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  The woman blinked sweat out of her eyes. “Leave. I will splatter your circuits all over that wall if you don’t go now.”

  Venda nodded and moved at a blurred pace, grabbing the unit and crushing it in her own hand, keeping the woman clear of the small explosion. “Madam, your husband has done me a grievous wrong. He participated in my slaughter. There is a cluster-wide warrant out for him. Get the court over with, and he will be freed when your children are teenagers. I will even testify on his behalf.”

  “What will your word do, bot?” the wife hissed.

  She wanted to wrinkle her nose, but the bot wasn’t that advanced. “I am the woman that was killed when your husband chose to participate in a kidnapping and hostage event that nearly took the life of a dear friend and her unborn child. It was orchestrated by my ex-husband, so there is no single burden of blame. He has been dealt with as have others. Your husband is the first that I have not killed outright.”

  “Enough, Liandri. I will go with her. What happened that day was... what I dream about.” He shuddered.

  The wife suddenly got quiet. “Go, but I am going to make sure you are all right.”

  He smiled. “Thank you, Lady. Take care of the kids.”

  “Take care of yourself. I will be there every day.”

  They had a surprisingly tender kiss considering that he had just been ill. Venda took him into her custody and drove him to the peacekeeper outpost.

  “Gentlemen, I believe you are expecting us?” She walked in with him and waited for an attendant. When the man behind the desk drew a weapon, she stepped between her prize and the gun. With a quick move, she disarmed the peacekeeper but not before he fired. The left arm was blown off her bot, but a quick look behind her showed that Thadian was intact, hiding behind a garbage bin.

  “What is your damage?” She sent a quick pulse to Jianik, and she waited for a reply while the rest of the outpost surrounded her.

  “He’s a wanted criminal.” The overweight peacekeeper shook in place.

  Thadian shouted, “I am turning myself in.”

  The men pointing pulse rifles at her paused, and then, the com started to ring.

  One of the four armed men reached over and activated the com. “Hello?”

  “We are expecting the self-surrender of Thadian Jemor. We want him alive, intact, and without any bruising.”

  “Who is this?”

  “This is Marvo Whells, the fucking head of the Kemalic Peacekeepers! We have a team on their way to take him into secure custody, and we are not going to be pleased if he isn’t in any shape to testify against the others in his group.”

  Venda looked back at him and murmured, “Don’t worry. There are only two left, and they aren’t the dangerous ones. Those are either in custody or dead.”

  He nodded.

  The peacekeepers put up their weapons.

  Venda looked at them. “By the way, I am going to have this outpost billed for this bot. Do you know how hard it is to find an intimidating female bot to occupy?”

  The counter officer frowned. “Occupy?”

  “Do you see the name of the deceased on the warrant? Venda Mills?”

  He nodded.

  “That is me. Now, I am going to sit here for the next forty-five minutes while the proper and trustworthy peacekeepers arrive. Did you know that if anything happens to this guy, your planet will be penalized with lack of access to the hero teams? Isn’t that fascinating?”

  She waited with one of the men who had watched her murder. She kept him safe from idiots with weapons and panic reflexes, and when she was done, she let her consciousness flow back home to the lab.

  She felt lighter. She felt free. Her mind was giddy with the power of actually acting in a protective capacity again.

  “Oy, Venda! Your power source is ready.”

  Her thoughts changed course. She was going to kick some ass.

  Epilogue

  Venda smoothed the black body armour and fought nerves. She was meeting Theeda for the first time since the last time. Her friend wanted to see her in a public place, so they were in a tea shop that they used to enjoy.

  Theeda came in with her baby in a hovering stroller, and Venda got to her feet. Her friend approached slowly and stared when she got to her eyes.

  “You look different.” Theeda sat and pulled the baby carrier close to her.

  Venda inclined her head slightly. “I have lost and gained a bit of weight since you saw me last.”

  Theeda’s expression showed despair, and Venda felt like hell for reminding her.

  “I am sorry. It is a joke at the lab.”

  “What is wrong with your eyes?”

  Venda smiled. “I needed something to intimidate my opponents. Oddly enough, the eyes have an amazing instinctive recoil reflex.”

  Theeda’s eyes welled with tears.

  Venda whispered, “You cry too much.”

  Sobs broke out, and when the server came over to ask if Theeda was in distress, Venda ordered for them both and asked for extra napkins.

  Theeda smiled and sobbed, gradually becoming calm.

  “That’s my girl.”

  Theeda inhaled slowly. “You are still... you.”

  “I am. I am a little bit colder but generally still me.” Venda smiled.

  “How did you manage to stay sane trapped like that?”

  “Your father gave me little data hunts to go with. They gave my mainframe a virus that distorted certain figures, and it took me nearly a year to undo it. I had to learn programming, and I hate programming.”

  Theeda laughed. “Yeah, it’s you.”

  She got up from her chair and came over to give Venda a hug.

  Venda paused and carefully hugged her friend. “I am sorry that you have had such a complicated time.”

  “It is what it is. I am trying to adapt your outlook on life to my life with the baby. I tried to name her after you, but the regulations were intense. So, her name is Denav Hemmar.”

  “Can I see her?”

  Theeda lifted the little person out of the carrier, and Venda reached out her arms. The weight was negligible, but the expression and the features were all Theeda. “She’s beautiful.” She looked back to Theeda. “I am going to be an amazing aunty.”

  Theeda burst into tears again, and the baby went along with her.

  Venda laughed and held the crying infant while she drank her tea. She could feel the heat, separate the tannins, and enjoy every sip.

  It was a perfect moment.

  It was a perfect moment until a man drinking at the end of the bar shouted, “Shut up, if you want to cry, go outside.”

  Venda smiled tightly and handed the baby over to Theeda. “Just a moment.”

  She palmed a fork on her way over to the table and smiled at him. “My friend and I are trying to have a reunion, and you are rather ruining the mood. I would like to ask you to take this opportunity to either leave the establishment and I will pay your tab, or you can continue to make yourself obnoxious and I will be forced to take action.”

  She smiled sweetly. “It is your choice.”

  He chose. The words were not important, the result was.

  When she was done, she dropped the fork and walked back to her table with Theeda.

  He looked down in disbelief, got to his feet and began shrieking as the pattern she had stamped at subsonic speeds began to surface on his skin.

  She sat with Theeda and glance over as the man ran out of the teahouse. “Some folks have no sense of decorum.”

  Theeda looked at the man, and she started to laugh. “What was the mark?”

  “I tried my initial, but I don’t think I will use that again. It doesn’t feel right.”

  The peacekeepers came in five minutes later, and Venda had to show her identification before she could sit and eat in peace.

  Theeda was covering her mouth in amusement. “I am glad to see that you haven’t changed. Y
ou have gotten faster, but you haven’t changed.”

  The server came over when all the fuss was done. “Thank you. He comes in weekly and gets abusive. I don’t think he will be returning. Your bill is on the house.”

  Venda smiled. “Thank you. It is an excellent way to start a new career.”

  The server smiled, and Theeda looked expectant. “Congratulations. What is the occupation?”

  “Tomorrow, I join the newest instalment of the cluster teams. Team Eight. We are going to be a weird combination of heroes, but I have a good feeling about this.”

  * * * *

  Six months later...

  Venda growled. “Get on this cycle, or I will staple you on, Mini Max.”

  Forecast and Port Hole were already on the way with Wrapped and Cone of Silence right behind.

  “I don’t want to get in the baby seat!”

  “You are currently eighteen fucking inches tall, and we are taking fire. Get on the cycle!”

  Mini Max stood with her hands on her hips and screamed, “I can’t!”

  “Ohforfuckssake.” Venda reached down, wrapped a silver whip around her teammate, and put Mini Max in front. “Hang on to the cargo straps.”

  Venda’s cycle shot forward, and they were on their way just as the ground that had been under them disappeared in a blast of shattered asphalt and concrete. They moved faster than the insurgents that were rising up behind them, and Venda started to file their report.

  This had been an insurance claim after other teams had damaged property and the locals had taken their arrival as an indication of another battle, so they started one. Trying not to kill the idiots while recording the original damage was awkward, but Forecast had kept them all from the traps and the obvious sniper nests.

  Jianik had made this sound like a walk in the park. It was a damned dangerous park.

  Venda couldn’t stop her grin as they headed out of the hot zone and toward the portal pickup. This was what she needed to feel alive, and if an insurance claim could do it, things were only going to get better.

  With Team Eight, everything got better with every mission.

  Maybe next time they could be sent out to supervise a community garden. That would really end in fireworks.

  Venda still couldn’t stop her grin.

  Author’s Note

  Welcome to the first of Team Eight: Origins.

  I am going through all of the origin stories first because I tend to fuzz over them, so I am endeavouring to break a bad habit.

  The next book is Forecast in which we meet Lore, her family, and the weird talent that has made her the most desirable clothiers for the teams. She knows how to work the special material into functionable, fashionable armour.

  She can also see the future and the past. But more on that later. Or earlier... I forget.

  Thanks for reading,

  Viola Grace

  About the Author

  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.

  In real life, she now is engaged in beekeeping, and her adventures can be found on the YouTube channel, Mystery Bees Apiary. Just look for the cartoon kittens.