the cyborgs suffered accusations of atrocities all across the systems. How could they admit that they'd created a new line of superhumanoid soldiers that they had no authority over?”
Tavish slammed her hands down on either side of her, making the seat quiver beneath her. “Accused? You think the cyborgs were accused of willful torture and murder and destruction of entire colonies? I was there, Xave! They did those things! They did them to me, to my family!”
His eyes softened, and he lifted his hand as if he wanted to reach out to her. She drew back, wanting nothing to do with this man who could not be a man. His big hand dropped and clenched into a tight fist.
“The cyborgs were ordered to kill innocents. That's why the Gen 8 models broke away from the Alliance and rebelled. They were human enough to realize that wanton destruction of noncombatants is wrong.”
“Is that what your father told you?”
“I never knew my father. He stayed with my mother only long enough to conceive me.”
“So a monster raped your mother, and you're justifying it?”
Xave's gaze sent slivers of ice through her heart. “If that's true, it's proof positive he wasn't a cyborg. Cyborgs are incapable of rape. They don't possess the desire or the capability. Like you said, they can't reproduce.”
It was too much to process. She breathed deeply, trying to find a thread of sense in this insane notion he had presented her. This man—this wonderful, unusual, not-like-any-other man, who'd given her endless orgasms—wasn't human. How could this be? How could she have not noticed such an obvious defect?
“I'm human,” he insisted. “I carry a few genetic enhancements, courtesy of my father's bioengineering, but I'm not a machine. I'm faster, process things a little quicker, hear better, have a more acute sense of smell, and I heal faster.”
“Do you die?”
A smirk twisted his mouth into the parody of a smile. “Are you planning to kill me?”
“As if I could,” Tavish whispered.
“I bleed and age like any other man.”
“Approaching the Persian Maiden, sir.”
The driving droid's electronic voice shattered the tension inside the vehicle. He seemed to remember he had a job to do. At least she now understood his dogged desire to pursue his quarry. There was nothing more important to a machine than a list of priorities.
The garish green and blue lights of the upscale Persian Maiden Casino glittered against the orange-tinted sky of Janus 5. The white alloy structure vaulted countless stories into the air, and the area on the ground teemed with service droids, security personnel, and patrons. She sucked in a deep breath.
What was she doing? She had no business pretending to be a bondsman. And for what? For Xave? For a man who wasn't a man? For some hyped-up guy who kept trying to convince her he wasn't a cyborg, that he wasn't a machine, that he was some kind of strange, bioengineered superhuman? Xavier Kovuchenko was insane, and she was going to trust him with her life? What did that say about her sanity?
* * * * *
Xave pushed his doubts about Tavish to the far corner of his brain and shut down the emotional turmoil that threatened to destroy his mission. He was a bondsman, a professional. Mendez had the proof he'd scoured the systems for, and Mendez was here. He was so close. Whatever problems he had with Tavish would have to wait.
Grabbing on to an image in his head, he focused until he'd fleshed out the avatar in detail. He reached down and turned the crystal on his IID clockwise. Every cell in his body tingled. It wasn't painful, just irritating. The holo image of an elegant businessman settled like a blanket over his enhanced senses.
He glanced at Tavish to gauge her reaction to this abrupt change in his appearance, but her attention remained focused out the window. A stab of regret lanced through his gut, and Xave had to tamp down the rise of emotion that once again threatened to overwhelm him.
It was nothing
Tavish slammed her hands down on either side of her, making the seat quiver beneath her. “Accused? You think the cyborgs were accused of willful torture and murder and destruction of entire colonies? I was there, Xave! They did those things! They did them to me, to my family!”
His eyes softened, and he lifted his hand as if he wanted to reach out to her. She drew back, wanting nothing to do with this man who could not be a man. His big hand dropped and clenched into a tight fist.
“The cyborgs were ordered to kill innocents. That's why the Gen 8 models broke away from the Alliance and rebelled. They were human enough to realize that wanton destruction of noncombatants is wrong.”
“Is that what your father told you?”
“I never knew my father. He stayed with my mother only long enough to conceive me.”
“So a monster raped your mother, and you're justifying it?”
Xave's gaze sent slivers of ice through her heart. “If that's true, it's proof positive he wasn't a cyborg. Cyborgs are incapable of rape. They don't possess the desire or the capability. Like you said, they can't reproduce.”
It was too much to process. She breathed deeply, trying to find a thread of sense in this insane notion he had presented her. This man—this wonderful, unusual, not-like-any-other man, who'd given her endless orgasms—wasn't human. How could this be? How could she have not noticed such an obvious defect?
“I'm human,” he insisted. “I carry a few genetic enhancements, courtesy of my father's bioengineering, but I'm not a machine. I'm faster, process things a little quicker, hear better, have a more acute sense of smell, and I heal faster.”
“Do you die?”
A smirk twisted his mouth into the parody of a smile. “Are you planning to kill me?”
“As if I could,” Tavish whispered.
“I bleed and age like any other man.”
“Approaching the Persian Maiden, sir.”
The driving droid's electronic voice shattered the tension inside the vehicle. He seemed to remember he had a job to do. At least she now understood his dogged desire to pursue his quarry. There was nothing more important to a machine than a list of priorities.
The garish green and blue lights of the upscale Persian Maiden Casino glittered against the orange-tinted sky of Janus 5. The white alloy structure vaulted countless stories into the air, and the area on the ground teemed with service droids, security personnel, and patrons. She sucked in a deep breath.
What was she doing? She had no business pretending to be a bondsman. And for what? For Xave? For a man who wasn't a man? For some hyped-up guy who kept trying to convince her he wasn't a cyborg, that he wasn't a machine, that he was some kind of strange, bioengineered superhuman? Xavier Kovuchenko was insane, and she was going to trust him with her life? What did that say about her sanity?
* * * * *
Xave pushed his doubts about Tavish to the far corner of his brain and shut down the emotional turmoil that threatened to destroy his mission. He was a bondsman, a professional. Mendez had the proof he'd scoured the systems for, and Mendez was here. He was so close. Whatever problems he had with Tavish would have to wait.
Grabbing on to an image in his head, he focused until he'd fleshed out the avatar in detail. He reached down and turned the crystal on his IID clockwise. Every cell in his body tingled. It wasn't painful, just irritating. The holo image of an elegant businessman settled like a blanket over his enhanced senses.
He glanced at Tavish to gauge her reaction to this abrupt change in his appearance, but her attention remained focused out the window. A stab of regret lanced through his gut, and Xave had to tamp down the rise of emotion that once again threatened to overwhelm him.
It was nothing
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