Altered Design (Mechanical Advantage Book 2) Read online

  “Good. Bring that too.” She gathered her weapons and stalked down the hall, leaving him to watch her curvy backside as it swayed in front of him. It had been nearly a decade since he had been this close to a woman, and the light scent in the air made his eyes narrow as he inhaled to memorize it.

  The woman stiffened. “Dude, if you are sniffing me, I am going to write your sister a scathing letter.”

  Lexo grinned and watched her back as she led him through the station. Flying this monster was going to be interesting, but the company was good.

  * * * *

  Alphy clutched the weapons and led him through the station to her private grotto. The moment that he crossed the threshold, a laser cage sprang up and out from all sides of the garden.

  “What the hell?”

  She turned and looked over her shoulder. “I am just going to check your credentials, and then, you will be free to go.”

  He scowled as he stood with his arms crossed and legs splayed. “What happens if I don’t?”

  She shrugged, “Your cage gets very small, very fast, and then bots clean up the mess. Hang tight. I will be back in a few minutes.”

  She walked back to the armoury and got two pistols, settling them on her thighs and tying the holsters into place. She didn’t know what was going on, but she needed to find out.

  The data stream told her what she needed to know. Captain Lexo Carter was indeed back on duty. After years of being in stasis, Stitch had woken him up and applied a few new programs.

  When Alphy read his history, her eyes widened, though they were blind to the physical world.

  He was a prototype. She had thought that they all died in the early days of the war against the Splice, but here he was, on her station and in her prison.

  His programming had been basic. He had been given a nanite override to do his best to keep the war effort moving forward. When he had been assigned to a suicide mission with his men, he had simply killed the general giving the order. No commander meant no command that would take out his men on a mission that couldn’t be won. The war effort required a different tactic, and the command needed to find it.

  After the murder, he had been court martialled with the result being that he was not guilty of insubordination. He had followed the programming set to him by Earth Command. Unlike any of the other men fighting, the prototype cyborgs literally had no other option. The nanites made them carry out the programmed protocols.

  She moved past the records and disciplinary hearing that ended with his request for stasis. Alphy was looking for details on his flying skills.

  Whoa. Huh, so the only thing that he couldn’t fly was a paper airplane. Anything made in the last hundred years had been in his list of familiar machines. Lexo had been an aviation fanatic before he became a cyborg, and it hadn’t stopped just because he was missing a few limbs.

  “Well, I guess he can do the job.” She removed her tabs and sat up.

  “I am so glad you think so.” Lexo’s voice came from her left.

  She sat up in her cradle and stared at him. “How did you get out?”

  “My family designed more than just the cyborg program. We also dabbled in defense systems. No projected laser can go through a mirror.” He held up his wrist. A small reflective circle on his skin flashed as he moved his arm.

  She swung her legs out of the cradle and got to her feet. “You killed your commanding officer.”

  “I did. He was ordering his team to commit suicide for no purpose other than his own ego. That countered the directives that were controlling my system at the time.”

  “Are you still bound by that?”

  “No, Stephanie had the protocols removed. It is all in the data packet I am carrying.”

  “Steph—oh, right. Stitch. Good. She does usually think of everything to get the most out of her patients.” Alphy rubbed her arms.

  The cheerful menace of her guest was unmistakable, but his credentials had checked out. He had flown mission after mission, bringing the maximum number of men back to the base. His willingness to wait for the last batch of retreating warriors had not gone down well with his superiors. The devotion to his missions had been all-consuming, and now, he was assigned to her.

  The triplets were shrieking in her thoughts, and she grabbed her temple while holding onto the barrier that wrapped around the data cradle.

  “Is something wrong?”

  “I am just being yelled at for not shooting you. They will get over it once I put in the authorizations.”

  “By whom?”

  She laughed. “We are definitely not the reason for this asteroid. Just let me get you to the command deck, and you can try to steer this turkey to Stitch’s base.”

  He nodded. “Fine. I will address the issue of the cage at a later time.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “You do that. I am more than willing to excuse your unannounced incursion onto my base.”

  Lexo was surprised. “I suppose that is true.”

  “Yeah. Let’s just suppose that.” She straightened and ignored the inner squabbling, walking nonchalantly past the tank that held the minds of the three screaming idiots.

  “What’s this?”

  She should have known that one of Stitch’s siblings would have keen intuition. “It is classified for now. Once we get to the base, I am sure that you will learn all the ins and outs of the rock.”

  He was behind her with all the subtlety of a warm wall. “Lead the way.”

  She didn’t comment but hiked away from the accumulated information of the Earth forces and led Lexo to what was going to be his domain. He could steer, she would read, they didn’t have to bump into each other more than that.

  Chapter Three

  “Hiya, Alphy. I hope this finds you well.” Stitch’s familiar face waved a silvered hand to the camera.

  Alphy smiled and fought the urge to wave back.

  “So, if you are watching this, you have met my brother, Lexo. He isn’t as irritating as he seems, he is just really straightforward in his thinking. And yes, I know he can probably hear me.”

  Stitch grinned and winked, “Now, if you are the one on that asteroid, then you are heading for me, and I am delighted. My brother was one of what appears to be thousands of cyborgs who were taken offline.”

  Alphy was shocked, but she shouldn’t have been. That kind of data is exactly what the brains were trying to keep from her.

  “I have been in touch with Windy and Lucky. Apparently, Cracker designed our parts when no one else was up for it. I haven’t heard much from Lacey yet, but I know she is around. Two slow-moving cases have arrived with coffee and chocolate. There is only one person who would make that a priority.” Stitch laughed and then she sobered.

  “Right. We need to start making a plan. I have met aliens that look like us. Like seriously look like us, but they have huge dragonfly wings and can actually use them for propulsion. They follow orders way better than the human guys do, but coming from a matriarchal society, they have an inborn respect for women in charge.”

  Alphy grinned at the thought.

  “Stop smirking, Alphy. Lexo is going to be a pain in the ass to deal with, but if the math was right, you still have a week or more with him. He’s a good pilot, and he takes his job seriously. You are in good hands. I will see you soon, and we can have a good laugh at our changes together.”

  Stitch paused. “One more thing. Thanks for surviving. It means a lot.”

  The screen went blank, and Alphy smiled, brushing at the tears in her eyes.

  She exhaled and looked over to where Lexo was under the command controls, his trunk-like legs sticking out from under the console.

  How had the same genetics that made the lithe and delicate Stitch come up with the hulk that was her brother?

  She walked over to where he was working and sat on the floor. “So, what is your family like?”

  He paused in his rewiring. “They are focused
on their studies.”

  “How many brothers and sisters?”

  “I have three sisters, including Stephanie, and one other brother. My parents were researchers in nanite technology, and my brother was in the weapons research and development area.”

  “What about your sisters?”

  “Ah, they were all in various medical fields. Stitch focused on the repair and replacement of limbs for natural function. We had no idea that our careers would suddenly become our lives.”

  “What did you do as a career?”

  He chuckled from under the shroud covered with wires and metal. “Aircraft. Every kind of aircraft that I could find, I took to the skies. What did you do before the attacks?”

  “Administration. I can fill out paperwork for, and find bits of useful information in, just about anything. I was requisitioning stuff that the supply station didn’t know it had to outfit the bases. Each outpost was set up to remain on its own for ten years minimum, and they didn’t even know it.”

  She sighed. “You are the first person I have spoken to since the explosion.”

  He paused and pulled himself out from under the console. “You are kidding.”

  She shrugged. “Not really. I woke up here after the surgery to repair my head, and there was not another soul here.”

  “How long has it been?”

  “Three years. I don’t know how long it was before that. It could have been weeks or months. Things were a little hazy until they were able to patch my skull.”

  She could see the lines of scarring on his face. It was natural healing that would have occurred before the nanites were invited into his system. The stubble made her blink. She hadn’t seen facial hair in decades.

  She had to stop herself from reaching out to touch his cheek.

  He shifted and leaned against the side of the open panel. “What happened there?”

  “It was an attempt to cripple the war effort by Splice sympathizers. The idiots thought that the Splice could be reasoned with if we sacrificed our own lower classes to them.”

  Lexo’s shock was apparent. “What?”

  “Yeah. You heard me. They wanted to feed the lowest of income families to the Splice. Safe at home, they knew better than those who have actually seen the monsters we are fighting.” She shrugged.

  “What happened to them?”

  “They were found and tried by the United Earth court for sabotage, and their sentences were sealed. No one out here knows what happened to them. The rumour is that they were sentenced to death, but I don’t believe it. That kind tends to wriggle out from under this sort of thing. They use money to grease the wheels.”

  Lexo let out a low sound that appeared to be a growl. “I want to find out what happened.”

  “Me too, but they didn’t broadcast the result, so there isn’t any way for us to find out what went on.” She shrugged. It wasn’t precisely true. If the brain trust would let her, she could break through the tech walls that had been set up. Alphy had all the codes, she just needed the access. She had tried twice, but the collective had shut her down—literally. She had woken in her cradle and had been ordered to keep her mind on their brains and on the station requisitions.

  Lexo grunted. “Right. If I ever find out who tried to blow up my sister, they will regret that I am not bound by the old programming.”

  Alphy nodded. “Right. Why did you agree to that?”

  He gave her a bland look. “I woke up with it after my first crash, and it was set in me, carried to the implant for my ear injury.”

  “And from there to the brain.”

  “Right. Well, I had better get back to work.”

  “What are you doing?” She shifted to her knees.

  “I am rewiring the propulsion systems to work with my adaptations. The system was halfway there already. Your handiwork?”

  She smiled. “I had to get it moving somehow. I read the manual and bypassed the security controls.”

  He looked surprised. “You did a good job. Very neat.”

  “Thanks. Well, I will leave you to it. Let me know when you want to be shown to your quarters.”

  He nodded. “You enjoyed Stephanie’s note?”

  Alphy grinned. “It was great. I just wish I could send a communication back.”

  He winked. “Give me a few days. First, I want to start putting on a bit of speed.”

  “Excellent. I will be in the cradle and listening to the chatter. Time to earn my rations.”

  She stood and headed back to the communications centre near the tank. The information coming in was now of deliberate interest to her. She wanted to know what the other bases were doing now that they were cut off from their home.

  Onic, Duss, and Trell were pouting.

  She closed her eyes and put her tabs on, looking for the information she wanted.

  He isn’t authorized to be here.

  I know. I need him to fly the ship.

  We should not have left our posting. We were safe there.

  What good would it do to have all this knowledge and no one to speak to?

  It is our knowledge to keep.

  No, it is humanity’s knowledge, and I am more human than you are right now, so I win. So, leave Lexo alone and don’t send the bots to do anything weird to him.

  We would never!

  You did it to me.

  There was rumbling, and Trell muttered, We are sorry. He is different.

  He is a pilot. He will bring us close to the base without crashing us. I got us moving; he will set us in at a safe distance. I wouldn’t know how or where to stop.

  Yet, you put us on this path.

  She sighed. It had to be done. With Earth out of our reach, we have to come up with a new plan for survival. I know it doesn’t matter to you, but the rest of us are still being driven to live and flourish, not to mention pushing the Splice back into the hell they crawled out of.

  The pompous tone was a triad of mansplaining that had echoed through the centuries. The majority of the cyborg population are males. They can’t flourish, let alone, grow.

  There are at least six ladies out here. That’s a start. There is also an alien race involved now, and they might be a close-enough match with a bit of genetic fiddling.

  We need to discuss it.

  Silence fell as the minds muttered and mumbled in the corners of her thoughts.

  Alphy enjoyed the silence and continued her journey through the reports that had been filed in the last days of active communication with home.

  The information that she gleaned was interesting. There had been a sudden technical surge in the months before the lockdown. It was either a breakthrough, or the researchers had gotten information from somewhere other than Earth. She made a mental note to keep looking for records of the new tech and continued her information gathering.

  “How long are you going to stay there?”

  She blinked and sat up slowly, removing the connecting tabs. “I am done.”

  Alphy tried to get to her feet, but she swayed and fell back into the molded support.

  Lexo was at her side in an instant, and he helped her to her feet. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to jolt you.”

  “Is the wiring done?”

  He nodded. “I was done hours ago and went looking for you when I got hungry.”

  “Oh, of course. Sorry. The unit is this way.”

  She tried to ease free of his grip on her arm, but he came with her and continued to offer himself as a balance point.

  The commissary was a large and empty expanse, the nutrition units were designed to scan whatever human tissue you could present to it for a meal to match your needs.

  “This place is designed for thousands. How many folks are here?”

  “Um, just me. This was a silent station for most of the war. I was posted here after the explosion at the Adaptation Base.”

  “So, you have been alone all this time?” Lexo’s voice w
as suddenly concerned.

  “More or less. I don’t really mind the solitude, but I miss the base. There was always someone around at the base.” She walked him to the dispenser and activated the scanner.

  The machine chirped and whirred as it selected her meal and rolled it onto the tray. The tray moved down the belt, and she went with it.

  Lexo followed her example and took in the full scan. His hands had been replaced as had a few patches on his arms and torso. The pause in the beam was proof of where the adaptations were.

  She held her questions until they were at a table with a flask of tea and a carafe of water. Her first actual person to talk to and now she had to decide where to start.

  Chapter Four

  With her first dinner companion in years, she found she didn’t know how to start.

  After discarding three topics, she finally asked him, “Why did you join up?”

  He paused to swallow. “I come from a long line of researchers, but I didn’t match any of them. I can work in a lab, but it isn’t my true passion. I have always been fascinated by aeronautics, so that is what I went after. My family encouraged it, but when we were attacked, it was all hands to the research facility. I chose a different direction. They went in, I went out.”

  “Wow. You were in the first defenders?”

  He nodded. “I already had flight control implants, so I was in on the initial defense. First, we stayed near Earth and gradually pushed the Splice back.”

  Alphy nodded. “The first defenders did good work.”

  He smiled slightly. “We took care of our own.”

  She sipped at her water glass and smiled as she put it down.

  Lexo cocked his head. “Why did you join up?”

  She rubbed the back of her neck. “I didn’t. I was caught in the first Splice raid and never went home again.”

  He froze. “What?”

  “You heard me. I ended up on a Splice ship... in the storage area. They took us out one by one, and no one came back. It was a relief when the ship was rocked to the side and we heard the air escaping.” She finished her meal.