***

THE zing of laser fire sounded right as the door shot open. Gunner plastered his back to the side wall and kicked the crate forward to stop the doors from closing.

He dove down and ducked behind it as more shots blasted his way.

Androids. He scanned the periphery and triangulated the energy signatures. They assaulted him from further down the hallway; the robots had been programmed to fight him off. He channeled his way through the space and counted at least two dozen. There could be more that were still powered off and waiting as reinforcements.

He quickly overpowered those closest to him and scrambled their coding. He searched through their transmitters, rearranged them to connect his own, and took control. Those in his power stopped abruptly, turned around by his will, and shot down the other androids at the end of the hall.

The mechanical battle reverberated off the walls as metal fought metal, and even when it was over the resounding vibrations continued to parrot throughout.

When it was over, he sent the few robots he forcibly controlled to scout the hallways ahead and check the crew’s quarters.

He rose from his spot and jumped over the crate, flexing his muscles, and tugged one of his guns out of his holster.

The corridor remained in the condition he left it, but the bodies he’d decimated were rotting now. The stench of bloated decay was overpowering. Even the acrid burning laser residue from the android showdown was quickly eclipsed.

The stink awoke memories he would have preferred to keep buried. It brought forth a million recorded minutes of feed from the war.

Gunner closed his eyes, trying to find his way out of the maelstrom of chaotic memories. Elodie’s face surfaced, floating above the raging torrent of death that engulfed his conscious mind. He latched on to his promise to protect her and clawed his way out of the nightmare caused by the carrion’s reek. His beast protested Gunner’s dominion, but he subdued the animal behind an iron resolve.

After he regained control, he lifted the gun in his hand—the gun that still smelled of his mate—and rubbed it across his nose. The jackal was pouting before, but now it was ecstatic. When his senses and systems cleared and his zombie-like androids returned, he kicked the crate inward and let the elevator go.

His lips twitched up. Ten minutes. It took him less than ten minutes to claim new territory. It reminded him why he was an impatient man and sneaking about a ship in the dark was not his thing. As he waited for the others to join him, he surveyed the carnage that decorated the floors and walls in gruesome overkill.

The captain didn’t have it cleaned up. Gunner kicked through the human and android remains, nudging them to the sides with his boot as he went. He has to know there’s a Cyborg on his ship. He must know I’m coming for him. That depended entirely on the two men he let go... The thought was unsettling. He turned his eyes up and stared at the ceiling as if he could look through it.

He expected real men—a real fight—to bar his path. Another trap? Ballsy was gone but that didn’t mean there couldn’t be one. The shaft groaned, interrupting his thoughts. Shortly after, half of the group appeared, clutching weapons in nervous, sweat-dampened hands. He looked over them to find Elodie at the back with Chesnik. They stepped off the elevator wide-eyed and uneasy.

“Where’re the others?” he asked.

“We figured it was best if we didn’t all come up at once,” Chesnik mumbled as he looked around.

They didn’t trust him. Clearly, they didn’t want to. He, on the other hand, had nothing to prove to them and he almost wished they would dissent and leave him be. My life would be easier for it. But only as long as Elodie remained with him. His eyes landed on her. Only if their dissension didn’t bleed into her. She came to him as if his thoughts could summon.

Gunner’s eyes remained on hers as he yelled out to the others, “Loot what you can find but don’t attack the working androids, they’re ours now. Stay on point. We don’t know if there’s any traps.” Ely turned her attention to the dead as he spoke, her face devoid of color.

“You did this?” she asked.

Gunner closed the short distance between them and blocked her view. “Yes.”

“Indiscriminately?”

“In self-defense.” His voice lowered, “There were survivors.”

She lightly rested her brow upon his chest and nodded. The muscles in his arms stiffened. His fingers twitched. He wanted to wrap her up in his arms, hold her to him, but resisted the urge. “You did it for me.”

He narrowed his eyes in question.

“For our deal,” she added.

“Yes.”

“Thank you.”

The color returned to her skin and he opened his mouth to ask her why. Why was she thanking him? He never got the words out because the elevator reopened and the remaining men poured out. Elodie turned away from him at the sound.

The rest gathered with them and they made their way in silence through the winding hallways of the new floor. Doors were left ajar on either side of them, revealing the crew’s quarters, bedding and all the human detritus that went with it. There was nothing for them here unless someone wanted a change of clothes or to scavenge old tech. Eventually, the smell of decay faded into the background.

Gunner eyed the ceiling again. He hadn’t been up on the top deck since he was dragged aboard but he would have remembered the layout even if he hadn’t downloaded the ship’s schematics into his systems.

The top deck. The working deck. The best security and the most essential rooms apart from the engines. The medical bay, the armory, and the bridge crew. There’d be a docking platform above as well as below. On normal ships two access points were available; docking below was meant for supplies, storage, and machines while the entryway above was meant for people—diplomacy.

The entry sat to the front of the vessel, separated from the floors below and because of that it only had one central entry and exit point to the rest of the ship. It was designed that way so that if any of the machines malfunctioned or blew up for any reason, the important fuckers would be well away from it.

Gunner stopped short of the panel to the second elevator shaft and pressed his hand against it, making a direct connection.

Nothing. Security was dead everywhere.

He called over his shoulder, “I can sense moving heat signatures, but they can be masked. One thing I can say for certain is that there’s life above and we’ll be facing more than androids next.”

“Are you going first?” someone asked.

“Yes. Same as before,” he said as Elodie once again moved to the back of the group. He would’ve preferred that she stayed close to him but no one paid her any mind where she was, it was the only thing that tempered his need for her.

One of the men came forward, dragging a metal table from a nearby room. They maneuvered it by the door to use as their next shield.

“I’ll be making a straight shot to the bridge and will be able to cover you if you leave the path laid out. The remaining androids will go first. Wait for my signal before you move forward... And don’t get distracted by your mates who were recruited, we’ll deal with them at the end. If shit hits the fan,” he added, “rally back here.”

Gunner called the elevator. “Everyone stand back.” The group shuffled away to the sides as a hush fell over them.

After a moment, one of the prisoners spoke up. “What happens after all this is over?”

I’ll never have to see your fucking faces again.

I’m going to beat Stryker’s skull in. That fucker’s going to pay for my lost ship.

I’m going to take Elodie home.

“We head home.” Gunner looked down at his hands, one of them still clutching his gun. I don’t have... Not anymore.

“I’ve never heard a better set of words my life.” Soft chuckles sounded the air.

“Gunner!” Elodie’s voice pierced the laughter. “There’s a noise coming from the beacon!” She moved into the center of the group and headed toward him just as a faint, low groan fell upon his ears. Her footsteps came closer.

He jerked his head and looked around. His audio twitched—tugged and prickled. Ely was at his side now when he reached out and grabbed her arm.

The sound was unfamiliar and he focused on it as he pushed her away, but it grew louder by the second and before long the others had noticed it too.

No, he knew that sound. His muscles tensed just as his internal tech shot a warning through his systems. He knew that low impending hum.

“What the hell is that!?”

Gunner shot away from the shaft right as the door slid open, thrusting Elodie to the ground and landing on top of her, propping up his weight just enough not to crush her. The doors blew off and sliced through the space, a cutting breeze hit his back, and a roar filled his ears.

Fire and metal shards pierced and ravaged his exposed skin—singeing his clothes—as the bomb ruptured. The world devolved into an impenetrable, muted orange haze. Elodie moaned and he shifted his weight over her.

His hands cupped the side of her head to cocoon her as much as he could. A short eternity passed before the shockwaves ended. Gunner rose slowly as the smoke began to clear. The air was thick and grimy. It made his eyes water and his vision distort.

Elodie was tensed beneath him, her body locked down with fear and even after he unpinned her, she didn’t immediately rise with him. Gunner moved slowly as a growl tore out of his throat. Pain scrunched her features as the falling ashes covered her face.

“Are you okay?” He lifted over her and kept her head in place so she couldn’t look away. She’d taken a lot of his weight. “Test your muscles, does anything hurt? Elodie?” She gazed uncomprehendingly up at him. “Ely?”

She abruptly startled into him, hacking and choking. His hands drew around her body and brought her close to him. He was thankful she was alive. Gunner crowded her face with his and blew filtered fresh air over her mouth. She sucked in air between coughs and when she caught her breath, Gunner picked her up and carried her out of the immediate wreckage.

Waves of heat burst and blazed the walls on either side of them. The metal plates along his back burned where his skin had melted away.

Elodie gripped his shirt as he moved them out of the smoke and it fell away in ribbons from his body. Her coughs continued and he cupped the back of her neck and wrenched her head closer to him as spittle and ash cleared her lungs.

“You’re okay. Do you hurt anywhere?”

Her nostrils flared as sooty tears streamed down her cheeks but she shook her head. “Not,” she coughed again, “bad.” Her voice came out raspy and weak. Gunner ran his hands all over her anyway, checking for breaks and any sign of swollen flesh. He didn’t discern anything but he checked her over twice more as she continued to clear her throat.

“You’re fine.” She’s okay.

It took a while to convince himself and he couldn’t stop touching her in the process. He was afraid if he did, she would crumble into a pile of ash. His pain became more noticeable as the minutes passed and he didn’t need to feel or take a look at his back to know that parts of it were exposed straight down to the metal.

With one hand still on her, he peeled the rest of his tattered shirt from his shoulders and threw it aside.

Elodie sat forward and wiped her face and blinked the ash from her eyes. Gunner watched grimly as she lifted the sleeve of his jacket to reveal a splotchy bruise blooming along her forearm. His fingertips trailed it softly and checked again that nothing was broken.

“You’re,” cough, “heavy.”

“It’s the metal, babe.”

“That...” She winced and drew the sleeve back down, “I guessed.”

“Tell me you’re okay.”

She sniffled. “I’m okay. Are you?” Her eyes slipped over his welted shoulders.

“Don’t worry about me, I heal fast and my body has already numbed the pain.” She continued to eye his singed flesh and he added, “My skin will grow back shortly.”

“Lucky.” Elodie swallowed. “The others? My dad!?”

He didn’t give a damn about the others but he straightened anyway with gritted teeth and went back to where the explosion went off. He encountered most of the men before he re-entered the smoke. Those closest had suffered third-degree burns and some broken bones but others had made it through safely and were now helping those who were hurt. He deployed the remaining androids to protect them and find medical supplies.

He went to Chesnik last and checked him personally. The man let Gunner review his injuries in stony silence. Gunner couldn’t let Ely’s father die on his watch. Once he got the man safely away and reassured him that Elodie was okay, he made his way back to her side.

She sat with her back up against the wall, blinking the smoke and burn from her eyes.

“Your dad’s fine, better than most, and everyone is alive.” He crouched in front of her. One of his androids appeared with a medical kit. Gunner snapped it open and rummaged through to find cleaning cloths, pain-killers, and two small cans of healing serum.

The ship suddenly groaned around them and they both raised their head to look around. It was followed by a vibration that shuddered the floors and walls.

“What was that?” Elodie asked, her voice uneasy, as she sat away from the wall.

“I don’t know.” He moved closer to her anyway. “Yet.” Several minutes passed as they waited for it to happen again but it didn’t.

“You’re not good at this, are you?” she asked.

His attention returned to her. “What?”

“Helping others.”

“No,” he agreed.

She laughed softly and he pulled the top of the can off.

“You said time would stop for you if you willed it. I still disagree with that. More now than ever.”

Gunner shrugged and moved her clothing around to spray her skin. “I’m a selfish fucking man.”

Elodie smiled. “I guess that makes me selfish too... because I wish you could stop it again. ‘But time stops for no man.’ No woman either,” she finished, ruefully.

Gunner ran his hands up her arms and through her short hair. “That, Elodie, is where you have never been more wrong.”

Her eyes met his. “Prove it,” she whispered. “Prove it and make time stop again.” The ship trembled as she spoke and they both tensed and braced for another sudden impact. He pressed her back into the floor and shielded her again until the shuddering was over.

“What is that? That’s the second time now...”

“I’m not sure.” And that concerned him. When he tried to seed himself back into the ship, he flinched. His energy stores were nearly drained. The microchips in his nanocells were using what was left to repair his body.

As if on cue, Elodie grabbed his hand and brought him back out of the digital space. She moved around him, drawing the medical kit near her, and used the second can of serum over his back. He dropped his brow forward and closed his eyes in pleasure, reaching out to grip her ankle, making sure she wouldn’t leave him as he slipped back into the ship.

“The beacon!” Elodie jerked and his hand tightened on her leg. Gunner rose to his feet as she moved to look around for the gadget as if it would magically appear.

“Let me check,” he told her and went back to the wreckage. He found the gadget against the wall. Elodie was behind him when he turned around. She grabbed it from his hands and flipped it back on. He felt the signal come off it immediately and the static noise refilled his ears.

“There’s no voice anymore. There had been a voice before.”

The ship rumbled, howling anew and Gunner led her back out from the smoke. Explosive surges of energy flushed through him. He focused on it.

Suddenly, a static voice appeared from the beacon and several of the other prisoners joined at their sides.

“Sta... own... stan... d...”

“What’s it saying?”

“Stand down. They’re telling us to stand down.”

“Stand down? Do you think it’s coming from the bridge?” Elodie asked. The same words repeated over and over again from the beacon. Chesnik came forward and took the contraption from his daughter, upping the volume and changing the signal. The static cleared slightly until the voice on the other side was easily discernible.

Gunner turned on his heel and stormed back to the elevator shaft, now no more than a black hole in the wall. Elodie’s footsteps sounded behind him.

“I’ll be back soon. Don’t go anywhere.”

“I won’t... Gunner? If it’s not from the bridge then who is it from?”

The ship trembled again, this time louder and more violent than before and the echoes of things falling apart rang all around them. He found Ely’s pipe, picked it up and handed it back to her.

“We’re being attacked.” And he had an idea who was attacking them. Gunner cupped her face and pressed his lips heavily to her temple before pulling away. “Stay here, Elodie, don’t fucking leave this spot. I’ll be back soon.”

Worry scrunched her features but there was no more time for comfort. He had a fucking pirate ship to save.

***

GUNNER PEERED UP INTO the blown-out elevator shaft and climbed in. Even with his humanoid muscles partially melted off on his back, he pulled himself up. He used the friction on the rubber soles of his boots as leverage to propel him faster.

The process was grueling but he made it.

Explosions continued to hit the ship, and each passing second it seemed to grow worse. Numerous blasts of energy cascaded over and through him and he siphoned what he could from each surge. Despite the rocking blasts, he knew he couldn’t stop to regroup because he could physically and mentally feel the ship’s systems dying around him. His fingers punctured the shaft wall and he gritted his teeth against another eruption.

Time to bring the shit show to a close. He hefted himself up.

Blood pooled in rivulets down his back to collect and soak into his pants but he could already feel his wounds closing, his skin rebuilding, and his flesh weaving back together.

The closed doors to the top deck came into sight and renewed his vigor. With one hand he rammed his fingers between the crease at the door and the wall and forced it open. He dropped back, expecting an immediate assault, but nothing happened.

A quiet hallway devoid of life came into view as he swung back to the ledge. It was the last thing he expected. Gunner lifted himself up until he stood in the empty, pristine corridor. The walls were clean and white and so unlike the hell that had taken over the levels below. He sucked in a heavy breath as his snout pulled away from his face. The smells up here were no less unpleasant. The air was thick with hatred and frenzy.

He encountered several androids that had been forcibly turned off on either side of him. Gunner powered them on and forced them forward, expecting another trap.

He watched through their eyes as they scouted the hallways to find emptiness beyond.

His hand shot out to brace against the wall as another bomb hit the ship. The explosion rocked the ship harder this time; he could feel the inertial stabilizers struggling, and that could only mean one thing...

The ship’s shields were down.

Gunner shot forward into a sprint. He fell upon the pirate crew just as he sensed them and joined them in their chaos. The androids had a few of them held up against the walls. The rest startled back at his appearance and some raised their weapons but when he didn’t attack, they slowly backed off. Gunner recognized one of the men. One of the two he had let go after losing Ballsy.

His weapon was still half raised and sweat drenched his clothes. “We’re being attacked,” the man said.

Gunner started past him and continued on to the bridge. “I know.”

“Can you get into the bridge? Juke is going to bring the ship down if someone doesn’t stop him!”

Rage filled his veins and he twisted back to grab the man by his neck, thrusting him against the wall. “Who put the fucking bomb in the elevator?” The man’s eyes clouded over in fear.

“I-I didn’t.”

“Who then?” Gunner let the jackal partially transform his body. His canines ripped from his jaw to fill his mouth with blood.

“It was to protect us from the androids,” he stuttered, his face going red. “Juke controls them remotely and we needed a way to keep them from coming up to kill us.” Gunner dropped the pirate and left him gasping on the floor. He didn’t have time to kill the entire crew as the lights flickered overhead.

He needed to get into the bridge. Because it didn’t matter who owned the ship if the ship was a loose collection of debris floating in space.

Gunner ran through the chaos until he entered a large room with heavy barricaded doors at the other end. Men were scattered about, trying to break through the final barrier that stopped them from taking control of the ship.

They moved away when he approached as he entered the thick hollow realm of attempted mutiny.

He slammed both his palms onto the door, leaving indents in the metal. His nails grew long and sharp. Gunner dropped into a crouch and let his skin recede into his body and the plates of his frame burst outward.

When his shift—energy reached its zenith, he ravaged the door with all of his might.

Steel and iron shredded to pieces beneath his claws.