Authors: Laurann Dohner
look down at her. When their gazes locked, she frowned at him. “Is your life in danger
because of me?”
“Not currently.”
“But it could be?”
He paused. “It’s a possibility if the council believes I have lost my ability to be
reasonable.”
“If they think you’re nuts, you mean?”
“Yes.”
She let her forehead fall to rest against his chest. She released his face and slid her
hands down his torso to wrap around his waist. She loved Ice, the emotion so strong it
nearly choked her as she tried to form words. He was admitting that he’d face danger
just to protect her. Cyborgs weren’t known for being warm and cuddly creatures.
Would they kill Ice? The answer that came to her was a big yes. He knew that yet he’d
still kept her. He didn’t say it but he risked his life for hers. The love for him swelled
inside her painfully. He wouldn’t do that unless she really mattered to him.
“Promise me that you’ll tell me if that happens.”
“So you can worry about my fate?”
“No.” She refused to look at him. “I don’t want to die but I don’t want you to die
for me. If they are that set on killing me then hand me over.”
Ice lifted her off her feet and forced her to look at him when he brought her face
level. He stared into her eyes, studying her. “You’d rather I hand you over for death
than risk my life for yours?”
She nodded. “What can I say? It’s been a great nine days we’ve spent together.” She
hoped her sad attempt at humor worked but then he spoke.
“You’re attached,” he gently accused. “Aren’t you?” His beautiful eyes searched
hers as they gazed at each other.
She shrugged. “I could lie but you’d just grab my neck and know it.”
He gently slid her down his body and released her, stepping away. He walked
toward the bed and stopped there, keeping his back to her.
Megan bit back a curse. She’d gone and upset him but the days and nights spent
with him had been great. Ice was an amazing person. He had a quick sense of humor,
passion that was fire hot, and she had fallen totally in love with the guy. She didn’t
want to lie to him ever again. They’d started out on deception and they were past that
now.
“I know you can’t offer me that back. You were very clear about your aversion to
getting attached to me, Ice. I don’t even blame you. There’s no need to get upset with
me.”
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He looked over his shoulder at her and then slowly faced her completely. “You
tempt me in so many ways, Megan. Would it help at all if I confessed to you that you
are the only female I have ever considered being with long term?”
“I like hearing it.”
He suddenly grinned. “It is true.”
“That means a lot to me.” It did.
It is the thought that counts, right?
She didn’t want to
ponder that thought too closely. She wondered how long they could last—how long it
would be before their relationship ended. “When is your next planned trip to your
world?”
“We have no plans to return to Garden as of now. We are currently far from the
planet in case you were being tracked. We didn’t want to lead them back to our home
world to our women and children.”
“I’m really not a spy or a bounty hunter.”
He closed the distance between them. “I know that.”
“Ice?” A male voice suddenly barked from a speaker near the door. “Get to control
now. We have a ship approaching and we had a signal sent from our ship to it. Secure
that damn female. She is communicating with them.”
Shock tore through Megan as she stared into Ice’s eyes. “I didn’t.”
He frowned. “I’m aware.” He moved, nearly knocking Megan over to get to his
discarded clothing. He started to dress quickly. “What about the bots?”
“The bots? You dropped them off on the Hixton.”
He jerked up his pants. “We did not. We were too worried it was a trap.”
“Shit!”
“What?” Ice grabbed her arm.
“They are the source of your signal. Why didn’t you tell me you kept them? Damn
it, Ice. They are machines regardless of how they look and I assumed you dropped them
off. You never told me that plan changed.”
“They can send and receive signals?”
“If their theft alarms are triggered you bet they can. They will start sending out
location signals so that they can be retrieved.”
“Can you silence them?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I can try.”
“Get dressed.”
“Ice,” the male voice on the speaker barked. “Respond, damn it. They are coming at
us fast and have locked onto us. I’ve never seen any shuttle move so fast. Stop your
human from responding. The signals are bouncing back and forth and we can’t shut it
down or block it. We’re trying.”
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Ice moved to the door, not bothering with his shirt, and touched the pad on the
wall. “It’s not the human. It’s the bots. Have Onyx meet me in the cargo hold and make
sure all of them are there when I arrive in two minutes.” He released the pad and spun.
Megan had put his shirt on and a pair of his underwear. She didn’t bother to try to
find pants, knowing none of his would fit. “Let’s go.”
Ice gripped her arm and stared down at her, searching her eyes. “Can I trust you,
Megan? Are you really going to help us lose that shuttle or are you going to send a
signal to them?”
Pain lanced through her though she knew he probably had to ask. She noticed he’d
placed his thumb over her wrist so he could touch her pulse, feeling it for a lie.
“I’m happy with you, Ice. I don’t want to be found and I don’t want any of your
people hurt.”
He nodded, released her, turned, and the door opened. He moved quickly and
Megan had to run to stay behind him.
The cargo hold they entered was the same one she’d first seen and she did a head
count on the bots. All twelve units were in the room. They were hooked to cords and
Megan frowned, staring at where they were attached to the walls.
“They needed recharged,” Ice explained. “Should we unhook them?”
Megan nodded. “It won’t stop them from transmitting but unplug them anyway.
Your ship is probably being used to amplify their signals.”
Ice moved quickly, unhooking each bot. Megan walked to the center of the group
and inhaled deeply, trying to catch her breath.
“Authorization four-nine-red dwarf,” she said loudly.
All twelve units responded, their heads tilting back. Megan stopped in front of the
closest one. “Status?”
“Theft mode initiated by remote transmission.” All twelve bots spoke in unison.
“Cancel theft mode and block incoming signals. It is a hacking attempt.”
Their heads lowered and twelve pairs of eyes fixed on Megan. “Incoming codes
confirmed,” they said in unison. “Theft mode initiated. In contact with retrieval team.”
“Cancel,” Megan ordered. “Authorization four-nine-red dwarf. I am the
programmer of
Folion
. Confirm my identity.”
“Megan Bellus, identity confirmed via retina scan,” the bot closest to her stated.
“Cancel theft mode. It is a hacking attempt. Shut down all outgoing signals and
block incoming signals now. Do not respond to hacker. They are attempting to lock
onto you to steal you.”
“Conflicting orders,” they all stated.
The door to the cargo bay opened and Onyx came storming in. “What’s going on?”
“The bots are the ones responding. Megan is attempting to have them shut down
but they don’t know what orders to follow.” Ice’s voice softened.
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“They are still sending signals,” Onyx whispered. “I’ve managed to decode their
transmissions and lock onto the frequency but I’m unable to block it. They are sending
out our location to the other ship.”
“Stop initiation signals,” Megan ordered them.
“Order denied,” the bots replied. “Theft mode initiated. Programmer has been
compromised and tortured into submission.”
“I have not.” Megan was taken aback. “That is not an accurate statement.”
The bots stared at her. “We are being told you are compromised.”
“Damn it!” Onyx moved closer. “I’m reading their communications. They are being
ordered to not listen to you and someone is attempting to block your access by trying to
reprogram them to not respond to you.”
Megan jerked her attention to Onyx. “How do you know?”
“I’m listening.” He frowned.
She stared at him, not seeing any kind of earpiece to the bridge of the ship. “How?”
“We have implants.” Ice moved closer. “Onyx is listening into their communication
signals. That’s his gift.”
Onyx drew his weapon, glancing at Megan. “How do I disable them?”
“It would take a long time to damage them all enough to stop them. They have
artificial skin but they have complex skeletal interiors. They have reinforced metals that
shield their computer brains and I don’t have the tools to open them up and remove
their core power sources. That is the only way to stop them from sending signals.”
Megan bit her lip. “Bot, cancel theft mode.”
“No,” they said in unison. “Megan Bellus is compromised.”
Megan cursed and turned away to stare at Ice. Her gaze darted around the cargo
bay seeing nothing stored inside it besides the bots. A plan formed.
“They want the bots so give them up.” She moved toward Ice. “Can you open up
the cargo doors to space from your bridge?”
He nodded. “Yes. Control can do that.”
She moved toward the doors they’d entered. “Then do it.” She turned. “Bots, move
to the exterior doors if you want to be retrieved. When they open, exit the ship you are
on. You will be picked up by a retrieval team.”
Long seconds went by. Onyx nodded. “They transmitted what you said to the
shuttle following us and they told them to do as you bid.”
The bots actually moved. Ice grabbed Megan’s hand. “You mean just dump them
out into open space? Won’t it destroy them?”
“Nope. It’s not real good for their skin but it will be minor repairs to fix any damage
that occurs. Leaving them out there for an extended time would be bad but you said
that shuttle hunting them is closing in fast so they’ll pick them up quickly. Just pop the
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seal with oxygen and they should be pulled right out of your hold when it
depressurizes.”
Onyx moved around them and opened the door. Ice jerked Megan into the hallway
and sealed the doors behind him. She stared up at him and realized he had mentally
linked to his ship when he spoke aloud without touching the pad and his voice
broadcast throughout the ship.
“Blow the cargo door open so the bots are sucked out. If that ship wants them they
can pick them up out there. Just do a count and make sure they all end up in space.”
After a slight hesitation, a voice spoke through the speaker in the hallway. “Brace.
I’ve never done this before and I don’t know how violent it is going to be.”
“Do it,” Ice ordered, yanking Megan into his arms.
Even from the hallway a loud groan could be heard and the floor vibrated slightly
when the cargo hold depressurized violently. Megan gripped Ice around his waist and
prayed that all the bots ended up outside the ship. Otherwise they’d have to pressurize
the hold, go in, and manually send each one out an airlock.
“All twelve bots are clear,” the male voice stated. “Now what?”
“Change course and get us the hell away from them,” Ice demanded. “Keep track of
that incoming shuttle and see if it follows us or if it heads for the bots.”
Megan looked up at Ice. “If you had told me you kept them, I would have warned
you that they could signal. I could have had you find me the right tools to open them
up and disarm their theft systems.”
“I didn’t think about it.” He looked grimly at Onyx. “Was it Earth Government
talking to them?”
“No.” Onyx looked at Megan and then back at Ice. “They worked for
Barcarintellus.”
“The company that owns
Folion
.” Megan sighed. “They would have sent a retrieval
team for those bots.” She frowned at Ice. “Do you have any idea what kind of money is
tied up in each unit? There’s no way they wouldn’t attempt to locate them. For future
reference, if you have their expensive merchandise on board, they are going to send
retrieval teams after them.”
He hugged her tighter. “I’m just glad it wasn’t you sending out signals.”
“I’d never do that.”
“Ice? The enemy shuttle adjusted course for the bots and is not following us,” the
male in control stated.
“Disaster averted.” Megan blew out her breath. “I bitched about being bored but I
could have totally done without that bit of excitement today.”
Ice chuckled. “I wasn’t bored once I reached my quarters.”
She grinned up at him. “Me neither.”
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“I’m returning to my room now.” Onyx sighed. “I was sleeping and I wish to finish
my rest cycle.”
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“Megan? Wake up now.”
The urgency in Ice’s voice broke through her sleeping haze and Megan forced her
eyes open. She frowned at Ice, bent low over her. Alarm spread through her as she saw
the look on his face.
“The council?”
He shook his head. “That shuttle picked up the bots and is now attempting to