My Cyborg Savior (Crimson Romance) (18 page)

Galen raked a hand through his hair. “A plan.”

Cyrus leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest. “Getting in will be the easy part. I have access. But if we’re seen carrying her, they’ll sound the alarm and we won’t make it to the surface.”

“Why do you still have access? Still experimenting on people, Doc?”

He stiffened. “I am consulted from time to time on problem cases.”

“People that won’t automatically bend to the government’s will?”

“Yes. Do you want to continue talking about this or do you want to get out of here? It will take us several hours to reach the location where they’re holding her.”

• • •

The ride to facility was tense, filled with bouts of silence and others of ferocious arguing to the point that Galen worried he would kill the senator. He took another deep breath, and continued counting to ten. He was actually at five hundred forty-seven. So much for that coping technique.

They needed Cyrus. They couldn’t get in without him. There were several access points on the way down that needed his key card, security code, and retinal scan. He’d even said something about a DNA check. But if they played the obedient cyborg bodyguards, they wouldn’t need to be tested. They would be admitted without being searched for anything but weapons. They’d be permitted one stunner and a knife, for the purposes of defending the senator.

Had they already turned Jamila against them? Would she ever be the same?

The senator cleared his throat. “Don’t look so concerned, Galen. I can fix whatever they’ve done to her. They might use my techniques but they don’t know everything I do. Nor do they know Jamila. I’d be very surprised if they’d made any headway in the mere two days she’s been there. And as I said, I can fix it.”

“You don’t get it. You can’t fix it. You ruined us. Took our lives away.”

“It’s not the same. When Jamila comes out of this she will still have her family, unlike most of the subjects in the past.”

“Yes, because you started killing our families not long after my generation. It makes me grateful mine left me.”

The man leaned forward. “You know your daughter is still alive, don’t you? She’s in her early twenties now. However, your wife is dead.”

A sense of dread filled his gut. “How do you know that?”

“The families that weren’t killed were kept track of. I’ve met the girl. She’s remarkable.”

His fist clenched. “Why the fuck have you met my kid?”

He shrugged. “The government had an interest in her. Like I said, she’s a remarkable woman. Which I suppose isn’t surprising, with you as her father. You were chosen for your ability to do math, your problem solving skills, and your strength, along with many other factors.”

“So why wasn’t she turned into one of us?”

“Believe it or not, the government has stopped manufacturing your kind. You’re too dangerous, and too many of you have turned traitor for it to be a good financial decision to continue with you. They’re trying to bury cyborgs and genetic engineering for good. Why did you think the Haven district was blown up? It’s happening everywhere. And they’re killing off cyborgs they don’t need. They want to erase you. Like a bad moment in history.”

“Oh God,” Torin whispered.

“They’ll be coming for you next. They think they’ve sterilized you, but if they’ve learned anything, it’s that life finds a way, especially if it has access to some incredible medical technology. They believe that someday your people might be a threat to humanity.”

No one could promise they wouldn’t be. Tensions were high, and too many things had been done for them to leave the core planets alone.

“Thanks for the information. It will keep my people on alert if I make it back to them.”

“As for your daughter,” Cyrus shrugged. “The government has hired her for other purposes. Instead of turning her into one of you, they educated her. Took her out of the gutter. You should be grateful.”

He wasn’t grateful. He was furious and terrified. How dare they go near her! He hated this man for knowing the young woman he didn’t. Damn him. The term “manufactured” also pissed him off. His kind weren’t toys, and if the government had abandoned cyborgs it likely meant they’d gone on to other more dangerous projects, most likely just as life-destroying for the unfortunate.

“Keep your goons away from my kid.”

“Too late. She works for them, and she doesn’t work for me so I can’t fire her.”

He growled and clenched his hands. What could he do? He didn’t even know what she looked like. Or what her name was. Her mother had changed both their names when they’d moved. He’d tried to find them once he broke the brainwashing but they’d disappeared.

“Are they going to hurt her? I want her name and location.”

The senator considered that. “I have no idea if they’ll hurt her. They usually leave employees alone, but since she’s yours I expect that she’s in danger. Especially since she has a knack for sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong. Damned journalists. She’s changed her name back to Charlise but added the last name Cole. She should be easy enough to find. Her pretty face has been splashed all over the news lately.”

He swallowed and it went down like a ball of lead. “She’s a journalist?”

“Yes, she’s become a sort of PR person for the government. She probably makes things up to cover their misdeeds.”

“Why are you telling me all this?”

His eyes narrowed. “Because she’s started searching for you. As a leader in the cyborg project, I’ve been informed and consulted on how to proceed. Apparently she knows who and what her father is. She seems to wonder what happened to the cyborgs, and won’t take the fact that we killed most of them for an answer. She seems to think there’s more to it. She’s right, of course. But if she keeps going forward with her investigation it could get her killed.”

His mind raced with possibilities. He had to do something to stop her, or get her away from them. Cyrus was right; digging into his past would get her killed.

Torin glanced at him from the pilot’s seat. “Galen, you have to stop her.”

He shook his head. “One problem at a time. We need to finish this mission before I start worrying about what my offspring is up to.”

The senator nodded. “A good plan. When you decide on something, I’ll help implement whatever plan you come up with if it’s a good one.”

“Why would you help me? You hate us.”

“But my daughter loves you. There must be something worth loving. She’s a very particular girl. And your daughter is unique as well. I don’t want her hurt. She reminds me a lot of my own child.”

He took a deep breath and shook his head to clear it. He couldn’t think about this now. They’d get killed if he stopped to worry about her. She was safe for now.

The ship set down gently and he unstrapped his harness. He stood as the senator did. Cyrus reached into the compartment above his chair and pulled out two collars.

“Oh, fuck no. We’re not wearing those.”

“You have to. No cyborg slave would be without one. The guards will immediately know something is wrong if you don’t have them on. They’re turned on, but most every function is inactive. Check for yourself.” He tossed a collar at Torin. “You do still have the ability to control electronics, do you not? You should be able to at least check for the abilities of these. And even if they were fully active, you could disable them.”

Yes, eventually they could break a collar, but it would take a minimum of two hours. And by then he could have easily betrayed them. And while parts of the collar were inactive now, that was easy enough to fix. They were taking a big risk wearing them, but the senator was right. If they didn’t they’d be discovered at the first checkpoint.

Torin shook his head. “He’s telling the truth, it’s not active, but … ”

Galen nodded. “I know. But what choice do we have?”

Torin paled and his hands shook as he placed the collar around his throat. “I hate you, Galen. We don’t need wrist bands?”

“No, these are updated versions. Galen’s slaver had an older model. These will work with only the collar.”

Galen snapped his in place. A sick feeling filled his gut and he wondered if he’d made the mistake that would get him killed.

But the senator didn’t shout to the guards that they should be arrested. The government officials barely even glanced at them. Odd, considering Galen’s list of crimes was longer than his arm. They must not study their own most wanted list very damned often. A mistake on their part.

As they passed the first checkpoint, the tension in the senator’s shoulders eased. “I was worried they’d recognize one of you. But then again, your files have been buried for so long everyone assumes you’re dead.”

Torin snorted. “Yeah, but we’re stealing ships constantly. Can’t believe they wouldn’t make our faces known.”

The man arched an eyebrow. “Really? We didn’t know who was stealing our ships. We assumed it was pirates.”

Galen growled. “Torin, you have a big mouth.”

He shrugged. “I assumed they knew we were stealing them. So did you.”

Torin had a point. Even pirates weren’t bold enough to take from the government. They’d have to be crazy. He nodded.

“Time to stop talking now, gentlemen. You’re silent watchdogs. Nothing more.”

They both straightened to the rigid posture they’d been trained to hold. It was ingrained in them. Something they’d tried hard to forget, but never quite managed. Though, it had been a long time since they’d practiced. Lapsing into chatter and jokes was normal now unless they were in a combat situation.

They continued to pass manned and unmanned checkpoints without a problem. They’d passed so many that Galen thought his head was going to explode. How many could there possibly be? The government hadn’t been this paranoid about the project when he was in it. Though, since they’d started escaping, the policies had been changed. Still, this was getting ridiculous.

They stepped out of an elevator and the senator sighed. “That’s it.” He turned right and started walking briskly down the hall.

“Now, I have a question. Why do they think you’re so devoted that you wouldn’t rescue your own daughter?”

He glanced over his shoulder but kept moving. “Because I showed no emotion when they took her, only anger and disappointment in her. I’m not proud of it, but it did keep me in the loop. Of course, they still won’t tell me what’s being done to her, and once she’s moved from this facility I’ll have no contact. But for now, she’s in processing, so I’m still allowed to see her. We have hours before that changes, if we aren’t too late.”

He stopped in front of a door at the very end of the hallway they’d turned down. “This is it. I’m warning you, keep her restrained until we are well on our way out of here, and remove that tracking device as soon as possible.”

He grabbed Galen’s hand and slapped a memory chip into it. “This has a code that will allow you to scan for every kind of tracking device the government uses. I suggest you use it on anyone who goes on a mission outside of your facility. And definitely use it on her.”

He pressed his thumb to the panel on the door. There was a small beep and it slid open.

She was slumped in a chair in the middle of the room. There was blood on her temples where they’d probably tortured her while trying to brainwash her.

Galen’s stomach roiled as he stumbled to her. He collapsed next to her, but didn’t dare try to wake her. What if she cried out and tried to get them caught? He silently started undoing the straps that held her to the chair.

Her father crouched down next to him. “Try not to wake her.”

“I know,” he ground out through clenched teeth. “We have to get her out of here, so we’re going to have to move her at some point. Maybe we should gag her.”

Cyrus nodded. “Sounds cruel, but it’s probably a good idea. I don’t know if they sedated her or not. Probably not. She probably passed out.”

“Think there’s tape anywhere?”

Torin thumped him on the shoulder and Galen glanced at him to find he had a roll. “What the hell are you doing with tape?”

“Remember back when I thought I was going to have to knock your ass out and drag you home? Tape is good and portable for that. Nothing works quite like it. Besides, this stuff isn’t supposed to pull off skin. Kidnapper’s Tape is what they call it where I’m from.”

“Oh, now that’s fucked up. And you think that would actually hold me?”

His eyes went blank. “Held me once.”

Galen didn’t ask. All of them had pain, and secrets from the past, and none of them were cool with sharing it. “Glad you have it.”

He snatched it from him and started winding it around Jamila’s wrists. He slapped a length of tape over her mouth before throwing her over his shoulder. “Now what?”

Cyrus glared at him. “Now we get out of here.”

Torin coughed like he was covering a laugh. “And how the hell do we do that? We passed seven checkpoints to get down here.”

Cyrus marched to the door. “There’s more than one way out. We have a shorter, emergency exit. We’ll have to make it there unseen. Our ship will be waiting.”

Great. It was a better option than going back the way they came, but they’d have to get there without being caught. No sure thing.

“Also, as soon as we open the exit silent alarms are going to go off. We’ll have two minutes, maximum, to get out of here before ground troops arrive. Five for aerial pursuit.”

Galen cursed. “We can’t make it off planet that fast. It’s not possible.”

“We’re going to have to. I was hoping you and Torin had some sort of flight skill.”

Torin nodded. “I can do it. We’ll full burn as soon as we lift off. We won’t make it back to the station, but we’ll set the beacon off. Our people will be looking for us, and unless the government knows our frequencies they won’t be able to pick up the beacon.”

Galen glanced at the senator. “Do they?”

“Not that I know. But I’m no longer kept completely in the loop. I’m a consultant, and I never dealt in tactics or intelligence even before.”

“Dammit. Hopefully they don’t have anything, or we’ll be screwed.”

Torin shrugged. “We have to chance it. I don’t see another way. If we don’t go full burn, we’ll be caught. Our little jumper is faster but they’ll overwhelm us by sheer numbers. It’s dangerous if we don’t leave quickly. If it comes to the worst, then I do have a friend in a very low place that will get us there. For a price. Michael is a pirate, but he’s alright people.”