Embarkment 2577 Page 18

  Blake leaned his elbows on the table and tapped his fingertips together. “It would be hard to miss considering I’ve housed it in a cargo bay for three weeks.”

  “Yeah… About that…”

  “He needs three more weeks?”

  “I was actually thinking… He didn’t have to come save us, and he put everything on the line for us. Maybe you could ask him to hang around for a while?”

  He blinked. “You want me to ask a drunken criminal to come live on the flagship of the Confederacy?”

  “Yes, but it sounded better in my head.”

  “Alex…”

  This would be a good time to say something really clever, but I didn’t have anything clever, so I went with truth. “You know he means the world to Anya, and to me.”

  Blake opened his mouth and I blurted out, “He’s Adam’s father.”

  Way to go spilling secrets. At least I had the Captain’s full attention. “You have got to be kidding.”

  “No… And he doesn’t want people to know. He doesn’t have to stay forever, but it would be so great if we could keep him here for a while.”

  Should I try a pouty face, or would that be too much?

  “Dammit, Alex. We are the law. We’re supposed to catch people who steal and smuggle and put them away.”

  I nodded. Adam gave me the exact same speech once. Blake got to his feet and stared out a window. The view hadn’t changed for weeks; John’s ship wasn’t the only thing damaged after battling the black hole.

  He sighed. “Are you sure he’s Adam’s father?”

  “Yes.” It was a little more complicated than that, of course. Androids aren’t exactly born. Still, for all practical purposes, it was true.

  “Very well, but know I’m doing this for you. As long as he’s on the ship, you’ll be responsible for him, and I expect pristine behavior.”

  “Of course.”

  He tugged at his jacket. “Alright. Let’s get this over with.”

  Right now? Well, no time like the present…

  John stood outside his ship with Anya by his side. The floor around them was littered with pieces of burnt out machinery. Towing the Bell had been beyond the limits of reason and physics, but he still did it.

  He stiffened when we approached. “Captain Jones…”

  Blake poked a deformed and blackened piece of metal with his foot. “It has been brought to my attention that you’re good for crew morale.”

  John laughed heartily. “Who said that? Alex?”

  Anya poked his shoulder. “I’m crew.”

  The corners of Blake’s mouth twitched. “The Confederacy and I owe you a great debt. Feel free to… remain aboard.”

  Anya squealed and threw her surprisingly solid holographic arms around the Captain. John said, “I don’t know…”

  I nudged him. “C’mon. You don’t have to stay forever, but it would mean a lot to us to have you here.”

  He looked at me and whispered, “You don’t even have booze on this cursed boat.”

  On the way back to the lift, Blake smirked. “Now you owe me one. Someone’s coming in from the Sanyer system to hitch a ride with us. Meet her and set her up in a guest room, will you.”

  “Sure.”

  The transporter room reminded me of a hospital. It was cold with crisp white walls, and sported a smell of ozone. Adam explained the process once. I couldn’t remember if a person’s matter was transformed to energy, sent to another place and put back together again, or if the first version was destroyed and another created in its place. Either way, it freaked me out.

  I didn’t have much time to think about it; when I entered, the transporter pads electrified and the air shimmered. A split second later, a woman stood in the room.

  She took a step forward, down from the pad and shook my hand.

  “Welcome to the Bell. I’m Alex, and I’ll be showing you to your quarters. The Captain will be with you soon, I’m sure. He had an emergency on the bridge.”

  Little white lies… She was beautiful; tall and slender with platinum blonde hair falling around her shoulders. Her smile was warm, but her grey eyes so cold they chilled my blood.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Alex. I’m Jane. What a pleasure to get a ride on such a fine ship.” She sounded friendly enough.

  Walking through the corridors towards the lift, we talked like women getting to know each other, keeping it mostly neutral, but exchanging personal details to make a connection.

  “I’ve heard there’s an artificial life form on this ship. Isn’t it just fascinating? Do you know him? Is he, I mean, does he seem human?”

  Figures. The mere idea of Adam made beautiful women flock around him. “He’s my husband.”

  Jane stopped and fixed me with her cold eyes. Something in her stare sent a chill down my spine and made me want to squirm. Why did this woman make me feel like a mouse facing a hungry snake?

  “But you’re human, aren’t you Alex?”

  “As human as they get.”

  The hatred in her eyes vanished. She linked her arm with mine and tilted her head a little against me. “So, how did that happen?”

  “He crashed. I mean literally crash landed…”

  “Alex, would you mind taking me home for tea? You’re the only one on the ship I know, and it’ll be a long journey. The guest quarters will still be there.”

  I could relate to the need for friends. When I first arrived to the ship I was both lonely and terrified. I had Adam to look out for me, of course, but I didn’t know it at the time. She was probably curious about the android’s home too… “Of course.”

  I loved our living room, but Jane looked around with a frown. She walked up to a shelf and poked the decorations.

  “What kinda tea do you want?”

  “I don’t drink tea.”

  “Really? I could have sworn you said you wanted tea… Coffee? Cocoa?”

  She stood very close to me all of a sudden, and ran her hands over my shoulders. “What’s with all this meaningless lull in here, Alex? What would an android want with paintings and pottery?”

  Considering how empty the rooms were before Adam met me, probably nothing. “I don’t know, but he seems happy.”

  I tried to shrug her hands off, but they were glued to my shoulders.

  She shook me. “I know he’s not as proud of his heritage as he should be, there’s some small programming flaw there, but it can and will be corrected.”

  “Oh shit. You’re Eve, aren’t you?”

  I knew Adam had a sister, but I never imagined having to face her.

  “Aren’t you a clever little sack of meat?”

  She hardly finished the sentence before she grabbed me by the neck and banged me against the wall. “How dare you, human?”

  I couldn’t answer. She held me too tight and black spots danced before my eyes. Eve was just as strong as Adam, but with no wish to be careful. Was this it? Would I die in the claws of an insane android?

  “What would possess you to think you’re…”

  The door slid open and I heard Blake’s voice, “I hate when people just appear…”

  He cut the sentence off short. I was probably quite a sight held up in the air, clasping the hand that choked my life force out.

  Adam stepped into my field of view. “Eve, let her go.”

  “Now, why would I do that? You ran away from me and mother for THIS? These bags of bones are pathetic. You’re an ungrateful little twit.”

  “I spend time with them because I like them. Especially this one and I’d appreciate you putting her down.”

  “Why do you try to be so much like them? So much effort for nothing.”

  Blake interjected, sounding almost as calm as Adam. “I’m Captain Blake Jones. Let us talk about this.”

  Eve squeezed my throat a little harder, making me wonder if my lips were blue yet.

  “There’s nothing to talk about, human. I just want what’s mine. That’s him.”

  My husban
d took a step forward when Eve nodded in his direction. “I’ll go with you. Just let go of my… Let her go.”

  Maybe the word wife was better unsaid. Eve lowered me enough to allow my feet contact with the floor and let me get a whiff of air. “No. Your little pet here is coming with us. We’re taking a shuttle. You will lead the way, or I’ll snap this human’s neck.”

  Adam didn’t move, and she shook me. “Are you tired of her already? That would be great progress for being you.”

  He turned around without a word and walked into the corridor. Eve pulled me along behind him, completely ignoring Blake, who dove for the radio. “Security to level three.”

  My captor laughed. “You’ll have to do better than that to stop me.”

  The only person able to detain her was incapacitated because I let myself be taken hostage. I needed to win time, but how?

  She probably wouldn’t kill me as long as we were on the Bell. Adam was just as fast as her and probably stronger, and given half a chance he’d deal with her without mercy. I was her shield.

  Adam glanced over his shoulder. “I’m coming with you. You have my word I won’t try to escape, if you just let Alex go.”

  Tilting her head to the side, she pretended to think about it. “No. We need her.”

  For what? On second thought, I probably didn’t want to know.

  Up ahead, a door opened and John came out of one of the lifts. He took one step into the corridor, stopped, and stared. “Cheryl?”

  Eve stopped too, and laughed. “No. Not Cheryl. You must be Sebastian. Isn’t this quite a family reunion, who would have thought?”

  It was the first time I heard his real name. He looked much more like a John.

  Confusion flashed over his face. He knew about Adam, but Eve was a later model and we never talked about her.

  The android didn’t need more than one hand to hold me. She could strangle me just fine with two fingers… She trailed a gun at John’s chest. “Cheryl is dead. She was a weak and useless human, craving obedience from me she didn’t deserve. You will join her now, Sebastian. You were a spineless coward who abandoned her, and it’s fair you should accompany her in being dead.”

  Maybe her reasoning didn’t make sense because of my brain lacking oxygen, or maybe there was something wrong with the murderous thing’s logic circuits. I tried to move, but the superhuman fingers tightened their grip.

  Poor John. He might have left Cheryl, but I was sure he loved her once upon a time.

  “Whatever your mother did or said, there is no reason to take it out on Alex. Let her go, and we’ll go somewhere and talk. Or, release her, kill me and get it over with.”

  Eve blinked twice and fired. For a moment I thought he was dead, but John was fast. He threw himself backwards through the closing doors of the elevator, and the energy beam hit nothing but metal. I imagined him getting to his feet on the other side, cursing.

  My captor nodded towards the other lift and fired a shot at Blake. He too dove to the side, but I heard him grunt with pain.

  “Get further in. Out of reach.”

  Adam obeyed. I wanted to tell him to jump this malfunctioning toaster and rip her head off, but I couldn’t speak.

  The lift seemed to go down forever, and in my imagination, we descended into hell. I was sure John escaped the blast. Blake had to be alright too, he just had to. He was high on my list of favourite people.

  “You’re such a little treasure. Stumbling upon you really made this my lucky day. Except, I don’t believe in luck.”

  The monster machine banged me against the wall. “Such a valuable little animal. Everyone else will risk their lives for you and go out of their way to let you keep yours. They’ll even die for you.”

  Adam tilted his head to the side and crossed his arms. His voice was calm, in stark contrast to the words. “Just so you know, I love that woman more than my own life, and I’m going to tear your limbs off for hurting her.”

  Eve made a snorting noise. “You’re letting yourself sink to their level. Emotional. Ridiculous. You just wait, you’ll beg me to finish her off yourself.”

  She sounded too secure, and a million or so ice-cold ants crawled around inside me. I never doubted she’d attempt to change him. Could she succeed?

  Chapter Two

  A security detail waited outside the lifts. Eve flashed a pretty smile and nodded towards me. “Call them off.”

  Adam sighed. “Stand down.”

  The group pulled back enough to let us pass, but one of the men kept his weapon aimed at Eve. I cheered for him in my mind. Shooting her in the head probably wouldn’t make any difference, but it could hardly make things worse.

  She reached out with her free arm and snapped his neck with a flick of her wrist. It all happened so quickly my brain barely registered it until the body hit the floor.

  “Adam, his death is on your conscience. If anyone else tries something cute I’ll do the same thing to your human doll.”

  His jaw set in a very human expression. If he could get just a little closer he’d be able to take her, but she was too cautious.

  The door to the shuttle bay refused to open. My husband gave a shrug. “I guess they’ve encrypted it.”

  Yay, go Jia’Lyn!

  “Fix it.”

  He leaned his shoulder against the wall. “I don’t think so. I’m tired of this game. My wife stands between you and death and you’re not going to hurt her.”

  Eve’s eyes narrowed, but she reached out for the touchpad herself and broke through the encryption without much effort.

  “Get in. Let’s take the third shuttle on the right. You’re flying.”

  Visiting the shuttle bay had always been a treat. This time, not so much. My husband sat down in the pilot’s chair and glanced back at us. “You have me where you want me. Let Alex go.”

  “I have you where I want you, and now I can kill her. Fly and she might live a little longer.”

  “Where do you want to go? Where do you think you can go? People on this ship will hunt you to the end of the galaxy.”

  His words gave comfort. We weren’t considered expendable, and our friends would at least try to find us. Given the size of the universe they might not succeed in my life time, but the reassurance still made me feel less alone.

  “Take us away from the ship. I’ll give you coordinates later.”

  The surface under my feet wobbled a little when he engaged the engines, making the little craft hover. Maybe he’d crash us into a wall and get all this over with. Eve seemed to read my mind. “If you try anything funny I’ll kill her.”

  Adam took his hands away from the controls and the shuttle fell back to the floor. “You sound like a broken doll. Kill, kill, and kill. Did mother forget to teach you words? You want to rule the world, but you’re simpleminded and tedious.”

  If he were human, I’d say he snapped. Now I couldn’t tell if it was a calculated ploy, or if he really had enough. He got to his feet and Eve took a step backwards, pulling me along. “Stay back. Sit down.”

  “You sneak aboard the ship, kidnap my wife, shoot the Captain, and take at least one officer’s life. You tell me how far below us they are. Well guess what, if you would allow Alex to breathe I’m sure she could give you twenty synonyms to the word kill.”

  Twenty seemed like a lot. Slay, murder, slaughter, butcher, massacre, assassinate… Six. I could think of six.

  Eve pulled out a small silvery object from a pocket and pushed a button. It happened so quickly I barely had time to see. Adam fell in a pile on the floor and she poked him with a foot. “Blah, blah, blah. Guess you forgot to bring the off button when you ran away from home.”

  She finally let me go and I fell to my knees next to him. “Adam… What did you do to him?”

  My voice was no more than a wheeze.

  “If I were you I’d worry less about him and more about you. Get up.”

  I didn’t obey, and she pulled me up by my hair. “Oww, I’m standing, I’m
standing.”

  “Sit in this chair and don’t move. I’m sure your friends are clever enough to track us, but they’re not going to rescue you.”

  I kept glancing back at my husband on the floor. He had been willing to sacrifice himself for me. Was he aware, or was it just… black?

  We didn’t go far in the shuttle. Eve had a ship waiting and put me in a holding cell with perfectly smooth metal walls. I paced over the floor until my feet hurt, and then I sat with my back to a corner.

  I expected her to eventually come get me. I probably wasn’t worth the effort: she teleported me to another prison with bare concrete walls and a stone bench in the middle of the room.

  *****

  If I had been the Captain or Jia’Lyn I might have been able to make a daring escape. I could imagine them pulling a McGyver stunt, prying the door open with a shoe and a belt buckle. I was just me, and I was stuck.

  Funny. When I imagined adventures as a little girl I always saw myself as the hero. I was supposed to save the day, not being used to extort people. Would the cavalry arrive to rescue us? I needed rescue. Eve probably calculated her force pretty well and I would live, but my throat hurt. God only knew what she was doing to Adam. I rarely worried for him; he was more than able to take care of himself, but this time he might be just as vulnerable as I.

  I don’t know how long I waited. I had no windows and no way to tell the time. It seemed like forever, but might just have been hours.

  The door eventually opened and Eve stepped in, followed by my husband. He wasn’t dead and she trusted him enough to turn her back. Why didn’t he deactivate her, or pull her head off, or something? He just stood there, watching Miss Monster saunter over to me.

  Eve ran a hand over my cheek. I wanted to look at Adam, wanted to see what he was doing, but I was afraid to take my eyes off her. “My human test subject. So fragile, so frightened. You’re a little shivering mouse in a trap.”

  I didn’t want to be a mouse. I wanted to tell her I was a person but I was too afraid to.

  She called over her shoulder, “Come here.”

  Adam stepped up next to her, but something was wrong. He stood with his back straight and his arms crossed, just like Adam would, but there was no trace of recognition on his face. His eyes were still brown, but also as cold as Eve’s.