Driven Read online

  Linna shook her head. "Howard Adar is full of shit."

  The vehemence in her voice made him chuckle. "Don't we all know it."

  She sighed and handed him the last cup of broth only half-eaten. "Do you believe the MHU had anything to do with the Dome failure?"

  Del shook his head. "Nah. I don't think anyone but the upperrankers would believe that. I think some tech somewhere messed up and Adar's just using this as a good reason to crack down. I wouldn't be surprised if he keeps this city under Code Red for a week while he rounds up as many mechos as he can and makes them disappear."

  Linna swallowed heavily and looked down at her hands, twisted on her lap. "And if he does that, it won't be long before he goes after the Offworlders too, Del."

  "I know that."

  Linna looked at him, her face tense. "What should we do?"

  "I think we need to get out of Newcity, Linna."

  She nodded. Her fingers twined with his. "If they check my registration, they'll find out I'm not a Pleasurebot. I'm not a KMPN, Del. I'm a mecho."

  He'd known already, but that she'd trusted him enough to tell him the truth meant a lot.

  "How long?" he asked her gently.

  Linna bit her lip. "Three years."

  He waited for her to tell him more, but she remained silent for so long he thought she wasn't going to say. Then she took a deep breath and squeezed his hand like she was drowning and he was the only one holding her up.

  "I used to be an upperranker. A ninety-thou actually. I lived in a house, not an apartment. I was married." She waited, as though her admission would surprise him.

  Newcitizens were ranked on everything from ancestry, to marriage, to education, to personal achievements. The rankings went constantly up and down, and privileges were tied directly to rank. The system had been designed--or so he'd heard--to eliminate class distinctions. All it had done was make it impossible for anyone not born or married into the upper rankings to get there.

  Linna gave a half-smile. "My husband had a very bad temper and a penchant for affairs. I didn't mind. It kept him out of my bed, and as long as he was fucking other women, he'd do what he liked to them and leave me alone. I didn't have a bad life, Del. Money can buy a lot of happiness."

  He thought of his life on Xanderra where he'd never lacked for anything financially. "Sometimes."

  "Eventually, his human mistresses no longer put up with his tastes. He went through four VCTM units in as many months before he turned to me."

  "He went through Victims? You mean he got tired of them?"

  Linna shook her head solemnly. "I mean he used them up. Wore them out. Shut them down. The last one fell to pieces, literally, in our dining room."

  Del's stomach twisted. "And then he turned to you?"

  Again, she nodded. "A man of his rank can consider himself above the law and be right, Del."

  "Who was your husband?"

  "I was married for four years to Daniel Hackman."

  Del gave a low whistle. "Adar's left-hand man."

  Linna nodded and took her hand from his. She drew up her knees and linked her fingers around them, then rested her cheek there. "The same."

  "He hurt you." He didn't make it a question.

  Fury filled him, and he got up and began to pace. The thought of that smug-faced bastard putting his hands on Linna made Del want to pound something. Hard. Rip it apart. It made him want to kill Hackman.

  "He didn't mean to, I'm sure." Her voice was dry, sarcastic, and he searched her face to see if she was excusing the benizona, the son of a whore. "I was more expensive to replace than a VCTM. Unfortunately for him, and for me, I also wasn't capable of simply allowing him to hurt me."

  "You fought back."

  She nodded. "As best I could. That only made him angry. He...he lost control. He cut me. He pushed me down some stairs. Other things, which, thank God-of-Choice, I don't remember. I woke up in a hospital bed."

  "He authorized the surgeries?" Del clenched his fists, still pacing.

  "Oh, I don't think so. I'd been admitted as deceased. The medtech who took the admission was training an assistant and they decided to use me for the training. I came out of the surgery alive."

  "And unauthorized."

  "Yes."

  "So they...what? Didn't tell Hackman you weren't dead?"

  She shook her head. "And risk losing rank? Or worse...being arrested? Even three years ago Adar was speaking out against mechos. What they did to me was illegal."

  "And immoral." Del snorted. "That would never have happened on Xanderra."

  She met his gaze calmly and her chin lifted a little. "I'd rather be what I am than dead, Del."

  That chastened him. He sat next to her again and, following an impulse he didn't want to think too much about, took her hand. "Me, too."

  That made her smile. Tension arced between them like an electrical spark. Her cheeks flushed and her tongue slid along her lower lip.

  He wanted to kiss her again and more than that. Her lips parted and her pupils dilated again, but this time in passion. His cock hardened and he let go of her hand to put some distance between them.

  "I'm sorry that happened to you," he said.

  The lights flickered and came on. The viddy screen blared to life, still showing Adar, this time joined by the members of the Ruling Council. Del's gaze zeroed in on Hackman, who sat in the back. He wanted to punch the viddy screen.

  "Code Red is still in effect," Adar said to the camera. "We've apprehended those who were trying to destroy the Dome that protects us. And we'll see to it they're punished to the harshest degree."

  The screen cut to a picture of a group of men and women being herded into ground cars by SecOps. One man appeared to resist and was taken down immediately by a stunner.

  "They were using bullets when I was out there," Linna spoke up.

  He looked at her. "Adar's pulling no punches."

  She shrugged. "Do you expect any less?"

  "Code Red will remain in affect until we've rounded up all these criminals. Please pay attention to System announcements. You'll be notified when the Code changes."

  "Viddy off," Del snapped and the screen went dark. "Well, I guess that's it."

  "I guess so." Linna chewed gently on her lower lip. "At least the power's back on."

  Del looked around his apartment. "This rat hole looks better in the dark."

  She laughed, a real laugh that sent warmth flooding through him. "Believe me, it's better than Kitten's."

  He wanted to ask her how she'd managed to take on a Pleasurebot's identity, but figured that would be a story for another time. "Let me see if I can order us something real to eat."

  She put a hand on her stomach. "That would be terrific."

  Code Red apparently meant no deliveries, as System informed him in a frustratingly calm voice that he was not authorized to access the supply depot at this time.

  "Power conservation in effect," the voice announced on the heels of denying him his food order. "Cycling distribution will begin now."

  "Cycling distribution? What does that mean?" Linna asked.

  The lights flickered and dimmed, then went out.

  "I think it means we're stuck in the dark again."

  Her next words made heat surge through him again. "At least we're together."

  "Yeah, at least there's that."

  She smiled and her eyes glowed in the light from the battery lantern, which he hadn't shut off. "You've been a good friend, Del."

  He shrugged, and then grinned back at her. "Guess I'm just a nice guy underneath this tough exterior."

  "I happen to like that exterior."

  All at once, Del wanted her so badly it hurt. Physically hurt. He bit back a groan and turned away from her. He found the crumbling plaster of his wall and used it for support. Every muscle in his body seemed locked in a spasm.

  "Del? Are you all right?"

  He nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He kept his back toward her. He could