UNIT 78: RESCUED (CyBRG Files Book 2) Read online

  “Never talk to the doc like that ever again.” Harper’s growl was low and malevolent as he stepped forward, a big metal arm holding Drew back from tearing the major apart. He stomped across the deck plating to stand in front of Lewis, looking down at the smaller man. Of all of them, Josh Harper—85—was the most recognizable cyborg with visible implants and mounting points that made him look like a tank… and he’d been a big bastard to start with.

  Lewis paled as Harper glared down at him, his ocular implant creating a blue glow over the guy’s face. Rich held back his chuckle. Harper had done that on purpose. There was no need for that light to be active at all.

  “I’ll escort the lady back to her father,” he growled, turning his head mechanically—again, on purpose, since they’d all attained more natural human movements after the doc had worked on them—to look at Kyrin. “That okay, little lady?” he asked, displaying a surprising amount of courtesy, which was very uncharacteristic for the big cyborg. He bent and held out his left, metal arm to Kyrin.

  “Perfectly,” she said primly. “Thank you so much, Mr. Harper.”

  She walked forward and placed her hand on 85’s arm without hesitation, head held high, as though he’d done nothing more than offer to escort her into tea for a high society function.

  “You’re very welcome,” the cyborg replied, much to the surprise of the units around them.

  Hey, 80 quipped. It’s a day of firsts. Rich’s gone and done metal porn and Harper found his manners. Where were they, man? Stuffed under your bunk?

  Harper didn’t turn as he led Kyrin into the shuttle. He simply lifted his other arm and flicked the bird over his shoulder.

  Rich wasn’t looking at him, though. Instead, his gaze was on the tiny figure of the woman next to Harper as she stepped into the shuttle with all the grace and composure of a princess.

  Go get ‘em, girl, he thought, pride filling him at her manner. She was tough. She’d get over this. Bounce back.

  Forget him.

  It was for the best, he decided. They had no life together. He was metal. She wasn’t. She’d do better back amongst her own kind. A heavy weight settled over his shoulders as the marines filed back inside the shuttle and the gangplank retracted.

  He didn’t wait for the airlock to cycle or the thing to lift off. His heart tight in his chest, he turned and walked away.

  Chapter Eleven

  Kyrin looked back as long as she could but then the metal hatch to the airlock banged shut behind them and Rich was gone.

  Probably forever, she thought, feeling sad. And we were just getting to know each other…

  She thought of that last kiss they’d shared…how warm his mouth was on hers…how safe she felt in his arms…

  Stop thinking of him. There’s no point, she told herself fiercely. He’s gone now—out of your life. And it’s probably better for both of you. Now you can get back to your regular life as an IPKA officer and forget all the craziness that happened.

  Except she couldn’t forget. Something about Rich was just unforgettable.

  “You all right, little lady?” rumbled the big cyborg beside her as the shuttle that had docked with Rich’s cruiser took off, headed for her father’s ship.

  Kyrin looked up at him. Unit 85—Harper—was noticeably more metallic and scary looking than Rich. Yet she felt an affinity with him that she didn’t share with the marines her father had sent to get her—especially Major Lewis, who was a complete asshole.

  When Doctor Chambers had been treating her cuts and abrasions and generally getting her cleaned up before bed, she’d given Kyrin a run-down on the different cyborgs that composed the rogue unit. They seemed more human to her now than the cold-faced soldiers tasked with dragging her back to her father.

  Kyrin wondered why that was. Maybe it was because they were both different—somehow more than they had been before. The cyborgs had been changed on the outside from the ordeal they had been through while Kyrin had been changed within during her time in the halls of the Breeding Compound.

  I’m not the same, she thought. I never will be. She felt she had nothing in common with anyone here but the big cyborg. The two of them were standing a little away from the marines and Lewis—almost as though they’d isolated themselves from the “normal” people on purpose.

  “I’m okay,” she said quietly. “Thanks for asking.”

  “You don’t seem okay.” Harper looked at her sympathetically. “Is there anything you want me to do for you? Anything you want me to say? I know your father can be a real hard-ass—at least that’s his rep.”

  Kyrin was touched by the big cyborg’s offer.

  “Thanks, but I don’t know if talking to my father would do any good. As an admiral, he’s pretty used to being obeyed.” She sighed. “And I’m not exactly the obedient type—although I am better than my little sister, Abby. Now she’s a real hell raiser.”

  “Oh yeah?” Harper sounded interested. “How so?”

  “She’s a reporter for the Mars Times and she will do anything, and I mean anything to get her story. Dad hated it when I joined IPKA because he would always rather blow someone out of the sky than negotiate with them. He thinks peace talks are a waste of time. But he really went ballistic when Abby started going undercover for her weekly column. She’s been just about everywhere and done everything you can imagine. Once she even pretended to be a miner on Excelsior Six to expose the corruption and poor working conditions in the heliox mines. She was trapped in a cave-in—nearly died.” Kyrin shook her head. “But she got out alive—somehow she always does.”

  “Wow—sounds like your little sis is hard-core.” Harper looked reluctantly admiring.

  “She is.” Kyrin sighed. “If you had to guess which one of us would get mixed up with a horrible cult like the Tr’Lows, I wouldn’t be the one you’d pick.”

  “I’d like to meet her sometime,” Harper rumbled. “She sounds fearless—which is about the only kind of girl who wouldn’t run screaming when they saw someone like me.” He nodded down at his metal exterior and Kyrin had to admit he did look intimidating.

  “I didn’t run screaming from Rich,” she pointed out. “In fact I…I wish…”

  “Wish what?” Harper asked softly.

  “Never mind. It doesn’t matter.” Kyrin shook her head and pulled her white synthi-cotton robe closer around herself. She wished she’d at least had time to get dressed—although dressed in what? She’d had nothing but the dirty silver novice robe to her name when Rich had brought her aboard the cyborgs’ cruiser, and she never wanted to see that thing again.

  “Seems like maybe it does matter,” Harper murmured. “What is it? Something you want to say to Rich?”

  Just then the shuttle docked at her father’s ship with a resounding metal clunk and Kyrin knew her time was up.

  “Just tell him…tell him I’ll never forget him,” she said. Tears filled her eyes and she tried to blink them away. “Tell him I…”

  But then words failed her. Tell him I love him hovered on her lips, but that was crazy. Wasn’t it? She barely knew the big cyborg. Despite all they’d been through together, there was no way she could have fallen in love with him…was there?

  “Tell him I’ll miss him,” she said at last. And then the dull silver door slid open and her father was waiting on the other side of it, a stern look on his patrician features. “Goodbye,” she added, reaching up to take Harper’s hand. It was metal but it had a living warmth to it which reminded her of Rich. “Thank you for everything and please tell Doctor Chambers I’m so grateful for her kindness and care. I didn’t get a chance to thank her before I left.”

  “I’ll be sure to pass on your messages,” Harper rumbled. “But here, in case you need to reach us—”

  “Kyrin, get away from that thing!” Her father’s voice cut like a whip, interrupting their good-byes. He strode angrily into the shuttle as the marines stepped hastily to one side or the other, trying to get out of their CO’s way.