Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Less than a shift later, Drift hid behind a small storage structure situated near the loading entrance at Bubs’s Place. He watched as his small human female used a lifter to remove a much-larger-than-her vat from the back of a weathered land transport.
That vat had formerly held fermented beverage. It now contained carefully stored cylinders of Erinomean Green Fire.
Those cylinders would be distributed to the team. One hundred and seventy-two humanoids were currently packed into the beverage outlet.
The males and one female were waiting for the explosives and for their leader.
Their leader, Drift’s female, was currently disguised as a Cancri delivery being. Her skin was once again temporarily orange. Her simulated chin-length black hair was partially concealed by a dirty head covering.
That intentionally grubby piece had the name of a beverage supply entity scrawled over it. Her dark-blue flight suit had the same decoration. The sleeves of the garment were rolled up.
The image of a lizard drinking a beverage had been inked onto his female’s right arm. She’d laughed when she applied it. Her mirth had made him smile.
Drift had been with her the entire planet rotation.
He had carried the vat from his female’s cave to the modified freighter and then from their modified freighter to the land transport.
The smaller ship had been left at the transfer site. He didn’t process with 100.0000 percent certainty where it had been sourced, but, based on the origins of the rest of their supplies, he projected it had been stolen from either the Humanoid Alliance or one of their on-planet supporters.
After the vat had been secured to the land transport, his female had flown that vessel slowly and cautiously to Bubs’s Place. Drift had followed her on booted feet.
It emotionally damaged him not to assist her with the moving of the vat now. But if he was spotted by the Humanoid Alliance, their enemy would sound alarms and the mission would be placed in peril.
Instead, he guarded her from a short distance as she used the lift to transport the vat to the beverage outlet’s back entrance.
The doors opened. “Good. Got here.” Bubs looked around her. “Have a birthing-planet-rotation celebration happening now. Low on beverage.” He waved her inside the structure.
“I have beverage. Oops.” Midway through the entrance, Drift’s female deliberately yet subtly knocked her head covering off. She bent to retrieve it.
Drift propelled himself forward at his top speed. As he passed his female in the doorway, he glided his hand over her fabric-covered ass.
Her breath hitched.
Need coursed through his circuits. He skidded to a stop inside the structure.
His female guided the vat into the back chamber. The doors closed.
“He’s with me, Bubs,” she told the male.
The Cancri grunted, not moving his gaze from Drift.
Drift looked back at him. The last time he saw Bubs, the male tried to shoot him. He wasn’t 100.0000 percent certain Bubs wouldn’t try that again.
“We know the cyborg’s with you.” The Cancri’s mate appeared in the interior doorway. “Luam told us everything .” The female’s eyes glowed. “We know the Fates told you he could be trusted. The Fates. ” She placed a palm on her chest over where her heart should be. “They were here. Outside our humble place. The Fates graced us with their presence.”
“Fast.” Bubs made that comment to Drift.
Drift assumed the male was referring to his speed. It was impressive. “I’m one of the fastest of my kind on booted feet and in the air.” He picked up the vat.
“And strong.” Bubs lifted his eyebrows.
“That too.” Drift wasn’t the strongest. The C Models set the records in those categories. But he could lift more than most humanoids.
“That same planet rotation, I noticed our beverage tasted sweeter.” The male’s mate continued to chatter. “The Fates blessed us. I’m certain.”
Bubs narrowed his eyes at Drift. “Keep her alive.”
“Of course he’ll keep her alive.” The mate smacked the male’s arm. “The Fates sent him here to protect her.”
Drift didn’t process anything about the Fates sending him to the planet, but he did process one thing. “I’ll keep her alive.”
That was his number-one priority. Nothing else in the universe mattered if his female was damaged. She was his future, his everything.
“Might be worthy of her.” Bubs nodded.
“Of course he’s worthy of her.” Bubs’s mate shook her head. “The Fates chose him for her.”
“He’s my mate.” Drift’s female placed her hand on his arm. That claiming action warmed Drift’s chest. “He’s more than worthy.”
She smiled up at him.
His systems flickered. She was so fraggin’ beautiful. “I would kill for you, my female.”
Bubs grunted. That sound held approval.
“See?” The Cancri’s mate beamed. “He’s been sent here to safeguard her.”
“I would kill for you also, my male.” Drift’s female patted his arm. Her eyes glowed with caring. “And this planet rotation—” She shifted her gaze to Bubs and then to that male’s mate. “—we’ll kill for the future of Cancri B and everyone who calls this planet their home.”
“Yeah.” Bubs’s female raised her arms in a victory pose.
Bubs grunted. “Can support you more.” The male led them toward the public chamber. “But how?”
“You’re already risking a lot by giving us a place to meet.” Drift’s female walked between that big Cancri and Drift. “Your support has been invaluable.”
“Our support has already been rewarded.” Bubs’s mate followed Drift. “We’ve been blessed by the Fates.” She remained excited about that prospect. “They visited our place.”
They entered the public chamber. Drift’s lifeform scans hadn’t malfunctioned. The space was crowded with beings.
They were all Cancri. They were all male.
And they all had large tumors visible under their garments or on their hands or on other exposed skin. Some of them made his female’s friend, Luam, appear fully functional.
Their lips were grimly set.
But when they turned their heads and saw Drift’s female, their eyes lit with a reverence he shared. They were proud to be part of her mission, and they were proud to have her as their leader.
Luam was stationed at the main doors. He nodded at Drift’s female. She nodded back. The Cancri then resumed greeting the newcomers.
Drift’s female looked around them. “We can use the bar as a distribution area.” She walked to the end of it. “The vat can go here.”
Beings immediately stepped aside, freeing that space.
Drift set the vat on the floor. “I’ll guard it while you chatter with your team.”
His female had told him earlier in the planet rotation that she wanted to thank each being individually for their upcoming sacrifice. If Drift joined her, some of the focus would shift to him.
And that wouldn’t make the beings feel as valued as they should feel.
It was preferable that he remain on the perimeter. That would also allow him to better monitor the activity in and around the beverage outlet.
“Thank you, my mate.” Drift’s female clasped his shoulders and lifted onto the toes of her boots.
Drift eagerly lowered his head.
She kissed him. Hard. In full view of her team. It was declaration to the universe of their bond, and it excited him. Tremendously.
The chatter around them stopped.
Silence fell in the chamber.
Their lips remained fused for three more heartbeats, and then his female ended their embrace.
Her eyes shone with a passion Drift shared. “If you detect danger, signal to me.”
“If I sense danger, I’m slinging you over one of my shoulders and running at top speed in the opposite direction.” That reaction would decimate their plans. But his female’s safety was a much higher priority than destroying a superweapon and killing some Humanoid Alliance leaders.
“You do that.” She laughed as she turned toward her team.
The crowd surrounded his female. But Drift was taller than the other beings. He easily tracked her with his visual and auditory systems.
“Olds.” She grasped both of the weathered Cancri’s tumor-decorated hands. “You volunteered to be stationed at position 251 this planet rotation. Isn’t that the first position the Invaders assigned to you?”
“You remembered that, huh?” The male looked pleased. “Yeah, they put me there, thinking, with my many solar cycles, I wouldn’t last a shift. But I did my time, and now, I’m going back there. We’ll show them why they should never mess with any Cancri, young or old.”
“That’s right.” Another male grinned. “They’ll find that out this planet rotation.”
“They’ll find out Cancris will do anything to protect the beings we love.” Drift’s female’s head dipped. “We’ll send that message loud and clear to the Invaders.”
The beings around her cheered.
She squeezed Olds’s hands, thanked him for his dedication to their kind, and then gently shifted her attention to the next male.
Each being was addressed by name. Drift’s female relayed where they would be stationed. That stressed how vital their specific role in the mission was. And she recited some of their history. The males would have 0.0000 doubts about her processing who they were.
With her communications, his female increased the probability their deaths would be good deaths. She ensured they all felt valued and important and seen.
Drift’s chest expanded with pride.
He stood alone by the vat with his arms crossed in front of him and his booted feet braced apart. Cancris moved around him. Some glanced in his direction.
But no one approached him.
That changed after his female finished chattering with Hut. That male moved through the crowd. He headed directly toward Drift.
Drift lowered his hands until his fingers hovered above the handles of his holstered guns.
Hut had been the first being to shoot at Drift during his introductory visit to Bubs’s Place.
The upcoming confrontation with the male might be equally hostile.
Hut didn’t draw his guns, however.
Instead, the Cancri claimed the spot next to Drift.
Moments passed.
They didn’t speak. Hut didn’t try to interact with him.
Gnuck joined them. “Did you apologize?” He looked at Hut.
“Hadn’t gotten to that part yet.” Hut scowled.
“Right.” Gnuck sighed. He shifted his gaze to Drift. “He feels bad about shooting at you. He didn’t know you were sent by the Fates to protect her.”
Hut huffed.
“That shouldn’t cause him emotional damage.” Drift’s shoulders lowered.
He was glad he wouldn’t have to stun the male. Again. That would’ve emotionally damaged his female, that male’s leader.
“He was protecting my mate.” Drift utilized the Cancri word for genetic matches. “And for that, he has my sincerest gratitude.”
Hut grunted.
“He would die for your mate.” Gnuck smiled. “We would all die for her. And that was before we found out the Fates were helping her.”
Hut nodded.
“She would be honored to hear that.” Drift watched as his female chattered with another male.
She would also feel guilt over their expression of loyalty. His caring human would project they were taking their roles in the mission because of their allegiance to her. And not because they truly wanted a hero’s death.
“We had misgivings about volunteering for the Plan.” Gnuck reached out and grasped Hut’s hand. “Because if she survived it, and we were all trying to figure out how to ensure that happened, we wouldn’t be here to protect her. But now she has you and the blessing of the Fates. We can participate with no concerns.”
Hut nodded again.
Drift studied them. His female was the reason they’d considered not joining the mission. She wasn’t the reason they were taking it.
Their motivation was their own.
And… “You want her to survive?”
He was 100.0000 percent certain his female didn’t process that either.
“Someone has to ensure all the Invaders are dead.” Gnuck shrugged.
Hut frowned at his mate.
“And we love her.” Gnuck relayed intel Drift already processed.
Everyone in the structure loved his female.
“I felt the Fates were close to us that planet rotation.” Olds pushed his way through the crowd. “I drew my gun ‘cause everyone else was, but I wasn’t worried. I knew nothing would happen to her.”
More beings gathered around them.
The weathered male’s eyes glowed. Drift projected he liked having an audience. “That wasn’t the first time the Fates have visited Cancri B.”
Olds told a long weaving story that had, Drift calculated, a 14.2563 percent probability of being based in reality. Portions of it defied established science. And it centered on the male as the hero.
Beings asked questions, both of Olds and of him.
Every couple of moments, Drift’s female returned to him. She pressed her flight suit-clad form against his body armor-covered physique. They touched, kissed, chattered.
And then she continued her one-on-one exchanges with her team.
Drift tracked his female’s movements and monitored the area around them, looking for possible threats, and he chattered with the growing crowd forming around him.
He relayed advice on how to deal with the battle. He talked about the moments of bravery he’d witnessed. And he reassured the males that his female would survive and their sacrifice would be valued.
His female finally completed the circuit. “It’s time.” She moved with him to the vat.
The Cancris grabbed their tools and their packs, and they formed a line along the bar.
Drift’s female gave each male their assignment, relaying what they were to do, when they were to do it, and where they should place their concealed explosives.
Drift inserted the cylinders into the handle compartments in the males’ tools.
The two of them worked closely. As a team.
His female’s warmth reached out to him. Her scent teased his nostrils. Their arms brushed together as they completed their tasks.
That physical contact eased Drift’s trepidation.
Slightly.
He was acutely aware that the contents of just one cylinder could kill every being in the structure, including his precious female. And he was distributing thousands of them.
Those cylinders would have to be detonated, however.
Only three beings had the triggers programmed into their handhelds, and in his case, his processors – his female, himself, and Luam.
The male was the last being to receive his cylinders.
“You’ll take care of her, young male?” Luam presented the query 97.2563 percent of the others had also posed in various renditions. “As much as she allows you to?”
Drift’s lips quirked upward. “I’ll take care of her more than that.”
Luam chuckled. “She’s a stubborn being.”
“Hey.” Drift’s female’s protest was lighthearted.
“You are a stubborn being.” Her friend didn’t back down.
The two of them gazed at each other for a moment.
The love, the caring they had for each other was palpable.
It was an honor for Drift to witness it.
“I’m guessing I should give you one last update.” Luam gruffly broke the silence.
“I’m guessing you should.” Drift’s female’s expression remained serene.
But Drift saw the stricken look in her eyes.
He wrapped one of his arms around her waist.
“All positions have been filled.” Luam’s chin lifted. “Nine males died before they could participate in our plan. Their positions were taken by other beings.”
“Thank you, my friend.” Drift’s female clasped Luam’s hand.
“I relayed your orders to everyone.” The male squeezed her fingers. “They aren’t to stop or return to their homes. They are to go directly to the work site.”
That order decreased the probability that the transporting of the cylinders would place others in peril.
“We’ll join them at the work site in half a shift.” Drift’s female wasn’t part of the manufacturing crew. It would raise alarms if she arrived there during the shift change.
“I’ll see you there.” Luam nodded. He slipped his hand out of her grip.
“You’ll see your mate and your son soon also.” Drift’s female’s voice was rough with emotion. “I’m…I’m happy for you.”
Drift processed the effort that communication took his grieving female to relay.
“Thank you.” Judging by Luam’s expression, he processed that also. “And I’m happy for you. We’ll both view the next sunrise with our mates. And I’ll see my son also.” His smile illuminated his rugged face. His joy was genuine. “They’re waiting for me, my friend.”
Drift’s female dipped her head. Judging by the wet sheen in her eyes, she no longer had the ability to speak without emotionally breaking.
“As your mate is waiting for you.” Luam glanced at Drift. His expression was rueful. “You take care of her, young male
That order was unnecessary. Drift would always take the best of care of his female.
Luam exchanged another emotion-filled look with Drift’s female.
Then he turned and lumbered out of the beverage outlet.
Bubs and his mate, the only other beings left in the structure, had retreated to a back chamber.
Drift was alone with his female in the public chamber.
He scooped her into his arms. “You don’t have to be strong now, my female.” He pressed her face into his body armor-covered chest. “I have you.”
Drift held her as she sobbed. And he relayed the chatter he’d heard.
Her team was aware they would die. They embraced that fate. Their concern was for her. They wanted her to live and to protect the Cancris who would survive them.
The implication of that on Drift’s future was clear. He wouldn’t be returning to the Dauntless. His future was with his female. Always. Forever.
And she was needed on her adopted home planet.
But that was a situation to be addressed at another time.
At the moment, they had to concentrate on their mission. And he had to focus on keeping his precious female alive. He rested his chin on the top of her head and he rubbed her back.
Her emotional damage repaired.
She shifted against him. Seven heartbeats passed. She shifted against him again.
Her movements excited his already inappropriately aroused body.
“What do you need, my female?” He struggled to control his desire.
“I need more…connection, my male.” She peeked up at him. Her big brown eyes glowed. “I need to think about something other than the plan for a while. I need skin-on-skin contact. I need…you.”
Frag. He needed her also. “We’re returning to our modified freighter.”
He carried her through the beverage outlet and out the back doors, moving at cyborg speed.
The Humanoid Alliance, if they were watching the structure with their human visual systems, would detect a dark blur.
Their enemy wouldn’t process they were seeing a cyborg convey his disguised human female. They wouldn’t project he was bringing her back to a safe location. Or that he planned to comfort her with his form, with his kisses, with his touch.
Once Drift arrived, with his female, at the modified freighter, they would breed and breed hard. They would lose themselves in each other.
His brave, strong human, in those pleasure-laden moments, wouldn’t process anything other than him, and her, and their shared passion.
Drift’s lips curled upward.
He secured her tighter against his chest and pushed himself to run faster.