“I wish we could do more.”

“Me too.” She laughed.

“Sleep, you look tired.”

“I’m exhausted actually but I’m also worked up, my mind is going a mile a minute.”

“A mile a minute?” He laughed. “That is another Earth saying that is amusing.

Thoughts are not measured in distance.”

Laughing, she squeezed his knee. “That’s good to know.”

Steel moved suddenly, stretching out on his side on the cot, making her release her hold on him until he settled down, inches from the bars. “Lie down. Rest, my little siren.

We have a lot of time to catch up on your sleep cycle and for talking.”

She lay on her side, facing him. Steel reached through the bars and took her hand.

She gripped his as their gazes locked.

“Do you think you’ll beat the charges?”

“I have confidence that I can make them see the logic of my decision to go after you.”

“And cyborgs are logical.”

“For the most part.” He smiled. “Do not worry. The worst they will do is issue a difficult task for me to accomplish for a period of time. I can handle whatever punishment they deem appropriate.”

A yawn surprised her.

Steel smiled. “Sleep. Rest. I am here.”

Nodding, she closed her eyes. Steel was holding her hand, inches from her and she had to believe things would work out. She didn’t want to ponder any other options.

Chapter Thirteen

Garden was very similar to Earth with its lush vegetation and clear blue sky but the city was vastly different as Rena stared at the uniform blue buildings that all looked to be constructed from the same plans. The streets were remarkably clean, another huge difference from cities at home. She was afraid as they were led into one of the buildings.

Steel was in front of her but they didn’t have him in chains. Four large cyborgs surrounded them.

The city wasn’t that large, perhaps the size of a small Earth city but a seventy-five- foot wall separated it from the woods surrounding it. Steel had informed her it was to keep the city protected from the natural inhabitants of the planet, a humanoid-amphibian race that so far they hadn’t had much luck communicating with. The amphibians had tried to attack a few times but no deaths had resulted.

The room they were taken to was a courtroom, identifiable to Rena as she stared at the rows of chairs on one side, an open space, and then a higher large desk-like structure in the front of the room. Nine males and three female cyborgs sat behind that taller desk, their faces emotionless, and all wore matching white shirts. The guards led Steel to a lone chair in the center of the room where he stood. Rena was motioned to sit in a chair along the wall away from the rows of seats. The room was eerily silent.

“Let them in,” one of the men behind the desk said.

“Yes, Councilman Zorus,” the guard stated, turning to nod at another guard by a set of doors on the other side of the room.

Cyborgs came into the room in pairs. Their clothing varied, some in uniforms similar to the one Steel wore, while others were dressed in casual two-piece sets in various colors. Every face looked grim as Rena glanced at the strangers. They filled the five rows of seats in a quick and efficient manner. It was obvious they were there to watch the proceedings. Rena saw a few familiar faces, one of which she shot a glare at as Fusion took a front-row seat.

Blackie and Gene sat next to Fusion and two of the males from the Bridden were present—the pilot who had shuttled it to rescue Rena and the one who had blown up the pod. Not one of them looked at her so she focused her attention back on Steel. He stood there calmly, a bored expression on his face. Rena wished he’d look at her but he never turned his head, just leaving her to stare at his profile.

“Begin,” one of the females behind the desk said softly.

Zorus nodded. He turned his head, his dark brown glare fixing on Rena. “We are the cyborg council of twelve. I am Zorus. You are to be a witness and you will be honest. Is that understood? We will be watching you closely and if we believe you are trying to deceive us, we will order you to be held during testimony, to monitor your responses. Do you understand?”

She swallowed hard. “Yes, sir.”

The cyborg frowned. “It’s councilman.”

“Yes, Councilman.”

He nodded and turned to glare at Steel. “Explain yourself.”

“What would you like me to explain? I retrieved her when it became apparent that Earth Government realized she had been in contact with us and they made it clear they would torture her to divulge that information. I realized she could not withstand their methods for long. The choice was to allow her to be captured or to avoid the situation by getting her back. I believe I made the correct choice.”

That was all Steel planned to say in his defense? Rena’s stomach was a bit queasy.

There was so much he hadn’t explained to help clear him of the charges. Why hadn’t Steel told them all of it? She bit her lip, staring at the council members, trying to judge their reactions. She looked at each face but they masked whatever they were thinking or feeling.

“We’ve read all the reports,” one of the women members stated. “I saw your logic.”

She turned her head to study Zorus with an intense look. “I don’t know why we are here.

We don’t want Earth to know we have a home planet or that we were the ones who liberated some of their vessels from deep space. It was a sound plan to retrieve the human.”

Zorus’ features twisted with frustration as his mouth turned downward and his eyes narrowed. “Then you also read the reports about the specifications of the Bridden. We could clone the shielding technology from it and use that knowledge to help protect ourselves, yet he risked losing that potential asset over a human life.”

A blond cyborg councilman frowned as his blue gaze locked on Zorus. “Yet his mission was successful without any damage to the Bridden. We have the human and Earth does not. Why are we here?”

Zorus looked enraged as his skin darkened noticeably. “He risked what doesn’t belong to him for a human. Am I the only one to see this?”

The blond male stood and so did the black-haired cyborg to his immediate left. The blond spoke. “We are all aware you hate humans but you are wasting our time going after an honorable member of our society with your personal cause.”

“He risked an asset for a human!” Zorus stood. “You both are the ones championing your own causes here today with your preference for those useless beings.”

Both men sat down almost in unison. “Don’t go there, old friend.” The blond’s voice had dropped to a harsh tone.

Zorus faced Steel. “Fine. They don’t want to punish you for taking the Bridden but there is the issue of you freeing the human after she was captured. Why did you do that? By doing so you put us at risk for her to expose us in the first place.”

“She is no threat to us.” Steel looked tense as he spoke. “She had earned her freedom and those reasons are not up for debate here. I don’t have to explain why I would free my own slave. It was no harm to us to release her.”

“Then why did you have to retrieve her if it was so safe to let her go?”

Steel’s jaw clenched. “We were unaware that Earth knew we had the Star so that factor wasn’t part of my calculations when I deemed it was safe to let her go.”

“Fine. You released her so she is no longer your property. She is now property of this council since you used the Bridden to retrieve her.”

“No,” Steel took a step toward the front of the room before he suddenly halted. “She is mine.”

“You released her,” Zorus smiled coldly. “Then you used a shuttle you were not authorized to take to capture her again. Under code five-four-six that makes her general property under the authority of the council.”

“As my job contract states, I am permitted to claim property as my own and she falls under that claim.” Steel’s voice had gone deep and harsh. “If you want to throw code out there, keep in mind that she wasn’t actually part of my salvage rights, but Flint’s. He gave her to me as a gift.”

“Then you released her, making her free. That voids out your ownership. She may as well have been garbage you discarded. She doesn’t fall under your salvage right claim since you weren’t on duty when you took her the second time. The human is now council property.”

Rena panicked. “What does that mean?”

Steel’s fists were balled at his sides. “No. She’s mine.”

“Steel?” Rena looked at him in distress over the notion they could take her from him.

The blond stood up. “I regret to inform you of this, Steel, but unfortunately Zorus is correct. You released her, absolving your rights of ownership and you don’t have salvage claim on her for unapproved missions. I wish I could think of a way for you to retain her but the law is clear.”

Zorus smiled. “Guards, take the human to the council house. I’m sure I can think up many duties for her to perform.”

The guard gripped Rena’s arm and tugged her to her feet. Her horrified gaze locked on Steel. As he turned she saw how pale he’d gone.

“I’ll buy her,” Steel said loudly. “I’ll indenture myself to service. Whatever you want, but sell her to me.”

“No.” Zorus shook his head. “Humans are a damaging influence on cyborgs. The fact that you want her is evidence enough to make my point. You are acting irrational to offer your freedom in any way for a mere human. Take her away.”

The guard tugged Rena toward the door they’d entered, taking her further from Steel.

She realized what was happening, horrified that she’d gone from belonging to Steel to becoming the property of a group of strangers, her future totally in their hands.

“Steel!” She jerked out of the guard’s hold and ran toward him.

He turned and opened his arms wide so when she slammed into him, he held her.

“I’ll get you back somehow,” he said softly. “Don’t fight them or they could harm you.”

Hot tears burned her eyes as she lifted her head. “Okay.”

“Rena Gates, I make a promise to you that I will get you back. That’s as good as a contract and you know how important those are to me. I will bargain for you, brand you as my own and you will be with me again very soon.”

She nodded, still fearful but aware of how determined Steel was. He’d get her back one way or another. “Okay.”

“Gates?”

It was the black-haired cyborg sitting next to the blond one who spoke suddenly.

“Your last name is Gates? Your name is Rena Gates?”

She turned her head, staring at the man. “Yes.”

The black-haired man and the blond glanced at each other before both of them turned their attention to her. Both stood up. How they moved in unison was something Rena found unsettling.

“Give us the first name of your mother now.”

She frowned at the blond male but answered him. “Rora. Why?”

The blond caught his weight on the desk when he leaned forward. “What is your father’s first name?”

“Dean. Why do you want to know? Why are you asking me this?” She was confused about why they would want to know who her parents were.

The black-haired cyborg closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then opened them.

“She does not belong to the council. She belongs to Rais and me.”

“That’s impossible,” Zorus growled. “What code are you using to attempt to take sole possession of her?”

The blond straightened and moved as he walked toward the door nearest to him. He opened it and disappeared. The room was silent. Steel’s hold on her tightened when Rena looked up at him for answers, even more confused. He shrugged his shoulders.