Peyton 313 (29 page)

Kyra’s gaze slid from Brad’s to Peyton who still hadn’t moved.

“Now tell me the truth, was the man really worth the eight mil you spent to sleep with him? Come on—don’t you think that’s a bit much to spend on a ho? Gloria here. . .now she was free. I just picked her up at a campus coffee shop and smuggled her right into a waiting chair at Norton. Voila. . .custom hot lady friend in twelve easy steps. I even made my own creator file for her. Aren’t you proud of me? No one has done that except you and Jackson. He and I had a cozy chat about what was in it one day. He talked better on the drugs than Nero did.”

Kyra stared at the woman next to Brad now, stared in horror at what the younger scientist had done. What if there were other scientists in the world like Brad who were cloning the creator code? She couldn’t allow that to happen. She couldn’t.

“She’s. . .she’s absolutely incredible, Brad. And you. . .creating your own creator file. . .well, that’s amazing too. Nero always said you were the smartest person he ever met next to me. All my life, Jackson never wanted anyone to know how smart I was. I’m flattered you at least recognize my talent.”

Brad laughed. “I hate to talk bad about the dead, but Jackson Channing was a total ass. Your intelligence is why you and I are the perfect match for a power couple. Now use that amazing mind and imagine a whole world full of
Glorias
—or Hell—
Bens
—we can make Bens too. Can you imagine what people would pay for a custom companion who did anything and everything they wanted?”

“Isn’t that what the Cyber Husbands and Wives already are for their spouses?” Kyra asked, hoping the questions would keep Brad talking until Peyton came around.

“See? That’s what I mean. You never miss the important details. Yes—the constant code program already does that partially, but as you see Gloria is much safer. She was never a soldier and doesn’t have any of those nasty, dangerous prosthetics that could cause a world crisis if used wrong. Gloria is just a normal woman with some really great new features. The controller wiring makes her behave and follow her custom programming without any flaws. I even figured out how to keep her from talking. Pretty amazing, isn’t it?”

“What about the hormonal surges that causes blips in women?” Kyra asked.

Brad laughed and smiled. “And there’s that great mind at work again. You always know what questions to ask. The answer is. . .I don’t know. So far, I haven’t seen any indication of problems. Of course I did promise to turn her voice back on if she behaved, so maybe the secret is that I motivated the human side of her through providing hope,” Brad said, considering the answer.

Kyra looked at the woman. Something was not right. The woman was not responding to her visual assessment of her. It’s like she was ignoring her on purpose.

“May I look at Gloria up close?”

Brad fairly beamed at the request.

“Rockin’ A. Check her out.”

At his nod of encouragement, Kyra walked closer. She inspected the woman he called Gloria while the woman’s gaze stayed fixed on some focal point across the room. Kyra lifted one of the woman’s hands and found her fingers slightly curled. As she straightened them under hers, a tiny round object rolled into her palm. Her eyes widened as the woman’s eyes flared. Kyra squeezed her fingers and put her hand with the object into her coat pocket. It looked like Jackson wasn’t the only one who underestimated the power of the human mind to overcome cybernetic programming.

Knowledge and the hope it carried straightened her spine as she turned her most serious stare back on Brad. He was standing in front of the cage belonging to Marcus who still wasn’t looking at her or the others. But what she was thinking at least gave them all a chance.

She walked slowly toward Brad but stopped short of getting too close yet. “I confess I’m. . .well, I’m impressed. . .no, make that
intrigued
. I want to know more about how you made Gloria. But first. . .you’re right, I owe you thanks.”

Brad smiled. “For bringing you the opportunity of a lifetime? My pleasure, Kyra.”

Kyra shook her head. “No. For that too maybe, but mostly for getting Jackson permanently out of my life. If you stayed, then you knew you were the only decent man he brought to me that evening. The others. . .I still can’t bring myself to talk about what they did to me. It made me hate being touched for a very long time.”

Brad lowered the gun until it pointed to the floor. “I’m sorry you married such a shitty man. And you’re welcome. Jackson’s brain was like totally gone by the time he bit the big one. You were the bribe he used on the Chancellors to get his funding. They didn’t test him anymore and they approved the Cyber Wife program, all because of the Kyra sex party. I never thought that was fair. That should have been your program and your funding. You’re the one who earned it.”

Kyra swallowed and ordered herself not to throw up at hearing she was again responsible for even more cyborg misuse.

“Can I. . .can I hug you? I just realized I’ve never even hugged you in all the time we’ve known each other.” While Brad stared, she walked just a little closer, but stopped short and looked at the floor again. “I’m nervous. . .this is not easy for me. You scare me a little with that pulse cannon in your hand.”

When he reached out and grabbed the front of her jacket to pull her the rest of the way to him, Kyra used all her strength to push Brad hard against the bars of the cage. The gun fell just as she yelled, “Marcus, quick! Grab him!”

Hands reaching through the bars wrapped themselves around Brad’s arms like a vice.

“Thank you,” Kyra said, nearly breathless with fear as she pushed off Brad. She was shaking as she ran to the console and hit the open command on all the cages. “As far as I’m concerned, you all passed your mental tests. I have a new definition of crazy now.”

“But Kyra. . .how could you do this to me? I thought we were finally. . .you know. . .
bonding
,” Brad declared.

His genuine confusion made Kyra come back to stand in front of him again. Eric appeared at her side, but it didn’t deter her.

“Maybe you could argue that I agreed to being with you that night, but now I know you could have stopped those other two men from doing what they did to me. Jackson could have as well. But both of you did nothing. I can only imagine what you’ve done to poor—
Gloria
—or whatever her real name is. But you know what Brad? You’re wrong about cyborgs. The human side of them will always find a way to make itself known. I tried to tell Jackson. He never believed me. Just look what your creation gave me when you introduced us.”

Kyra held out her hand with the sweeper gleaming in her palm. Then curling it back into her palm again, she swung her closed fist and punched Brad as hard as she could until his head spun. So much adrenalin was pumping through her at the action, she didn’t feel anything but a tiny sting on her knuckles.

Looking stunned over her violence, Brad’s gaze swung to the woman still standing on the other side of the room. He opened his mouth, but Kyra put the hand she hadn’t used to punch him over it. She raised her other in a fist again where Brad could see it.

“Oh no you don’t, you sneaky bastard. If you say anything, anything at all, I’m going to rip off your testicles and let Gloria do whatever she wants with them. Eric, there’s some wide tape in that desk drawer under the console. Get it so we can make sure this guy doesn’t utter another syllable.”

“Damn Doc. You can be one scary science bitch when you want. I hope you never get pissed at me,” Eric declared, scrambling to do what she asked.

Kyra snorted at his teasing. “Punching Brad is nothing. You have no idea how scary I can be. There’s a good reason Peyton called me Dr. Frankenstein.” She probably shouldn’t have admitted such a thing in front of her newly freed captives, but in her anger, the truth had slipped out. Her mind was already planning what to do with Brad and it wasn’t going to bother her a bit.

Still riding her adrenalin rush from punching Brad, Kyra let her gaze bounce around the room. All the cyborgs were watching her closely but their smirking scrutiny didn’t faze her resolve. She was finally clear about what needed to be done and Peyton was right. Blowing up Norton wasn’t the answer. With crazies like Brad running loose in the world, the cyborgs definitely needed her to stay alive.

Her hand was shaking hard by the time Eric made it back with the tape. Out of the corner of her eye, Kyra saw King climbing slowly to his feet. Now if only Peyton would come around.

“Master Sergeant West, when you’ve recovered, will you carry Peyton to our room? I can’t stand seeing him on the floor.”

King stumbled out of the cage, staring in wonder at the unbelievable scene. “What the hell happened here? Did I miss everything?”

“Yeah, but we’re used to that,” Eric said, slapping a third piece of tape over evil Brad’s mouth.

Calmer now that Brad couldn’t speak, Kyra walked into the cage where Marcus still had a death grip on Brad through the bars. She put a shaking hand on one arm. “It’s okay, Marcus. We’re safe now. Thanks to you—we’re all finally safe.”

Marcus let go of Brad as suddenly as he had latched onto him. The shocker was when he burrowed into Kyra’s arms instead. Pretty soon, her sobbing was as loud as his as she rocked them both in her arms.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry you had to go through this. We’ll find your family when we can. Peyton will help. That man can do anything. I know because he talked me into loving him.”

Marcus nodded against her shoulder before letting her go. “Thanks for hugging me, Doc. Crying is a bitch of a reaction. Now my head hurts like a mofo. Got any aspirin?”

Kyra laughed and nodded. “Yes, but it won’t cure your despair. Nero has food and maybe even some beer in this place. I’m a tea woman myself, but I’ll see you guys have what you need to feel more appreciated. Now let’s get you all out of here. Eric’s right. Only bad guys belong in cages.”

She grabbed his hand and pulled Marcus out with her. There were two more men standing around Peyton now. One he’d called Vincent. The other he’d called Steve. All five were looking at her, waiting no doubt for orders. She wished their captain would wake up and take over that work. She had stuff she needed to do.

“Let’s get Peyton to his room. Then I have to check on Nero to see how badly Brad drugged him. I suggest we put Dr. Smith here in Marcus’s cage. Tie him to the bars until we can decide what to do about him.”

She watched as Vincent and Steve dragged Brad into the cage while he thrashed and squealed under the tape over his mouth, but it didn’t stop them from securing him to the bars with more of the tape Eric had fetched.

“What about her—evil Brad’s woman?” Eric asked, pointing across the room.

Kyra sniffled, but refused to let the tears fall as she walked to the woman named Gloria. Her body was quickly running out of the chemicals that had kept her upright and functioning for her showdown with the obviously insane Dr. Smith. Eric and Marcus followed closely behind her.

“Can you understand what I’m saying?” she asked. At Gloria’s nod, Kyra nodded back. “Good. I will have to study your wiring to see what can be done about reversing Brad’s handiwork.”

Kyra started to walk away, but thought of another question. She turned back. “Can you act on your own volition and make independent decisions so long as Brad is kept from speaking to you?”

She saw panic flare in the woman’s eyes. Kyra took that to mean the woman had no clue what was going on with her situation. Sighing, she rubbed the woman’s arm. “Don’t be alarmed. We’ll deal with whatever happens. Just try to act in normal ways. Okay? Just try. . .”

“It’s okay, Doc. I’ll watch her for you.” Marcus interrupted, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. “I’ll also make sure she doesn’t break the bad guy out.”

Kyra turned to look at Brad, now secured to the side of the cage. His squealing had ceased, but he still seemed stupefied about how he had lost control of the situation. Ironically, Brad’s revelation about her abusers had given her a sick kind of leverage at the UCN. And because of it, she now had a potential means of resolving her mistakes on a much larger scale.

King started to lift Peyton from the floor, but before she could blink Peyton was on his feet and King was flying across the room to land hard against a wall. His massive body left an impressive dent behind as he fell to the floor. When he bounced up almost instantly, there was full-out fury in the giant’s glare, directed at Peyton. Kyra winced and prayed the lab wasn’t about to be torn apart.

“What the fucking hell, Captain? Is this beat-the-shit-out-of-King week or something?”

Peyton’s wild roaming gaze finally focused, and he held out a hand. “Kyra? Are you okay? Did Brad hurt you?”

Kyra shook her head as she headed straight for the safety of Peyton’s arms. She hugged him as tight as she could and then backed away to talk to him. “I’m fine. We’re all fine. Marcus saved us.”

“No, I didn’t,” Marcus denied. “You did. You fed the man’s crazy until he cracked.”

Kyra winced at the description of her chat with Brad. “Peyton, I need you to check something. Were you recording what happened or did the pulse cannon interfere?”

Peyton went still as he checked. “Yes. I have a record. And a visual for most of it. You were smart to turn my head.”

“Good. Don’t review it yet. I don’t want you coming back to beat up Brad. I have other plans for him. We’re going to make another little movie, better than our last one. In fact, this one will be a live performance. Care to help me with my evil plans, Captain Elliott?”

“Will it involve you crawling into my lap and kissing me again?” Peyton asked, listening to the snickers of his men. God, it was good to hear them laughing. He had missed them.

“No. This movie is not going to be a love story. This movie is going to be a horror flick for the UCN. And you may not like me much afterward because some of it is going to be real as well,” Kyra said.

Peyton shrugged. “It’s okay, Doc. I’m really good at dealing with all kinds of scary shit.”

He walked over to arm hug King. “Sorry. I was in survival mode.”