MeltingIron Read online

  She wasn’t sure what that meant but she was going to find out as she followed him down the ramp of the shuttle, getting her first look at the alien planet. Shock tore through her system as she stared at big blue puffy trees, their drooping branches a thick curtain of wispy vegetation. Her gaze lifted to the bright blue sky with light blue clouds, a pretty sight.

  “It’s beautiful.”

  Broad shoulders shrugged as Iron led her down the ramp toward thick trees. “It’s very blue.”

  “That’s my favorite color.”

  He glanced down at her. “I’ll take note of it.”

  She grinned. “Okay. You do that.”

  The encampment they found stunned Dawn as she took it all in with a sweeping gaze. Homes had been built out of bulkheads and spare parts from an obviously large starship. One of the homes had her flinching as she stared at the metal, recognizing just how much of the interior they had salvaged to make homes, knowing the dwelling in question had come from a latrine tank.

  “That had to smell pretty damn bad until they got it clean.”

  Iron’s look followed hers. “They are detachable on most of the older ships so it was probably easier for them to remove it to bring it down to the surface.”

  “That had to have been a shit job, literally.”

  Dawn could have sworn she saw a smirk on his features before he turned his face away as a noise drew his attention. It also drew Dawn’s and she inched away from him to watch as a large group of big gray-skinned women came from the thick woods. The small camp had gone from totally devoid of life to suddenly bursting with it as dozens and dozens of them emerged around them.

  Close your mouth, Dawn mentally ordered herself, her eyes going wide with shock at the mostly naked women. Cyborg women were big, muscular, fit, and tall. Most of them wore nothing but half shirts that had seen better days and had made shorts that were tied together to hang low on their hips, exposing a lot of skin and muscled, thick thighs. Breasts moved freely beneath those thin shirts, revealing that bras weren’t considered as a cyborg woman’s must-have clothing since none of the ones Dawn glanced at wore one.

  Behind the women came children. Dawn’s body shook slightly as she studied at least two dozen of them. Her heart broke instantly as she saw more than half of them using crutches to limp along. A small boy who was totally naked, probably about three years old, was being carried by his arms by two older girls. His legs were thinner than his body, obviously defective in some manner so he couldn’t walk.

  “My God.” Dawn realized she’d said the words aloud when Iron suddenly spun to softly growl at her.

  “Don’t look at them.” His voice was so low she barely heard his words, her focus jerking away from the children to stare into his furious eyes.

  “What is—”

  Iron cut her off. “They were left without the technology to fix their children.” His tone was soft and gruff. “We can fix them once we get to Garden and some of them before then on the Star and the Vontage. They are sensitive to their flaws so do not stare or show your disgust.”

  If he’d slapped her it would have hurt less than what he’d said. “You think I feel disgust?” She hissed the words at him, anger instant. “I feel bad for them and I’m horrified that they have to live this way. My heart is breaking for those children.”

  Dark blue eyes studied Dawn for a long moment. “They just returned from their daily baths at the river. Let’s get to work.” He jerked his head. “Their shuttle is that way. Move.”

  Chapter Ten

  Dawn was fuming still as she studied the old shuttle in front of them. She wanted to groan as she realized just how old it was. She hadn’t seen one of those models since she’d been a kid and her father had taken her to a spaceport to buy parts for an antique shuttle he was restoring for a friend.

  “We have to replace the charging cells to restore power, one of the tanks is ruptured, and the entire hull has to be checked. We detected some damage to it so those flaws will have to be patched so it will make it through space.”

  “Why?” Dawn turned her attention on Iron. “It’s old. Hell, I wouldn’t trust this rust bucket in space. When your people stole it all those years ago this thing had to be already wrecking-yard standard. It’s got to be forty-five years old.” She inched away from him to walk to the port thrusters, seeing dents there, and what looked similar to a bird’s nest. “I wouldn’t trust this thing to lift off and I sure as hell wouldn’t want to be aboard her in space.” She glanced at him over her shoulder. “I’d be really worried about the integrity of the hull, Iron. This puppy could crush like a tin can because, without tests, which we can’t perform here unless you brought a space dock with you to orbit, we don’t know what these planet conditions have done to the materials it’s made of. It’s just not safe.”

  The cyborgs from the shuttle had followed behind them. One of them, a handsome male with gleaming white hair and dark blue, glittering eyes walked close to Dawn, frowning at her before he turned his attention on Iron.

  “She’s the mechanic we got from the Piera shuttle, correct?”

  “Correct, Ice,” Iron said softly, looking at Dawn as he spoke. “We’re aware of the danger but we aren’t transporting them on it. I am going to pilot it back into space myself. We’re taking it for salvage.”

  Dawn faced Iron. “It’s too dangerous. If the hull won’t hold you’ll be killed.”

  Ice chuckled. “Who gives the orders in your quarters?”

  In a heartbeat Iron took a step toward Dawn, going chest to chest with her, anger in his narrowed gaze. “Enough, Dawn. It is my life to risk and I will wear a space suit in case of rapid decompression. I am intelligent and more than aware of the risks. The shuttle has value so we are taking it with us. Once I dock it to the Moonslip I will transfer out of it and it will be transported back to Garden.”

  She feared for his safety. “What if the damn thing won’t make it? It’s a damn dinosaur, Iron. If you have system failure before you break into the atmosphere you’d fall like a damn rock to the surface. These weren’t designed to glide down for easy landings like the modern ones and I doubt it even has an active backup system in place that would enable you to restart the engines if they fail.”

  “It’s my risk to take.”

  Bullshit. You’re mine, she thought but she kept her mouth shut. Her teeth clenched together and she gave him a sharp nod before jerking her attention from him to glare at the shuttle. “I guess I better make damn sure it’s fly ready then.”

  A loud sigh came from behind her as Iron moved away. “Let’s get to work. Daylight hours are passing.” He started assigning tasks.

  Dawn walked over to the thruster and reached up for the rim of it, her hands gripping the bottom and instantly knew she had a problem. Turning her head she saw that Ice was watching her curiously. She gave him a smile, eyeing his muscular frame.

  “Ice?”

  An eyebrow arched. “That is my name.”

  “I’m Dawn. Come here and give me a boost, would you? I don’t see a ladder around here so you’re it.”

  Shock made his lips part but to her pleased surprise he walked toward her slowly. “Why do you want up there?” He stopped inches from her, staring down.

  “The thrusters aren’t going to clean and inspect themselves. I am going to visually examine the casings and the coils.”

  His broad chest expanded as he took a deep breath. He gripped her, big hands enclosing over her hips and he lifted. Dawn gripped the rim hard and tensed her body as her feet left the ground. The strong guy easily raised her high enough so she was able to scramble into the large round tube. He shifted his hold on her once she braced her upper weight inside and gave her a gentle push on her lower legs, sending her the rest of the way up. Dawn got to her knees, easily able to kneel inside the generous-sized tube.

  “Thanks. Do you have a light on you and perhaps a kit?”

  He nodded. “I’ll get them.”

  Dawn turned her at