to the public. Mira watched as the cyborgs finished removing what they wanted from the shuttle. She realized the large cyborg was still holding her hand so she looked up at Flint. She smiled at him when he turned his head to meet her eyes.

“I’m glad not all of you were killed. I thought it was wrong what was done to your people.”

She saw his black eyebrows arch in shock at her statement. She flushed a little, embarrassed. “My parents were sympathizers so they raised me to believe in freedom for all.”

The general uttered a foul curse. “You’re being polite to that thing?” He spit on the floor. “They are machines that aren’t worth speaking to. You may as well talk to the shuttle.”

“Shut up,” the pilot hissed at the general. “So far they haven’t killed us and they usually do. They usually take people for spare parts.”

Frowning, Mira looked at the pilot. “Spare parts? I don’t understand.”

The other pilot flashed Mira a frightened look. “They cut us up and use our skin and internal organs to make more of them.”

Her gaze shot to the tall cyborg standing next to her. Flint was frowning at the pilot.

“You know,” he said slowly, “I know a downed model about your size who needs repairs.”

Horror hit Mira as she yanked her hand out of the cyborg’s hold. She turned, inching away from him, to put herself in front of the pilot. “You can’t really mean that. He’s a living person.”

The tall cyborg looked at Mira. “So are we. We breathe. It never stopped humans from trying to kill every one of us to benefit themselves .”

She swallowed. “We didn’t do that to your kind. I wasn’t even born when those idiots made that law to have your kind destroyed and he’s not much older than I am.”

“You’re right.” The cyborg nodded, his attention turned to the general. “You are old enough to have been a part of it. You’re a military man. Perhaps I should take you for spare parts.”

Mira glanced at the general. She bit her lip before moving out of the way. She saw Flint shoot her a surprised look, his eyebrow arching again.

“Aren’t you going to put yourself between us to save him?”

“He tried to kill me and I’m not willing to die for a man who wanted to slice me up with his blazer. I think he’s a little old to be useful but I don’t know anything about what you need or could use.”

The cyborg shocked Mira and the three bound men by throwing his head back and laughing. She turned to see the other three cyborgs smiling, all obviously amused. Ice moved closer, stopping feet short of her to give her a once-over before turning his attention to Flint.

“Just when we think that humanity is at a complete loss. She is cute.”

Flint nodded at Mira. “She is unique. We don’t really use humans for spare parts. We take DNA samples because our gene pool is limited and they come in handy to our scientists when they need fresh ones to work with. We do not kill indiscriminately.”

Relief hit Mira as she smiled, believing him.

He watched her carefully, his gaze studying her expression very closely, then sighed. He turned to one of the other cyborgs . “Have you salvaged everything we can use?”

“Yes, Flint.We left it so they could make it back to Earth safely. Their excess fuel has been removed.”

The cyborg turned to the pilot and said, “Use a short burst. The trip will take longer but you will get there. We monitored for leaks and cracks from our boarding and the integrity of your shuttle is sound.

We did no damage that will cause your vessel to fail.”

The other cyborg nodded. “One short burst. You could have an issue with it if you full burn. Do you understand? It could cause the tank to ignite.”

The pilot nodded. “I got it.”

“What does that mean?” It was the general.

The second pilot cleared his throat. “It means we’re going to have to just give ourselves a little jerk to coast home. Instead of it taking a few days we’re facing a good week of travel unless someone comes to refuel us when we get closer to Earth.”

“But you took our supplies,” the general sputtered. “You might as well kill us.”

Flint shook his head. “We didn’t take it all so ration what you have left. It won’t be a pleasant trip but you’ll survive.”

The two dark-haired cyborgs lifted the crates they