Emma: Part Two (7 page)

"Well," she said with an exaggerated sigh, "I suppose it can't hurt to give you two a trial period."

"Thank you. That's all we wanted. Just a chance, Emma." He caressed her face. "I don't have very long with you, sweetheart. I'm breaking a lot of rules right now. A friend is gave me a one-hour pass."

"Will you hold me until you have to go?" Emma looked so vulnerable as she made her request.

"I was hoping you'd let me back in bed with you." Max grinned as he slid into the small bed with her and spooned against her backside. He pulled her tight against his body and curled an arm over her waist. His lips danced across her neck and up her cheek. When her breathing slowed and her body started to relax, he felt like a hero. His touch and warmth had helped her fall asleep.

Max had never been interested in cuddling, but he had to admit, it was rather nice to just hold Emma like this. His initial desire for Emma had been borne out of lust but this was so much more. It scared him a little and left him feeling unsettled. He liked to be in control at all times.

As he snuggled closer and kissed her collarbone, Max entertained the sneaking suspicion that Emma was going to turn his world upside down. All he could do was hold tight and enjoy the ride.

4
Chapter Four

Jack cringed at the high-pitched whine of the cutting saw eating through a piece of metal. He stood just inside the wide open floor-to-ceiling doors of the converted hangar where all of the Outpost's mechanical and engineering needs were handled. Gray, one of the best engineers and mechanics in the entire cyborg fleet, bent over a workbench and guided the saw through the metal fabric. Just the man Jack need to see…

As if sensing his presence, Gray killed the saw and slowly turned. He flipped up the helmet shielding his face and set aside the saw. Jack's gaze glanced over the mess of scars twisting up the right side of the man’s face. An improvised explosive device set by a rogue team of cyborgs during a period of insurgency within the ranks had nearly killed the brilliant engineer.

Hovering in the open doorway, Jack waited for Gray's invitation to come into the warehouse any further. The man could be a bit cagey about his personal space. Gray flicked his gloved fingers and removed his helmet. “Well, get on in here, Stillwater.”

“How you doing, Gray?”

“How the hell do you think I’m doing? I’ve got a backlog of maintenance orders a foot high on my desk, and there hasn’t been a new recruit smart enough to pass the engineering tests to apprentice with me in more than a year.” Gray yanked off his gloves. His scarred fingers, the skin burned and knotted in places, sent Jack back to a time of blood and death and the very worst of the war.

“If you weren’t so damned mean, you would get more volunteers for this post.”

Gray snorted. “Mean is how men survive out here. We aren’t doing any of them a favor by coddling them.” Wiping his face with a rag, he continued, “I hear you and Max grabbed a human woman from the Outlands. Never figured you two for the kidnapping types."

Jack fought the urge to roll his eyes. The wild stories circulating the base over the last three days were getting out of hand. "It wasn't like that. She saved our lives. We saved hers. Her home was destroyed. She chose to come with us. End of story. Nothing salacious about it."

"Uh-huh," Gray replied, unconvinced. "I hear she's smart. Word is she scored off the charts on the math, mechanical, electrical and engineering portions of the aptitude tests."

Jack allowed a proud smile to curve his mouth. He didn't mention that she had miserably failed the history portion. Apparently, the version of history she had been taught wasn’t the one the cyborgs had lived. "She's amazing, Gray. That's why I'm here."

Gray shot him an unhappy look. "I know what you're going to ask, and the answer is no."

"Look, Gray, Emma is really nice. She's easy to work with and I think she could be a lot of help to you."

"I don't doubt that," Gray admitted. “I took a look at her scores. I saw the notes she made on some of the problems. She’s got a gift for this kind of work.”

“So what’s the problem?”

“Are you fucking joking?” He gestured to his scarred face. “That human girl hasn’t ever seen anything like this. I’m not going to have her screaming or staring at me all day like I’m some sort of monster.”

"She wouldn't do that, Gray. Emma isn't like that. She's survived a hell of a lot more than any other human female you've come in contact with in the past. But, if it makes you feel better, I'll talk to her about your injuries so she knows what to expect.”

Gray glanced away for a moment. Jack could practically see the engineer weighing his need for help with the possibility of Emma freaking out about his scars. "I don't know, Jack."

"Don't make me beg, Gray. I need to do this for Emma. I royally fucked up the other day and left her feeling betrayed. I have to find a way to make it right and setting her up here with you is a good way to start making amends. She's good with her hands, Gray. You'll see. She can really excel here."

Gray exhaled loudly. "Fine."

Jack sagged with relief. "Thank you, Gray. Max and I owe you big time."

"Damn right you do!" He started to pull on his gloves again. "Bring her on Monday. Make sure she has proper clothing. No skirts or any of that nonsense."

Jack smiled. "I don't think you need to worry. Emma knows her way around tools. She'll be here bright and early on Monday and ready to work."

Gray just grunted and turned back to his saw, effectively dismissing Jack. Shaking his head at Gray's gruffness, Jack left the warehouse and hopped into the Jeep idling outside. The private behind the wheel waited for his directions before easing on the accelerator.

Jack surveyed the bustling Outpost as they navigated the roads crisscrossing the base. The place was growing at a surprising pace. In the next year or two, they would probably hit ten thousand inhabitants, cyborg and human, on the base. His kind outnumbered the humans greatly but the military program offering human males citizenship through service was starting to pick up steam. There were nearly five hundred human males enlisted and serving now.

Human females, however, comprised a much lower number of the population. Jack had checked into the census records and had learned there were only fifty-seven Original women on base. Emma would make fifty-eight. He hoped she would find camaraderie among those human females. The last thing he wanted was for Emma to feel isolated.

As they neared the hospital, his heart started to race. He and Max had been looking forward to picking up Emma all day. They had put their heads together and made plans for her first night in their home. They wanted to make it special for her.

The vehicle slowed as they slid up against the curb and Jack hopped out. The private saluted him before pulling away from the hospital. Jack spotted Max hanging out next to the entrance of the quarantine unit. He noticed the box in Max's arms as they headed toward one another.

"You get it?"

“Yeah.” Max lifted the box for Jack's inspection. "Cost me a shit-ton of credits, and I'm going to have to pull some strings to get that little weasel in charge of coms on one of the patrols outside the wire. He seems to think women like Emma are a dime a dozen on the other side of the fence."

Jack laughed as Max snorted with amusement. "You should send him out toward those friends of Emma's with the big dogs. Let him get a taste of what Rafe and Butler and the rest of the Zed team went through."

"You know," Max chuckled, "I just might." He shifted the box again and asked, "Did you talk to Gray?"

"Yes. He wasn't thrilled but he agreed to give Emma a job. She starts Monday."

"I'm glad he came around. He's the only other cyborg I trust around Emma."

Jack hummed in agreement. After Gray's cyborg wife had passed away, he had withdrawn and sworn off women, cyborg or human. When volunteers had been requested for Outpost Nine, Gray had been among the first to sign up. He had been given permission to put a small living quarters in the warehouse and rarely left the building. Jack tried to coax him out for barbecues or pick-up football games but he was rarely successful.

Hopefully Emma and Gray could bond over his hermit lifestyle and her once solitary life in the Outlands. She wouldn't be able to understand the horrors of war that Gray had survived, but she could easily relate to living alone. Maybe she might succeed where Jack, Max and others had failed.

The hiss of the automatic doors drew their attention. Two medics escorted Emma from the hospital. The one with a black eye smartly avoided Jack by lingering near the doorway instead of following Emma out to the sidewalk. A twinge of discomfort pierced Jack's knuckles as he remembered slamming his fist right into that asshole’s face.

When Max had told him about Emma being stripped in a decon shower and scrubbed by two brutes, Jack had seen red. The regulations were very clear about female intake procedures. No man was to touch or see another cyborg's woman in that way. Those two medics had taken advantage of Emma.

Infuriated, Jack had knocked the shit out of both men before submitting formal complaints. If they'd done it to Emma, they had probably done it to other women—and that wasn't right. They shouldn't be around any of the vulnerable women brought into the quarantine facility.

Jack grinned at the sight of Emma in her too big scrubs. A small bag of essentials dangled from her hand. She glanced around nervously before spotting them. A relieved grin lit up her face. She practically ran towards them and threw herself into Jack's waiting arms. He scooped her right up and buried his face against her neck. "God, I missed you, Emma."

"I missed you, too, Jack." She slid down his body but kept her arms around his waist. Her gaze skipped over to Max. "I missed you, too."

Max leaned down and kissed her cheek. "I'm sorry I had to skip out while you were asleep the other night."

"It's okay," Emma replied. "I understand." Her gaze shifted to the box in Max's arms. She took hold of the side and tugged it down for a better view. Her eyes lit up with excitement. "Is that—? Are those—? You got me a transceiver!"

Jack chuckled as Emma rifled through the various components for building her own transceiver. Excitement radiated from her in waves. "We weren't sure what you'd need for a descrambler so Max and I just made a list with everything we could think of and gave it to the Outpost's radio man."

She paused her rifling and glanced at Jack with concern in her eyes. "You didn't tell him that I needed to unscramble a signal, did you?"

Jack shook his head. "No one knows about the Chain, Emma. That's your secret to tell, if you ever feel the need."

"We have your backpack, too," Max added. "I smuggled it back to our house without anyone being the wiser. Your logbooks are safe."

"You opened my bag?"

"We had to make sure there weren't any more grenades rolling around in there," Jack teased. "And, no, Emma we didn't crack the books open."

She shrugged. "The important one is in code anyway."

Jack hated to break her sense of security but didn't want secrets between them. "Actually, Emma, we're equipped with encryption programs. They're downloaded right into our neural chips. They update every month when we plug-in for upgrades and maintenance."

Emma's jaw dropped. "No way!" She pouted. "And I have to do it the old fashioned way!" Her expression changed as if she had just thought of something. "Hey! Dr. Freedmore told me that cyborg-human children can have implants added if the parents agree. Can I get implants like that if you two signed off on it?"

Max shook his head. "Sorry, Emma, but it doesn't work that way."

"Yeah," she said, "I figured."

"Major Cardwell?" The medic without a bruised face held up his tablet for a signature.

"Right." Max took the stylus and signed his name to the bottom of the screen, confirming he had taken delivery of Emma from the hospital. He held up his wrist to the scanner in the lower corner and waited for the reader to find the small ID chip implanted in his wrist. After it beeped, Jack accepted the stylus from Max and signed his name in the second space. He swiped his wrist too.

"Ma'am?" The medic moved the tablet closer to Emma. She took the stylus from Jack's hand and put her name in the space indicated. Jack noticed the way her handwriting style was so loopy and light and presented a stark contrast to the harsh, tight way he and Max drew their signatures. She awkwardly scanned her wrist, the spot where she'd been implanted with her ID chip still bright red.

The paperwork done, Jack and Max dismissed the medics and walked Emma to Max's vehicle. Because of his rank, he had been allowed to purchase a private vehicle from the surplus lot. As Max's housemate, Jack benefitted from the perks Max enjoyed. Now Emma would also.

While Jack lifted Emma into the backseat, he wondered if other cyborgs would start to approach them for inclusion in their family unit. It wasn't uncommon for single cyborgs to seek out and join established civil unions. It was easier than trying to find an Original woman of their own. He and Max hadn’t discussed it yet but he was certain Max would plant his fist in the face of the first man who tried to make a pass at Emma or ask for a trade of sexual favors with her.

Jack made sure Emma had buckled in before hopping into the front seat next to Max. What would
she
say if another cyborg approached them? She would probably take a page out of Max’s book and punch the unlucky cyborg or give him a swift kick in the balls.

He made a mental note to discuss the possibility with Emma. While the decision about who she slept with or loved would always be hers and hers alone, she needed to be educated on the realities around the Outpost. Some men used their unions as a means of climbing the professional ladder and gaining access to better benefits. She would be protected from that but other women she would encounter on base might not be.

Emma asked a million questions on the ride across the base. She seemed so excited by the prospect of going into the commissary and some of the small restaurants and cafes. Jack answered her questions while Max concentrated on driving. Five o'clock on a Friday was a busy time on the Outpost. Already the lines at the gate were long. Soldiers, human and cyborg, with weekend passes and pockets loaded with loose credits were waiting to get off base.