Eleven
Ghost was content.
His female sat in his lap, her bare skin against his, her scent surrounding him. They had entered the next sector, their warship operating at optimal levels. The merchant ship was headed in a different direction.
No human handlers poked at him with daggers. No cleaning bots crawled over him. His gaze shifted to the container set on the console. His female had plenty of beverage.
Ghost unwrapped a nourishment bar and handed it to her.
“The benefit of having no crew”—she bit into the bar, chewed, swallowed—“is we don’t have to worry about supplies, not until we reach Mercury Minor.”
“Earth Minor,” he corrected.
“Right.” Her cheeks heated. “Earth Minor.”
His female missed Mercury Minor, her home planet. If it were under cyborg control, he’d claim it for her. The air was breathable. The vegetation had likely returned. It would be empty of other life. That appealed to him.
Other beings couldn’t be trusted around his female.
But he couldn’t guard an entire planet and all of the surrounding space by himself. Earth Minor was the safer destination.
“That will take time to reach.” She tapped on the control panel, displaying their course on the main viewscreen. “The Rebels are fighting the Humanoid Alliance on Deneb 9.” She circled that multi-mooned planet. “And Betelgeuse Alpha.” She did the same with that larger one. “We could add our warship to their fleets.”
“No.” He wasn’t allowing his female to enter a battle he couldn’t control.
Fighting one ship in open space was acceptable. Fighting many ships, facing ground fire, possibly being trapped between enemy forces was not.
“I’m a Rebel.” His female frowned. “I should be joining them.”
“No.” He wouldn’t move on that decision.
“Ghost—”
The main viewscreen flashed red. Their far perimeter sensors had been activated.
“What is it?”
“Ship.” It had entered their space and was moving toward them. Ghost raised the warship’s shields and cut the engines.
“Display the ship,” his female commanded.
He put the image on the screen and she inhaled sharply. Her concern was warranted. It wasn’t merely any ship. It was a Humanoid Alliance battle station, top of the line, bigger and more heavily armed than their warship.
Threat. He placed one of his arms around her. The need to protect his female coursed through his circuits, lighting his processors.
“Have they seen us?” She lowered her voice as though she was worried the enemy might overhear their conversation.
“Shields down. Speed constant.” That suggested the enemy hadn’t seen them. “Course.”
He drew a straight line from the battle station on the main viewscreen, projecting its path, illustrating that it hadn’t changed. The battle station would pass to the right of their warship.
“Range. Our sensors.” He waved at the entire image on the display. “Their sensors.” He drew another line in front of their warship.
He had expanded their warship’s monitoring range. The Humanoid Alliance would likely be using the manufacturer default range. That was smaller.
“Thank the stars.” His female blew out her breath. “Veer to the left.” She ordered. “Get us out of range of their sensors.”
Another sensor was triggered. “Two. Three.” Two more battle stations had entered their space. Ghost projected their course. They would pass to their left, boxing them in.
“Move quickly to the right.” His female changed her command. “Full speed. We’ll try to get out of their range.”
The sensors continued to chime. Three more battle stations appeared on the main viewscreen. They would pass to the warship’s far right.
“It’s an armada.” His female’s horror reflected his own. “We can’t fight them. They’ll blast us to pieces.”
He agreed. “Warships inside.” The battle stations would hold warships in their docking bays.
“As long as those warships stay inside the battle stations, we should be able to reverse direction, returning from where we came, and outrun them, staying out the range of their sensors.”
They could outrun them…for a while. Battle stations were huge and slow moving.
“Invasion fleet.” Ghost had been part of invasions, recognized the flight pattern. He drew a line from one of the battle stations, placed a circle at the end. “Target.” He marked a X between the two points. “Trapped.”
When the Humanoid Alliance reached the planet they planned to conquer, they would release their warships. The ship belonging to Ghost and his female would be trapped between the enemy’s battle stations and the planet targeted for takeover.
“We could edge toward the right, eventually be free of the armada,” his female suggested.
“Too big.” He indicated the width of the invasion fleet. What they could detect of it. There could be more battle stations. “Not fast enough.” He’d done the calculations. Their warship was faster than the battle stations but moving diagonally required covering more distance and his past experience told him the invasion fleet wasn’t travelling far. “Trigger sensors.”
“Fuck.” His female swept her hands over her beautiful face. “I’m all out of ideas.” She gazed at him. “Do you have any?”
Ghost focused on the main viewscreen. She expected him to have a solution. He was a cyborg. He should have one.
He didn’t.
Because he was damaged.
Your human handlers must be damaged also, C Model. A J model cyborg named Force transmitted. They’re headed in the wrong direction. The battle is the other way.
The transmission originated from one of the battle stations.
Free. Ghost no longer had a human handler.
You freed yourself, knowing that would put us all in danger? Force’s words were edged with anger. Have you no honor, warrior?
Chatter flooded the lines. The J models agreed with the warrior’s admonishment.
Ghost said nothing.
He hadn’t freed himself. Ace and Thrasher, the two K Models, had forced that decision upon him. But he wouldn’t condemn them for that.
It had given him planet rotations with his female.
Don’t answer the Humanoid Alliance hail. Force instructed. You’re not a J model. You can’t pass for human. Lock yourself in your holding chamber and they might allow you to live.
That wasn’t an option for him.
Female. The Humanoid Alliance wouldn’t allow her to live.
The transmission lines went silent.
Had he somehow severed communications? Force?
You are truly damaged. The J Model scoffed. You don’t have a female. They’re rare.
They were rare but he had one. Ghost didn’t have the time to convince the cynical warrior of that fact. Not with words. “Mine?”
She turned her head, gazing at him with hope in her big brown eyes. “Did you think of an idea? Something that might save us?”
“Cyborgs.”
“There are cyborgs on board the battle stations?” His female straightened.
He grunted.
“Yes.” She raised her hands in triumph. “Then we’re saved. They’ll escape, as you did, kill everyone, and no one will be left to blow us up.”
“No escape.” One cyborg rebelling might be an isolated malfunction. An armada of cyborgs rebelling would cause the Humanoid Alliance to question the feasibility of every cyborg they’d ever manufactured. Every warrior remaining in the control of the humans would be decommissioned, killed in the most painful way possible, scrapped for parts.
“They can’t escape?” She frowned. “Then how can they help us?”
“Ask.” Ghost transmitted the entire exchange to Force.
The transmission lines exploded with voices.
He has a female.
They will manufacture offspring.
Her hair is the color of a yellow dwarf star.
If a damaged C model has a female, I must have one too.
Your female is real. Force’s transmission reflected his wonder.
Real. Ghost confirmed. Mine.
The noise on the transmission lines made him wince. Thousands of warriors yearned to find their own females.
He glanced at his female’s face. They all envied him, wanted what he had already found.
We could manipulate the humans’ systems, hide your ship from them. We’re J models. We have that ability. Force offered a viable solution. But that would put every cyborg in the invasion fleet in danger. We could all be decommissioned.
Ghost gritted his teeth. He couldn’t ask them to take that risk, make that sacrifice.
And he shouldn’t have to.
He was a cyborg. He should be able to protect his female himself. He shouldn’t need their assistance.
You’re a stubborn warrior, C Model. Force sighed. Communicate to your female that we will help her. He spoke for his J Model brethren. Next time, send a transmission if she’s in peril. Give all of us the opportunity to save her.
They considered that mission to be an honor, were risking all of their lives to save his female’s, knowing they might not be successful.
How many females had the other cyborgs saved? His female had asked.
In the past, none. He hadn’t asked his brethren, hadn’t given them that choice, that opportunity.
“Cyborg. Help.” Ghost communicated to his female.
“What do they want us to do?” She positioned her hands over the control panel. “Should we move—”
“Stay.” He reduced all non-essential power on the warship. The lights dimmed. The images on the main viewscreen remained.
“You’re darkening the ship. We’ll blend into the blackness of space.” His female’s forehead furrowed with thought lines. “But they’ll still see us, using their systems.”
“Cyborgs,” he reminded her.
She turned her head toward him. Her eyes widened. “The cyborgs are manipulating the Humanoid Alliance systems.”
“Try.” The chances of success weren’t one hundred percent.
“They will try to manipulate the systems.” His female swung her legs to the side, sitting across his thighs. “And we’re to sit here and hope they’re successful.”
Ghost grunted. That plan had the highest possibility of survival.
“I prefer to take action, to attack them.”
He preferred to attack the enemy also. If it were him alone he might do that, but he was with his female. He wouldn’t risk her lifespan because he had no patience.
Or because it damaged his pride to rely on others for help.
“Fleet.” There were too many battle stations. “Cannot fight.” One battle station would be a challenge to defeat. “Would die.” They wouldn’t survive a confrontation.
“We could die if we don’t do anything.” She pursed her lips. “If they fight us with warships, we might down one or two of them.”
“No.”
His female opened her mouth.
“No,” he repeated.
She snapped her mouth shut, looking adorably disgruntled.
The battle stations crept closer and closer to them. Soon the warship would show up on the Humanoid Alliance’s viewscreens.
Unless his brethren tampered with the battle stations’ systems. All of them. That task would be impossible for humans, was daunting for cyborgs.
“We’re relying on your cyborg buddies to protect us,” his female whispered. “In the past, when I relied on other beings to protect me, they didn’t.”
“Trust.” Cyborgs wouldn’t betray her as the humans had.
“I’m not good at trust, Ghost.” She shook. “And I don’t know them.”
“Trust me.”
She gazed at him for a moment and then dipped her head, a small slight movement that meant the universe to him.
His constantly doubting female trusted him. Ghost felt as though he’d won the biggest battle of his lifespan.
They watched the main viewscreen. The enemy, if nothing had been done, would have detected them by now. Yet they gave no indication that they had. The progression of the battle stations didn’t accelerate or slow, didn’t deviate from the projected path.
“Safe.” Ghost pulled his female closer to him and wrapped his frame protectively around her lush curves. His hard cock pressed against her thighs.
“We’re not safe yet.” Her voice was barely audible, even with his enhanced cyborg senses. “On Mercury Minor, there would be these stretches of silence between the Humanoid Alliance bombardments. I would wait, knowing a missile could drop on me in the next heartbeat.”
He brushed his chin against his female’s golden curls. “Not alone. Have me.”
Ghost was acutely aware he wasn’t enough. This confrontation had showed him that. He required the assistance of other cyborgs, couldn’t protect her in isolation.
“Father. Tell me.” He sought to distract her.
“You want to hear about my father now?”
Ghost grunted. They had the time now and he longed to hear another one of her instructive stories.
Her father had five human offspring and had been skilled in the training of them. Admiration warmed his female’s voice every time she spoke of the male.
Ghost would glean information from her recounting, save it in his databases, and when they manufactured offspring, he would utilize it. He would excel at the human father role. Admiration would warm their offsprings’ voices.
They would love him as his female loved her father.
“My father was a huge male,” she whispered.
Ghost was also a huge male. He checked that quality off his human father list.
“He would carry me on his shoulders while he walked around the settlement.”
Ghost carried his female over his shoulders. If he carried her on his shoulders, she would crack her head on the ceiling. “Danger.” He motioned from the top of his head upward.
She laughed softly. “I was smaller then and we were outside.”
Small female. Outside. Ghost added those parameters to the task.
“One planet rotation, he gave me a dagger crafted from wood. All the fathers gave their children the same blunt weapons.”
Ghost listened intently, vastly enjoying the action-filled story of offspring armed with daggers, positioned on their fathers’ shoulders. That training taught his female battle strategy and had given her courage.
Their offspring would fight on his shoulders. They would learn battle strategy and be given courage also.
The battle stations drifted by them, silent giant vessels of destruction.
His female’s breath hitched. She became quiet and still.
Ghost rubbed her back, needing to touch her, to assure himself she was undamaged, alive.
The battle stations didn’t slow, didn’t stop, didn’t fire upon their ship.
His female exhaled heavily, her shoulders lowering.
Ghost tracked the battle stations as they moved away from the warship. Lowering her voice to a whisper, his female told him another story about her father, adding more tasks to his human father list.
Your female is safe, C Model, Force transmitted, a tinge of cockiness hanging off each word.
Thank you. Ghost’s gratitude overwhelmed his pride. Never forget.
He owed the J Models a debt. When called upon, he would pay it. Ghost wrapped one of his female’s curls around his right index finger.
We’re cyborgs. We never forget. Force laughed. And you’ve already thanked us. You’ve been transmitting everything your female says and does.
Fraggin’ hole. He had assumed the J Model had ended the transmission. Communications wasn’t Ghost’s strength.
A planet rotation in the future, my offspring, wielding wooden weapons, will meet yours in mock battle, C Model. Force’s transmission held longing in its tone. My offspring, being a J Model, will be triumphant.
Ghost huffed his disagreement. His offspring would defeat the J Model’s offspring, toppling him from his father’s shoulders.
Move your female to cyborg-controlled space. Force gave him unwanted advice. We might not be able to save you the next time. He ended the transmission.
Ghost scowled. He didn’t need to be told how to protect his female.
“What is it?” She gazed at him, concern reflecting in her big brown eyes. “Have the Humanoid Alliance battle stations detected us?”
He pressed his lips against her forehead, tasting the salt of her skin. “Safe.” He would keep her that way.
Ghost restarted the engines. The floor tiles vibrated under his bare feet. He brightened the lights.
His female turned to face the main viewscreen. She looked down at their shared control panel. “I’m resuming our course to Earth Minor.” She steered the warship toward the distant planet.
He ran through the system checks, verified that liquid filtration was operational.
“Deneb 9 is on the way to Earth Minor.” His female’s casual tone didn’t fool him.
“No.” Landing on Deneb 9 was much too dangerous. “Rebels assist.” Others could help the locals.
“I’m the captain.” She lifted her chin.
“More than that.” Ghost rested his chin on her head. “Mine.”
She was the reason he had repaired himself. She was why he spoke. She was the only being holding his damaged soul together. Without her, he’d be locked in his chamber, killing anyone who entered. He’d be alone, without hope, without caring.
“Cannot lose.” His voice broke.
His female turned and studied his face for one, two heartbeats. “You won’t lose me.” She bracketed his cheeks with her soft hands and leaned her forehead against his, the tips of their noses touching. “I will remain by your side for as long as you desire.”
“Always.” That was what he desired.
“I will remain by your side always,” she amended. “I’ve only used that word with you, cyborg.” Her laughter was shaky. “I don’t believe in it.”
“Will.” He would teach her the meaning of always.
“Will I believe?” She brushed her lips over his, the gentlest of caresses, and he froze in place, completely captivated by her, his little human. “Can you give me a glimpse of forever now?” She extended her dainty pink tongue and skimmed it along his flesh. “When you touch me, breed with me, I see it.”
Ghost gazed at her, a powerful C Model cyborg rendered immobile by his female.
“There’s eternity in your brilliant blue eyes when I kiss you.” She toyed with his bottom lip, stripping the little restraint he had lick by lick. “I wonder…”
His fingers curled into fists. Her wondering would undo him entirely. He sensed that.
“What will I view when I kiss you all over?” She mouthed over his chin. “Will sucking your cock make me believe in always?”
His cock bobbed, willing to give that method a try.
“I’ll make you a deal, cyborg.” She inhaled his skin, pulling it, pulling it. Then she released him. “I’ll take you into my hot mouth if you show me forever.”
This was one deal he’d accept. “Suck me, Mine.”