Avion (Cyborgs: More Than Machines, #7) (12 page)

As for Lilith, she giggled. “Does that make Anastasia his Barbie?” Even she had cherished one of the buxom blonde dolls when the scientists and doctors were still in the early stages of testing. She’d loved her plastic friend.

She threw a pretty wild tantrum the day the psychiatrists took it away to see how she’d react.

It took them months to repair the damage, but the good news was they gave her a new doll. The doctor, however, who had the bright idea? He never came back.

The comparison of the dashing couple to the famous toys triggered mirth in all of them. Levity in the face of adversity.
I’ve done that, too, during some of my roughest moments.
Stress relief was okay, so Daddy said, but giggling while covered in blood surrounded by bodies, bad, very bad.

Aramus sobered first. “Now that we’ve finally gotten to confirm Seth’s no better than a little girl’s toy, it’s time the rest of us escaped.”

“I don’t know if I’d suggest trying my method that quickly,” Seth replied as he placed his palm on a console set in the center of the room adjacent to the hallway of cells. “It took me weeks to master it. I was looking for a way to counter Taser fire. Trust me when I say it’s not as easy as it looks. Organic cells aren’t too crazy about the whole switch to plastic.”

“We can’t stay in here,” Aphelion said. “We’re sitting tin cans.”

“Which is why I’m poking the onboard computer. If you give me a minute or two, I’m currently working on hacking their system to free you all.”

Time wasn’t something they had an abundance of. Despite the lack of an audible alarm, Lilith suspected their captors knew of Seth’s escape. While the
Zvali’dus
themselves might not prove formidable enemies, their guards were. The hulking lizard beings from a planet much like Earth in prehistoric times, the
daecrocs
would arrive armed and, at eight plus feet, capable of taking on the cyborgs.

Should I tell them?
Avion seemed to think she needed to divulge more instead of waiting for direct questions, but her mentor told her to never tell what she knew. Everything was a secret. Except, Lilith had let some things slip.

Bad, bad girl. Master will punish us.
An urge to hide almost had her running. Instead, she slammed a few doors shut on her other voice and shared her knowledge. “Once Seth deactivates the walls, we must hurry. The
daecrocs
will be coming.”

“Would that be the giant dinosaurs that carted you in?” Xylo asked.

“Yes. They are extremely tough beings. Their skin is like an armor, very hard to penetrate. Their tails are barbed with a paralytic agent at the tips. They have only a few weak spots when it comes to hand-to-hand combat, like their eyes, of which they only have a pair in their head. They also have a version of an arterial vein in their necks, one on either side where the jaw connects.”

“What about their hearts? Same spot as us?”

She shook her head. “Lower, and protected not just by their shell-like skin but a cage of bone. As I said, very hard to kill.”

“About fucking time we ran into some decent competition,” Aramus said as he cracked his knuckles. “Do you think they’ll send enough for all of us to play with?”

She lost a hold on her jaw in that moment.
I think he might be crazier than me.
She almost clapped her hands in glee.

“There will be plenty of them to fight, and share”—
what a novel concept
—“if we are to take over this ship.”

“Fighting. Hostile takeover. This plan is sounding better and better all the time,” Aramus enthused. “Maybe you aren’t so bad after all, freaky girl.”

The backhanded compliment warmed her. Was the heat in her cheeks indicative of a blush? “In order to commandeer the vessel properly, we should hit a few key locations.”

“Shh. Don’t say them aloud,” Seth said. “The surveillance cameras are still on. No need to tell them where we’re going. Hold off until I get this blasted machine to behave.”

“Don’t force it, dude, stroke it,” Kentry hollered. “Isn’t that what you always say?”

Seth kept typing one-handed as his other hand raised and flicked a single digit.

Giggle.

“While we’re waiting for the geezer spy model over there to get things done, what can you tell us about this ship?” Adam asked.

“This is a standard ark vessel. It is immense, dozens of decks, a few square miles in size. It can house thousands of beings.”

“It’s a fucking space city,” Xylo exclaimed.

“Not quite,” she corrected. “The vessel itself is not overly populated. The majority of the space is designated for cargo, organic cargo, although the
Zvali’dus
are open to carrying other goods. Most call them slavers since that is what they specialize in. However, they will trade anything that will turn a profit.”

“We were caught by merchants.” Aramus groaned. “The shame of it.”

“Actually, their activities are more in line with the Earth definition of pirating.”

“Really? We were captured by scurvy pirates? Epic.” Aphelion wasn’t the only one beaming at the news.

“How big of a crew are we talking about on board?” Aramus asked.

“The
Zvali’dus
tend to rely on their impressive outer defenses rather than internal ones, so they don’t carry as many guards as they could.” The reason being escapes just didn’t usually happen. The cages were supposed to be foolproof. It would gall the slavers to know abominations had bested their system. “But we will encounter resistance, so arm yourself if you can.”

“I got all the weapon I need.” Aramus let a fearsome smile stretch his lips as he cracked his knuckles.

Old-school violence.
Giggle. What fun.

“Okay, guys and girls, cameras are gone. Power bars coming down in twenty-eight seconds,” Seth announced as he tapped at a blurring speed.

Aramus whistled and drew everyone’s attention. “Now that the eyes in the walls are gone, listen up. Here’s what we’re going to do. Everyone snag a buddy as soon as the bars come down. Riley, you’re with me.”

“I’ve got wifey poo,” Seth sang out.

“Doc’s got my ass,” Adam announced.

Everyone claimed a partner, even Lilith, whose claim of, “Avion is mine,” didn’t go unchallenged.

Avion is mine.
How nice that sounded. Possessive too.

“Um, I hate to question you, Lilith. But how are you planning on lugging Avion? No offense, but the guy weighs a ton and you’re not exactly on the robust looking side.” Kentry questioned her ability to carry Avion to safety.

Laughter bubbled. “I could carry a pair of him and not tax myself. Do not judge me by my exterior. My nanos will play with the gravity around him in order to lessen his weight.”

“Oh man, you have got to teach me that trick,” Seth replied. “It would come in handy when wifey poo takes me shopping.”

“She can teach you later. Right now we’ve got other shit to worry about. Now that we’ve got groups, Lilith, where are we going?” Aramus brought them back on track.

“Kitchens and the command center.”

“Kitchen? I’m pretty sure no one needs to stop and have a snack during a violent uprising.”

“Not the prisoners’ kitchen. The guard one. More specifically, the livestock pantry. Threaten the guards’ food source and you’ll see the
Zvali’dus
lose control of the
daecrocs
. The lizards might work for money, but they live for fresh food.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

She shook her head. “It is a strange weakness of theirs.”

“If you say so,” Aramus said with a skeptical note. “Aphelion, take your partner, MJ, along with Deidra and Xylo, Adam and Laura, Kentry and Rosalind to the kitchens. Kill whatever you have to but secure that area. The rest of us will follow freaky girl here to the command center.”

“Aye, commander.”

Everyone tensed in their cells as they waited.

“Three. Two, one.” Seth counted down, and at zero, the bars on the prison rooms winked out. In scant seconds, they all vacated their cells, not wasting time as they met their partner and took off running. Or, in Riley’s case, she ended up over Aramus’ shoulder. The poor thing still suffered from a case of humanity.

A cure would have to wait for later. They needed to get moving.

The plan? Evade capture and attempt to take over the ship.

With that goal in mind, Lilith carefully grabbed Avion.

Seth and the rest clustered around her. “Wifey poo and I will take point. Aramus, you and Riley cover the rear. Lilith, you and Avion take the middle and give us directions to where we’re going.”

Help? How novel.
Remember your manners,
her inner voice chided. “Thank you.” The not oft said words felt odd, but at the same time, having people around her who didn’t try to drug her or keep her prisoner in general felt good.

“Don’t thank me. This is what friends do. We cover each other’s ass in battle.”

Friendship at last?

Friends didn’t let friends get shot, or so she could practically hear Avion saying, which was why, as they jogged the long and wide halls leading to the command deck, she projected a small force field in front of them to deflect the worst of the laser blast aimed their way by the soldiers they encountered.

After their sixteenth hard-earned kill, a slightly disheveled Seth observed, “I thought you said they didn’t have much crew aboard.”

“They don’t. A true war vessel has thousands while we must deal with only a few hundred.”

“A few hundred she says. Decent odds I’d say. Or is the old spy ’borg in need of a nap?” Aramus teased.

“You’ve been chatting with Adam, haven’t you?” Seth grumbled right after he killed a gray-skinned being who thought the puny blaster he aimed at them would actually hold them at bay.

“I rather like the guy. He knows how to blow shit up.”

“Your obsession with explosions is a tad disconcerting,” Riley observed from her upside-down position. An armed position as Seth gave her the acquired blaster.

“You’d think you’d be used to explosions by now. You spend an awful lot of time together in his room.” Seth winked, and Lilith couldn’t understand why Aramus’ coloring turned a bright shade of red.

Was the cyborg ill?

No, just angry. Again.

“At least my woman doesn’t threaten to kill me.” Aramus dropped Riley and bellowed as he rushed a hulking lizard man who emerged from a T-intersection in the hall.

“Ah man,” Seth sulked. “That will even up the kill numbers again.”

“Poor baby. We’ll just have to find you some more of these crocs to kill.” Anastasia yanked the knife she’d acquired along the way from the side of the dead creature’s neck. She ran her fingers over its bare arm. “Smoother than you’d expect. I really like the leather on this one. Do you think their skin would make a decent pair of boots?”

Lilith absorbed the banter. While not directly involved, she quite enjoyed the minor skirmishes, and best of all, Avion woke.

“What did I miss?” he asked, his tone somewhat groggy.

“We were jailed. But Seth turned into a giant doll and we escaped. We are now fighting reptiles on our way to take over the ship.”

Avion groaned.

“Are you all right? Does something hurt?” she asked, flooded with concern for his wellbeing.

“Just annoyed I slept through all the action again. I really miss being a cyborg. I’m missing out on all the fun.”

“Fun?” She said it questioningly because she could practically hear Daddy’s voice,
“War isn’t fun, but necessary.”
However, in this case, given the natural adrenaline running through her body, her general level of contentment, not fabricated by a regulated release of the proper hormones to maintain a balanced physique, yes, she was having fun. Real fun. With friends.

Teehee. Look at me. And Daddy said I could never live in normal society.

Then again, not much about the cyborgs or this situation was normal. There wasn’t a set of rules or a handbook on how to act. A human one at any rate. She knew what her old mentor would say.

A host of the nanotech should always comport herself in a respectful manner. An old teaching that she’d pretty much forgotten. But, then again, a lot of what her mentor imprinted her with had been overwritten by the forceful will of her father.

Daddy Dear who locked me up and took away everything.
Even her few friends among the staff.

However, now she had new friends, and they were depending on her.

She tossed up a shield, just in time, as a trio of
daecrocs
pounded into view. Then another trio.

“Finally a decent challenge,” Aramus enthused.

“Big one’s mine,” Seth hollered.

“Too late.” Anastasia smirked as she whirled, her blade having already sliced through a fatal vein.

“No fair.”

“I called it.”

“Too slow,” Anastasia teased as she slid along the floor and sliced the inside of the
daecroc’s
thighs.

A weak spot Lilith never thought to mention. Most beings wouldn’t be crazy enough to try that maneuver.  It seemed she’d not given the cyborgs enough credit when it came to fighting. She’d only ever observed the human recruits spar. Puny, quickly tired things that lacked grace and strength.

The cyborgs, however, were another thing entirely. Graceful. Violent. Efficient.

It was beautiful to watch.

But someone chafed at not being able to participate. Avion struggled in her arms. “Put me down.”

“I can carry you. It does not tax me.”

“Maybe, but it irritates the hell out of me. I’m not dead yet, and I’ll be damned if I’ll let my woman carry me around like a sack of bolts.”

It occurred to Lilith that she was stronger and could ignore his request, but her other half prevailed.
A man has his pride. Let him keep it.
Besides, he’d called her his woman. She rather liked that designation.

On his feet, Avion shuffled until his fingers touched the wall.

“Woo. Last kill.” Seth raised both hands in the air and did a triumphant strut.

“Show off,” Aramus muttered.

Avion turned his head to face her, even though he couldn’t see. She wondered how he always knew where she was.