Agrippa’s Acceptance (Tunrian Cyborgs #4)

Chapter One

Agrippa carefully placed the patch of organic fabric over the exposed wires of the clone space ship. A few months ago, she’d been assigned to by the clones, to work on integrating the organic and steel components of the ship.

The organic material instantly blended into the wire, each new strip would add to the hybrid quality of the ship. She’d been surprised when the clones assigned her to work on one of the ships in the final stage of completion. Her kind were kept in the ghetto’s, but she showed exceptional skill and intelligence from a very young age. So here she was, building the guts of space ships that was supposedly built to explore. But these ships were built to conquer. And the hybrid technology they used to build the space ships were not clone technology. They might claim to have developed it, but she could clearly see a foreign footprint. An odd footprint. The basic ship was cloned, but there had been a lot of work done in space dock to get the ship ready for a test flight. That work involved the hybrid technology for which they have brought her to the space dock.

Agrippa pushed her toolbox closer to the crawlspace access. She needed to get in there, though she wasn’t looking forward to doing that in the grey one-piece naturals were forced to wear. It covered her from her neck to her ankles, but stretched like a second skin over every inch of her. She knew why they were made to wear grey clothes. The clones wanted them to face away. The second week she’d started work on the ship she’d seen the Captain look at a Tunrian, dressed in the grey form hugging one piece and had made sure she was in the crawlspace whenever he was on board.

“You clone,” the cyborg who hated her, said. Heavy footsteps crashed down on the floor beneath them. If they wanted to the cyborgs could walk without making a sound. Which meant that the approaching cyborg was trying to intimidate her. Agrippa jumped and then hunched her shoulders to hide the recorder. This cyborg knows full well that she was no clone. She’d told him so. On top of that, if she was, he’d never dare speak to her like that.

Agrippa surreptitiously palmed the recorder, her body tense. They might have a common enemy in the clones, but she has not dared yet to feel him out. The Souls, the resistance started by her people, had information that the cyborgs wanted to rebel. But at the end of the day the clones programmed the cyborgs.

A large shadow fell over her. Agrippa pasted a smile on her face and keeping the recorder hidden in her closed hand and turned to face the cyborg who had hated her ever since she started work on this ship. Even with his lack of ryhov he was striking, with the kind of sharp defined features that she’d always liked in a male.

Cyborg 321 leaned slightly down and it took all her self-control not to flinch back. The first day she’d started work on the ship, the clones had assigned him to be her point of contact with the cyborgs.

“Clone.”

Agrippa sighed. “I told you; I am not a clone. Please call me Agrippa.”

His handsome face did not change expression. “Clone, I need you to leave the ship within two hours.”

Two hours, she needed more time. She wouldn’t be able to finish her assigned tasks. And more important, the ship was about ready to launch and she needed to take more footage for The Souls. “Why should I leave? My assigned tasks are not finished.”

“You will comply.”

“Not without a reason. I must complete my work.” She kept a wary eye on him. There had been rumours lately that some of the cyborgs malfunctioned and killed some clones.

“We will be testing the life support system and it is dangerous for clones to stay on board.” His face did not change and his voice remained the same, but she could’ve sworn there was the slightest sneer in the way he said clones. Her heart sped up it’s beat. Could the cyborgs be allies?

“I just told you I am not—”

She held up a hand and sighed. “Never mind. I will leave the ship within two hours.” She got to her feet, stumbling in her haste to move away from him. She was considered small among her people, but he would dwarf even a normal Tunrian or clone female. The clones and naturals both said that all the cyborgs looked alike, but she never had trouble distinguishing cyborg 321 from the others.

He turned and she quickly said, “I am as much a slave to the clones as you are. Surely you must want to change the way they treat you?”

No answer.

“My people are Tunrians, and because we are born and not made, they call us naturals. And persecute us. Surely you agree that is wrong. That it should change.” It took effort for her heart to function, to beat that hard and sweat broke out over her body. Her ryhov still moved fast, but she could feel it slowing as it travelled her body. If he reported her, she was dead.

He didn’t turn back to face her. “It is not my problem.”

“It will be when the clones turn on you.”

He swung back to face her with eyes narrowed.

She quickly said. “The cyborgs that malfunctioned has rattled the clones.”

He stepped right up to her and it took every ounce of courage she has not to run away or faint. “Cyborgs. Do not. Malfunction.” He swung on his heel and said over his shoulder, “one hour and fifty five minutes.” Back straight, he walked away from her with those precise cyborg steps that kept her gaze glued to his muscled back.

“Cyborg 321?” He stopped, but didn’t turn to face her. “Do you have a name?”

“You will never use it.” He disappeared into the bowls of the ship before she could blink. Did he mean he had a name and he would never tell her or that he was going to choose a name which she will never use. It hurt that he hated her this much. They should fight the clones together. Not each other. At least she doubted he would report her to the clones. There was something about the way he said clones, that made her think he hated them even more than she did. Even if he did report her, she hadn’t said anything about The Souls.

She prepared the next strip of organic material. The first time she’d seen cyborg 321, he’d carried equipment on board. His muscles had bulged as he handled the heavy weight as if it weighed nothing and she’d stared at him unashamedly. Never had she seen a male that personified rugged male beauty and raw charisma. Even without ryhov, she’d thought him the most handsome male she’d ever seen. Surely the Goddess would not make such a male without a soul.

Agrippa shook off thoughts of the cyborg and placed the organic patches on the wiring as fast as she could manage. When she reached the entrance to the crawl space she sighed and sat back. That was it. It had been backbreaking work that took months, but the wiring was done.

A peep from her tablet reminded her to get into the crawl space fast. She climbed in. It closed behind her and she immediately felt safer. The captain of this ship was a creature of habit. A fact for which she was grateful. He made her extremely uncomfortable and she dreaded being called to see him in his stately cabin. Agrippa fitted the camera to her forehead. The crawl space was designed with grids that allowed whoever was in there to access the ships wiring and programs. It also allowed her to see into the corridors below unobserved.

The plan was to film as much of the layout and the machinery of the ship as she could manage. She’d made a point to be in the crawlspace when the captain came onboard and she fervently hoped he had forgotten there was a natural female onboard. She’d seen him order a female cyborg to his private cabin. Agrippa had triggered an alarm and prayed it allowed the cyborg to get away from that monster.

In the process of filming the engine room she stilled. Her ryhov went crazy, as if there was a threat she hadn’t seen yet. Agrippa carefully looked behind her, but there was no cyborg lurking behind her.

She went back to filming, but something hung in the atmosphere. Something ominous. Maybe she should leave. She checked her organizer and almost groaned out loud. She had only five minutes to get off the ship. No doubt that cyborg would come and find her and throw her off the ship if she didn’t sign out. She crawled back to the front entrance of the ship, but she relaxed a little.

The upcoming test must be what is causing the tension on the ship. She shouldn’t allow her imagination to get carried away. Agrippa stopped crawling and took off her backpack before she sat down to catch her breath for a moment. She was close enough now that she could take the time.

She might be fascinated by Cyborg 321, but working among cyborgs that despised her was difficult.

Agrippa yawned and hastily caught a loud moan. Her neck felt stiff and her eyes gritty and dry. She froze in the process of putting on her backpack. Some commotion was going on close to where she was. Shouts and hurried footsteps sounded and Agrippa leaned down and stifled a curse when her backpack hit her in the back of her head. Taking care to be silent she looked down at the corridor. The grid gave the scene below her an eerie distance.

“Emergency shutdown, Emergency shutdown .” A clone ran down the corridor, his face contorted into a mask of fear, his ryhov spinning so fast over his body, it looked almost black. Agrippa blinked and stared down. The clone running full speed for the exit, shouting at the top of his voice, was the captain. The last time she’d seen him from the crawlspace, he’d strutted around the ship, making no secret of his disdain for the cyborgs. Now, he desperately shouted for the emergency shutdown.

Was there something wrong with the ship? Surely, she’d have received error codes on the tablet.

A cyborg followed him, his steps relentless in their precision. It was horrifying to see, but she couldn’t look away. From behind the frantic captain, the cyborg reached out and slapped him off his feet. The way you’d swat an insect. She held her hand over her mouth, eyes wide and unable to look away from the horror below her.

The cyborg grabbed the front of the captain’s jacket and lifted him up until his feet dangled off the floor.

“How dare you, let me go. Emergency shut—”

The cyborg punched him. Blood spurted and the captain looked dazed for a moment, his nose hanging at an odd angle. He tried to struggle, but the cyborg kept punching him with savage precise hits, until the clone’s face was a bloody mess. She could smell the blood all the way from up here.

Agrippa pressed her hand over her mouth with her other hand so hard, her teeth bit into her flesh. She’d seen violence before, but this was something else. That vicious violence and precision revealed the sheer rage of the cyborg. When the clone lay dead, the cyborg threw back his head and roared his triumph.

How was this possible, cyborgs didn’t feel emotion. They went about their tasks like machines. Never did she think to see a cyborg act like this. He turned slightly and the light revealed his sharp cheekbones, that square jaw and vicious eyes.

She stopped the gasp just in time. It was cyborg 321. The cyborg had always looked dangerous and ready to kill. Somehow, she’d never thought she’d see the cyborg that has always fascinated her, commit murder in cold blood. Cyborg 321 stood for a moment and then looked up and she froze in place. He’d kill her too. He could easily tear out the grid and haul her down. She lay on a solid part of the crawlspace and peered down through the grid that interspersed the sold parts. Agrippa didn’t even breathe. Could he see her? Maybe hear her heartbeat?