Altered Design (Mechanical Advantage Book 2) Read online

  He smiled. “Only Stephanie supported my decision to join the defense force. She even joked that she would join as well. That didn’t go over well with our parents, but I am guessing she eventually got herself up and into action.”

  “Yeah, they did an all-call for any women with analytical, engineering, or medical skills. They set up the Adaptation Base to remake stronger and better-balanced cyborgs. Your sister is amazing with her knowledge of the way the human body works.”

  He nodded. “She was always good at biological analysis. It was her suggestion to take the nanites out of the lab and put them into my body. My response time got faster, vision got better, and my skin was aware of every breath of air that crossed it.”

  “In that case, being wounded must have sucked.”

  Lexo laughed, “You have no idea.”

  Alphy lifted her hand and sighed. “Well, I am just about to get pruney, so I am heading back to shore.”

  “I will join you. Do you think that the bots will have scrubbed the ship clean by now?”

  She turned and stroked toward the shore. “Positive. I am pretty sure it was clean before we finished eating.”

  He easily outpaced her. His arms moved more water.

  Lexo was on the shore before she was, and as she waded out of the water, she could see that he appreciated the view.

  “Your body is completely human except for your scalp and spine. It is a miracle that you came out of the blast with such minimal damage.”

  Alphy looked down at her skin, beaded with water and pebbled with a chill. “It didn’t feel like minimal damage at the time.”

  He stepped forward to take her hands, and he said, “I know this is going to come out pervy considering our state of undress, but you are beautiful covered in grime, eating with both hands, or just as you are. Your mind is amazing, and you being able to keep your sanity under these conditions shows remarkable self-possession.”

  “Um. Thanks. I think you are pretty, too.”

  He chuckled and leaned in to kiss her.

  She felt his lips press against hers, and three eager and interested minds were pressing back.

  She pulled away and whispered, “I need to spend some time in the cradle. I have to give the guys something else to focus on.”

  He quirked his lips. “Really?”

  “Unless you want to be in the middle of a five way... yes.”

  Chapter Nine

  “Do you often wander around the ship naked?”

  Alphy laughed. “Only when I forget to bring a change of clothing to the lake and what I was wearing is covered in Splice blood. This is the better alternative.”

  He nodded. “I agree, but it feels weird.”

  “You get used to it. There isn’t anyone else here, and the Triad is a little on the pervy side no matter what I am wearing. This shuts them up.”

  “It does leave me nearly speechless.”

  “Nearly?” She snorted.

  “Well, I need to be able to express my admiration for your grace and poise.”

  “Excellent. I admire your ability to point down the path no matter which direction we are headed in.”

  He glanced down at his erection and shrugged. “It is very forward thinking.”

  Her giggled echoed through the halls.

  He reached out and took her hands, and after a few steps staring at it, she settled into a gait that kept her close enough to him to feel his body heat.

  It was a weird Adam and Eve moment, but Alphy was happy to surrender to the fantasy, just a little.

  The surface of the cradle was cool on her skin. She had never gone into the data stream with someone watching her before, and it took her longer than usual to settle herself.

  “Okay, here we go.”

  She opened her mind and pulled the Triad with her, opening all the satellites and gaining what intel she could.

  Reports were flooding in from around the sector. Cyborg outposts were breaking away from their stations and making their way toward Stitch’s base. Her call had started a slow progression of humans toward their own kind. The military was over; it was time for a new colony and a new focus in their war against the Splice.

  She came out of it with a shiver. “Wow. That is a lot of action.”

  “What is it?”

  She sat up and grinned. “Your sister is a force of nature or technology. She is calling for forces to mobilize and a new colony to be started.”

  “You aren’t serious.”

  “Yeah, I am. Since all I can really do is listen to the myriad stations and broadcasts, I am deadly serious. It is all anyone is talking about on the coded channels.”

  “You can hear it?”

  Alphy laughed. “I can hear and see it. My nanites do the translation for me. It is sort of like I am floating in a web of signals and listening to them all at once.”

  “Can I try it?”

  She looked to the body-shaped cradle. “I don’t think you would fit.”

  “May I try?”

  No. It would be far too dangerous. His brain would blow apart.

  She wrinkled her nose. “The Triad says no, or at least, Trell does.”

  “Does he say why?”

  She got out of her station and rose to her feet. “He says your brain would explode.”

  “I don’t think that is literal.”

  Alphy moved past him down the steps and headed for the nearest fabrication unit. “I am pretty sure it was. He accompanied the warning with a visual.”

  “Ah. What did it look like?”

  She grinned as the machine whirred to produce her order. “Constipation followed by surprise.”

  He looked as if he wanted to discuss it further, but he settled for ordering a change of clothing.

  She got her jumpsuit from the unit and stepped into it. She was sealing the closure when Lexo got his.

  Her feet were happy that they were no longer in contact with the hard decking. She wiggled her toes and watched the muscles of Lexo’s thighs and backside flex and twist as he got dressed. It was a pity to watch the silvered skin of his hips and ribs disappear under fabric.

  The breadth of his shoulders was impressive no matter what he wore.

  Alphy clawed her hair back and put it in a messy bun.

  “Well, the boys are busy playing with trajectories and transmissions. If you want my undivided attention, this is literally the best time to take it.”

  Lexo paused with the neckline of his suit open. “In that case...”

  He wrapped her in his arms and kissed her. Apparently, hesitation wasn’t in his repertoire.

  She closed her eyes and threaded her fingers through his hair. The strands were short, but she managed to get a grip to hold him tight.

  Alphy was pulling his suit open when the proximity alarm went off again.

  She wrenched away. “Shit!”

  A triad of Splice ships have slipped past our defenses. There was no indicator of their approach, so we are attempting to trace their trajectories. Onic’s voice was tense.

  “When will they be on the hull?”

  They have attached. They will be inside in minutes.

  Lexo was staring at her. She swallowed slowly. “The Splice are here.”

  “I gathered as much. How much time do we have?”

  “Enough to get to the armoury but not enough time to pull the weapons.”

  Lexo nodded. “Let’s go.”

  They ran through the ship and armed themselves. On the way, she asked, “Did you want to stay together or split up?”

  “Stay together. If we are the only life signs on the ship, they will converge on us. Numbers are definitely a good thing.”

  We are sending out a distress signal. The base is close enough to send out small ships to assist. Onic’s voice was tense.

  Alphy checked her rifle’s sight before she armed the interior defenses.

  “What is the situation?”


  “Apparently, we are close enough to the base to call for help, but in the meantime, I have armed the interior defenses. They will take out any Splice who get close. Their alien parts will set off the scanner, and that triggers the energy pulse.”

  “Which fries them into toast.”

  “Yup.”

  “How far apart are the nodes?”

  “They are set at random around the ship. It is a weird configuration.”

  “Are the Triad protected?”

  “Oh, yeah. Nothing is getting at them. They have a physical shield that they can use, but once they do, they can’t listen in to what is going on.”

  “Can you directly connect with the ship?”

  Alphy nodded. “I can if I have to. It will put me out of commission while I use the interior scanners, but we can get an idea of where the Splice are.”

  I will be your eyes. We have ten Splice in the ship. They appear to be searching for something. They have gathered and are moving in a group. They are passing the entertainment complex right now.

  She sighed and passed Duss’s information to Lexo. “They are on the way past the movie theatre. Ten Splice, moving together.”

  He stared at her. “Moving together? They don’t do that.”

  “They are doing it now.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Duss is giving me information. They are keeping their link to the ship open wide and feeding me locations.”

  “Will that put them in danger?”

  “Probably. They are willing to stay with me until the Splice get within a hundred metres of them.”

  Lexo nodded. “Good. Are you ready for this?”

  “No, but I am a relatively good shot.”

  He cocked his head. “Is there a better place to wait for them?”

  “Sure. I have just the spot.”

  She kept the position of the approaching intruders in her mind and led Lexo back the way they had come and up onto a catwalk overlooking the hallway. They had one hundred eighty degrees of vision, and no one could approach from underneath without their seeing it. The hub of connecting tunnels opened into a wide atrium that went up to the inner hull. Other catwalks were available, but none were accessible from their position. This was the best possible place.

  “Wait. I will take the first shots.”

  She nodded and lay as flat as she could, sighting at the entry point where the Splice would emerge.

  Seconds dragged into minutes, and the first light scuff of a foot snapped her into alertness. She rolled to her back and took aim at where her senses told her to shoot.

  The grunting hiss and bloody thud next to her were proof that she wasn’t insane. The rush of bodies was heard rather than seen. The fuckers were invisible.

  “Back to back,” Lexo growled it as the lack of a visible enemy hampered their chance to aim.

  She felt the heavy wall of him against her back, and she kept firing until the power cartridge was empty. Two corpses were stacked in front of her as she pulled her secondary weapons, but when hands grabbed her, and the crackle of a stun blast hit her, she dropped them.

  Her body was numb, and she knew that her mind would shut down next, but that wasn’t what happened. She was pinned to one of the creatures, and they were hauling her away.

  Instead of passing out as the Splice carried her away from the still-embattled Lexo, her hands flexed and her body flared back into awareness.

  She gathered her strength, gripped the arm around her waist, and squeezed with all her might. The sound of the bone splintering shocked her, but her captor dropped her immediately.

  Alphy scuttled backward until her spine was pressed against the wall. If she concentrated, she could see the faint outline of the Splice who was approaching her. She kicked outward and upward with all her strength. Tissue shredded and he staggered back.

  The crackle and twist of light pulled him away from her, and another lashing of energy tore him in two.

  Alphy turned her head, and Lexo stood, covered in blood with whips emerging from the palms of his hands.

  The crackle sounded again, and the one who had grabbed her was gripped and torn in two, his head severed neatly from his body.

  Alphy stared at the head as it went from translucent to opaque. She shuddered at the shock and horror in the dead eyes.

  The light scuttling of another invader brought her back to her predicament. She clenched her fist and took aim but staggered forward as the whips tore the last Splice apart.

  “Duss, did we get them all?”

  All alien life signs are fading. When you are finished with cleanup, come to the tank. It is time to get this ship into its proper configuration.

  She didn’t ask what he was talking about. It wasn’t her main concern. “Keep one to test it, Lexo. The camo is new, and I need to know how they are doing it.”

  “Right. Any preference?”

  “One of the ones that we shot. Something in one piece.”

  Lexo nodded, and the whips retracted into his hands. “Got it. I will set one aside. Where is the medical facility?”

  “Next to the gym.”

  “I will get on that if you start with the body bags.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “Right. The bots are on the way.”

  “Great. I will find a whole one, you grab some heads.” He smiled tersely and headed for their previous hiding place that hadn’t done any good at all.

  Alphy looked at the bot bringing the body bags to her. “Do you know which head goes with which body?”

  The bot remained silent.

  “Right. I thought so. Well, at least he carved them into manageable chunks.”

  She got to work, grabbing slick and bloody parts and stuffing them into the bags. “Why is it that the ladies always get stuck with the cleanup?”

  The bot still didn’t answer.

  Chapter Ten

  “So, there is a theatre?” Lexo smiled at her as the last of the bodies were dumped into space, their empty vessels still attached to the ship.

  “Yup. This was a fully kitted-out facility, which is funny considering the guys can’t do anything.” She tried wiping the blood off on her suit, but there wasn’t a clean spot to work with.

  “It is a little odd. So, do you want to clean up now or deal with the ships?”

  Leave the ships. We are dealing with the signals. Onic’s voice was grim.

  “They say to leave the ships. They are dealing with them.”

  Lexo shrugged. “Right. Well, I think a shower is in order.”

  “You and me both.”

  “I was offering you the use of my shower and sharing water to conserve resources.”

  Alphy blinked. “Wow. That is... sure. To your quarters then.”

  He grinned, and they walked through the halls, leaving bloody footprints all the way to the crew quarters.

  Peeling off the suits was a relief that both of them expressed the moment that they hit the floor. “Ahhh.”

  Alphy grinned and turned on his shower, stepping inside when the temperature was where she liked it.

  The blood was sticky, and it grudgingly rinsed off.

  “Turn around, and I will help you get your back.” Lexo was in the shower next to her, and a large, foamy scrubber accompanied his offer.

  She nodded and turned her back, working at her breasts and belly to get herself as clean as possible with her own hands while her hair dripped with diluted gore.

  When she was clean, she returned the favour, scrubbing the muscular mix of man and nanites until all the places she was willing to reach were clean. He grinned and took care of the rest.

  Wrapped in towels, they left the bathroom, and he gestured to his couch. “Care to sit? I believe we have a few things to discuss.”

  She grimaced and took up a perch on his couch. “So, what do you want to discuss?”

  “Well, you seem to react very calmly to the energy whips I used
.”

  Alphy shrugged. “You did mention that you had defensive weapons. I assume that that is what those were.”

  “Yes. Stephanie had them installed. I hadn’t used them yet.”

  “Well, you looked like a natural.”

  He smiled slightly. “Thanks. It felt very natural, but I guess, that is what my sister does.”

  Alphy smiled slightly. “She is good at it.”

  “Right, now, what exactly are your adaptations?”

  She frowned. “I told you, some brain and spinal alterations. That is all that is in my file.”

  “You definitely have had other replacements done. I don’t know of anyone who could crush a Splice with their bare hands.”

  Alphy looked down at her hands, and they looked like her hands. There was no silvery tissue to let her know that she was a cyborg, but then, she hadn’t really had a medical check in the last three years. “I think I need to go to medical.”

  Three voices in her mind screamed, No!

  She clutched her skull as they continued to shout that she was fine, she didn’t need a check, she should not use the scanners.

  Lexo was at her side, his hand on her knee. “What is it?”

  “The Triad would like me to not go to the med centre. They are saying that you are insane and that I am fine.”

  He gave her a sober look. “Do you believe them?”

  “No, but I can also feel their worry for me.”

  Lexo sighed. “Do you want to know what actually happened to you?”

  She thought about it before she nodded. “I think so. I am guessing I am ready to face whatever actually happened, now.”

  “Was there ever any doubt?”

  “Of course. A sense of revulsion ran through me every time I thought about checking up on what implants are actually in my body.” She wrinkled her nose. “It was probably a subroutine to keep me from looking.”

  “Likely. Now, do you want to get dressed, or is wandering around naked on the table again?”

  Alphy laughed and got to her feet. “I will be right back. Find some pants.”

  She checked to make sure that her towel was in place and walked over to her room. Alphy left the door open as she dropped the towel and went in search of clothing. She could almost feel Lexo’s attentive gaze on her, but she wasn’t going to check to see if he was looking. She just assumed that he was.