Aramus (8 page)

Aramus sent the little female packing, but she wouldn’t leave his thoughts. As he strode down his ship’s halls to the sickbay, he couldn’t help but recall their conversation—and kiss.

What a puzzle Riley proved to be, one moment boldly questioning him, the next cowering as if fearful of retaliation. It made him want to kill the people running the place all over again, this time in a more painful manner, which in turn made him question if he was functioning at one hundred percent capacity.

Why do I fucking care? Why does her treatment at their hands make me so bloody angry?
Analysis deduced that his rage seemed to stem from pity, pity for a human. What the fuck was that about? Retaliation because of the harm done to Avion and the other cyborgs he could understand. They shared a bond. They were a sort of family. But she was nothing. Nothing but a prisoner who had information he needed.
And I need another kiss
. Where had that stray thought come from? Surely not him.

Argh!
So unacceptable. Perhaps he’d not worked off enough energy during the fight. Or his adrenaline still ran high. Once he’d spoken to Avion, he was heading straight for the gym. Hit some weights. Punch a few bags. Sweat up a storm. Perhaps then he could convince his body to behave in a proper manner.
I am in control, and you will obey.
Easy enough to say now with Riley gone from his presence, but he couldn’t help but wonder if the malfunction would reoccur if he were to spend time in her presence again. His curious side urged him to test it. His logical one screamed danger. A lobotomy to remove his feelings was looking more and more attractive all the time.

Arriving at the medical bay, he entered to find Avion reclin
ing in a seated position and looking better. More accurately, cleaner. While they’d washed and bathed the cyborg, giving his hair and jaw a much-needed trim, he still appeared as frail as before, his injuries still glaringly evident.

MJ, the only cyborg with some medical training on board,
fiddled with dusty IV tubes, attempting to insert them in Avion’s wrists, which bore the marks of already having been overused as a pincushion.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

“Trying to get some fluids in him.”

“So dump some down his throat.”

MJ shot him a glare. “Gee. Thanks for the suggestion. Never thought of it.”

“
Don’t get mad at him,” Avion rasped. “I’ve tried drinking, but my stomach is rebelling. It’s been so long since I’ve eaten anything that my body is rejecting it.”

“I’m attempting to rehydrate him via more traditional medical methods since skin absorption by his nanos also failed.”

The news shocked Aramus. He’d never heard of any cyborg nanos failing before. Coursing through their bloodstream, and permeating every part of their body, the nanobots were like mini computers regulating and fixing their bodies. It was part of what made them cyborg and made them strong. Without them…they were no better than a human. “Have you attempted a reboot to get his nanos functioning?”

“Rebooting did not help.
I attempted a connection to our onboard medical diagnostic computer and a few other things. His body keeps rejecting all attempts to get his nanos functioning.”

“
What did they do to you?” Aramus spoke his inner musing aloud.

“It would take less time to list the things they didn’t,” Avion replied
, a wan smile twisting his lips.

“Why don’t we start with how the fuck you survived
. I thought you blew up with that ship back when we raided that asteroid.”

“
I did, but I got lucky, or not I guess, depending on how you look at it. I ended up protected from the worst of the blast by the shield around the command center, but I was heavily damaged so my BCI shut me down while my nanos repaired me.  A salvage unit picked me up. I woke to find myself in an electrified cage surrounded by lead with no way in or out, not even to send a message.”

“Military?”

“That’s what I suspected initially until I realized the soldiers spoke all kinds of languages and wore civilian uniforms, not federation ones.”

“So you’ve been their prisoner all this time?”
Not good. Given his depleted state, Aramus wondered how many cyborg secrets Avion had revealed, intentionally or not.

Something of his worries must have shown on his face because Avion spoke as if he’d read his mind.
“Yes, I’ve been a captive, but don’t worry about our secrets. I guarded those well. I shut down my pain receptors as soon as I realized I was a POW. I also wiped my memory banks of all items pertaining to the cyborg escape.”

“
Our home planet location is safe?”

“So safe I couldn’t have found it even if I did escape
, which they let me do once when they realized torture wasn’t getting them anywhere.”

“I don’t recall hearing about any attempts of you contacting us.”

“Because I couldn’t. I wiped everything to keep you safe. The only things I retained were the knowledge of our liberation, who I was, and what I went through. I used those as my focal points when things got rough. Everything else is gone. I didn’t wander for long before they picked me back up to resume their testing.”

“
Did you keep a detailed log of your treatment at their hands?”

“I did.”

MJ, done with his tubes and fiddling, interrupted. “We downloaded it when we attempted to re-boot his nanos. We’re hoping Einstein or someone can go through the memories and figure out how to reverse the damage done to his cyborg systems. I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s as if his machine parts are there, but his body is using them as they would the fleshy human version. It’s why he’s healing so slowly. For all intents and purposes, despite his upgrades, Avion is human.”

Aramus reeled from the shocking conclusion, horrified. He couldn’t imagine a life without his upgrades. Much as he hated what
had been done to him, he could admit he was an improved version of his former human self. To go from strong to weak? It appalled him to the extreme.

He
squeezed Avion’s shoulder, glad the currently blind cyborg couldn’t see his pity. Avion discerned it anyhow.

“Don’t feel sorry for me. I am cyborg. I
can be repaired. I will emerge stronger than ever. And when I do…”

“We’ll kill those responsible, together.”

After his visit with Avion, he checked on the new cyborg additions. The female remained sedated as her body healed itself, her nanos responding properly. The other male cyborg they’d picked up had been debriefed but couldn’t provide much information. It seemed he’d spent years on an outpost, on his own, and had only recently arrived at the hidden installation.

He seemed pleased at his change in circumstances
, especially the knowledge that cyborgs no longer took orders from humans. It didn’t mean Aramus granted him any quarter. Until the new units went through a complete debriefing and debugging, none of them would have unrestricted access to the ship or their computers. Who knew what hidden time bombs possibly hid within their bodies? It wouldn’t be the first time the military or company turned a cyborg into a walking weapon.

Aphelion contact
ed Aramus to let him know he’d gotten all he could glean from the installation’s computers.

“At this point, there’s nothing left for me to copy.”

“Good. I don’t like staying here. We’re too easy a target. Prepare the ship for takeoff.”

“Aye, sir.”

“Oh, and Aphelion.”

“Yes.”

“Let me know when we’ve reached a safe distance for the deployment of a nuke.”

Because no way was Aramus leaving this place of torture intact. As he stared a while later at the smoking ruins of the mountain and the horrors he’d found inside, he
couldn’t help his grim,
One down, but how many more to go?

Followed by,
And where the fuck is Seth?

A day went by. Locked in their large cell, the prisoners found themselves bored, talk having petered out as they each sat
on their pallets, mulling their situation. The comatose guy was taken away on the pretext of caring for him. The mute women, who kept to themselves, huddled in a corner, eyeing Percy with suspicion and rejecting any overtures Riley and Carmen made.

With nothing to entertain them, silence reigned, and Riley took that time to let her imagination run rampant as she wondered what to expect next. She’d not seen the big cyborg since his questioning the day before, just their guard
, who slid food packets into their cell and stubbornly refused to answer any of their questions.

While Carmen played to the camera, Riley refused to look at it even as a part of her wondered if
he
watched. If he did, then he got an eyeful of cleavage as Carmen had unzipped her jumpsuit far enough to leave little to the imagination, claiming she was too warm. Funny, because Riley personally found their space chilly and would have assumed Carmen did too given how she was showing headlights in the upper chest area.

Uncharitable or not, she couldn’t help but label the psychologist as a hussy. Here they were, waiting to see if freedom, death, or some third unknown option awaited them
, and all Carmen could seem to think about was seducing their captors. The fact that Riley relived her one kiss over and over didn’t seem hypocritical, in her mind at least. Yes, she’d enjoyed the embrace, but that didn’t mean she flaunted her assets and practically masturbated for an unseen audience.

When the summons came,
one by one they were led from the room, but didn’t return. First the mute women, then Percy. Carmen left with a bright smile for their guard and a, “Hey, handsome”, until only Riley was left, a very nervous Riley who wondered if their time was up.

Is this where it ends?
After all she’d been through, had she gotten saved only to end up dead because of the ongoing ill treatment by the same people who screwed up her life in the first place? The irony of it wasn’t lost on her.

When her time came, she struggled to remain brave, holding her spine straight as she
found herself marched to a different area of the ship by the same non-communicative cyborg as before.

“Where are we going?”
To her surprise he answered, yet didn’t.

“This way.”

“What’s this way?

“Our destination.”

“Why?”

“Because Aramus said so.”

How she wanted to scream and yank on his hair for his useless answers. “Who is Aramus?”

Growled from behind was a
n “I am.” Riley whirled to see the big bald guy who’d questioned—and kissed her—sneak up on them. “Any more questions?”

“Actually
, yes.”

“Why am I not surprised
?” he muttered. “You can go now, Smith. I’ve got her.” Wrapping his fingers around her upper arm, he practically dragged her down the hall.

“Your
name is Aramus?”

“I thought I’d already confirmed that.”

“Are you the leader of this ship?”

“Who leads is not knowledge you require, unless you’re a spy.” He halted
all of a sudden, and she stumbled. Only his grip on her arm kept her upright. It also meant when she flailed, his body was what her hands found to steady her. He wore a T-shirt that hugged his massive upper body so when her hands splayed out across his chest, the heat of him seeped through the thin fabric, surprising her. She’d not noticed it before during their embrace.

She couldn’t help but say,
“You’re so warm.”

“As opposed to what. Cold?”

She flushed. “Last time we spoke I hadn’t noted it.” She lied. She’d thought the extreme heat of his touch a result of her own feverish reply to his embrace.

“Cyborgs tend to run a few degrees hotter than humans, although we can drop that if required.”

“Why would you need to make yourself colder?”

“Most detection units search for heat signatures. When planning an ambush or invasion, masking this
allows for a smoother infiltration.”

That made sense.
“I’m surprised you’re telling me this. Didn’t you just accuse me of being a spy?”

He shrugged. “
Our ability to regulate our core temperature is common knowledge.”

“What else is common knowledge about your kind?” Only once it left her lips did she realize how it sounded. As if she saw him as something else, someone who wasn’t like her.
Then again, I’d say it’s pretty obvious he isn’t like me.
Human perhaps a long time ago, he’d made it clear he no longer thought of himself as on the same level as her.

H
is lips curled in derision. “My
kind
,” he said, stressing the word, “are stronger, faster, and smarter. We are hotter than the average human. The males are bigger, both height and body mass wise. We are also dexterous, logical when it comes to acting and unforgiving when it comes to dealing with enemies, or spies.” He fixed his glare on her, in an attempt to intimidate.

For some reason, it didn’t make her cringe.
“Oh, for god’s sake. I am not a spy. Exactly who would I report to? And how? Not to mention why? Those jerks treated me like crap. I wouldn’t call nine-one-one if they were on fire.”

“
But if the choice came down to saving a human or cyborg, we both know which you’d chose.”

“The one who deserved it most.”

“Then I guess I would be screwed,” drawled Aramus with mocking sarcasm.

“Don’t be so sure of that. You might act Mr
. Big and Tough, but I’ll bet you’re just a big old softy inside.” Why she said it she couldn’t have said, but she couldn’t help but laugh as his eyebrows shot up in comical fashion at her claim.

“I am not soft.”

“Sure you aren’t.”

“Hit me, you’ll see.”

“I didn’t mean physically. I meant, I’ll bet you care more than you think and not just about cyborgs.”

“Caring is not in my programming.”

“And I say bull. You can’t hide the fact you feel things.”

“Emotions are for the weak.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. Emotions are what make us stronger. It’s what makes us fight when the easier thing to do would be to give up. If you ask me, cyborgs care a lot. Why else would you hate humans for what they’ve done and seek vengeance?”

“We seek vengeance so we can have peace.”

“If you wanted peace, you’d leave and never return. Yet you want something from humanity. Revenge, answers, acceptance. Which is it?”

“
None,” he snapped. “But if you don’t stop pestering me, I will kill you.”

“No you won’t.”

Again, he rumbled. “Why do you persist in thinking me incapable of meting violence? I could snap your neck this instant and feel no remorse.”

“Says the guy who’s been real careful not to
hurt me.” She eyed her arm, which, while held by him, was in no danger of bruising.

“
You are really pissing me off.”

“
I know, and yet you still haven’t slapped me around, killed me, or turned me into a mute, just reinforcing my belief. You’re a big marshmallow inside.” As his brows drew together to form one dark line, and the steam practically burst from his ears, she couldn’t help but giggle, even as she wondered at her own sanity.
Do I have a death wish? Why the hell am I bugging him this way?

“Take that back.”

“No.” Why she taunted the scary cyborg she couldn’t say, yet tease him she did, certainty her shield.
I hope I am right because, otherwise, I’ve gone insane and am about to die.

“You are supposed to fear me,” he bellowed, tightening his clamp, but still not injuring her.
Had he wanted to, he could have crushed her arm to a pulp. Slammed her against a wall. Done any number of things that would have shut her up. Her human employers had required much less reason than this to inflict pain.

“
I would if I thought you’d actually hurt me. But you won’t. And you don’t scare me.” She stood her ground and met his annoyed glare with a steady one. For anyone monitoring her heart rate at the moment, it would have seemed she lied, as it raced faster than normal. But she was a doctor, and she knew the true cause. Attraction. The more he denied the empathy and gentleness within him, the more she found him attractive. The more she wanted a repeat of their kiss. The more…

A head poked out of a room up the hall. “If you’re done yelling at the
female, mind bringing her in? Avion is quite curious to meet the human with a death wish.”

“Who’s Avion?” she asked as she found herself dragged behind Aramus.

“One of the cyborgs you claim to have not seen while working at the installation.”

That was the only warning she got before he yanked her into a room and she came face to face with
the cyborg he called Avion.
Oh that poor man.

Moisture brimmed on her lashes
, and she bit her lip lest she gasp. Before, when she’d examined the tortured bodies of the experiments brought to her, she’d found it easy to keep a professional distance. She’d never met or spoken to them. Never known them when they lived.

However, the poor man before her? He bore the marks of abuse, the
face of someone haunted, and was living proof of the evil that she’d worked under. It didn’t take a doctor, or even a genius, to see he was a shell of the man he used to be. One only had to see the skin that hung loosely on his frame to guess he’d lost a lot of weight, most of it muscle. Scars and bruises crisscrossed his exposed upper chest and arms, further proof of the mistreatment he’d suffered at human hands. A bandage covered his eyes, but she could guess what lay beneath. She’d seen it before on her table, orbs missing as the scientists kept them for who knew what reason. All of these things combined, tore at her, made her cry for this cyborg she’d never met but instantly felt empathy for.

“Oh
, you poor thing,” she murmured. “What did they do to you?”

“
As I keep saying, it would be easier to ask what they didn’t,” quipped the cyborg with wry humor.

“How can you joke about it?”

“Because I can’t cry. Besides, what would lamenting accomplish? I am cyborg. I will heal. Eventually. I hope.”

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing,” barked Aramus. “I take it you’re going to claim like your friends that you’ve never met him before?”

“No. Like I said, I dealt with bodies, not the living. And I never had a cyborg end up on my table.”

“Are you sure?”

Turning to glance at Aramus, she found him studying her instead of the cyborg on the bed. “
Yes, I’m sure. Or would you like to accuse me of lying again?”

“Isn’t that what humans do best?”

“Not all of us.”

He made a sound similar to the one her grandfather made when no one would agree with his views on the political mess in the world.

She sighed. “Believe it or not, I am not your enemy. I also don’t understand why you’ve brought me here. What exactly do you want from me?”

“Can you tell me what they did?”

“How would I know? I told you, I never saw him before.”

“But you
’re more than passing familiar with the results of what they did. I want you to examine Avion and see if he bears some of the testing you remarked on the corpses you autopsied.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Why the fuck not?”

“Well, for one thing, because he’s alive.”

“And?”

“I deal with dead things.”

“There’re not much different. They all have the same parts, more or less.”

“There’s a lot different. For one, corpses don’t bleed or scream if I need to cut them open.”

“Hold on, Doctor, no one said anything about cutting,” Avion interjected.

“And I don’t intend to.
I’d say you’ve been through enough already.” She crossed her arms and glared at Aramus, daring him to contradict, once again testing his patience. If he didn’t like it, then too freaking bad. He could threaten all he wanted, even make her suffer, but she would not become one of the monsters she hated.

“Would you both not jump to illogical conclusions
? When I said examine, I meant in general. Visually.”

“
Oh.” She flushed at her misconception, and Avion chuckled as he said, “Well, that’s a relief.”

“You’re both idiots,” Aramus muttered.

“I’ll need some gloves.”

“What for? Are you planning to stick a digit somewhere and make me cough?”

Riley didn’t know who looked more startled at Avion’s jest, her or Aramus. “First off, I am not sticking my finger in any holes, most especially not that one. And second, the gloves are for sanitary reasons. I always use them so I don’t catch anything.”