City Of Tears (5 page)

Lyrik wasn’t sure what to tell her. D-159 wouldn’t care if she’d killed or not. Saebin may not have regained control, but she was fighting her way to the surface. “You attacked him, but he’s still alive.”

She released her breath in a sustained sigh and lifted her gaze to his. “I also remember a creature with red-rimmed eyes. He looked humanoid, but his scans were … something else.”

“I’m not sure Lord Drakkin would appreciate being called a creature. He’s the Director of the Symposium.”

“I’m unfamiliar with that term.”

“The Symposium manages the Wisdom of the Ages. In ancient times they might have been called oracles, though their primary purpose isn’t to predict the future. They collect and validate information from all over the known galaxies. Drakkin’s home world is Bilarri. That’s why his physiology is different from ours.”

“Did I attack him also?”

Lyrik hid his smile behind his cup. “You tried, but he was unimpressed with your abilities.”

Her eyebrows arched, revealing her skepticism. “Lord Drakkin is like you, unaffected by my —”

“Vee was trained by Drakkin, but even Vee isn’t in the same class as the Bilarrians. Drakkin turned you off as easily as you turn off others.”

Her eyes focused on his face, but her expression clouded. She wasn’t looking at him so much as aiming her gaze in his direction. He’d heard she had had some sort of implant behind her eyes. Was she scanning him?
Scan away, sweetheart. I’ve got nothing to hide.

“After Drakkin rendered me unconscious, I was put in stasis?”

“Yes.”

“And how long was I kept in stasis?”

He smiled. This was bound to turn her crank in the wrong direction. That’s why he’d avoided the question the first time around. “You’ve been in stasis for just over a cycle.”

“A cycle of what?”

He didn’t really expect it to be that easy, but he’d had to give it a try. “Ontariese completes a turn every thirty-six hours, so an Ontarian cycle is roughly equivalent to eighteen Earth months.”

The information set her in motion. She crossed the room and returned to the table before she spoke again. “I was in stasis for a year and a half?”

“Yes.”

“Your eyes swirl like mine. Is that a common characteristic on your planet?”

Her anxiety confused him. He’d expected anger and confusion, but she seemed terrified. “Saebin, everyone on Ontariese has eyes like ours. The colors vary, but they all swirl. Everything Hydran told you was a lie. He was keeping —”

“What happened to the occupants? The ones with eyes like ours?”

“They were brought through the portal. Most of them are still on Ontariese. Is there someone in particular you want to find?”

“Right after I teleported, an overwhelming sense of danger surged through me.”

“That’s not surprising. This is a pretty inhospitable location, and you’d never teleported before.”

She shook her head, stopping directly in front of him. “I heard her voice when I first awakened. I know she’s here. We must find my handler.”

“Your handler was one of the occupants?” He tried to keep the shock from his tone and failed. “I thought she was an employee.”

“She was an occupant of ward A before she offered her services to Dr. Hydran.” Saebin looked away from him, her expression tense and wary. “She was not the only one who realized it was easier to cooperate than … You still don’t understand.” She tossed back her hair and crossed her arms over her breasts. “She’s a cybernetic engineer. She helped design my implants as well as my body armor. If what you say is true, she has had eighteen months to further her research and find a new market for her products.”

Lyrik stood and instinctively placed his hands on her shoulders. She didn’t flinch or twist away. “What’s her name, or distinction? Detailed records were kept of all the occupants.”

Dread unfurled within him as she continued avoiding his gaze. “I was not allowed to know. She gave the orders, and I obeyed.”

“D-159, comply.”

Saebin stared into the trusting eyes of the canine and felt another piece of her soul die. Swallowing back bile, she clenched her fist until her nails dug into her palm. Her arm trembled as she aimed her munitions implant at the animal. This was wrong. Senseless. But it was not her place to question her handler.

“The objective is assassination. Comply.”

For three days she had refused, and for three days she had not eaten.

“I can force you to comply, but that defeats the purpose of the exercise.”

A sting erupted at the base of her spine. The sensation would build in intensity until she killed the dog or lost consciousness. They had been through it all before. The pain built. Her eyes watered, and her hand shook.

With a tormented cry, she closed her eyes and sent a concentrated pulse into the animal’s brain. It yelped, and then there was blessed silence. She lowered her arm as tears escaped the corner of her eyes. The pain gradually receded
.

She dragged air into her burning lungs and purged her revulsion with a violent shudder. The subtle shuffling of feet. She waited for the orderlies to remove her victim before she opened her eyes. Whining. Dear god, no. She opened her eyes and recoiled. The first dog had been replaced with a similar animal.

“Repeat the exercise, and do not close your eyes this time. You must be certain you’ve met your objective.”

Pain darted into her brain and down her spine. The stinging intensified with each second she hesitated. The dog tilted its head and thumped its tail against the floor. Her hand shook as she slowly raised her fist. Ignoring the whining of the harmless animal, she took aim
.

“If this were a human target, your opportunity would be long gone. Kill the wretched beast, so we can move on to the next exercise.”

Human target? Her mind rebelled against the phrase. She lowered her fist and turned her back on her handler. Perhaps if she proved herself useless they would dispose of her. Better to die than —

Searing agony drove her to her knees. She screamed, clasping her head with both hands.

“Wait!” Dr. Hydran’s voice blared over the central com. “I have a new motivational technique I’d like to try on D-159.”

The dream shifted, undulating to a different scene. Saebin was strapped to a treatment table, naked and helpless. Hydran attached a device to the primary input at the base of her skull. “Pain can be so redundant. Let’s see if you respond better to this.” He injected something into her neck and left her alone in the treatment room. Why had they taken off her armor? It had taken months of various “motivations” before she’d stopped fighting the insidious control it had over her. She’d been beaten, starved, and isolated. Could there be another form of motivation?

As if to answer her unspoken question, heat erupted low in her belly. She shifted her hips and struggled against the restraints. Her sensory implants vibrated, warning her of the barrage of stimulation headed her way. Images formed in her mind. She instinctively closed her eyes. It made no difference. Naked bodies arched and thrust, grasped and stroked in an erotic kaleidoscope of impressions.

Her nipples tightened, her skin tingled, and her core throbbed. She tugged violently; the straps held firm. Each movement intensified the fiery need building within her. She groaned.

“We’ve allowed you access to the simulators when you achieved your objectives.” She wasn’t sure if Dr. Hydran spoke over the central com or if his voice was part of the sensory input. “Without its natural culmination, sexual desire can be quite unpleasant.”

The images focused to a single couple. A man and a woman lost in the throes of passion. She held her legs wide as he positioned himself between her thighs. Her folds gleamed, her desire obvious. The man traced her slit, making her writhe and moan. Saebin whimpered, her body pulsing painfully. He impaled the woman in one powerful thrust. She arched her back, taking him deeper with frantic upward drives.

Saebin thrashed on the treatment table, her body shaking. Her shallow panting made her nipples feel raw and needy. She couldn’t touch her swollen breasts, couldn’t bring herself release. On and on, scene after scene, she was kept on the agonizing brink of orgasm without mercy.

The image shifted again. The woman was on top of the man, straddling his hips
.

“Saebin.” The man’s voice sounded harsh and hoarse. Her need and the image merged. She was the woman, riding her lover in utter abandon. She ground her hips against his, fumbling in the dark to find his hands. “Saebin.” His fingers closed around her shoulders and gave her a little shake.

With a shuddering moan, Saebin dragged his hands down to her breasts and pressed into his warmth
.

Lyrik awoke as Saebin crawled on top of him. His sleep muddled brain didn’t register the significance until her hips started rocking. “Saebin.” He tried to make his tone harsh enough to snap her out of her daze. She arched her back and aligned her mound with his rapidly hardening shaft. Holy shit! This must be one hell of a dream.

“Saebin.” He tried again, firmly grasping her shoulders. She moaned and pulled his hands down to her breasts. Warm, firm, and full, her breasts more than filled his palms.
She’s asleep, asshole! She doesn’t know what she’s doing.

The heat from her sex seeped through his uniform bottom, teasing his body. It wasn’t just heat. She was wet, her desire-soaked uniform dampening the material separating them. “Saebin, you have to wake up.
Saebin
 —”

Her knees clasped his hips, her body trembling violently. Heat pulsed from her core, making him gasp and flinch. Did this always happen when she had an orgasm? It would be down right dangerous for her lover. She cried out, and the implant in her hand discharged, the narrow beam drilling a small crater in the floor. Scrambling off him, she ran toward the utility room.

“Saebin.” He rolled off the bunk and hurried after her.

“Stay back!” She punctuated the demand with a warning shot that barely missed his thigh.

Reluctantly, he stopped in the archway as she crossed to the sinks. “Are you all right?”

She aimed her hand over her shoulder, the threat unmistakable.

“I’m not leaving until I’m sure you’re —”

“I’m fine,” she snapped. “Get the hell away from me.”

He moved back from the archway, sorting through the details as he went. Had he inadvertently triggered the erotic dream? He’d teased her and touched her, perhaps this was the result. She hadn’t known how to respond, so her subconscious took over. That didn’t account for the bursts of heat and the spontaneous discharge of her weapon. A smile curved his mouth. He’d heard sexual release called stranger things.

When she returned to the main room a short time later, her face was still flushed, and she wouldn’t meet his gaze.

“Did I hurt you?” she asked, her tone hushed and awkward.

“Luckily your hand was pointed at the floor. Do you know why this happened?” She glanced at the bunks, her arms folded over her breasts. “Would you rather go back to sleep? We can talk about this in the morning.”

She shook her head and motioned toward the cupboards. “I’d like some more blish.”

“Has this sort of thing happened before?” He retrieved the supplies as he spoke … his manner as calm and composed as he could make it. “That seemed like more than just an erotic dream.”

“I dreamt of my first kill.”

He paused and looked at her. He’d heard of warriors who went into a lustful frenzy after battle. Had she been conditioned to react that way? “Did you want to make the kill?”

“No. It was a senseless act.”

“What made you do it?” He kept his voice low and conversational, while compassion squeezed his heart.

“I was hungry and …”

“You were deprived of food by your handler, or you ended the life so you could eat?”

“My handler utilized a variety of motivations — isolation, starvation, humiliation, and pain.”

“Those are textbook behavioral control techniques.” Unable to stay the impulse, he lightly touched her arm. “If you’ll let me help you, I can figure out exactly what they did to you and why.”

“I know what they did to me, and why was never a mystery.”

What he knew about Saebin only scratched the surface of what she’d endured. Each incident she entrusted to him, each vulnerability she revealed, made him all the more determined to protect her. Whether she wanted one or not, she’d found a friend.

“Let’s get back to what happened a few minutes ago.” He nodded toward the section of the bench where they’d sat earlier. “I’d love to think you were overcome by my masculine appeal, but you had no trouble shoving me away in the shower.”

They sat, and she took several sips of blish. Turning her face away, she stared across the room.

He touched her chin, bringing her head back toward him. “You don’t consider yourself a virgin, yet you’d never been kissed. It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to figure out what you’re not telling me.”

“I was never raped, if that’s what you’re thinking. Pleasure can be used just as ruthlessly as pain.” He continued to stroke her face, tracing her jaw line and the crest of her cheek. Even though he kept his touch light and caressing, he half expected her to retreat. “We were allowed access to simulators when we achieved our objectives.”

“And if you failed or refused to cooperate?”

“I was injected with something that … made me unbearably aroused, then vivid images, sexual images, were transmitted across my neurolink. All the while I was strapped to a treatment table, unable to bring myself relief from the burning desire. After several hours, my implants overloaded, so they were forced to abandon the punishment.”

“Sexual release dispersed the excess energy?”

She nodded and pushed back from the table, taking her body out of his reach. Drawing her legs up to her chest, she wrapped her arms around her knees. “That’s why my weapon discharged. Can we talk about something else now?”

“We can talk about anything you like, or we don’t have to talk at all.”

“Tell me something about —”