Assessing Survival (13 page)

The slick slide of his cock inside her increased her pleasure, and the rough handling sent her over the edge far faster than she wanted. She hissed through clenched teeth as her body wrapped around him, and he shoved into her in time to her body’s frantic clutching.

He groaned against her throat, and the sound echoed in her mind. She threaded her fingers through his hair and pulled his head up for a kiss.

His cock twitched inside her as she pulsed around him again.

“I wasn’t afraid of the Splice; I was afraid I wouldn’t see you again.”

She sighed against his lips. “I led a group of aliens and a medic after two Splice warships because you didn’t wake me to say good bye.”

He chuckled. “We are a pair.”

“Yeah, we are. I need to put my pants back on now.”

“I like being inside you; you are so tight.”

She blushed. “Right, well, you would be the authority on that.”

He grinned and bent his knees. Slowly pulling out of her as she ended on her feet and he was crouching.

“Back up a step.” She gave him a look.

“Why?”

“I don’t want to get hit in the head with your cock on the way down or up.”

He chuckled and stepped back as he tucked his relaxing erection into his trousers.

She wiggled her way into her underwear and made a face at the damp sensation as she snugged her pants onto her hips.

“That is an incredible face you are making right now.”

“Dealing with my cum and yours makes walking distinctly uncomfortable.”

“I would say I am sorry, but now, I just want to get you into a shower.”

“Well, Niko, as you are now the commanding officer again, you need to know this. Let’s go exploring.”

“I thought that was what we just did.”

She grinned and grabbed his hand, hauling him along. “That was a condensed version of greatest hits.”

He was chortling when they reached the end of the dark hall and they didn’t need the light switch.

Over a thousand deep-cold chambers were lined up in groupings that didn’t seem to have any rhyme or reason.

She left Niko and headed down, off the viewing walkway, and she headed for the back of the storage area.

“When I was with my family, there was a file about previous research into cyborgs.”

“I thought the Carters were the founders of the cyborgs.”

“Only the current generations. The ones that are just men, adaptations and nanites.”

She stopped next to one of the containers and brought up the medical file. She put her hand over her mouth and swallowed.

“What? You look like you just saw a ghost.”

She turned to stare at him. “How long has this base been here?”

“Eight years.”

She went through the modules, looking frantically for something familiar.

She pressed her forehead to the tube when she found him.

“Who is it? Your lover?”

She turned her head and smiled weakly at him. “This is my elder brother, Lexo. He was a first volunteer and one of the first generation of cyborgs. They made him into a weapon, and then, they put him away like a broken toy.”

“What was so special about the first generation? We are all built for battle.”

“They aren’t built for battles. They are weapons. Arms, legs, everything has weapons built in. Killing is their only purpose.”

Niko looked at her and then back to the man in the canister. “Well, fuck.”

She couldn’t add anything to that.

Sitting in the command office, Niko asked, “What do you want to do?”

“I want to ask the Alguth if they want help, and if so, I want to return their fighters to them.”

“If the Alguth want to go.”

“Right. That. I think they do.”

She finally managed to crack the roster of the men in cold sleep.

“Holy crap. The Sisters are down there as well.”

Niko looked over her shoulder. “What are the Sisters?”

“Females who volunteered to be made into medical cyborgs. They were also given programming that went a little wrong.”

“What was it?”

“The women were programmed as sexual companions to all comers, so to speak.”

“It sounds a little rough but not horrible.”

“Their program got them to feel pleasure all the time, any touch, any sensation, it all got them off.”

Niko frowned. “Your voice says it isn’t a good thing.”

“Put someone who feels pleasure at every stimuli into a combat situation, and then, what do you have when the fight is over?”

“Oh, shit.”

“Yeah, it was a short project and why women weren’t supposed to be on the front lines.” She gave him a dark glance. “The women in the basement are sexy and exceptionally dangerous. If we do wake up that army, we have to do it one at a time.”

“So, what do we do next?” Niko’s knee was touching her own.

“First thing is to ask the Alguth if they want to go home. I can fly them. “

“Right. Like I will let that happen.”

She poked him in the chest. “You are not the boss of me. You read the memo. I am a mascot only.”

He grabbed her finger and sucked it into his mouth, swirling his tongue around it.

She shivered and felt her eyes droop heavily. Her hair was still damp from her shower, and she slowly pulled her finger out of his mouth. “Don’t tease. This is serious.”

“It wasn’t a tease. It was an invitation.”

She raised her brows and climbed into his lap. “Well, in that case, who do you want to talk to first? The men or the Alguth?”

“I think that we should get everyone together. This isn’t something that I want to get into if everyone isn’t on board.”

She stroked his neck, and he looked down at her. In a high falsetto, she said, “You are so smart.”

“You are one second away from being dumped off my lap.”

She laughed and got to her feet. “Everybody needs to be included. Even me.”

He grinned and got to his feet, calling for a base-wide meeting to be held in medical in half an hour. Attendance was mandatory.

So, Stitch, you are really doing this.

Why the fuck can I hear you, Windy?

The communication nanites went straight to your brain. Plenty of room in there.

Funny. And weird. So, what do you want?

If you can get a new base on Alguth, you won’t be alone. Earth Command has cut us off. We need a place to go, and it looks like the Alguth need defending. If they are interested, we can swing by and help grab your sleeping cargo.

I am going to have to engage in politics, and we all know that it isn’t my forte.

If you want a place on Alguth, Alphy will be only too happy to step into the breach.

Tell her to do whatever it is that she can to gain us a site on Alguth. We will go there, bodies ready and weapons hot.

Excellent. I am passing it along. I will let you know when the Alguth reply.

Oh, and we have fifty-five of their men that are repaired and ready to fight.

I am grabbing the files from your computers. Anything she can show them will be helpful, I am sure.

Okay, I have to go; the meeting is in half an hour. I have never planned a mutiny before. This is going to get weird.

The only way you do it. Have a fun mutiny, Stitch.

Windy went silent, and Stitch shook her head as if to dislodge the voice.

“What was that?”

She winked. “I will explain it when we are naked. It will be funnier.”

“Tempting, but it will have to wait until later. Are you ready?”

“Yup. I am already out of this party. I am just here to watch.”

He sighed. “You know just what to say to distract the hell out of me.”

“Excellent. I am going to need a new job.”

“It only has a few benefits.” He was walking slightly ahead of her, so she grabbed his ass. He jumped and turned to her in shock.

“So far I like the ones I can lay hands on.”

“You are going to be a pain in the ass, aren’t you?”

“Only if I start pinching. Come on. Serious meeting to hold about engaging in mutiny and trying to get the Alguth back to their people.”

She shooed him along, and he gave her a black look over one shoulder. They headed to medical, and the room was rapidly filling with humans and their alien guests.

Stitch watched as Niko stood on an exam table and started to explain the situation with Earth Command and the Alguth.

After he was done, George called out, “Stitch, what do you think?”

“I have been relieved of duty for insubordination. So, technically not allowed to influence those of you who want to remain under the umbrella of Earth Command.”

She smiled calmly and stood at ease.

The vote was shockingly unanimous. Since they had no chance of returning home, putting roots down with the Alguth were as good as it was going to get. They would help defend against the Splice.

It was a relief and oddly freeing for the men who had been obsessed with the duty to the base.

“Right, so we are going to do this.”

The men cheered.

Stitch looked to Niko, and he pulled her up to stand next to him.

“Okay. So, we are still the military, wear what you want in your off hours as long as you wear something. On duty, on missions, everybody remember that we are representing humanity out here. We are unified, and we will fight for our two species’ survival.” She put her silver fist in the air. “With a mechanical advantage!”

The cheer confused the Alguth, but they greeted their new unit mates with handshakes and pats on the shoulder. It was all very grownup and masculine.

Niko looked down at her. “Did we just do that?”

“I think we did. Are you ready to rob this place blind and move house?”

He looped his arms around her waist and grinned. “I don’t know. Moving in together is a big step.”

“Moving in?”

“Well, we will have to create plans once we find the next source for our base. That will involve many late nights, and of course, we will still need to fight the Splice when they get in close.”

“So, you want to move in together and live... together?”

Liakon snorted from nearby and said, “You two draw each other. Even I can see it, as much as I wish it was otherwise.”

Stitch looked at him and narrowed her eyes. “Quiet, you. I was getting the ass end of a proposal here.”

Niko knelt at her feet. “Let me make it formal. Would you, Stephanie Carter, do me the honour of sharing a domicile with me with an eye toward a permanent bond?”

She grinned. “You just want to jump my bones whenever convenient.”

“That is correct.”

A wave of laughter moved through the men.

She stroked his face, and he closed his eyes, leaning into her hand. “Of course. Consider it an engagement and the present that you seal it with can be a place to live.”

He lifted her and hopped from the table, hugging her and twirling her around.

Stitch held onto him with all her strength, surrounded by their motley group, and she hoped that this was going to have a happy ending for all. She knew it wouldn’t, but for now, hope was the best four-letter word in her lexicon.

Conference season looms, so I can be found at RT in Las Vegas (April), RTC in Ottawa (May), and RAGT in June (Ohio).

This means a delay until July for book two of this six-book series, but it will be there, the cyborgs will be back, and we will see where the other five survivors have been. Well, we will see the story of one of them.

Thanks for reading,

Viola Grace

Viola Grace (aka Zenina Masters) is a Canadian sci-fi/paranormal romance writer with ambitions to keep writing for the rest of her life. She specializes in short stories because the thrill of discovery, of all those firsts, is what keeps her writing.

An artist who enjoys a story that catches you up, whirls you around and sets you down with a smile on your face is all she endeavours to be. She prefers to leave the drama to those who are better suited to it, she always goes for the cheap laugh.