Chapter Eight

The Splice ship was mercifully empty.

Alphy hummed to herself as she read the controls. She paused and said, “I think I have it. You enter coordinates here, set propulsion here, and then, the ship will go through its detachment sequence.”

Lexo was watching over her shoulder. “That’s it?”

“Yup. It is very point-and-shoot.”

Alphy rubbed her hands together and looked at the small cockpit of the scouting vessel. “Right. We should be able to launch this sucker by delayed response, or at least a remote.”

“Do you have a remote?”

She shook her head. “No, but the guys are good at this kinda thing. I am pretty sure that the fabricators are already assembling what we need.”

They are. The bots will be delivering it in five minutes. Please, link with the Splice ship for data absorption. Duss’s words were calm, but they were an order.

Alphy looked to Lexo. “The control unit will be here in five minutes. In the meantime, I have to get to work.”

“What?”

“I need to scour the systems for information. I just wanted to give you a head’s up in case you wondered.”

Lexo put his hand on her shoulder. “Is that safe?”

She chuckled. “Definitely not. Here I go.”

She pressed her fingers to the active screen, and her nanites filled the system.

The alien information flowed through her and into the Triad. Alphy remained still as her nanites retrieved all they could and then returned to her in a rush.

She gasped and staggered back. “Right. Got it. Is the remote here yet?”

Lexo straightened from his position next to her. He held her steady while she fought for balance. “I installed it an hour ago. What were you doing?”

She blinked slowly as the real world took up its place around her. “I was working. Data sorting.”

“How? Your fingers didn’t move.”

She sighed. “Can we discuss this over lunch? It has been a very trying day.”

“Right. Of course. Sure. Come with me.”

Alphy smirked as he led her back to her home. It was as if he was the senior staff and not just the pilot, or she was an invalid. Either way, it was not flattering.

“I know the way home, Lexo. You don’t have to hold me up.”

They walked through the narrow halls of the Splice ship, breathing as shallowly as possible. The stench of fear mingled with the alien musks produced a smell so strong she could taste it. She knew that smell. She had spent time in that smell.

Alphy bolted for the hatch that connected the Splice ship to her station. The moment she was safe, she doubled over and dry heaved onto the deck.

“Are you all right?”

She waved at him and croaked, “Get that thing out of here.”

“Right. Sealing the breach.” Lexo slammed a sheet of metal against the hole in the hull that had been carved by the incursion.

She shivered and leaned against the wall as the maintenance bots whirred and welded the hole closed.

When the seal was confirmed, Lexo went to the nearest control panel and keyed in a series of commands. “Do you have the coordinates?”

She nodded and stood next to him, typing as quickly as she could. “That should do it. It is on the other side of this station, so aside from the slight pause, there should be no indication that they found anything at this position.”

“Why is that important?”

She smiled slightly, “Because they didn’t report finding us, and their ships are all interlinked. That is how they can attack entire planets once they are sure of compatibility.”

The flood of information in her mind had left pools of data that her conscious thoughts could access. She saw species with wings, tails, and other adaptations that the Splice wanted. Humans were just filler for the special bits and pieces that they wanted to hold together, and as such, they were valuable. She knew that already. She had been on the frontlines of the first harvest.

The hiss of the umbilical releasing was a relief. The ship would float a safe distance away, and then, the engines would fire.

“It is set to go. Are there satellites that can monitor it?”

Alphy nodded. “Yup. The guys are on it.”

“Are they speaking to you now?”

“Not in a manner that counts as speech. I get flickers from the direct feed of the ship’s satellites.” She started to head for the dining hall when he grabbed her arm.

“Are you sure you are all right?”

She paused and linked her arm with his. “I will be fine after I scrub my hands, eat, and then go for a swim in the oxygen farm.”

He brightened. “Swim?”

“Yup. There is a freshwater tank embedded in the floor. It is almost like a lake.”

They walked in step down the hall, the dried blood of the Splice still on their skin. The sonic scrubber was waiting for them, and Alphy stuck her hands in the machine near the door of the dining hall.

When it was Lexo’s turn, he admitted, “That is a handy thing.”

“It is. I am pretty sure it was a tech with small kids that put it in all the mess halls of the Earth forces.”

“It seems likely.”

With their hands and forearms clean, it was time to get something to eat. A scan of her palm resulted in the ship preparing two trays for her. She took one in each hand and walked to the tables before returning to the dispenser for some coffee, water, tea, soda, and anything else that the unit could come up with. She was parched.

The tray wobbled as she walked, but Lexo was busy with his own meal and didn’t have a free hand. She set the tray down with a sigh.

Lexo eyed her selections. “That is quite the meal.”

“Yup, but apparently, I need it, so I will work my way through it.” She settled in and lifted her spork. She had a lot of work to do.

When she cleared the first tray, Lexo took it away for her. She continued on through the second and finally sat back with a sigh. Everything was gone, but she felt like she had eaten a light snack and not an entire buffet.

Lexo was staring at her, his chin resting on his hands, his elbows on the table. “Wow. That was hot.”

She looked at him and grinned. “You have strange tastes, Lexo.”

He shrugged. “I have been away from home a long time. A woman with an appetite is the most encouraging thing I have seen recently.”

She stretched, thrusting her arms upward, pulling at the muscles of her shoulders. “Right. Now a swim.”

He chuckled and blinked. “Well, now that stretch is the most encouraging thing I have seen. Aren’t you supposed to wait at least an hour after eating before you swim?”

Alphy smirked and took care of her final dishes. “That is an old wives’ tale, and it only applies to wearing a suit.”

Lexo was on his feet in an instant. “Lead the way.”

 

The interior arboretum was gorgeous, as always.

“Why would the Triad have this installed on their vessel?”

Alphy stripped. “I neither know nor care. All I know is that it feels almost like I am back on Earth. It makes me feel like I am home.”

The ceiling above was fifteen stories away. The huge central spoke housed the trees and the lake that was central to the water-processing and oxygen systems.

She didn’t look at her companion, just waded into the lake and started to swim. The splash behind her spoke volumes.

She turned, and he was gone.

Shrugging, she continued to swim back and forth, occasionally seeing his head above the surface as he cruised around the open water.

She was floating on her back and sculling slowly through the water when he appeared at her side.

“You really do like the water.” He swam next to her as she slipped slowly across the surface.

“I really do. You seem to be having fun as well.”

He grinned. “I am. I confess I wasn’t sure I could swim with the adaptations, but they don’t hold me back.”

“If you didn’t get a shower warning, they wouldn’t be a problem. Hell, your family perfected this technology. You should know that water isn’t an issue.” She smiled and kept looking up at the distant ceiling.

“Knowing it and testing it are two different issues.”

Alphy chuckled. “Yeah, it took me six months to work up the nerve to go for a swim. Once I managed it, I never looked back.”

He floated next to her. “It is a pity that you can’t see the stars.”

She sighed. “And a little weird. This entire area is domed in.”

She let her legs drop and treaded water beside him. “So, how much retrofitting did Stitch give you?”

He snorted and matched her position. “She went over all the empty weapons casings and set me up with some new personal defense systems.”

“Why didn’t you use them against the Splice?”

He blinked and smiled. “Because I had a gun?”

She laughed. “Right. I forgot about that.”

“The defense system is only good twenty feet and closer. I don’t like the Splice getting that close.”

They were less than two feet from each other, the water around them was crystal clear, and she could see every inch of him below the rippling surface.

“You were badly damaged.”

He quirked his lips. “Not flattering but accurate.”

“How?”

“Not all at once. A crushing impact ship to ship, an explosion on board. And the injury that started it all, a vehicular accident back on Earth.” He shrugged.

“So, that is where they injected you with nanites to begin with. Did they make you want to join the fight?”

“No. Seeing humanity at risk, knowing how vulnerable we were to alien attack, and knowing that I loved to fly sent me to the stars.”

“Despite what your family wanted.”

He smiled. “Only Stephanie supported my decision to join the defense force. She even joked that she would join as well. That didn’t go over well with our parents, but I am guessing she eventually got herself up and into action.”

“Yeah, they did an all-call for any women with analytical, engineering, or medical skills. They set up the Adaptation Base to remake stronger and better-balanced cyborgs. Your sister is amazing with her knowledge of the way the human body works.”

He nodded. “She was always good at biological analysis. It was her suggestion to take the nanites out of the lab and put them into my body. My response time got faster, vision got better, and my skin was aware of every breath of air that crossed it.”

“In that case, being wounded must have sucked.”

Lexo laughed, “You have no idea.”

Alphy lifted her hand and sighed. “Well, I am just about to get pruney, so I am heading back to shore.”

“I will join you. Do you think that the bots will have scrubbed the ship clean by now?”

She turned and stroked toward the shore. “Positive. I am pretty sure it was clean before we finished eating.”

He easily outpaced her. His arms moved more water.

Lexo was on the shore before she was, and as she waded out of the water, she could see that he appreciated the view.

“Your body is completely human except for your scalp and spine. It is a miracle that you came out of the blast with such minimal damage.”

Alphy looked down at her skin, beaded with water and pebbled with a chill. “It didn’t feel like minimal damage at the time.”

He stepped forward to take her hands, and he said, “I know this is going to come out pervy considering our state of undress, but you are beautiful covered in grime, eating with both hands, or just as you are. Your mind is amazing, and you being able to keep your sanity under these conditions shows remarkable self-possession.”

“Um. Thanks. I think you are pretty, too.”

He chuckled and leaned in to kiss her.

She felt his lips press against hers, and three eager and interested minds were pressing back.

She pulled away and whispered, “I need to spend some time in the cradle. I have to give the guys something else to focus on.”

He quirked his lips. “Really?”

“Unless you want to be in the middle of a five way... yes.”