Altered Design (Mechanical Advantage Book 2) Read online

  He glanced back at her and winked. “We will be knocking on my sister’s door in twenty-one hours.”

  She blew him a kiss and leaned back with her eyes closed. “All satellites are stowed, and we are ready to take on additional personnel. Get us to the base so that we can justify the expense of this monster.”

  He grinned and activated the program. They were on their way.

  Chapter Twelve

  Alphy felt different. She could feel every inch of the ship like she could feel her own skin. Of course, it wasn’t her own skin. Her skin had been consumed by nanites to free her brain. Weird.

  The satellites were deployed once they got up to speed, and Alphy decided to warn Stitch that they were coming.

  Lexo glanced at her as if he could tell she was doing something. “What are you up to?”

  She chuckled. “I am making a call.”

  The view screen flickered, and Stitch’s face filled the expanse.

  Alphy grinned. “Hey, Stitch.”

  Stitch laughed, and tears started to run down her cheeks. “Alphy! Oh, man. You are a sight for sore eyes.”

  Alphy chuckled. “Right back at you. I am glad to see you in one piece.”

  Stitch held up one silver hand. “More or less.”

  “Still one piece, just with a little more tensile strength. You look great for someone who overslept.”

  Stitch laughed and wiped at her tears. “Yeah, well, they couldn’t find the right parts for me.”

  “You always were a fussy fit.”

  “You know it. How is my brother doing? He isn’t being too much of a pain in the ass, is he?”

  Alphy grinned, and she shrugged. “I don’t have any basis for comparison regarding his behaviour. He has been a complete gentleman the entire time.”

  “Damn, I was hoping you and he would hit it off.”

  Alphy looked over at her pilot and smirked. “We are not in a hurry. He just woke up, and I have been spending a lot of time alone. There is a time and place for everything, and rushing isn’t going to do us any good.”

  Stitch twisted her lips. “We could all end tomorrow.”

  “And with our implants, we could all live for hundreds of years. It isn’t something we know about, so we need to head forward at our own pace. How are your aliens?”

  Stitch laughed. “Nice change of topic. They are great. They have a hive society with the queens being the power centre. I love it.”

  “You would.”

  “We can’t all have Born to be a Boss tattooed on our asses. I will take it. It drives Niko nuts. He doesn’t like it when I meet with them, but it just means he has to follow me around wherever I go. I tend to find the underground hot springs a lot.”

  Alphy brought up the files and put the name to the face. “Was he one of yours?”

  “He was once I overhauled him. I have no idea who was responsible for assessments when I was out, but they did a shite job. The guys here have all been gone over, and they are doing great.”

  “I am glad to hear it.”

  “I can run over your adaptations if you want, see if there is anything I can tweak.” Stitch looked helpful.

  Alphy raised a hand. “Not necessary. I am as good as I am going to get.”

  As Stitch watched, Alphy let the silver nanite colour overtake her hand and face, and then, she faded back to her skin tone.

  Stitch changed colour, too; she went grey. “Oh, damn, Alphy. I had no idea.”

  “Yeah, well, I am guessing that the actual records were altered so that no one knew what happened to me. But, I am as exceptional as I always was.”

  “You would have to be. Can I see your file?”

  “Nope, but I will let you take a scan when we get there. Oh, we will be in orbit around your world in twenty-one hours or so. This ship is a lot faster now that it has been renovated.”

  “Are you secure? Do you need an escort?”

  “Aw, no. We are good, Stitch. This is now a fully armed warship. If they get within five kilometres, I will blow them into Splice chunks.”

  “Warship? Where did you get that?” Stitch’s eyes were wide.

  “I found it filed under W, so it took me a while to get there.”

  They laughed, and their conversation went back to the aliens with wings and their desperation to start flying again.

  “Oh, you know, I have a space that would be perfect for them. Do they want to head home?”

  “Can you do that? I was going to take one of the long-range ships to their home world and try to strike a treaty. They are getting their asses kicked.”

  “You want a lift? I have a movie theatre and fabricators.”

  “How fast can you get us there? I will let them know.”

  Alphy grinned. “I will let you and Lexo work that out. I am just in charge of the ship, not the location. So, did you want to pick anyone else up on the way?”

  Stitch chuckled. “You and I need to talk face to face. This ship is a game changer.”

  “You have no idea. See you tomorrow, sweetie.” Alphy dismissed the call and sat back. The smile probably wouldn’t leave her lips for the next two days. It was so good to be back with friends.

  Lexo turned and got to his feet. “I know you probably don’t need it, but let’s get you a nap. You have had a helluva day.”

  She laughed and stood, taking his hand and walking with him through the ship and to their quarters.

  He followed her into her room, and when she headed for her bed, peeling her suit off, he followed and did the same.

  Naked nap was on the agenda, and she fell asleep in his arms without a care in the world.

  Two hours into the nap, she roused slightly, and the guns trained on the approaching Splice ships, firing with deadly accuracy. They were torn apart by the fire of eight railguns.

  Lexo ran his hand over her hip. “Is something wrong?”

  She turned and faced him, snuggling against his chest and tracing the edge where flesh met nanite. “Nope. Something is very right. Do you mind waiting for sex until I can figure out how to trigger arousal? I wasn’t good at it when I was human, and now, it is even more difficult.”

  “As long as I am the one you figure it out with, take all the time you need.” He brushed his lips against her forehead then cheeks, and finally, a light kiss warmed her from the soul outward.

  They clung together as the ship hurtled through the stars. It was where they belonged.

  Alphy brushed at her suit and waited in the safe area outside of the shuttle bay. After some discussion, it had been decided that Stitch, Niko, and the aliens would come to the ship to see if the accommodations were suitable.

  The Alguth were going to be her first true guests. She had been briefed on Commander Liakon, Sergeant Aluak, and their biologist Solouk. The other twelve reported to one of the ranking three. She wouldn’t have to deal with them directly.

  Through her link with the ship, she could feel the dock being pressurized. Atmosphere was populating the space, and when the door lit green, she opened it. Lexo followed her, and they approached the party who had exited the shuttle.

  Alphy walked calmly for the first ten feet. After that, she squealed and ran to Stitch, hugging her tightly and whirling her around.

  “I am so glad to see you, Stitch.” Alphy set her on her feet.

  “Ditto. I never thought that we would be having a conversation on this kind of a ship. Where did it come from?”

  Alphy sighed. “Very long story. I believe introductions are in order?”

  Stitch grinned. “Right. Of course. Alphy, this is Commander Liakon, Sergeant Aluak, and biologist Solouk. Oh, and this is Nikolai, my fella. Gentlemen, this is Aria Lianna Westerson-Miller Dexter. I believe you can call her Captain Dexter or Alphy if you ask her nicely. She is in charge of this ship. You have met my brother Lexo Carter. He is her pilot and navigator.”

  Alphy smiled at the men. “Welcome to the warship. I
believe that you are all interested in a little space to stretch your wings?”

  Liakon nodded and stepped forward, taking her hand and pressing a kiss to it. He widened his eyes and stared into hers for a moment. “You are extraordinary, my lady.”

  “Captain Dexter or Alphy. Yes, I am. Not my fault, but it is what it is. Now, if you will come with me, I can show you a space suitable for your needs while we travel.” She looked to Lexo, and he offered her his arm. She settled her palm on the back of his wrist, and they got the point across to the fixated aliens.

  She did a bit of a tour for Stitch’s benefit. She took them past the entertainment complex, the gym, the refectory, and finally the pool and oxygen farm.

  Liakon gasped, and he stepped toward her. “May we?”

  She nodded. “This is why you are here. Take off.”

  The renovation had created a huge shatterproof dome that displayed the stars and was currently showing off the world below.

  Stitch whispered, “I think I am jealous.”

  “Don’t be. There is room for thousands on this vessel. We have enough food supplies to feed those thousands for decades. If you can bring some of those newer adaptation machines, we can take this show on the road. I wouldn’t mind collecting the rest of the cyborgs and taking the fight to the Splice.”

  Stitch’s companion stood with his mouth slightly open. “Are you serious?”

  “Of course. This ship was designed to carry humanity into battle. It has waited until there were humans who could bring that into reality. That is now. I can defend us, Lexo can fly us, Stitch and yourself can refit the cyborgs and with the other survivors from our base; we can focus an attack that will make the Splice tear themselves apart to get away.”

  Alphy paused and watched the men with the rainbow eyes as they unfolded huge dragonfly wings and engaged in test flutters. When one of them made it off the ground, he wasted no time in rising and flying around the enormous space.

  The humming of wings soon became a frenzied drone until one by one, the Alguth took off and began to do careful laps around the open area.

  “Can you leave the ship?” Stitch’s voice was soft.

  “Yes. I am a walking pile of nanites held together by stubbornness and Lucky’s programming. As long as my brain is in here, nothing can shake my cohesion. The ship can’t leave without me, though. I am the centre of the systems.”

  “Wow. That is... different. I will take your proposal to the base. If they want to come along, I will bring them, but we will have to leave a skeleton crew behind to keep an eye on the rest of the sleepers. I don’t have the resources to wake them up, but I don’t want to leave them alone.”

  “I understand. I will make sure that I leave a monitoring satellite to make doubly sure. I understand vulnerability a lot better than I ever imagined I could.” Even when she had been in the clutches of the Splice, part of her had remained defiant. That defiance had gotten her up and out of the tank and built her a new body, but it didn’t change the fact that a bomb had nearly destroyed her.

  Lexo and Niko were talking quietly, leaving the ladies in a bubble of privacy.

  Stitch whispered, “Did you really run into the Splice?”

  “Twice. I have to commend you on your choice of built-ins for Lexo. He is very effective.”

  “He was always good with his hands. How could you be attacked twice?”

  Alphy wrinkled her nose. “I think they tracked my signal. It was almost as if they were looking for me.”

  Stitch stared and then nodded. “Right. The abduction. If they did something to your brain, you might be summoning them without knowing it.”

  “I think it was more of an afterthought. They came here and then found me. Nothing more. I found out what I was made of, and so did Lexo.”

  Stitch pursed her lips. “So, what about you and my brother?”

  “What about it?”

  “Are you interested?”

  “Sure, but I need Lucky to build me a new subroutine. I feel the interest, but my body doesn’t react. It is all emotional for the time being, and Lexo says he is willing to wait.”

  “Wait, so you want to, but your body doesn’t have the right programming?”

  Alphy smirked. “The nanites are built for survival and to mimic human tissue. My brain is holding them together, so I need either my brain or the machines to be able to act without conscious thought. It is either that, or we can wait ten years until I regenerated a bit of tissue. That might help.”

  Stitch snorted. “Right. We are going to find Lucky. I don’t want either of you to go mad from frustration before this situation is ratified. Priorities are in place.”

  Alphy hugged her and whispered, “You always were good at assessing a situation and figuring out what would make it work.”

  Stitch hugged her back. “Yes, but I never thought it would pertain to my brother’s sex life.”

  They pulled away at arm’s length and then giggled. Alphy’s brain rejoiced. She had one friend back, and now, she just had to collect the others. If she couldn’t have her family, she would take what she could find. Friends were better. Friends were chosen.

  She chose to find them and bring them to the closest thing to home. With her.

  Epilogue

  “Is everyone settled?” Alphy sat in the captain’s chair.

  Niko nodded. “They are all in their quarters.”

  “Are all medical patients taken care of?”

  Stich chuckled and reported. “They are all strapped down, some for fun, some for practical purposes.”

  Alphy grinned. “Set the course for Khiron Station.”

  Lexo replied, “Course set.”

  “Deploying monitoring and defensive satellites.” Alphy narrowed her eyes as she protected the base and its crew of six waiting for their return.

  “Right, lady and gentlemen, let’s go.” She paused and watched as Lexo’s hand hovered over the control button. “Punch it.”

  “Aye, Captain.” Lexo’s grin was in his voice as he turned the ship and they began to build speed at an amazing rate.

  They were off to collect Lucky. Who knew what she had been up to in the interim? Hopefully, she had been having a better time than Alphy. They would know soon enough. Khiron Station was four days away.

  Author’s Note

  Sorry for the delay, life is a funny thing. Here is hoping I can get to book three by the end of the year.