Avion (Cyborgs: More Than Machines, #7) (7 page)

“Lied? Why the fuck would you do that?”

“Because there was a high probability that, if I told you the actual plan, you would have never agreed to it.”

“Fucking right I wouldn’t. People don’t voluntarily enter black holes.”

“Why?”

“You just don’t. It’s a fact. A given.”

Lilith cocked her head. “But you haven’t explained why.”

“Because they’re destructive.”

“Says who?” She sounded genuinely curious, and yet Aramus seemed to think she mocked him.

Avion almost laughed as Aramus turned a shade of red he’d never seen before.

Neither had Seth. “Ah, man. I am so jealous. How come I can never get him to turn redder than a tomato? Lilith, you’re going to have to give me lessons on driving my best friend nuts. You seem to have a talent.”

Aramus rounded on Seth and flung his arms out dramatically. “Am I the only one perturbed that she lied? We could have all died.”

Avion pointed out the obvious. “And yet we didn’t.”

“Unlike our enemy, who tried to follow us and ended up as galactic debris,” Kentry observed, drawing their attention to the screen. For a moment they observed, in solemn silence, the drifting particles that trailed in their galactic wake.

“Yeah!” Seth fist pumped the air. “Win. Cyborgs two. Aliens still nothing.”

“By accident.”

“Still a win,” Seth replied.

“How come it worked for us but not for them?” Anastasia asked.

Lilith, still seated in Avion’s lap—where she belonged as far as he was concerned—shrugged. “They miscalculated. I didn’t. Wormholes, or black holes as you call them, can be used as a form of space travel that, if calculated correctly, will eject a vessel into a new galaxy with little to no damage.”

“And you knew this calculation.”

“My nanos are programmed to know all the coordinates of the known wormholes in the universe.” How nonchalantly she stated it.

“Exactly how much knowledge are you hiding in that little head of yours?”

“More than you can currently handle.”

“Not conceited, are we?”

“It is not conceit to state a fact.”  Smugly said, and was that the hint of smile at the corner of her lips?

That was definitely a scowl on Aramus’ face. “Are you related to Seth by any chance?”

“In a sense since he bears some of my duplicated nanos.”

“Freakier and freakier,” Laura murmured.

“We’re getting off subject,” Avion said. “The enemy, the one that fucked up and are now feeding space, do they also have the knowledge of wormholes?”

“I’m fairly sure they do, but like I said, a proper jump requires precision or a much more heavily armored vehicle. My prediction is, in their haste to catch us, they didn’t pay enough attention when calculating their coordinates to maneuver the black hole.”

“I’m still pissed you had us sucked into one,” Aramus complained. “Not cool. Anything else you’ve lied about?”

“Not currently.”

“Anything we need to know right now that is pertinent to our safety?” Avion asked, knowing Lilith wouldn’t omit telling them something out of maliciousness but out of a general lack of understanding about how sharing went.

“I don’t project any current threats to the ship or crew.”
Unless you count me.

The giggled thought, so unlike her staid replies, took him aback. His lady had a diverse personality, almost as if she possessed two sides. The prim and proper clueless one. And then the wildly inappropriate one that saw everything as a joke. Her inner personality war, one he and so many others had struggled with, more than anything, made her a cyborg, even if she lacked spare metal parts.

“Freaky girl, we are going to have to seriously have a talk about what other secrets are inside that head of yours. But, first, status report. Kentry. Any idea where the fuck we are?”

For once, cool Kentry didn’t have a ready answer, and judging by the ruffled hair, it wasn’t sitting well. “How the hell would I know where we are? We just went through a goddamn whirlpool and got spat out who knows where. I’ve been trying, but I can’t match any of the stars or planets in this system to any of our maps.”

Lilith shifted on Avion’s lap. It proved distracting. “You can’t match this area to your maps because humanity has yet to travel this far. Actually, you’ve barely begun to tap the vastness that is the universe. Your ships are not equipped with the right engines for proper galactic travel.”

Just what kind of advancements had Lilith seen? She implied she knew of ships that could cross space in moments what took them years.

“You know this area?” Aramus asked, fixing Lilith with a stare.

“I do, and, at the same time, I don’t. I can access the star charts for this sector, but I haven’t been to this area before physically.”

“So you have no idea what to expect?”

“Not really. All I have are maps, which I will upload to your main frame for general access by the crew and ship.”

While Lilith did that, her stormy eyes staring blankly, Avion peered at Adam who’d deposited Laura in his seat. He knelt before her, his expression a touch anxious as he peered into the doctor’s face. Aramus’ mate, Riley, joined him.

Laura waved her hands at them, shooing them away. “I’m fine, you guys. Nothing a good night’s sleep and some food won’t fix.”

“Like hell you’re fine. You’re whiter than snow and shaking like a bloody leaf in a storm. What the hell did Lilith do to you?”

Even Avion couldn’t deny Lilith had done something to Laura. Used her like a battery to power their defense.

Laura confirmed his theory. “From what I can tell, she borrowed me, or my ability to tap kinetic energy, and used it to erect those last sets of shields.”

“You mean Lilith can body snatch?” Seth exclaimed. “Cool. Can you teach me?”

With a blink, Lilith rejoined the conversation in time to reply. “No.”

Crestfallen, Seth asked, “Why not?”

“Only those without the neural inhibitor, such as Laura and myself, can fully access the nanobot abilities. Everyone else is restricted.”

“But why?”

“Because—”

Before Lilith could launch into an explanation, Avion interrupted. “If we start all the hows and whys, we’ll be here all day. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I could use a bit of a break before the next crisis. And I know Lilith needs to regenerate, or we could end up with problems if those
D’zpi
dudes find us again.”

“Will they find us?” Aramus asked.

“We’ve escaped for now,” Lilith confirmed. “But the battle is far from over. They will send more ships. The kind of determination we saw will not so easily let us escape.”

“Since we’re not familiar with this star system, any suggestions on where we should go?”

“If you want answers, then we need to find
T’xa
.”

“Which is who?”

“Not who, but where,” she corrected. “It is the planet where I was taken to and chosen by my mentor to become a bearer of the nanotech.”

“Chosen? What’s that mean?”

“Exactly what I implied. The nanos usually choose their hosts.”

“So some little robots had to decide if we were good enough for them?” Seth asked.

“Not in the case of the Earth cyborgs. You are what the T’xanians call abominations. Through the use of a neural interface, you enslave the nanotechs of another to work within your bodies. You are not considered a true choosing.”

“Hold on, freaky girl. You mean our bots were slaves. We threw off the chains of slavery. We don’t answer to anybody now but ourselves,” Aramus said.

“You might not, but the nanos are still bound by the BCI you all have.”

“You mean, the nanotech works without the brain chip.”

“For those chosen, yes. As for you...” She shrugged. “My knowledge about your creation is incomplete. If you truly wish to understand, then you must speak to those inhabiting the T’xanian world.”

“Judging by the look on my woman’s face, she is dying to find out more. I don’t know about you guys, but I, for one, would also like to some answers. Kentry, set a course for this
T‘xa
place. Lilith, feed him the coordinates.”

Answers to their origin? Avion couldn’t deny excitement at the thought. While all indications pointed to Lilith as having donated their nanobots, it still left the question of who gave them to her. It certainly wasn’t the military, as they’d once suspected. And what was this about a choosing?

“Course is set, sir. Arrival time in four days, fifteen hours.”

Plenty of time to grill Lilith and get to know her.

“Okay, folks and idiot”—Aramus pointedly stared at Seth, who grinned—“while we’ve got a lull, let’s all catch up on some R & R. I want it going on the record right now that anyone who disturbs me or my woman will get an iron knuckle sandwich.”

“Does it come with mustard?” Seth asked.

“Anastasia?” Aramus said with just a raised brow.

“Don’t worry, commander. I’ll keep him busy and out of trouble.”

“I’d prefer in trouble,” Seth whispered, as if all the cyborg ears couldn’t hear him perfectly.

“Kentry, you’ve got first watch. I’ll be back to relieve you at seventeen hundred hours.”

“Color me surprised,” he said.

“Rosalind,” he said aloud for the benefit of the microphones that would relay his word to the engine room. “I also need you to stay on duty and do a thorough check of our engines and other support systems. I want a full report by the time I come back on shift. Anastasia, you’ll relieve her and oversee the duty roster she establishes. Seth and Adam will provide the labor.”

Seth coughed into a hand. “Task master.”

“What about me?” Riley asked, hands on her hips. “And don’t pull any fragile human crap with me.”

Avion loved how the little human doctor never feared standing up to Aramus.

“You will stick by my side and prevent me from killing Seth.”

Ever the doctor and curious, Riley didn’t agree with his plan. “Sorry, but you’ll have to restrain yourself. I’d prefer to talk to Laura and Lilith about their conditions. That is, if they don’t mind. I’m sure Laura especially is wondering about what’s happening with her body.”

Indeed she would, considering Laura had been one hundred percent human a few days ago until she accidentally came in contact with some of Lilith’s nanotech. Now, Laura was one of them, a cyborg. Kind of.

Unlike the cyborgs created by the military, Laura didn’t have a BCI—a brain computer interface—embedded in the mushy parts of her mind. Nor did she have any metal organs or parts. Nothing extra, as a matter of fact, other than some nanobots, nanobots currently working without the benefit of a brain chip or anything.

Which led to the question, if Laura didn’t have any hardware or software to control them, then who, or what, did?

Lilith was similar to Laura in the sense that she also didn’t have the upgrades. But she also had powers a hell of a lot more powerful than anything other cyborgs had managed thus far.

Then again, no one truly knew what they were capable of. Avion had come to know dozens of cyborgs since their liberation—more like bloody escape. Their skills varied and were always changing. Adapting.

Enhancing them from the frail
homo sapiens
they’d begun life as to what they were now: cyborgs.

But we are more than machines.

They were also flesh, and flesh had feelings. “Lilith, would you mind if Riley asked you some questions?”

“I am agreeable to the suggestion. We could have a tea party.” The last part said on a giggle barely had anyone batting an eye or blinking. They had their cyborg emotions in check.

To draw attention away from Lilith, who had bitten her lower lip, as if to prevent herself from talking, Avion asked, “What about me, commander?”

“You stick close to your girlfriend. You seem to understand her better than us and, given her newness to our environment, can help guide her until everyone and everything is familiar to her.” Compassion and understanding from Aramus? “And, keep in mind, if she breaks anything while under your care, I’ll ram your head into the nearest wall.”

Ah, that was better.

With their tasks assigned, they were dismissed. Avion waited until the others left before nudging at Lilith. She stood and turned to face him.

“Where am I to go until I meet with Riley and Laura?”

“You need to rest. Come with me. I’ll give you a room and find you some food.”

While the
SSBiteMe
was a large vessel, it did have limited guest quarters, which were all currently taken. Aramus shared the captain’s cabin with Riley. Seth and Anastasia occupied another. Kentry had a room, but he’d relinquished it to Adam and Laura and opted to move into the barracks. The last private room was currently occupied by Avion. Rosalind, their newest crewmember, had taken over Einstein’s old lab, which had a bed and a bathroom, leaving only the barracks for Lilith. Somehow sticking her in that lonely place with the bunk beds—and Kentry, an unattached male—didn’t seem right.

“This will be your room,” he announced as he led her to his quarters.

The door slid open to reveal not much. Lilith wandered around the room, which, while not lavish, was comfortably appointed with a double bed covered in clean gray sheets, a table bolted to the floor with club chairs on either side, and a bookcase which, instead of literary works, held models of vintage planes, their bases glued to the shelf.

She wandered close to them and peered. “They are so small.”

“I know and a damned pain to assemble.”

She trailed a slender finger down the wing of one. He found it oddly distracting—and arousing.

Imagine those fingers running along my body, my skin...

She asked him something. “You built these?”

“I did.”

“Why? They serve no purpose.”

“You’re right. They don’t, but I enjoyed the creation of them. I also like the history they represent.”

“I don’t own anything.”

“That will change.”

“Why would I want to own objects?”

“Because the right object will bring you pleasure.”
As does the right person.

“You have brought me to your room,” she stated. “Am I to stay here?”