Chapter Seven:

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Days passed in a quiet, vacuous haze. Kat had no sense of time anymore. Only the ushering of Bin-Three to take her back to her quarters at the end of her shift and the android waking her up each morning with a bland protein bar.

What she did have to tell time was reports, wrappers in her waste receptacle, and the lengthening of her nails. She could have looked at the date on the network but time seemed meaningless when stuck in a small space with no eyes on the skies. No eyes on space.

She had not seen Dommik in days, not even in passing, and her need for human contact was beginning to grow strong. She could deal with no contact with the outside world as long as the loneliness was interjected with other people. It was almost comforting to recreate a fantasy of her childhood. But this fantasy came with androids and monsters rather than doctors and nurses.

Kat curled into a fetal position on her cot, tugging the cloth blanket up to her mouth. Today was a rest day and although she had nothing better to do than study diagnostics on the screens and the creatures onboard, this morning she was going to take it slow. She sighed into the covers.

Twice now, new species had appeared in the menagerie, and she knew it was all happening late at night while she was asleep. Dommik was avoiding her and doing his hunts at night. It perturbed her that she had slept through two landings, missed two worlds, and with no knowledge of it.

So now she tried to keep herself up at night. Only to perceive nothing, not even the heavy footsteps of the Cyborg lurking in the passageway.

She was determined to be awake the next time the ship landed.

Except I need sleep too.

A ping sounded at the door. Kat shifted her head to look at it and willed the android to go away. Her eyes narrowed and began to close when a knock accompanied the ping. Whoever was outside her room was adamant about making themselves obnoxious.

The sound followed her as she jumped out of bed and peeled the curls stuck to her cheek away from her face. “I’m coming,” she groaned.

The door opened to one of the Bins carrying her morning nutrition. “Good morning, Katalina, I have brought your breakfast.”

She took it and waited for the robot to leave. It didn’t.

“Call me Kat… Please. It’s the rest cycle,” Kat reminded it.

A light flashed across its non-face. “Yes. We have expected a routine from you and when you did not follow it, the other Bin’s and I decided to follow up.”

Kat opened the bar and bit into it. Peanut butter. Ugh. “I’m fine.” The android turned to leave. “Bin, wait! Do you have a kitchen on this ship?”

It stopped and flashed. “We have a molecular replicator.”

“Can you take me to it?”

“No. It is in a restricted area.”

Kat looked at the uneaten bar. “I’m very hungry.”

“I will provide you another bar.” It turned to leave again.

She followed it, leaving her room barefoot and in an oversized shirt. “I need real food, Bin, please. It can’t be restricted enough to stop you from taking care of me.”

“A protein bar is food. I will provide you another.”

It kept walking away. Kat looked briefly back at her room, the door now closed, and decided that sleep could wait.

“Check my stats.” She stopped and reached out her arm. The robot came back to her. “I’m actually not feeling well at all. I think I need to go to the medbay.”

The Bin jerked and moved up to her. It took her hand and the metal of its fingers heated in her grip. Kat held still as something pricked her skin and the android beeped. She had encountered her fair share of the medical mech, it was easier and cheaper to employ an android than it was to find a human routine-care doctor. A series of lasers ran up her arm and the pinch on her hand released.

“You are not at optimum. You have higher than average sodium levels and are moderately dehydrated. I will take you to medbay.”

Kat hid her smile and continued to follow the robot. It led her toward the hull but stopped at a door opposite of the facility. One that had remained closed for her until now. It opened for the Bin, and just beyond was an elevator.

She stepped into the small dimly lit boxed lift, and immediately felt the temperature drop. The door shut as tiny butterflies fluttered her stomach and bumps covered her skin.

Maybe I should have gotten dressed. It was too late now. The lift stopped and opened to another dark passageway.

Kat fell in line behind the android. It looked like an exact replica of the floor they had just left. But as they turned the corner, an aura of light filtered through the hallway, she could see a view to the stars as they walked closer toward it.

Black and white starfields filled her vision off of a side alcove with plush chairs sitting in a ‘U’ shape for watching it. Her stomach grumbled, reminding her to seek the kitchen, but her feet were rooted to the floor.

She could barely take in a breath and the pleas of the robot behind her went unnoticed.

Kat had been out in the open before, living in the metal and cement cities of Earth, her grandmother’s sizable backyard filled with flowers and trees that glowed soft light at night. But this was different, almost painful, almost heart-breaking. She wanted to turn away and go back to her room but her body remained rooted in place.

Her muscles tensed and her hands became slick. She bunched them up into her night-shirt.

“Ain’t nothing good out there, Katalina, nothing but experience and space. Tried to tell your Ma that but she wouldn’t hear it. Young thing like her wanted to find her own way and she was determined that her ‘way’ was out there and not here on Earth.” Her grandmother sipped her sweet tea as she rocked the swing with her foot. Nothing but dirt lay below her rocker. The grass got squished away by the soles of her bare feet. They gave up growing long ago. “Ain’t nothing good here either. I’ll give her that.”

Kat found her footing just enough to flop into one of the plush chairs.

“Katalina Jones, you are not authorized to be there. I must insist we leave.”

She ignored the android.

“You are not authorized to be there. I must insist we go to medbay,” it repeated.

Stars flew by, and sadly she couldn’t tell if they were meteors or asteroids.

“All the good left Earth when your grandpa passed away,” her grandmother mumbled into her cup. “You’re here though, that says something.”

She never knew her grandfather. “I miss you,” Kat whispered to herself.

“The Earth will miss you too when you leave.”

She wasn’t sure how long she sat there but she vaguely registered that the android had stopped talking at some point. Her eyes were glued to the scene and her mind drifted. Kat needed to watch the universe.

It made her feel small, really small, and insignificant. And stupid. She didn’t know why she was where she was and couldn’t figure out the choices she made to get to this moment. But the one thing she knew was that it made her sad. She pressed her hands against her face and cried.

***

“Changing coordinates to Ghost City,” Dommik called out.

“‘bout time, I’ve only been waiting since our last talk,” Stryker’s voice came through the intercom.

“Had to make several stops on the way. You know how it goes.”

“No, I don’t, and I have far too much cargo that needs off-boarding than my ship can handle. I can’t work when I have no room for it!”

Dommik smirked. He leaned back into his chair. “Yeah, well, I would feel the same way if I were helping Gunner too.”

All he got was a grunt for an answer. He clicked his fingertips on the armrest, a spool of rope in his lap. “Is he meeting up with us?”

“Yeah. The man is a system behind me. I think he’s planning to stay in the city for awhile, at least until I finish this shipment and wire him his payload.”

“Odd.”

“A little but who knows with him? He’s just on the edge of psychotic. Maybe Brash is lodged at the city as well and he’s fixing to get himself another tattoo. I’m assuming you got my payment then?”

“Yeah and then some.” Dommik looked down at the bundle of rope in his lap, his hand buckled and split in two as he picked it up and started to weave it. Rough cord slid across the metal appendages as his extra fingers unclipped from within his arm until he had three working hands. He could split his legs as well until he was nothing but a torso, a head, and a man with eight pieces. He was truly terrifying in his other form.

“An imp of a girl, I heard.”

Dommik’s hands crashed back together in a crunch, the rope torn into pieces and dropped to the floor.

“Who told you about Kat?”

“A kitten? Even better.” Stryker laughed but it came through fuzzy. “Mia told me. She’s pissed at you.”

“She has no reason to be. There’s no way she was getting on my ship. I took this job with the understanding that I work alone.”

“Yeah until they can’t trust you anymore with their equipment. What about the girl?”

Dommik sighed. Bin-One’s electronic footprint walked up beside him, Dommik raised his hand to keep the android silent. “What about her?”

“She’s obviously there to spy on you, you gonna keep her, or drop her off? If she’s registered, I’ll take her off your hands. Could use a little conversation now and then. And I’m as boring as they come, nothing to tell the pegs back at base.”

“What happened to your crew?” Did he want to drop Kat off at the port? He liked her, he hated to admit, and she smelled nice. Better than any other human he had encountered. He avoided her for the same reason.

“Hold up.” A crash and a curse came through the channel.

“What’s wrong?” Dommik leaned forward. He turned up the volume to listen in.

“Help...Ever...dead. Trapped. Anyo…” Several minutes went by in silence.

“Distress call.” His voice had lost its ease.

“Are you going to answer it?”

It was quiet for another minute before Stryker responded, “No. I need to turn in these acquisitions. It’s on an unregulated channel. Probably a trap.”

Dommik’s thoughts turned back to Kat. His feet hit the cords lying at his feet. “If you’re sure... It sounded like a woman.”

Would he answer it? Even if it was a trap? What if it was Kat on the other side calling for help? That was the problem about distress calls, only one in five were real...the rest were fake. And they always filled you with doubt. Doubt, guilt, death or enslavement.

“I’ll relay it over to Gunner and see what he thinks,” Stryker’s voice went hard.

“You already know the answer he’ll give you.”

“Yeah, well, it’ll ease my mind.” The Cyborg let out a short laugh. “‘Fuck it into the dirt. Shoot it twice in the temple. Make it swallow bullets. Grab their balls and make them bleed.’”

Bin-One remained as a statue at his side, except for the intermittent flashes, each flash was a correspondent between his androids...and the flashes had been picking up. Dommik glanced at the robot. It flashed again as he stared at it.

“‘One and done,’” Stryker continued.

“I need to go. See you at Ghost.”

“Yeah...maybe.” The comm clicked off as Dommik swiveled his seat to face his android head on. He kicked the rope away from his chair. It flashed again.

“What?”

Bin-One stopped relaying and focused on him. Am I actually being spied on? Did someone tap into my bots? It was his first thought.

“Master, Katalina Jones is in a restricted area and refuses to move.”

Dommik stood up. “How the Hell did she get past one of the doors?” He focused his attention on his ship and connected to its systems, scanning the interior for her heat signature.

“She said she wasn’t feeling well and Bin-Three took her stats. They were headed to the medbay when she stopped at the view lounge down the hallway.” Dommik found her just as the robot said it. “Katalina Jones won’t leave the area. We cannot touch her without your permission, Master.” He started out of the bridge and through the door. Bin-One followed closely behind. “Do we have your permission?”

Dommik stopped and grabbed the bot by its head, lifting all 250 pounds of it off the ground. The android's head got tangled into the ropes crisscrossing and hanging from the ceiling. “You do not have permission. You should have told me the instant she was led outside her zone.”

“It wasn’t coded as a red, orange, or yellow alert, Master,” It said easily, unhindered by its mistreatment. Dommik set the bot on the floor and took a breath.

“Tell Bin-Three to go back to work. I’ll take care of it from here, and make anything to do with Kat, a red-alert.” He wiped his hand over his chest in disgust. “Leave. And never take her out of the zone again without my knowledge.”

“Yes, Master. Registered.” It moved away and out of his sight.

Dommik palmed his face, willing the headache coming on to go away. It took a lot for a Cyborg to get a headache and the events of this day were not likely to help. He didn’t envy Stryker and if he had to weigh who was having a worse day, he had to put them side-by-side. Women could do that.

Kat did that to him unknowingly on a daily basis. He looked up. The ropes were everywhere above him, leading all the way back to his cockpit and they only stopped at the end of the passageway. They hung from the grates and the metal tubes that lined the walls; some in an intricate pattern and other parts in disarray. It was thick with forced webbing, all of it to fill his strange impulses. And his need to be surrounded in a weave of his own design.

If she sees this…

Anyone who saw this either had one of two reactions: fear or confusion. A gut wrench that shivered through them. The only other person who saw this side of him and understood it was Stryker and it was only because he had his own eccentricities.

Dommik reached up and grabbed a tangle of cord. It soothed him. He ripped it from its support and let it fall at his feet. It was quickly forgotten as he made his way down the dark hallway in search of Kat.

He heard her well before he saw her.

The sound of sniffling reached his ears just as the scent of tears assailed him. Dommik quieted his steps and crept up on her, his frame invisible within the shadows.

Did she see the ropes? Is she crying because of fear?

He couldn’t tell so instead he watched her. Her copper curls were bent out of shape and fell in pressed waves along her head. The bumps of slender knees could just be seen over the chairs, bent up and hugged to her chest, her face just above them, her mouth kissing one of them in comfort.

Her cries breezed away while her hands came up to wipe off whatever dew that still lingered on her face. Eventually, her head tilted to the side and her hair fell to her shoulder, her breaths hushed and her heart fell into a slow rhythm.

He didn’t know how long he watched her, having forgotten everything but her tears, but he knew when she fell asleep.

Dommik shrugged off his uniform jacket and stepped from the shadows, draping it across her shoulders. Kat twitched under it before falling back to sleep. He rounded the couch and sat down next to her, soaking in her scent and sleeping pants. His eyes turned to the stars.

How could he trap a girl like her within his web? Someone who was wild to him, wild green eyes that pierced him every time she lifted her gaze, wild hair that shimmered under the dimmed lights, and a smell he still couldn’t place. His fingers drummed against the back of the couch, the other in his lap.

The sound of her sleeping soothed him. It was a break within the quiet hum of his ship. Dommik looked at her.

He could see her in his bed, lithe and molded into his side, he could feel her breaths breeze over his chest. He wanted to wrap her up, cage her away, make her into something he was only allowed to enjoy. His wingless fairy in his ropes.

Dommik tensed, disgusted with himself, and looked back at the view.

A moan pulled him back to her. Her hooded eyes brushed over with slender fingertips, only to massage the back of her neck. He sat silently, waiting for her to notice him; waiting for the inevitable.

“Oh.” Kat jerked. He watched her. “Shit.”

“Are you ill?”

She let her knees fall to the cushion, her bare feet slipped to the floor. “How long have you been there? No, why?”

“Awhile. One of my androids were taking you to the medical facility.”

The girl fidgeted, pulling down her night shift; but it barely touched her knees and even that was stretching it. Dommik had to fidget himself.

“Yeah, about that...I really hate peanut butter.”

 “I don’t understand. Are you suddenly allergic to it? You have no outward signs.” He perused her body, satisfied that she all but glowed with health. “It’s high in protein.”

“I wasn’t a week ago but if I have to eat one more bar, I’m going to scream. No. I’m going to take it out on Bin-Three and then cannibalize his parts. At this point, I’m sure metal tastes better than those awful bars.” She crossed her arms and looked him dead in the eye. “Your bugs look better than those bars.”

Dommik leaned back and smirked. “So you would eat anything rather than another ration?”

His smile grew wider when her eyes locked on the bulge between his thighs. He widened his legs just a fraction. A blush that looked more like a blemish spotted her cheeks.

Kat swallowed but kept looking at him, at the spot that seemed to twitch and grow harder. He could have sworn she was undressing him with her eyes. Not the reaction I expected. Please continue.

She locked eyes with him. “You want me to take care of that?”

Dommik coughed and sat forward, running his hands through his hair. “Shit, Kat, no. I was teasing. If you’re not hurt then why were you crying?” He changed the subject but his mind was picturing something else entirely. Lips wrapped around his cock. He tried to will his growing erection away but it remained stiff and painful.

He didn’t have control of his body around her.

Kat continued to pin him down with her eyes. “I would ya know. It depends on the food I get out of it.” She laughed. “It can’t be worse than eating those bars.”

Dommik didn’t think he could get any harder. He pressed his hand over the tent he had on display and adjusted himself. “Why were you crying?” he asked again, trying to change the subject.

Kat’s smile got bigger. “You don’t look comfortable, Cyborg.”

“For fuck’s sake, if you wanted different food, you should have just said so.”

“You’re never around.”

“Can you imagine why?”

Dommik looked away, collecting his temper, watching the stars. It was harder now. His fingers dug into the couch, piercing the fabric and destroying the upholstery.

I can smell her...

Kat threaded her fingers together just as her stomach grumbled. “I’m hungry.”

“That’s why you were crying?”

“I think it is…”

He let out a long breath, knowing she wasn’t telling the truth. People don’t cry over food, not like she had. And it angered him. She was his to take care of, she lived on his ship, she drove him up the wall, literally.

“Wait here.” He stood up and stormed away, beyond his ropes, and into the rarely used kitchen. Dommik switched on the processor and put in the first thing that came to mind. With the offering in his hands, and the smell of cheese overwhelming him, he was back at her side within several minutes.

Kat hadn’t moved and he realized he hadn’t even asked her what she wanted. He was feeding her and he had no idea how to do it well. He ate the bare minimum as a Cyborg.

The pizza looked like crap in his hands.

She sat up and spun around. “Oh. My. God. Is that pizza?” She climbed over the couch.

“Yes.”

His eyes caught her bare legs as her shirt rode up and he missed it when it fell back into place.

“It’s for me, right?”

He narrowed his eyes, looking down at her. “Maybe.”

“I’m living off its fumes right now, please don’t be a sadist.”

“Don’t trick my androids again. If you’re sick, then be sick. They have been reprogrammed to tell me the moment you are in distress and the second you ask to go within a restricted zone. Do you understand, Kat?” His voice hard and forceful.

She looked from the pizza to him. “But it got me what I wanted.”

“Kat...”

“It got me time looking out in space. I’ve never seen it before, not like this.” She waved her hand. “It made me feel small.” Her breath hitched. “But it also got me companionship and well, I never thought I would worship the pizza delivery man but wow, Dommik, you could make any woman’s dream come true. You look like a fantasy.”

He looked down at the pie he was holding with hands half-gloved in leather only to look beyond at his Kevlar-clad body and the nano-grade body suit that peaked out from underneath. He handed her the pizza. She wrenched it out of his hands and lifted the entire thing to devour.

“Wait a moment.” He unsheathed his dagger while she placed it on the couch and cut the food into slices.

“Thank you,” she giggled. “Want a slice?” Moaning and chewing. Her throat swallowing each bite and all at once, he was picturing her with her mouth wrapped around his dick, swallowing him down. Dommik had to stop himself from adjusting, again. The light flickered on his console, it vibrated and shot out a holographic screen.

A new mission.

He read the missive in seconds and the screen was gone before Kat took another bite. Every muscle in his body went tense and the stress of the day shot through him like a bullet. It wasn’t an easy job, in fact, it was a difficult one and exponentially more with Kat on the ship. His eyes met hers.

She was watching him while she ate.

“A new retrieval,” he told her, unsure why.

“Where?”

“A moon, far from here.”

Kat canted her head, the pizza now forgotten next to her. “Is that...bad?”

“It’s in a Trentian controlled sector. It’s a small colony, a religious group shunned by the main sect of their species. But they remain protected by the Trentian military force and are still subjected to their laws.” His stress increased. He could feel his metal interior pull apart, screaming for release. His hand split in two and he hid it at his side while keeping Kat’s eyes. Dommik wanted to rip apart his ropes. He ached to do so much more.

“Bin-Three!” he yelled.

“Yes, Master?”

“Take Kat down below. Give her access to the menagerie food processor and the codes for standard Earthian food.”

“Yes, Master.”

Kat stood back up. “Wait, Dommik, what’s wrong with this mission?”

“Please follow me, Katalina Jones.” Bin-Three was at her side.

Dommik ignored her and turned away. He vanished into the dark interior of his ship as she called after him. His mind was elsewhere. His mind on Mia and the EPED. And his anger.

***

Dommik released his body. Tearing and ripping the outer layers of his armor off. Each of his arms split into two, his legs followed suit until he was an eight appendaged abomination. A spider.

The rope was in his hands and the rough tear of it snapped as he pulled it apart, yanking it from the walls. His teeth, metal disguised as bone, elongated as his jaw expanded and broke away from his face. The cords continued to fall as he tore them from the ceiling, climbing over them, bending the grates in his wake.

The smell of the wild-haired girl and the stench of the food was unshakeable, although it was far down the hallway. Shreds fell around him as he crawled across the wall. His fangs filled with the strongest nano-enhanced paralytic poison in the universe, taken from the DNA of dozens of venomous creatures from around the universe.

He wanted to sink himself into Kat. His teeth and his body.

Instead, he went into a frenzy, purging the second floor of all his weaved creations until his manic state exhausted itself. Until his androids came behind him and cleaned up his mess.

Dommik laid naked on the floor of the bridge and scraped the metal with his nails. Hours passed before he found himself again.