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“That’s very true.”
He didn’t mention that wouldn’t be the case when they reached Garden. The council would probably try to make an example out of him, but he’d survive. A few of the council members may demand he be locked up, but the rest would probably just want him punished quickly. Some physical discomfort and possible downgrades in his lifestyle were likely the most he would face.
The council needed him too much to punish him for an extended amount of time. Sky had to keep close tabs on what was going on with Earth, especially since the Markus Models had been introduced to cyborgs. Cyborgs and Earth shared a common enemy. It was necessary to contact the outposts to see if there was any news about the destructive androids being spotted, or if any more station attacks had occurred that could be linked to them. The broadcast news from Earth was always filled with false information, so he talked to people living on the stations. They loved to gossip.
Sky allowed Mick to edge past him and didn’t relax until the cleansing unit door closed. Then he walked to the wall and flattened his palm over the control, hailing Onyx. The male instantly responded.
“I can’t believe you called the council.”
“I had to, Sky. You left me no choice. They were going to notice when we returned with an Earther. I didn’t want to get into trouble. I don’t have an essential duty that’s specific to my skills. They would have severely reprimanded me.”
“True.” His temper cooled. Onyx really hadn’t been left with a choice, and he knew it. “I’m special that way.”
His friend snorted. “I hope you don’t take that tone with the council. They are very displeased.”
“When aren’t they?” Sky was a little worried…but not about his future. “Did you get a vibe at all about what they want to do with Mick? Did you state she was under my protection?”
“I did.”
“And? Don’t screw with me. Did they say anything to give you a hint about how this is going to go down when we reach home?”
“There was an open coms discussion. I doubt she’ll die, but they don’t trust her. They knew that mining planet is one of the latest ventures by Earth Government. She’ll most likely be locked up as a prisoner to interrogate at will. They seemed interested in gaining information from her.”
“Damn it!” Frustration filled Sky. “They’re idiots! She is a miner, not a soldier. She wouldn’t know anything of interest to them unless we plan to drill for some of Garden’s natural resources.”
“She works for Earth Government.”
“She’s a subcontractor.”
“What is that specifically in this instance?”
“It’s when they hire a civilian with certain skills who gets paid by them, but the job is her only connection to EG. They don’t have soldiers who can operate or repair mining droids. She was raised on the moon with miner parents.”
“That is interesting.” Onyx hesitated. “Too bad our Earth expert won’t be trusted when he gives them that information. Your motives will be considered suspect.”
“Fuck.”
“Is that what you hoped to accomplish by saving the Earther? Don’t deny it. I saw your expression when you saw her on the monitor. She’s attractive.”
“She’s my friend.”
“Sky?” Onyx sent his frustration through the link. “I know you’re fascinated by Earth women. I’ve heard you complain about it often enough when one of our males joins a family unit with one. You’ve always said other cyborgs aren’t as well suited to be husbands to Earthers as you would be.”
“It’s true. I’m the expert.”
“And you find our women too cold and distant.”
“That’s true, too. Do you enjoy timed intercourse?”
Onyx hesitated. “No. The counting of strokes is even worse.”
“Agreed.”
“The last time I was asked to donate my sperm, the female said I could thrust a hundred times.”
“How romantic.”
“Only you would say that, Sky. It was about a successful pregnancy, not about forming a bond with her or my ability to give her pleasure.”
“I can see why you’re not in a family unit.”
“I don’t want to be. I wouldn’t be the first male in any relationship, and being a third or fourth means I am under the command of too many.”
“It also means you’d get very limited time with the female, and you’d be banned from touching sex bots when we visit stations.”
“Exactly.”
Sky hesitated. “You know I had to do this.”
“I understand. I’m not the council, though.” Onyx sighed. “Do you want my advice?”
“No.”
“I’ll give it anyway. You might want to strongly consider talking her into forming a family unit with you before we reach Garden. It will give her certain rights and protections.”
“I already planned on doing that.”
“Did you?”
“Yes. I know I want to keep Mick.”
His friend hesitated again. “They aren’t like our women, or sex bots. You’ll have to manually activate her sex drive. Do you have enough skill to succeed?”
Sky chuckled. “I’m motivated.” He reached down to adjust his dick. “I’m up for the challenge…literally.”
“Earth humor? I think I understood that one, and you’re twisted.”
“Nope. I’m straight as a pole.”
“You need psychological help, but I still envy you right now.” Onyx cut the link.
Sky dropped his hand away from the panel but then remembered he needed to order snacks. He placed another communication then paced his room. His gaze kept straying to the cleansing unit. Mick had been in there a long time.
Chapter Four
Mick dried slowly, nervousness making her hands tremble and her stomach feel as if it were twisted into knots. Sky had made it clear he was sexually interested in her. It was a two-way street, but his size frightened her. As did the unknown of exactly what he was.
How much of him was made up of cybernetics? His skin felt real, but it was gray. He could touch a wall panel and have a silent conversation or maybe send signals. What else could he do? She just wasn’t sure. He’d admitted cyborgs married and had sex, including with humans. That meant he had to have all the parts men did.
She bit her lip, hating the feeling of being so uncertain.
Sky had told her that Earth Government ordered all cyborgs be killed. She definitely bought that hook, line, and sinker. They were real shits when anyone stood up to them.
Not enough years had passed since the miner strike to dim her teenage memories. The workers had protested the meager supplies and low pay they were given by halting the drilling. Earth had responded by sending soldiers with orders to kill everyone if they didn’t restart the drones. It had been a very short protest. The few who’d refused had been slaughtered. Earth wasn’t big on negotiations or caring about life when profits were on the line.
Mick tugged the borrowed shirt over her head and peered down. The bright blue material only made her skin seem whiter. It usually didn’t bother her, looking ghostly, but that was before she’d seen Sky’s grayish skin.
Velion One wasn’t exactly sunbathing friendly. The sun was too close and baked anything on the surface when it was daylight. That’s why there wasn’t any water to be found without drilling first to locate it. Earth had been too cheap to do that. Travel from the control center to the outer buildings had been hotter than hell during the day, and she’d covered her head and body entirely to prevent severe burns to any exposed skin.
She lifted her chin and straightened her shoulders when she pressed the button to open the cleansing unit. She couldn’t hide inside it for too long before Sky came in to check on her. The last thing she wanted was for him to think he’d rescued a coward, because she wasn’t one.
Sky stood by the door when she stepped out.
He smiled. “I take it you’ve been enjoying the foam unit?”
“I h
ave. I missed them.”
“What did you use on the planet?”
“Water and air units. Mostly air. Sometimes it would rain but that only happened three or four times a year. I’d run outside to stand under it. Sometimes I’d save enough extra water rations to take a real bath, but only a small one about every five months.” She smiled at the memory. “You don’t know how much you miss the simple pleasure of sitting in real water until you’re on such a dry planet. You also have to be creative to take a bath inside a small mining bucket holding a foot of water. Not the most comfortable or roomy things.” She walked to his bed and sat carefully, more than aware of her exposed legs. She didn’t want to flash him her girl parts. “What is your home world like?”
“Garden is beautiful.” He sat next to her, leaving about a foot of space between them. “I’ll take you swimming if you wish. There are oceans, rivers, and streams.”
“Are there only cyborgs on your world?”
“No.” He shook his head. “There is an amphibian race, but we don’t interact with them. We created a secure perimeter to separate us.”
“Why don’t you talk to them? Are they not humanoid enough for communication?”
“They are, but they avoid us. It’s understandable. We settled on their planet without permission because we weren’t aware of their existence at first. They don’t have any large cities or distinguishable dwellings on the surface. We were sure it was uninhabited until they attacked some of us.”
“So you’re at war?”
He shook his head. “No. The ‘attack’ consisted of them tossing stones at some of our people who were exploring the land around where we’d settled. There was no real threat. It seemed more an act of defiance and to show their displeasure at having us there. I believe they were just frightened by us. We’ve lived in peace since we separated ourselves. They can’t breach our walls. We have no intention of killing or harming them. We are nothing similar to Earth Government, and we avoid interfering with their lives.”
She liked cyborgs already. “Earth would have enslaved them or wiped out their race.”
“We’re aware. That isn’t our way. We avoided conflict by putting up walls to segregate our society from theirs.”
“Are you able to communicate with them?”
“We’ve attempted it, but they refuse to speak to us. We installed monitors on the exterior walls to record them when they come close enough to investigate. Their language wasn’t hard to decipher, but any attempts to confer have failed. They seem primitive but intelligent.”
She let that sink in. “You said they’re humanoid. What do they look like?”
He shifted his body. “Mostly blue-skinned, from dark to very pale in range. They have two arms, two legs, and their features are very similar to those of Earthers, but they have gills on the sides of their throats.” He paused. “Are you really interested?”
“I am. Are they able to breathe water?”
“We’re certain they do.”
“Do they have fins? Scales on their skin?” Mick was fascinated…and it kept the conversation on a safe topic.
“We were able to study a few when they attacked us, but not at close range. The exploration group noted that their feet are unusual, and so are their hands.”
“How so?”
“Flatter and wider than ours. Webbed slightly between the digits. We believe it’s to help them swim. They are taller than an average human.”
“Do they have hair? Two eyes?”
“They mostly have white or black hair, depending on their shading. The pale ones seem to have white hair while the darker-skinned ones have black. Their eyes are very humanoid, but so far we’ve only documented very dark eye colors.”
“Are there males and females, or are they single sex?”
Sky grinned. “You are very interested.”
Mick blushed. “I didn’t always want to be a miner, but that’s what life threw at me. I used to dream about traveling the solar systems to visit distant planets.”
“Why?”
“I grew up mostly on the moon while my parents mined it, but the surface was dead, you know? I’d daydream about what it would have been like if life existed there. I was super excited when I heard about Velion One, but nothing lives on that planet, either. It has breathable air but the storms probably destroyed all life, if there ever was any. It wasn’t like I’d found any signs of civilization. The scrubber storms would have wiped them from the surface, and I hated going down into the mines. They were freshly dug by the drones. I always feared a cave-in. No one would have come to dig me out.”
Sky rose to his feet when a chime sounded. “Our snacks,” he informed her.
Mick made sure her lap remained covered as Sky strolled to the door and put his hand over the pad. It opened, and curiosity made Mick peer at the cyborg who stood there holding a tray. He was one she hadn’t seen before, and he wore the shuttle’s uniform that Sky and the others who’d escorted them to the quarters sported. His bright blue eyes fixed on her before he slowly studied her body.
Sky moved to block his view. “Thank you.” He sounded irritated. “Hand over the tray.”
“Aren’t you going to introduce me to her?” The cyborg had a very deep voice.
“No. Get lost.” Sky grabbed the tray and sealed the door. He turned, an annoyed expression on his face. “Sorry about him gawking at you. It’s rare to see someone from Earth.”
“It’s okay. I never thought I’d get to see cyborgs. I understand.”
He smiled, relaxing as he returned to sit next to her. “Eat something.”
She glanced down, studying the bowls of food. Her jaw dropped. “Fruit? Is that what it is? Fresh? Oh my goodness!” She plucked what resembled a blueberry between her index finger and thumb, popping it into her mouth.
Flavor burst across her taste buds. It reminded her of strawberries…or at least what she imagined they were like. She moaned, savoring the treat. She opened her eyes and looked at Sky.
His mouth had parted, and he looked stunned.
“Sorry.” She blushed, feeling the heat in her cheeks. “I haven’t had fresh fruit in…” She paused, thinking. “Eight years.”
“You left Earth four years ago. Correct?”
“Yes, but I couldn’t afford fresh fruit on a miner’s salary. Even when I saved up to buy some, it wasn’t actually fresh. Only the rich get access to that. It was freeze dried but tasty. Eight years ago, I was invited to a wedding where they served sliced pieces of real apples to the guests.”
He pushed the tray closer. “Eat as much as you want. I can order more. We have plenty. Garden is lush with vegetation, and we grow our own food.”
Gratitude swelled inside her. Sky had given her a huge treat, and she appreciated it. “This must have cost you a fortune. Thank you so much.” She took another berry, slower this time, not wanting to seem too eager.
“Food is free.” Sky smiled. “We don’t have the same monetary system as Earth.”
She gaped a little at that, the berry posed in front of her mouth. “What do you mean?”
“We have different levels of job classifications, but everyone has free access to basic living standards such as food, clothing, and housing in our society.”
She blinked, not comprehending. “You don’t earn credits?”
“No.” He picked up the entire bowl and offered it to her. “Using myself as an example, my job is priority. I’m the Earth expert. I know more about them than most cyborgs do. My past interactions with them gave me useful knowledge, so I had my choice of living quarters on Garden. Think of our system as though it were a building.” He smiled again, amused. “I got the penthouse apartment. Not that the units below me are less comfortable, but mine is bigger and I have a better view. All cyborgs have nice homes. We all work, do our assigned jobs, and help our community.”
“What if you hate your job? Do you like yours?”
“We could change jobs if that were the case. We’re not f
orced into our assignments. I enjoy mine. Of course, with my knowledge, it would be difficult for another cyborg to take my place.”
“I can’t even imagine what it’s like on your planet.”
“You will once you see Garden.”
“Is my not being a cyborg a problem? I mean, do they hate us? People from Earth?”
“I won’t lie to you, Mick. You’ll face some trust issues. Earth Government would love to locate Garden to wipe out my entire race. They fear us. Some of my kind will be wary that you might try to transmit that information to Earth.”
“I wouldn’t do that. I’m not a fan of Earth Government. Are you a threat to them?”
“Only if they attack us. We left their planet and sought our own to live in peace. It’s all we want. They believe we hope for their destruction as much as they do ours. It isn’t true.”
She ate another berry and accepted the bowl. “I believe you. After all, you live in peace with the amphibians when it would probably be easy for you to wipe them out.” She decided to change the subject and ate more berries. “These are so good. Thank you.”
“Enjoy them.” He leaned back. “I’m happy to get you anything that gives you pleasure.”
Mick nearly choked on the next bite when she noticed the way Sky’s gaze lowered slowly down her body. She swallowed hard, wondering if he meant it the way a normal guy would. If he were human, his words would be considered a sexual innuendo.
Her heartbeat raced a little when he looked back up, holding her gaze.
“Anything at all.”
Oh boy. He’s definitely coming onto me.
She gave his body a once-over, too. He was massive but he hadn’t hurt her. She didn’t think he ever would. Sky might be a cyborg, but he was also the same man she’d spent hours at a time communicating with over coms. She’d liked him enough to plan on finding him one day, once her stint on Velion One finished.
Now he was so close she could touch him.
She glanced at his hands. They were big and warm; she knew that last part from holding his hand when they’d been escorted to his room. The idea of those hands on her body made her belly quiver.
I’m a little sex starved, she reasoned. Really out of practice, too. Shit. I don’t even know how to tell him I’m interested. She glanced at his lap, wondering if he was built the way a human was. He looked like one everywhere else, despite his coloring and knowing he had more going on under his skin than she did.