Purity Read online

  “Free choice? How dare you?” K looked like she was actually on the verge of grabbing Abrahams by the throat. Boone intervened quickly.

  “Take it easy, darlin’,” he murmured. “Let’s just talk this through.”

  “Talk it through?” K’s eyes widened. “There’s nothing to talk about, Boone. Just say no and let’s get the hell out of here.”

  “I can’t do that and you know it, K,” he said quietly. “I have to get to my little sister and in order to do that, I need the hyperdrive fixed.” He looked at Abrahams. “I just want to know one thing—you told me Sweetie has attacked your settlement and killed your people. Hell, she even killed your own son.”

  Abrahams winced. “That’s true.”

  “So why don’t you want her dead?” Boone demanded. “Why not just kill her? I realize she’s a sentient being but at this point, it sounds like you’re into eye-for-an-eye territory.”

  “Because.” Abrahams pinched the bridge of his long, bony nose and sighed.

  “Because like so many other of my creations, Sweetie is not simply a genetic mutation gone wrong, she is also my daughter. Some of my DNA resides inside her along with all the other strands I used. I cannot kill my children, no matter how wrong or misguided they may be.”

  “Misguided?” K raised her eyebrows and gave him a disbelieving look. “Misguided?”

  “Yes, misguided,” Abrahams said firmly. “Her brain chemistry and hormones are in a constant state of flux. But once she’s fitted with the control collar, it will take care of all that.”

  “And you think she’ll be happy like that?” Boone asked. “Feeling nothing?” He saw K’s eyes flash but she didn’t speak. The vox on his shoulder growled softly, however, its eyes glowing red.

  “I think she’ll be content, yes,” Abrahams said, rising. “Here, let me get you the collar and you can see for yourself.” He disappeared for a moment, presumably to fetch the control collar from his lab.

  “I can’t believe you.” K turned on him. “You’re not actually considering this, are you?”

  Boone sighed. “As a matter of fact, I am.”

  “You can’t be!” K’s eyes went wide and her mouth trembled. “What if something happens to you? What if you get…get killed?”

  Boone nodded, seeing the source of her worry. “Oh, yeah. And then what would happen to you, right? With no one to touch you.”

  She shook her head. “I…I didn’t mean…If you died I couldn’t…I…”

  “Yes?” Boone looked at her with interest. Could it be that she had some genuine feeling for him? Some reason other than self preservation to care about his safety?

  K lifted her chin and made an obvious effort to reign in her emotions. “I mean, what would happen to me in the event of your death?”

  Boone raised an eyebrow. “For a minute there I almost though you cared, darlin’. Tell you what, I’ll let Mom in on the location of your suit. So if something happens and I wind up as a saurian hors d’oeuvre, she can give it back to you and you’re free to go.”

  “But Boone, it’s so dangerous,” she protested and he thought he saw her mouth tremble again. Goddess, the rest of her might be as flat and sexless as a child but her lips were all woman—lush and full and ripe. He found himself wishing he could kiss those lips before he left on this crazy mission but then he pushed the irrational urge away. Not only was it stupid and sentimental, but K would no doubt be horrified at the level of “contamination” involved in pressing their mouths together.

  “It’s necessary,” he corrected her gently. “And I’m going to do it, K.”

  “Fine.” She took a deep breath. “Then I’m going with you.”

  “Oh no you’re not.” Boone frowned. “I know you’re a trained killer but you have no weapons and a full grown saurian isn’t going to be vulnerable to a leg sweep or a jab in the eyes.”

  “So you’re going alone?” K demanded.

  “No, I’ll be watching his back.” Loki stepped into the office area and gave K a glare. “Don’t worry, Princess Paladin—I’ll take good care of your man.”

  “He’s not my man,” she said furiously. “And I doubt you can take care of yourself, let alone anyone else.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Loki demanded.

  “It means you’re sloppy, lazy, and insubordinate,” K shot back. “Not to mention vain, preening, and more concerned with your appearance than in taking care of business. I wouldn’t trust you to guard a blind verbot’s back.”

  “Why you little Purist bitch.” Loki took a step toward her and Boone jumped up to get between them. He was certain the altercation would have ended in bloodshed, no matter how he tried to stop it, if Abrahams hadn’t come back at just that second.

  “Well now, here we are.” He smiled happily as he handed the collar to Boone. “I control it with this.” He held up a small remote.

  “Wow,” Boone said flatly as he unfolded the long piece of black leather. It was wider than his palm and would have wrapped around his waist three times with ease. “That’s…a big collar.”

  “It’s quite an ingenious design, if I do say so myself. The collar appears to be soft leather but when it encounters her skin—”

  Suddenly a row of silver, gleaming spikes appeared along the flat inside surface of the collar. Boone cursed and nearly dropped the damn thing on the floor. “Damn it, Abrahams!”

  “Sorry, merely a little demonstration. Those are the medication delivery system. See?” He made another gesture with the remote and clear fluid welled from the hollow tips of the five inch spikes.

  Boone shuddered in disgust. The control collar Abrahams had invented to keep his saurian daughter in check reminded him entirely too much of K’s skinsuit for comfort. Looking up, he saw her staring at the collar in his hands, her black-on-black eyes wide. She looked up and for a moment their eyes met and held—then she looked hastily away and wrapped her arms around herself protectively.

  “Well, what do you think?” Abrahams asked, obviously indifferent to the tension in the room.

  “I think this is a bad idea.” Loki’s eyes were also glued to the black collar and its silver spikes.

  “You got a better one?” Boone demanded. “Because I’m fresh out. We need to get the hyperdrive fixed or we’re not going anywhere.”

  Loki sighed. “Fine, I’m in. But only because you need someone to make sure you’re not turned into a saurian sandwich.”

  “Excellent.” Abrahams rubbed his hands together with a dry, papery sound. “I’ll tell Ilesca to get to work on your hyperdrive at once. It should be all fixed and ready to go the minute you get the collar on Sweetie.”

  “Fine.” Boone sighed. “Give me the stunner and show me how to work it. Let’s get this over with.”

  “I want your pulse pistol if you’re using the stunner,” Loki said. “I don’t think I want to get close enough to a live saurian to use my gogi knife on it.”

  “Sure.” Boone unstrapped the weapon and handed it over.

  “Right this way, gentlemen,” Abrahams said. “If you’ll just follow me—”

  “This is wrong.” K spoke in a low, tense voice, stopping them all in their tracks. Boone looked at her and saw that she was staring at the floor, her arms still wrapped tightly around herself.

  He sighed. “I’m sorry if you don’t agree, K, but my decision is final. Besides, I’m a big guy—I can take care of myself.”

  K looked up at him, her eyes blazing. “I do not agree with this. I want to be the one at your side, Boone. Give me a weapon—let me help.”

  “So you can kill us all?” Loki snarled. “I don’t think so.”

  “I have sworn an oath to keep my vengeance in check until I regain my suit,” K said. Her hands clenched into fists and she stared at Boone. “My word is my bond. Take me with you, Boone.”

  “If she goes, I don’t.” Loki crossed his arms over his chest and frowned.

  Boone sighed again. He would have liked to have both