On a Pale Ship Read online

  "After being disgraced? I'm not sure that's an accurate picture of things."

  "I should have offered you life, not death. You should hate me," she said.

  "You've done something to my body, Dorian," Luc said. "My senses have a clarity I've never experienced. My mind; it's like a fog has been lifted. I can access memories I’d forgotten even existed. The speed at which I'm able to put things together is fantastic. You've been a naughty girl, Dorian Anino."

  "What do you mean?"

  Luc heard her heart speed up a few beats.

  "You're going to have to get better at hiding things if we're going to lie next to each other," he said, ripping his left arm from its restraint. He pulled her on top of his body and kissed her again. "The strength in my body. The sensory improvement. My brain function improvement. These are banned by every government that matters — that kind of naughty. Although, I'm open to other definitions." He ran a hand down her back, bringing it to rest on her narrow bottom.

  "You're incorrigible," she said, pushing away. "Why me?"

  "Are you saying that at 412 stans, you're no longer capable of love?" Luc asked, studying her face.

  She attempted to stifle a gasp of air and pushed hard against his chest. She dropped her legs off the side of the bed and backed away with a horrified look. "How?"

  Luc snapped his chest restraint, sat up and proceeded to break his leg restraints. "I'm afraid that wasn't nice of me," he said. "I wasn't sure, but your skin is too perfect, just like mine is now. You've sped up my thought processes and given me access to all of my memories. June Dorian Anino, the mother of Thomas Phillipe Anino, born in the spring 412 stans ago on Earth to a couple of intellectuals who taught at the University of Nebraska."

  "That information has been removed from public record," she said. "You don't even have access to the network yet."

  "You'll want to work on your defenses. The AI you gave me has quite a good hacking core." He allowed the sheet to drop from his body as he approached. He grabbed Dorian’s arms which were crossed in front of her chest. "I'm going to make a wild guess it's not strictly legal. And for the record, I guessed you were June Dorian Anino, but you confirmed it with your reaction."

  Dorian balled her fists and slammed them into his chest. "My God, what have I done?" Tears formed in her eyes.

  "You've answered my question," he said and wrapped his arms around her. "I'll take your secrets to my grave, Dorian, no matter how many times you send me."

  "Now she's a looker." Jimmy pushed his black cowboy hat onto his head and leaned against the laboratory wall next to where Luc stood. "I think I'm in love."

  Luc looked at the rail-thin man who was dressed entirely in black with a silver belt buckle, cowboy boots with silver trim at the tips and pistols hanging from his hips. He didn't immediately acknowledge Jimmy's presence, irked by the man's irreverent treatment of the woman who lay in a hospital bed, unable to defend herself.

  "Name's Jimmy," the man pushed. "Don't be getting all huffy. She can't hear us. Doc has her knocked clean out, just like she did you.” Getting no response, Jimmy turned toward the second table. “You think that boy's hands are a reflection of what he's got going on under those sheets? I mean, damn."

  Luc was incredulous. "Are you serious?"

  "Wasn't sure you could hear me," Jimmy said with a smirk. Luc noticed the man's heartbeat was almost as slow as his own and he’d had virtually no physical reaction to Luc's rebuke.

  "Don't listen to James, Lucien," Dorian said, entering the laboratory. "He's baiting you."

  Jimmy smiled as he pulled a flask from the pocket of his leather vest and tipped back his head. The smell of strong whiskey assaulted Luc's now overly sensitive nose.

  "Want a tug?" he asked, offering the flask.

  Luc ignored Jimmy and followed Dorian to the side of the very large, brown-skinned man. He couldn't help himself and looked at the man's hands, which were indeed quite massive. He pushed a small breath of air out, resolving not to let Jimmy into his head.

  "Got you thinking about it," Jimmy said and pushed on. "Doc, before we wake up the mountain here, how about you tell us what kind of enhancements you gave him and how he died."

  "Sergeant Gabino Alcazar, 'Gob' to his friends, received a complete structural rebuild," Dorian said. "Due to his size, we were able to use forty-two percent more material in his skeleton. His muscle mass was also eighty-two percent greater than an average, fit male. We replaced it entirely with synthetic muscle, which is currently activated only to normal. Due to his size and strength, we substituted the synthetic skin we normally use with an armored variant. He died heroically defending his team on the side of a hill in Guatemala. The intelligence I received says it was an extremely violent encounter."

  "What about here?" Jimmy tapped on the big man's skull.

  "Mr. Alcazar’s intelligence is well above normal, and given his young age, we didn’t see fit to adjust his acuity or perceptions beyond moderately enhanced vision and sense of smell common to ocular and sinus replacement."

  "So dumb as a box of rocks, strong as an ox, and harder to bring down than a grizzly bear, then?" Jimmy surmised.

  "Not dumb, Jimmy," Dorian said. "You will find Mr. Alcazar's military record is nothing short of heroic. He's loyal to a fault, compassionate, and repeatedly put himself in harm's way for the benefit of his team. You'd do well to remember that, especially when you're finally successful at pushing him to anger."

  "What about the doll?" Jimmy asked.

  "Katriona Macillvain. She was a cat burglar of ill repute on Fariza. We believe she murdered a security officer who was trying to leverage her. Of all the people we've had in the program, I'm most hesitant about her mental fitness. That said, I think she'll give you a run for your money, Jimmy. Her small mass was enough of a challenge that we had to redesign her musculature to fit. We expect her speed to be unequaled and with a sufficiently small weapon, she'd be difficult to stop. She will be vulnerable to physical attacks, given her slight frame."

  "You going to give them the same choice you gave me?" Jimmy asked.

  "What choice was that?" Luc asked.

  Jimmy quirked his head, looking from Luc to Dorian. "Damn. I thought I smelled something going on between you two."

  Luc raised his eyebrow. "What's going on, Jimmy?"

  "You and the Doc. Otherwise, she'd have already told you the deal."

  "Jimmy," Dorian warned. "Knock it off."

  "No," Luc said. "We're all in this together. Let's get everything on the table. It's not as if I haven't already thought of different scenarios for protecting this big of a secret. First, I thought perhaps a kill switch. As soon as someone goes off the reservation or gets annoying, you pop 'em. However, I feel like that's unlikely because it doesn't account for Jimmy being alive."

  Jimmy grabbed the brim of his hat and nodded at Luc. "Fair enough. What else you got in that head of yours beyond synaptic enhancement?"

  Luc smiled tightly and nodded in response. "Nicely intuited. My guess would be a two-part solution. First would be a loss of memory. According to the research I can find, it's possible to remove memories especially if low-level beta blockers are administered early enough. I suspect they are currently in my bloodstream and can be activated without physical contact."

  Dorian looked at Luc, pain evident in her face. "I would never, Lucien."

  "We're not making pizza here," Luc said. "Precautions are reasonable. I would find fault if you were to ignore the issue."

  "You two need to work this out already," Jimmy said. "I don't know how much more of this googly-eyed crap I can take."

  "Memory isn't enough," Luc continued, ignoring Jimmy's outburst. "You'd have to have a way to degenerate the muscles. It seems there are diseases from humanity's past that could be used for this purpose and probably even be cured after sufficient degradation. But, that's with just a few minutes to think about it. Oh… there's another possibility."

  "There it is," Jimmy said, smiling
perversely.

  "A biological kill switch would be too easy to remove," Luc said, nodding understanding. "The elegant solution would be to build in a dependence, something we need and only you have. That's you — elegant."

  "Ding. Ding. Ding. We have a winner," Jimmy said. "The medical plan is simple. Don't miss your checkups."

  "I warned you, Lucien," Dorian said, holding his stare with her own. "I've done things. I'm not who you think."

  "A threat isn't sufficient. You'd have to have something on each of us that makes us want to stay."

  "Ten ways 'till Sunday with you, bub," Jimmy said. "Never seen you slut yourself out like this before, Doc. Well played."

  Luc's fist snaked out from his body before even he was fully aware it was happening. The punch caught Jimmy square on the jaw and sent him crashing over the top of the unconscious Katriona.

  "Lucien. James. No!" Dorian screeched, startled.

  Jimmy caught himself and turned to face Luc. "Damn. I did not see that coming."

  "Apologize," Luc closed the distance between himself and Jimmy.

  "Please, stop," Dorian said.

  "First shot was free, Gray," Jimmy said menacingly, glowering from beneath the brim of his hat.

  "You're pushing at me. Looking for a reaction," Luc said. "Why?"

  Jimmy's face transformed from anger to an easy-going grin. He shrugged. "Gotta know who I'm dealing with."

  Luc watched the muscles beneath Jimmy's clothing tense and his pupils narrow. His facial expression hadn't changed but the shift was occurring in fractions of a second. He became aware of the rail-thin man's right hand appearing on the butt of his pistol and the barrel snapping forward, not being drawn from the holster as much as it was pushed through the front. Luc reacted, pressing his new body to its limits as he flung his hand outward, targeting where Jimmy's wrist would be when it came level with Luc's body. With satisfaction, he made contact and caused the man's hand to open and the gun to tumble away harmlessly.

  Time, which had seemed to slow, returned to normal speed and Luc became aware of the cold barrel of Jimmy's second pistol sticking into his throat beneath his chin.

  Luc raised his eyebrows as he tried to replay the events. Jimmy had obviously distracted him with his right hand, but Luc could not find anything that indicated his second weapon had been drawn.

  "Figured we could have this little dance before we woke up the kids," Jimmy said.

  "Apologize to Dorian," Luc said, bringing his hand up to cover Jimmy's pistol. As he pulled it away from his neck, Luc snapped his head forward, crashing his forehead into the side of Jimmy's face. The smaller man attempted to pull the pistol back and he rolled into him, jerking Jimmy's arm and throwing him to the floor, Jimmy’s legs clattering into the lab table. Clumsily, Jimmy attempted to reach for another weapon, but Luc fell onto him with the practiced ease of a martial artist, pinning his shoulder to the ground while maintaining control of Jimmy's weapon hand.

  "Shit," Jimmy coughed. "Get off."

  "Lucien, stop," Dorian pleaded, rushing toward the two men. "You're a team. We're on the same side."

  "Your mistake was getting within my reach," Luc said calmly. "Have we established the dominance hierarchy to your satisfaction?"

  Jimmy raised his eyebrows, still struggling beneath Luc. "What?"

  Luc pushed off and stood. "Sorry. Have we figured out who's leading this dance, partner?"

  Jimmy holstered his pistol and put a hand to his face. "You busted my cheek."

  Luc offered his hand, which Jimmy accepted.

  "Would it kill you to apologize to her?" Luc asked, pulling Jimmy to his feet.

  "Naw. Sorry, Doc, I didn't mean anything," Jimmy said. "Whiskey?" He offered his flask to Luc, who accepted it, took a quick drink and handed it back.

  "Are you quite done?" Dorian asked angrily, looking between the two men.

  "I'm good," Jimmy said.

  Luc shrugged, looking to Jimmy. "I think we're good. Getting a bit of a headache though. You're more solid than you look."

  "A head-butt? Seriously, nobody wins in a head-butt," Jimmy said. "I'll grab some patches. I know where she keeps 'em."

  Luc turned back to Dorian. "Who's first?"

  Her eyes were wide in disbelief. "Just like that, you're done? You bonded over that?"

  "I might have preferred a less direct approach to establishing a pecking order, but it's hard to fault Jimmy for efficiency," Luc said over the noise of Jimmy rifling through a stainless-steel drawer full of medical patches.

  "Got that right, brother," Jimmy called over his shoulder.

  Dorian nodded at the overturned lab tables and chairs. "Clean this up. We'll wake Gabino Alcazar first. That is, unless the two of you have another ridiculous male rite you need to perform?"

  Luc smiled, picking up a chair. "Don't be mad. It was a necessary evil. A topic I believe you are familiar with."

  "You'd better hope Gabino doesn't find it necessary," Dorian said. "I doubt either of you could subdue him directly. Perhaps it would be better if James was not present for this."

  Jimmy crossed the room and slapped a med-patch into Luc's hand. "Turns out I was just leaving."

  "Are we okay?" Dorian asked when the door shut behind Jimmy.

  "Am I thrilled I have an expiration date? Not really. The fact is, though, I'd already hit my expiration date. Every minute I'm upright and breathing is a gift," Luc said, placing a hand on her waist, drawing her closer to him. She resisted, clearly wanting to keep things professional. "I made a decision about you before I went to Cauldron. Want to know what it was?"

  "Lucien, this isn't the right time for this conversation," Dorian said, pushing her hands against his chest.

  "That's just it, Dorian. Every minute is precious. What we have between us is important. Call it intuition. Call it a crush. I don't care. The only way you're getting rid of me is if you put me down."

  "You're ridiculous," she whispered, lessening her resistance against him and allowing him to pull her closer. "You make me feel like a teenager."

  "Isn't it great?"

  Chapter 19

  Wakey Wakey

  "Was it really necessary to use physical violence on James?" she asked.

  "Short answer or long answer?" Luc replied.

  "I'd like to understand."

  "The value I bring to a team is organization. While I'm talented at martial arts, I'm nothing like I imagine Jimmy is with his pistols. You've described our large friend Gabino there as a soldier and Katriona is a thief. Everyone has a specialty. Is that about right?"

  "I'm not sure how that helps, but you're right as far as you've taken it," she said.

  "Why would Jimmy insult you in front of me?"

  "Why does Jimmy do anything?"

  "He's not that mysterious. He was calling me out. He wanted to see if I'd react."

  "Which you did. You know I don't need you to defend my honor. I'm one of the wealthiest women in the four solar systems. I don't need anyone," she said, her ire starting to rise.

  Luc smiled. "And yet, here you stand with your arms around me."

  "Get off, you oaf!" She renewed her efforts to push away from him but he refused to relent.

  "Stop now," he said in hushed tones. "You are not lessened because I take offense at your poor treatment. But you should know there was more than that to my actions. My position on this team is as its leader. Jimmy was challenging my position."

  "You're saying men are like pack animals. If he'd won, would he have claimed me as his bitch?" Dorian asked, still annoyed.

  "That I would have paid to watch," Luc said. "No. Some people only follow strength. For the record, this is not a trait solely of men. And to answer your question, I would have had to work much harder to gain his trust."

  "And that is why he left happy? How is it that I've never had to deal with this before? Are we going to have this problem with Gabino?"

  "It's an individual personality thing. But either way, it will be easie
r for Gabino to accept leadership that is already in place," Luc said. "Jimmy tussled with me because he feels he's earned the right to lead a team."

  "If I hadn't witnessed it with my own eyes, I'd never have believed it. He left … happy. It was the most remarkable thing."

  "He's relieved. Deep down, Jimmy knows he's not a leader," Luc said.

  "You seem to be adjusting to all of this rather easily," Dorian said. "I've given you no reason to trust me, yet here you stand accepting the mantle of leadership for an unknown mission with a team you've never met, from a woman who sent you to your death."

  "I'm a man of action, Dorian Anino," Luc said. "Wringing my hands over obvious decisions isn't my style. Now are we going to wake Mr. Alcazar up? I'll be honest, I'm really curious how it's going to work if he comes up swinging."

  "Not helpful, Lucien," Dorian said, turning toward the bed where the veritable mountain of a man slumbered next to his antithesis, the little thief.

  Luc pulled a stool over to Gabino's bedside and sat. "Wakey, wakey."

  "Give him some time," Dorian said, lowering the lights in the room. "I've just released him. Less stimulus is ideal."

  Luc nodded in agreement and searched the big man's light-brown face. Asleep, he looked peaceful, but Luc knew this could change instantly given the violence that had ended his life. After a few minutes, a look of pain flashed across the man's face and he pinched his eyes closed even more tightly. His bicep flexed and his large arm pulled against the restraint as he attempted to sit up, his eyes flying open.

  "All clear, Sergeant Alcazar," Luc said softly, resting a hand on his forearm. "You've been exfil'd."

  "My men. They're all down," Alcazar said, falling heavily back onto the bed. He looked at Luc and then searched the room.

  "Copy that, Sergeant," Luc agreed. "We were lucky to get you out."

  "Am I dead?" Gabino asked. "This isn't an Army hospital."

  "Do you feel dead?" Luc asked, releasing the arm restraint on the side where he sat and standing so he could move to the other side.

  "Something's off. I feel too good," Gabino said. "I was shot."