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

  “Yes.” She nodded vigorously. “I always get the worst cramps at that time of the month…” She lowered her voice almost to a whisper. “You know what I mean?”

  The male nurse, who was probably no more than eighteen and looked to be barely out of basic training, swallowed and turned red. Kyrin had picked him for his innocent looking face, hoping she could use his obvious inexperience with women to her advantage. So far it seemed to be working.

  “I mean, I know my father has forbidden me to call my old job at IPKA…” She waved a hand as though this hardly mattered to her. “But this is different. My old doctor is the only one who could ever help me during my lady days. Please…I’m just miserable…”

  She allowed her eyes to fill with tears and watched as the young nurse got even redder.

  “Okay, ma’am, please d-don’t cry,” he stammered, clearly getting upset himself. “Seeing as how it’s a medical call, I’m sure I can put it through for you.”

  “Oh, thank you so much.” Kyrin laid a hand on his arm, which made him blush even harder. “And you can even stay and monitor the whole call if you want to. Of course…” She hesitated delicately. “If you don’t mind hearing about lady troubles.”

  “Uh…sure thing. I’ll open a line for you.” He quickly punched some buttons into the small viewscreen embedded on the exam room wall and then motioned to Kyrin. “Okay, you can put in your doctor’s number.”

  “Thank you.” Carefully keeping the viewer on blank, Kyrin punched in the ship coordinates she had found on the small scrap of paper Harper had left in her hand before they parted. He must have known it would come to this—or maybe he’d just wanted her to have a way to reach out to Rich. Either way, she blessed the big cyborg’s forethought as she placed the call.

  The screen buzzed and a deep, rumbling voice said, “Metal Men Central. This is the Tin Man speaking. What can I do you for?”

  “80, you idiot—that’s no way to answer,” someone else said faintly in the background.

  “Well what am I supposed to say?” demanded the first voice. “We’re not exactly the Little Sisters of Charity, ya know. Maybe if I said—”

  “Hello, is this Doctor Chambers’ office?” Kyrin asked loudly. “Or do I have a wrong number?” She looked over her shoulder nervously at the male nurse. “She must be training a new receptionist.”

  “Doc Chambers? Oh, uh—sure. Sorry.” The first voice sounded chastened.

  “Please tell her a patient of hers, Kyrin Pierce, is calling about an urgent medical problem,” Kyrin said.

  “Sure thing. Transferring you now.”

  There were some clicks and then a soothing female voice came over the connection.

  “Kyrin? Is that you?”

  “Dr. Chambers?” Kyrin made her voice sound weak and uncertain. “Please, I need to talk to you. Can we do a confidential call?”

  “Oh yes, of course. I’m alone. We can talk now if you like.”

  “Oh good!” Well aware that the male nurse was still watching over her shoulder, Kyrin put the viewscreen on scan and Dr. Chambers’ image popped up on its flat surface. She was looking very professional in a white lab coat with a pair of old fashioned glasses perched primly on the end of her nose.

  Kyrin breathed an internal sigh of relief when she realized that the nurse wasn’t raising an alarm. Clearly, though Major Lewis had known who Dr. Chambers was and about her affiliation with the rogue cyborgs, this wet-behind-the-ears newbie nurse had no clue. She’d been banking on that and hoping that Dr. Chambers’ professional appearance would help her sell her ruse more convincingly.

  “Oh, Doctor, thank you so much for being willing to talk to me on such short notice,” she said quickly. “I’m having that same problem I’ve had before. You know—during my cycle? When the blood starts gushing out and I just…” She turned her head as she heard a click. Sure enough the male nurse had excused himself from the room, shutting the door behind him. Good—it was exactly what she’d been hoping he would do.

  Dr. Chambers seemed to see they were alone.

  “Kyrin, what’s this about?” she asked, leaning closer to the screen, her face filled with concern. “Why are you really calling me?”

  “I…I…” Kyrin knew she didn’t have much time but somehow she couldn’t utter the fateful words. Couldn’t say what was on her mind. “I miss all of you there,” she said, trying to gather her courage. “Especially Rich.”

  The doctor’s intent gaze softened. “Well we miss you too. Especially Rich,” she murmured. “Are you calling to talk to him? Do you want me to get him?”

  “No, no,” Kyrin said hastily. Somehow she didn’t feel like she could face the big cyborg right now. How could she tell him he was about to be a father when she barely knew him?

  “Well then, what can I do for you?” Doctor Chambers looked honestly mystified.

  “I…I…” You’re running out of time, stupid—just spit it out! “I’ve been throwing up every morning after breakfast,” Kyrin heard herself saying. “And my breasts are really tender…I get ravenously hungry for no reason and I feel like I’m going to faint if I don’t eat. And…and I’ve missed my period twice now. I’m afraid I’m…I’m…” But she still couldn’t say the word out loud.

  Dr. Chambers said it for her.

  “It sounds to me like you might be pregnant, Kyrin,” she said gently. “Is there anywhere you can get a test performed?”

  “No, not here.” Kyrin shook her head quickly. “I’m still aboard my father’s ship. To be honest, I’m kind of a…a prisoner here.”

  “What?” Doctor Chambers frowned. “A prisoner? You mean he won’t let you go? I thought you worked for IPKA.”

  “He sent a letter of resignation to IPKA.” Kyrin could feel the tears coming—tears she’d been holding back for ages, but she couldn’t hold them back anymore. “He says he wants to keep me here where he can keep an eye on me—keep me safe. I can’t go anywhere and I’m so afraid of what might happen if he finds out I’m pr…pr…pregnant,” she forced herself to say at last.

  Doctor Chambers frowned.

  “He can’t hold you against your will. That’s against the Galactic Free Will Laws.”

  Kyrin laughed bitterly.

  “Who’s going to stop him? We’re on a Space Corps heavy battle ship with the deadliest array of weapons in the known galaxy. I’m stuck here, but what am I going to do when I start to show?”

  “Maybe you should try to explain what happened,” Doctor Chambers suggested gently. “You’re a grown woman—not a teenager who got herself in trouble in the back seat of a space hopper, Kyrin. You can take responsibility for your own choices and let your father know what you want to do about the baby—if there is one.” She cleared her throat. “What do you want to do?”

  “I want to keep it,” Kyrin said at once. She hadn’t actually thought about it before. This was the first time she’d allowed herself to say the “P” words out loud, after all. But the minute the diminutive doctor asked the question, the answer was there in her mind—immediate and instinctive. “I’d keep it,” she said again, her hands going protectively to her belly.

  Doctor Chambers smiled.

  “I think that’s a lovely idea.”

  “I wouldn’t ask Rich to help me raise it of course—not if he didn’t want to,” Kyrin said quickly. “I mean, I wouldn’t want him to feel tied down or obligated or—”

  “I think you might be surprised at Rich’s reaction to this news if you choose to tell him,” Doctor Chambers said. “I don’t think he’d be at all displeased. In fact—”

  Suddenly the door slapped open behind her and a voice roared into the exam room.

  “Kyrin Justine Pierce, what the hell is going on in here?”

  Kyrin gasped and turned her head to see her father’s face looming over her like an angry, bloated moon.

  “Father, I can explain,” she said quickly. “I just needed some medical advice about—”

  “I know what yo