the top of her head to the tips of her cute little toes.
The touching he was doing now was pure pleasure. He loved the feel of her. She was strong. Her muscles were firm. Yet her skin was delectably soft.
It was also now 2.3563 percent lighter in color. The orange pigment was fading.
Her simulated fingernails remained on her fingers. The adhesive used was impressively secure.
Her skull, intriguingly, was shadowed with dark-brown fuzz.
Holding her was a gift, and he wished he could do that forever. But the sun would soon rise. He had to contact his captain. And his female had promised she would meet with her friend.
Drift secured his female to his chest and stood.
She murmured words even he, with his enhanced auditory system, couldn’t decipher. Her eyes remained closed.
He carefully transferred her to a nearby chair.
His female didn’t awaken.
He quickly retrieved his body armor and donned it. The pieces had been scattered across the bridge. His lips lifted. That mess was the result of his eagerness to breed with his female.
That yearning had returned. The bulge in his garments was pronounced.
But he pushed his desire to the back of his processors, and he ran at cyborg speed to retrieve a flight suit for his female.
Repercussion had been right to pack them.
Drift would tell the male that later. He wanted to keep his female’s existence to himself at the moment. Their bond was too new, too fragile to share.
And he projected his wary human wouldn’t want him to chatter about her.
He and his brethren hadn’t earned her full trust.
Not yet.
* * *
His female was still sleeping when he returned.
Drift gazed down at her. She was so fraggin’ beautiful. It felt like a malfunction to cover up her gentle curves, lean muscles, and glowing skin with a garment.
But warriors with human genetic matches had noted in the databases that 89.1447 percent of her kind were shy about nudity. He projected his careful female wasn’t the exception to that spec.
He slipped the flight suit over her bare toes. The fabric was the same shade of brown as her natural hair. And it was soft yet durable. His female might like that.
His fingers skimmed the arch of her feet.
His female’s eyes flew open. She flung out her right arm.
He caught her clenched fist in one of his palms. “It’s me. You’re safe.”
“Fates. I was out of it.” Her cheek flushed with a pink pigment. “I don’t normally sleep like that. It’s…not wise.”
His female wasn’t accustomed to other beings protecting her.
“You’re repairing.” He lifted her fist to his lips and kissed her knuckles one by one, from her pinkie to her index finger.
She tasted of salt and of a war she had been fighting on her own.
Until he arrived.
She wasn’t alone now. And she would never be solitary again.
He released her. “You’re safe.” He repeated that assurance as he assisted her with donning the flight suit. “I wouldn’t allow anyone to damage you.”
“I met you less than a planet rotation ago.” She continued to view him with suspicion.
But she was allowing him to touch her. That was an act of trust she wouldn’t have tolerated when they first met.
He would overcome her wariness. Eventually. “You could have met me a heartbeat ago and I would still protect you.” He leaned forward and pressed his lips against her forehead. “You’re mine.”
“I belong to myself.” She scowled.
Frag. She was adorable.
Drift swallowed his amusement. There was a 68.2356 probability his female wouldn’t appreciate it. And he changed the subject. “I’m contacting my captain. Do you want to participate in that communication?”
“No.” His female rolled her eyes. “Why would I participate in it? The being is your captain.”
As his genetic match, she had the right to participate in any communication he was a part of.
But she wasn’t ready for that step yet.
And Drift wouldn’t push his defiant female. He’d progress with their bond at her pace.
“I’ll do all the communicating.” He returned to the captain’s chair. Alone. “Reach out and touch me if you have a question or comment and I’ll mute us.”
“You want me to be present when you talk to your captain?” She lifted her eyebrows.
“I want you to be by my side always.” He would keep no secrets from his female.
“Will your captain be able to see me?” She touched her head. “Fates.” She removed her hand and stared at her palm. Then she touched her head again. “I have hair.” A brilliant smile lit up her gorgeous face, and Drift’s visual system almost went down. That was how stunning she was. “I have my own hair. It’s growing back.”
Her smooth scalp must not have been a choice.
“Your hair is growing back.” His voice was gruff with emotion. There was a 95.1442 percent probability her lack of hair had been a result of her damage. “And no, my captain won’t be able to see you.”
He would restrict the footage to his image alone.
“I have hair again.” She ran her fingers over the fuzz.
He smiled. “You will always have hair. If you wish to have it.” If she wanted to shave her head, he’d support that choice also.
“Because fucking you healed me.” One of her hands shifted to her cloth-covered stomach. “You shared some of your…”
“Nanocybotics.” He supplied the word.
“You shared some of your nanocybotics with me.” She tilted her head. “And now, I’m not in pain. The tumors feel like they’re gone.”
Tumors. His lips flattened. Frag. She must have been in agony.
“And my hair is growing back.” Her fingers returned to those extremely short strands. “This changes everything. And nothing.” Her gaze met his. “I have to meet with Luam.”
Drift assumed Luam was the friend in the beverage outlet. “We’ll debrief my captain first.”
He routed the connection through secured lines. Only an extremely skilled being could intercept it.
“I’m opening communications with him,” he warned her.
An image of his captain appeared on the main viewscreen. The Valkyrie, captain’s genetic match, was seated beside him. Grid and Argot and the other officers were visible behind them.
“I’m adding Cure to this communication, Captain.” Drift looped in his mission partner.
“I’m online.” The medic had no visuals.
“Do you have an update, team?” Captain gazed at Drift through the devices.
“I have visual confirmation of the Humanoid Alliance’s presence on Cancri B, Captain.” Drift sent some images of the two now-dead males over the transmission lines.
“Frag yes.” Grid fist pumped the air.
The other officers didn’t share his excitement over the proof their enemy was active in the sector. They looked as grim as their captain did.
“I’ll relay that intel to Power.” Captain’s tone was solemn. “Do you have confirmation they’re manufacturing a weapon?”
“I don’t have confirmation of that activity.” Drift had his projections but no proof. “I have confirmed Cancri B is a source of a material the locals call monster-maker ore.” He transmitted the specs for that energy-emitting substance. “The Humanoid Alliance refer to it as Belel 6 Uraninite.”
“According to the databases, Belel 6 Uraninite was fundamental in the fabrication of the Humanoid Alliance’s world-enders, Captain.” Choice, their newest engineer, relayed that information.
“It was projected that the exposure to Belel 6 Uraninite caused abnormal growths in those local populations.” Cure’s voice was devoid of emotion. “I have visual confirmation that many of the locals on Cancri B are also afflicted with growths. The sizes and colorings are different than those documented on the other planets. But the biology of Cancris also varies from those other humanoids.”
Drift’s female touched her stomach.
Growths. Tumors.
Fraggin’ hole. Drift’s lips flattened.
His female had suffered damage from the monster-maker ore being extracted by the Humanoid Alliance.
“Is there a repair for those growths?” he asked Cure.
“My contact has fabricated a repair to slow the growth’s progress, and it is effective to a point.” The medic sounded begrudgingly impressed. “But that repair causes its own damage.”
Drift’s female shifted in her seat.
“What damage does it cause?” He sensed her emotional discomfort.
“Hair loss. Fingernail and toenail loss.” Cure responded as Drift had projected he would. “The inability to consume solid nourishment. And once the damage from exposure to the Belel 6 Uraninite progresses to a certain point, even that repair is ineffective. The pain also exceeds the strongest of suppressors.”
Decommissioning wasn’t the most painful of deaths, Drift’s female had said.
Drift reached out and grasped her left hand.
She tried to pull away from him.
He held onto her. “With your assistance, Cure, I project your contact could fabricate a better, more-permanent repair.”
“That can be a secondary assignment.” Their captain frowned. “Our primary assignment is to stop the fabrication of the Humanoid Alliance’s weapon. If we’re not successful with that mission, the locals on Cancri B along with everyone else in the sector will die whether they have growths or not.”
“Yes, Captain.” Drift and Cure responded at the same time.
“I’ll contact Power.” Captain’s head dipped. “The two of you will attempt to obtain visual confirmation of the weapon’s existence, but use caution. The Humanoid Alliance will kill to protect their fabrication.”
The Humanoid Alliance would kill purely for fun. Argot’s tone over the transmission lines was dry.
You’re fortunate bags of bolts. Grid’s envy was palpable.
Drift didn’t ask him how the Dauntless was flying. His speed records hadn’t been broken. His lips lifted slightly. It wasn’t being flown fast.
But, judging by the visuals, the battle station remained functional. And he had a mission to complete and a female to protect. She was his priority now.
“We’ll obtain visual confirmation of the weapon’s existence, Captain.” Drift would assume responsibility for that task.
“Contact us when you do that.” Captain relayed that order. “Ending communications.”
The main viewscreen reverted to the image of the rock formation directly in front of the modified freighter. The tip of it was lit by the rising sun’s rays.
“You won’t endure the most painful of deaths, my female.” He scooped her out of her chair and set her on his lap. “Our bond will ensure that never happens to you.”
His female attempted to slide off his body armor-clad thighs.
He strapped his arms around her, securing her in place.
“Let me go.” She squirmed.
He quashed a laugh. His female was a fighter. And he liked that. “I’ll never let you go. You’re mine.” He smacked his lips against hers. “Mine to repair.”
“Repairing me only deals with half of it.” She glared at him. “Because the most painful of deaths isn’t merely being slowly eaten by illness from the inside out. It’s knowing that everyone you know, everyone you care about is suffering in that same way.”
Frag. Drift splayed his fingers over her flight suit-covered form, seeking to emotionally repair her with his touch. “My female?—”
“That child we encountered in the settlement? He’ll die from the tumors.” The agony in her voice threatened to break him. “Everyone at Bubs’s Place? They’re dying from the tumors.” She lowered her voice. “Some will die too fuckin’ soon for my liking.”
Drift felt so fraggin’ helpless, listening to his female. He couldn’t process how to ease her pain.
“The Invaders forced our males to extract huge quantities of unshielded monster-maker ore from the depths of the planet.” His female funneled her hurt into anger. “Their weapon radiates that energy when they use it. Including when they test it. And the Invaders sit in their comfy shielded chambers and watch us die. Fates. Everyone on the planet is dying, and they don’t care.”
“They don’t care.” Drift agreed with her. “But we care. We’ll stop them. And Cure will work with his contact to fabricate a repair for your friends. He’s one of the best medics in the universe.” His lips twisted. “As he will tell you when you meet him.”
She blew out her breath and all the fight seemed to flow out of her also. “That repair, that cure will be too late for some beings.”
“It will be too late for some beings.” Drift relayed that truth. He projected the beings who were past the help of the current repair would die.
“Fates. I’m tired of the dying.” His female slumped against him.
He rubbed her back and held her and searched his databases for the words that would soothe her. But he found nothing.
Because he processed as thoroughly as she did that the dying hadn’t stopped. The Humanoid Alliance wouldn’t give up their superweapon without a fight.
Drift would ensure his female wasn’t damaged. And he would do his fraggin’ best to ensure he survived.
But he couldn’t protect everyone.
Moments passed.
“What will happen once you’ve provided visual confirmation the weapon exists?” His female finally broke the silence. “Will your kind send a team?”
“If Cure and I can’t destroy the weapon ourselves, yes, a team will be sent.” The Humanoid Alliance’s activities were a threat to the safety of the cyborg sector. And to the entire universe. They had to be dealt with.
“Hmmm…” His female studied him. “Is that team situated close to Cancri B?”
“The team is located half a sector away from here.” Only he, Cure and Strike had been authorized to enter the space.
“Then they’re useless to us.” His female shook her head. “They won’t arrive here in time. The weapon will be ready to test again soon, and when that happens, it’ll be heavily guarded. We won’t be able to access it.”
Drift stared at his female. “You’ve accessed it.”
“The testing didn’t fail on its own.” She rolled her eyes.
Fraggin’ hole. His brave little human had sabotaged it.
That was why the noise had stopped. She’d stopped it.
“It has to be destroyed before it reaches that point.” She tapped her simulated fingernails against his body armor-covered chest.
“Cure and I will destroy the weapon.” If his female could access the weapon, they should be able to do the same and then they would blow it up.
“How will you destroy it?” She snorted. “How will you , a newcomer to the planet with no connections, get close to it? Do you even know where the weapon is hidden?”
Drift didn’t have any satisfactory answers to those questions.
And his female must have processed that. “No, we stick to the original Plan.” She relayed that ambiguous decision. “The Invaders will be dealt with, and their weapon will be destroyed. But my team and I will do that.”
“Is your team humanoid?” He projected it was. “Because you heard my captain. The Humanoid Alliance won’t allow their weapon to be destroyed without a battle. Some of your team will die.”
“ All of my team will die.” She met his gaze. “We’re willing to embrace that fate to ensure other Cancris live.”
We’re willing to embrace that fate. Cold gripped Drift deep within his frame. His brave strong female was planning to sacrifice her lifespan to stop the Humanoid Alliance.
It was a choice a cyborg would make. And that she contemplated doing that filled him with pride.
His female was a warrior.
But it also made his circuits freeze with terror. He couldn’t lose her. Not now. Not ever.
“Your plans will have to change.” Drift informed her. “Because I’m not willing to allow you to face that fate.” He applied a hard kiss to her forehead. “You’re too important to me and to the universe.”
“You have no say in this, my cyborg.” She blew out her breath. “The Invaders have to be stopped, and this is the only way to do that.”
“Tell me your plan and we’ll build upon it.” It would serve as a base for a new plan, a better plan, a plan that didn’t require the sacrifice of his female. “We’ll uncover another way to do this, a way that will allow you and most of your team to live.”
She looked at him for one, two, three heartbeats. “And if there’s no other way, will?—”
“There’s another way.” There had to be one. He couldn’t have finally found his female only for them to die mere planet rotations later.
“ If there’s no other way, will you allow me to do this?” She lifted her chin. “Will you agree to not sabotage our mission, even knowing I’ll likely die during it?”
“If there’s no other way, I’ll undertake your plan with you.” He leaned his forehead against hers. “You won’t die alone, my female. I’ll be by your side.” That was his place. Always. “We’ll face that fate together.”
Drift would work like a program caught in a permanent loop to craft a happier and more-alive fate for his female.
And he had the processing power and the experience of millions of cyborgs to assist him with that mission.