Three
She was his female.
Vector continued to contemplate that miraculous revelation several planet rotations later. She hadn’t contacted him because she deemed him weak or defective. He wiggled boot-covered toes. She’d contacted him because she’d somehow sensed she belonged to him.
His female had been labeled an enemy of the cyborgs and that status hadn’t changed. Although he had yet to uncover proof she was actively working against them, he couldn’t deny she knew too much and had to be apprehended.
Power had ordered him to kill her. That Vector couldn’t do. He had talked about personal sacrifice to his female but ending her lifespan was too great a cost, even for him.
There had to be another way to protect the Homeland and his brethren.
Vector’s jaw tightened. The Humanoid Alliance would deem his resistance to be yet another defect, would have decommissioned him if they had discovered any of them.
The cyborg council was unlikely to be more forgiving. They might kill him, one warrior, to protect the many.
That was a risk he’d take. The death of his female would mean the death of his future. There would be no breeding, no female, no offspring.
No love. No hope.
Vector gazed at the image of the battle station displayed on the main viewscreen. Being a warrior of his word, he was waiting until the cyborgs rebelled before approaching it, before apprehending her.
She’d known about that rebellion also. The order for the mass revolt had come from the council two planet rotations ago. It had been delivered through secured transmission lines.
Lines she clearly had access to.
“Doc, what was the Homeland’s response to the breach in security regarding the transmission lines?” He had to assume she was listening to every word they transmitted.
They’d switched to communicating with speech on the bridge. That might give them some privacy.
“They’re having difficulties detecting the breach.” Doc’s lips twisted. “But they’ve increased security measures yet again.”
Vector doubted they’d increased them enough. “Chuckles, has anyone found a glitch in our lifeform scanners?”
“They can’t detect any glitches, Captain.”
That didn’t mean there weren’t any. His warship could be crawling with lifespan-ending insects and he wouldn’t know it. Vector smothered his discomfort. “North, has there been a vocal match?”
“There are no vocal matches in the current databases.” His first officer replied. “I had to go back twelve solar cycles in our off-system archives to find her communications. They had all been deleted.”
His skilled female was, no doubt, responsible for those deletions. “Play the most recent communication.”
“Hi J.” His female’s voice filled the bridge and Vector’s body hardened, his response immediate. “I thought about leaving this message with Momma but you know she never checks them. I’m also hoping that, being the cautious sister, you’ll help me convince her to follow my instructions, do the right thing.”
The message sounded like goodbye, the words thick with emotion.
“Because I am the reckless sister and you likely already suspect what this message is concerning. Momma always warned me leaping before I looked would get me into trouble. And it did. I accessed something I shouldn’t have. I’m safe,” Vector’s female hastily added. “But to stay that way and to ensure no one I love is harmed, I have to disappear.” There was a pause. “Forever. I doubt I will ever see you again.”
Her sigh pulled at Vector’s heart.
“I’ve examined all of the alternatives and this is the best choice, the only true choice.” There was no doubt in her voice. “Don’t look for me. If anyone asks about me, be vague. Act as though you can’t keep our big family straight. Everyone believes Momma can’t anyway.” His female’s laughter held an endless container of sadness. “I’m counting on you to do this, to keep me safe as you always do.”
Her plea activated Vector’s protective instincts. She was his. He would keep her safe.
“I love you, J. You have been and will always be my conscience, telling me what I shouldn’t do right before I do it.
“I love you, Momma. You’re my heart, will always be a part of me. I will carry you with me wherever I go as I know you will carry me with you.
“I love you, Poppa. You are my strength. You’ve always advised me to stand up for what is right and that is what I’m doing. I hope you will be proud of me.
“I love you, A…”
The list of names went on and on. Vector’s female loved many beings, considered them all to be a part of her.
And she had hacked off those parts. He gazed down at his boots. She had severed ties with her loved ones, parting with them as permanently as he had parted with his brethren on Furud One.
Vector experienced her pain as though it were his own.
“I don’t trust her,” Chuckles muttered. That wasn’t shocking. The D Model didn’t trust any humans. But it was a reminder.
Vector shouldn’t trust her either.
North sent him the other messages. There were thousands of them. His female had communicated with her family several times a planet rotation. To break that habit required strength, a willpower Vector had no choice but to admire.
If her self-imposed isolation was the truth, and he suspected it was, it must have been torture for her. She hadn’t lied when she shared that she felt alone. It would be as though he had cut off all transmissions with his brethren – an unbearable silence.
If she was telling the truth, Vector reminded himself. Her sharing, her past communications could be an elaborate Humanoid Alliance ruse. It was unlikely, but it could be.
“Do you have an image for her?” Vector wanted to see his female.
“It is as old as the communications.” North cautioned.
The image of a young human female’s face was displayed on the main viewscreen. She had short black hair, large brown eyes, skin as dark as deep space, full kissable lips.
That was his female? Vector’s mouth dropped open. She was the most beautiful creature he’d ever seen. “What are her specs?”
Her details were summarized on the main viewscreen. Her name was Kasia Verdun. Kasia. Vector repeated his female’s name silently. She was human, would now have twenty-nine solar cycles, had been studying technology at the academy at the time the information had been collected. His female had originated from a Humanoid Alliance-controlled planet. Her father, mother, eleven siblings remained there.
Eleven siblings exceeded the human average of one. Vector, however, had millions of brethren. He processed his female’s family unit as being small, intimate.
“Was there any information about her added after that date?” What had his female been doing for the past twelve solar cycles?
“Not only was no information added but all existing information about the female had been deleted from Humanoid Alliance databases, our databases, everywhere.” North shook his head. “Everything is gone. Her birthing records. Her siblings’ histories of their communications. Every image of her. It has been erased and that deletion was clean, untraceable.”
“Who is this female?” There was admiration in Truth’s voice.
She was his. That was who she was. “I’ll deal with her when we apprehend her.” Vector hid his inappropriate possessiveness under the cover of command. “Communicate that to all of the warriors on the battle station. They are not to harm her.”
“Yes, Captain.” Truth tapped on the control panel imbedded in the console.
“Chuckles, search the databases existing twelve solar cycles ago for information on blocking lifeform scanners.” Vector’s clever female might have deleted that information also.
“That search is already being performed,” Chuckles replied. “The treacherous human can’t hide it from us, Captain.”
Considering she’d told him about the glitch, Vector suspected they weren’t the beings she was hiding it from. But if she was running from the Humanoid Alliance, what was she doing on their battle station?
Had she been caught? The Humanoid Alliance disposed of prisoners.
Unless they were useful. She could be working for them now.
The transmission lines erupted with noise. Vector lifted his chin. It was time. Their brethren were rebelling. Soon all cyborgs would be free. And he would have his female under his control.
“Hail the battle station.” He began their approach.
They’d already scanned the battle station. There were no living beings other than humans, humanoids, and cyborgs on board.
According to the lifeform scanners. Which could have a glitch.
“Hailing the battle station.” Chuckles informed him.
“You waited.” His female’s voice reached deep inside him, grabbed hold of his unruly cock. Vector’s shaft pressed against his body armor. “You kept your word, warrior.”
“I always do.” The image appearing on the main viewscreen was corrupted, blurred, concealed by static. Chuckles, clean up the feed, he transmitted.
“The state of the feed is intentional.” Her tone was flat. His fraggin’ female was listening to their transmissions. “I’m assuming you want the docking bay opened.”
“I want to speak with one of my brethren.” But yes, he did want the docking bay opened.
“Your brethren are otherwise occupied.” Her laughter was as arousing as her voice.
Vector’s body ached with wanting, while his processors whirred with indignation. She mocked him, didn’t show him the respect he deserved. “My brethren can accomplish multiple tasks simultaneously. They aren’t humans.”
“This human is opening the docking bay for you.”
The docking bay is opening, North confirmed.
“It could be a trap.” Vector didn’t bother trying to hide the communication.
“A trap?” His female continued to ridicule him. In front of his crew. “I could have revealed your position to the Humanoid Alliance at any time during the past three planet rotations, had them blast your uptight metal ass into a million pieces. Why would I wait until your brethren gained control of the battle station to end you?”
She was a human. They weren’t always logical. Vector kept that thought to himself. “You plan to escape.”
“You don’t know my plans.” She paused. “But you will soon.” She ended the communication.
“I like this female.” Truth chuckled.
Vector turned his head and narrowed his eyes at the warrior. “She’s a threat to our brethren, to the Homeland.” And she was his. He might not have a future with his female. He had been ordered to kill her. But no other male would like her. “As she stated, we don’t know her plans.”
The smile faded from Truth’s face. “Yes, Captain.”
“She could be lying,” Chuckles muttered. “About everything.”
Truth frowned at him. “She could be telling the truth, you grim human-hating bag of bolts. You don’t—”
“Warriors,” Vector barked.
The males straightened in their seats. Silence fell over the bridge.
He shook his head. The female continued to caused problems. He had to capture her before she created more chaos.
Vector, with the assistance of his crew, guided the warship into the battle station’s docking bay, parking it nearest the exit. All of the other ships were stationary, their engines quiet.
Kasia hadn’t yet made a run for them.
Vector palmed his guns. “Be on your guard.”
He was the first to exit the ship, not waiting for their reply.
The docking bay was a killing field. J models circled Humanoid Alliance males, nicking their flesh with daggers, shaving their forms away a layer of flesh at a time. The human males screamed and begged for mercy. Pools of blood formed around their booted feet.
The space smelled of battle, fuel, and something else. Vector sniffed the air. That something else was delectable, feminine, right. “She’s here.”
“We’ll search the docking bay.” North waved his guns at the other warriors. They fanned out.
“They won’t find her.” A J model strode forward, his body armor painted crimson with blood. Unlike Vector, Dissent appeared human. His hair was a multi-hued brown, not a flat unrelenting black. His skin was golden, not a machine-like gray. His eyes were dark, not an energy-infused blue. Only his size and the model number inked on his cheek identified him as being a cyborg. “The docking bay is too open and too occupied for our female.”
There was no our. Vector glowered. She didn’t belong to Dissent. She belonged to him. “She’s here,” he argued. “I smell her.”
“Her scent flavors the air throughout the battle station.” The warrior breathed deeply and Vector’s fingers tightened on his guns. No other male should be smelling his female. “The entire vessel smells like her. It is…calming.”
Vector didn’t find it calming at all. Her scent was damaging his restraint. The primitive side of his nature wanted to track her, claim her, breed with her. “How is that possible?”
“How is she possible?” Dissent shrugged. “She merely is.”
He couldn’t be as accepting as the J Model. “No one is to exit the battle station.” He walked toward the interior doors, leaving his warriors to set the sensors around their ship. Dissent was right. Kasia’s sweet scent didn’t intensify or dissipate. It remained constant. “The docking bays are to be locked, any access to escape pods blocked, any method of leaving made inoperable.”
“Consider it done.” Dissent dipped his head, matching his stride. “We want to keep our female on board the battle station as much as you do.” His gaze slanted to Vector’s face. “Though I suspect our reasons are different.”
“She isn’t your female.” Vector frowned at the warrior. That couldn’t be the reason they were restricting her movements. She was his.
“She’s not my female.” The J Model’s expression turned solemn as they passed through the doors. The hallways were as filled with killing as the docking bay had been. Their brethren inflicted vengeance upon their torturers and the blood flowed. “I’m not that fortunate.”
The warrior sounded besotted with Kasia. That irritated Vector. “She’s a threat to all of us.”
“She would never damage any cyborg on board this battle station.” There was no uncertainty in Dissent’s voice. “And you won’t damage her.”
Vector lifted his eyebrows. “And if I do?”
“I’ll protect her.” Dissent held his gaze. “With my lifespan, C Model.”
Fraggin’ hole. They wouldn’t merely be facing Kasia as an opponent. They’d be facing one of their own. “What did she do to earn your protection?”
“You can have these chambers to work in.” Dissent opened the doors to a large space, not answering him. “They belonged to the Humanoid Alliance commander. He has been apprehended.”
According to transmissions, Commander Smith was being held until they could publicly execute him. Every warrior wanted to inflict damage on the being who had been responsible for their torment.
“You’re the captain of the battle station now.” Vector stepped inside, looked around. Viewscreens hung on the walls. The sleeping support was huge and unnecessary. Cyborgs didn’t sleep. All the furnishings were high quality. “You should have these chambers.”
“It contains…unpleasant memories.” Dissent’s face hardened.
It must have been the site of past pain. Vector’s top lip curled with distaste, his impression of the chambers souring.
“If you need anything, send a transmission.” The J Model offered.
Perhaps Dissent didn’t realize the powers of the female he was protecting. “She listens to the transmissions.” Vector informed him.
“I know.” The warrior smiled, his expression smug.
He wanted Kasia to hear their communications. Vector gritted his teeth. “I’m acting on council orders.”
“I’m acting on honor.”
He was acting on honor? Vector lifted his eyebrows, questioning his auditory system. “If it weren’t for the council, you’d still be a slave.”
“If it weren’t for her, I’d be dead.” Dissent’s humanlike eyes flashed. “You won’t damage our female.”
She was his female and he would do what he fraggin’ pleased. Vector glared at the J Model. What type of warrior sided with a human over his own kind?
And what type of human inspired that level of loyalty?
Dissent sighed. “Capture our female, C Model. Talk with her. Learn what she knows. But she remains on our battle station. Undamaged.” He walked through the doors. “I must return to the bridge.”
The doors closed behind him.
Welcome aboard, Vector. His female’s simulated voice enveloped him. You’re even more attractive live than you were in the footage.
Did she consider him attractive? Some of Vector’s irritation eased. He didn’t appear human as Dissent did. You can use your real voice, Kasia Verdun. There’s no point in deception. I know who you are.
I’m not a fool. She continued to use her auditory disguise. You have enhanced senses. If I speak, you’ll track me.
He should be tracking her. Vector left the chambers, navigating the hallways. The J Models continued their slaughter of the humans, slicing their former masters to pieces, their rage palpable. They ignored him as he passed.
Did you inflict the same pain when you were freed?
He might not be tracking her but she was tracking him. No. He gazed up at the recording devices. She must have tapped into the battle station’s systems.
You killed them quickly?
There was no them to kill. I was alone when I escaped. He didn’t want to think about that planet rotation, about the secrets it had left him.
You were alone? Your brethren weren’t with you?
They were dead. The few who had survived the battle hadn’t survived the incident after it.
Oh, Vector. Her sorrow echoed his. I’m so sorry.
Why are you sorry? I saw your files. You were raised on a Humanoid Alliance-controlled planet. Your parents, your siblings are loyal to them.
There were too many Humanoid Alliance males remaining alive. Vector’s lifeform scans were unusable.
If she appeared on them, which was unlikely.
Vector suspected she’d told the truth about the lifeform scanners. They could be blocked.
He eyed the floors with unease. Tiny lifespan-ending insects could be crawling in the dips between the tiles. The cleaning bots wouldn’t find them and the lifeform scanners wouldn’t detect them.
My family, like many humans, aren’t aware of the actions the Humanoid Alliance are taking. His female shared. I tried to tell our planet’s leaders before I disappeared, but it was my word against the word of the Humanoid Alliance.
Why did you disappear? What did she access?
I hacked into a Humanoid Alliance system I shouldn’t have accessed. I covered my trail as much as possible but I couldn’t take a risk and return home. Not after what I’d uncovered.
Vector had seen how the Humanoid Alliance operated after a breach. They would have killed Kasia, all of her family, all of her friends, seeking to ensure the information wasn’t shared.
The possibility of Kasia dying made his stomach clench, that reaction solidifying his decision.
He couldn’t kill her, couldn’t follow Power’s orders.
Even if he proved her guilty of working against them, against him.
Her story sounded convincing and appeared to be consistent, but that meant nothing. His clever female would have known he’d uncover her communications.
What have you done to earn Dissent’s loyalty? That continued to bother him. His brethren should be loyal to him and to the council, not to a human female.
His human female.
I didn’t do enough. She blew out her breath. Being a male of action, you would have done more. But I was scared of being caught.
You will be caught. Vector moved through the battle station, listening to the sounds around him, sniffing the air, trying to uncover his female’s position. Her scent should intensify when she was near. He should be able to hear her breathing.
Unless she could mask that also.
I will be caught. His female conceded. But by you and not just yet. Enjoy the hunt, warrior. She ended the transmission.
Bad news, Captain. North contacted him.
Had his female known the communication was coming? Was that why she ended her transmission? You didn’t find the female. Vector guessed.
We didn’t find her but that’s not the bad news. Warriors have been approaching us. One by one. In private. They all have the same message for you.
Dread crawled up Vector’s simulated spine. What is the message?
They’ll protect their female with their lifespans.
Fraggin’ hole. Dissent hadn’t been an anomaly. The entire battle station had sworn loyalty to his female.
Vector should have been infuriated. And for a moment he was.
Then pride lifted his chin, straightened his shoulders. That was his female who had earned the devotion of his brethren.
She was a force and she was his.
Don’t rely on their assistance, he instructed. Start at one side of the battle station and, search every hallway, every chamber. Use all of your senses. She’s unlikely to appear on lifeform scanners.
They’d find her. Eventually.
He’d decide what to do with her at that time.