Fanned out behind her, her Civie lovers awaited orders like sheep. Sex and their rabid desire to return to Earth kept them under control, but their lack of initiative turned her stomach. She wouldn’t airlock the incompetent lot just yet. Especially since this little set-back would allow her a measure of revenge against the mighty Syn-En admiral.
“You don’t seem surprised to see me.” Eying his broad shoulders, Burkina allowed herself a moment of regret that the cyborg hadn’t been controlled by sex. Of course, the freak had probably slept with half of his subordinates. The race’s promiscuity could be the only reason why he hadn’t appreciated her debasing herself to screw him. Now, he’d pay for the pleasure as well as his refusal to grant her a few simple privileges.
The admiral’s attention drifted toward the screen then away again. “Civilian Timothy left the bridge shortly after you. Obviously, he found and freed you from solitary confinement.”
Partially camouflaged in the floating mass on her left, Tim gasped.
Bastard. Again, Burkina resisted the urge to slam her fist through the monitor. So what if the admiral knew who had helped her escape. That didn’t make him superior. Nor did she believe the Syn-Ens had special means to communicate with each other. Of course, there was the WA, but that was only for emergency and for the year she’d been one of the ungodly few, it had never been activated. No doubt because the WA’s use was illegal and the Syn-En were fanatical in their adherence to the laws. Still, the Civies’ paranoia about such mythical Syn-En power helped her control them. She might even let on that Bei knew their names, in case any of them considered backing out. Add in her four decades as a citizen, and she was destined to lead this little coup.
Citizens commanded; Civilians and Syn-Ens obeyed.
The Admiral needed to be reminded of his proper place. All men did.
From the corner of her right eye, Burkina watched Tim scuttle deeper into the metal slush. She barely contained the urge to grab him by the throat and smash his face into the camera over the com panel. The Syn-En should see their faces, know who they served. “I now control the communications and tactical stations.”
“Did you manually cut into the cables or merely take advantage of the damage?” A pulsing blue light illuminated the Admiral’s neck and his fiber optic cables wiggled like worms from the interfaces at the base of his skull.
Burkina shivered at the reminder of the cranium implants. At least, the doctors hadn’t rewired her brain, turning her into a monster. “I took advantage of your call to abandon ship to do a little remodeling.”
She smiled. Although his face didn’t reflect it, the knowledge that his own order allowed her to seize control of his prized ship must eat at him. She ducked as a flat chunk of floating metal skimmed her short black hair.
“Damn.” Swearing softly, Tim thumped the electronic status pad in his hands and crept forward. The low gravity muffled his footfalls. His elbow knocked another hunk of twisted debris in her direction.
She shoved the torso-sized piece into his gut.
Tim’s breath left his body in a vapor cloud. Rubbing his paunch, he slunk further into the cargo bay.
“Any more remodeling plans?” The Admiral’s eyes locked with hers.
Burkina snorted. Did he really think she was stupid enough to tell him? He was about to find out what citizens were capable of. Crossing her arms, she savored her revenge. “Since I am the only Citizen of rank on board, I hereby relieve you of command. All personnel will report to me and follow my orders.”
Before her eyes, the scrapes on the Admiral’s face disappeared.
His self-repairing armor even soaked up the spilled blood, no doubt sending the cells to be recycled. Proof of his inhumanity. “UN Resolution 2012R1221 Indentured Servitude For Repayment of Debts revoked your citizen status and all rights entitled —”
“I don’t need a
citizen
history lesson from you, Syn-En.” Their unnatural healing abilities also made the Syn-Ens undefeated in all their civilian-cyborg engagements. Burkina clasped her hands behind her back to still their trembling. She could heal like that, too, and she was smart. She’d win this skirmish. “Now as to my first order…”
“Are you and your thirteen followers aware of the punishment for mutiny, Ensign?”
The gasps around her overshadowed the hiss of leaking gas and the zap and crackle of the containment field. The stench of their fear lodged in her lungs. Didn’t they hear him or had their cowardice made them deaf? She and her followers had company in the cargo bay. Turning away from the camera, Burkina focused on a bald man blinking at her through the clammy fog. While his name eluded her, she knew from his time in her bed that he liked being ordered about and was obsessed with going home. She turned on her charm, flashing him an inviting smile, a duplicate of the one that had gained his attention five months ago.
“Find the extra Civie,” she mouthed to Baldy.
He touched his forehead with two fingers in a mock salute then disappeared behind the fuselage of an
Orion
-class ship.
Burkina tapped her index finger to her lips. “Mutiny? Hardly, Admiral. A citizen is legally required to lead the Syn-En missions. So it is you who should be punished…”
Bei cocked his left eyebrow.
Finally a reaction. Victory drummed in her veins.
Wait until you see what’s next, Admiral
. Striding forward, she set her hands on the com’s fold down keyboard. The LCD buttons glowed green under her fingertips. Scrolling through the active portals, Burkina found the weapons array and brought the pulse cannons online. “First your sentence for addressing a superior without permission, Syn-En.”
Red lights flashed as systems locked onto their targets. One. Two. Three. A perfect number. Her broken nails flirted with the firing order. Would he recognize it as the same amount of times she’d slept with him?
“Burkina.” Batting aside a curled piece of rudder, Tim strode toward her. “Don’t—”
She pressed the button. She no longer took orders from men. The ship’s deck bucked under her feet with each shot fired. Soon more debris would knock against the hull. “That’s three of your precious life pods gone and how many tin soldiers dead? Thirty? Forty?”
“What have you done?” Tim yanked on her fingers as if trying to undo the damage.
Twisting at the waist, Burkina slammed her palm against his chest. She pulled the punch at the last minute, preventing his ribcage from collapsing like a soda can in seven atmospheres.
Momentum shot him backward and Tim’s magnetic boot heels scraped the metal floor. He grunted when he collided with the interior wall then rebounded into the metal cloud with a tinkling of metal.
Burkina’s gaze remained on the screen, waiting for a reaction from the Admiral.
A muscle clenched in Bei’s jaw.
There. She’d done it. Yet it wasn’t enough. She wanted him on his knees. He asked for it, trying to be human, perverting the race. Her fingers twitched on the panel. None of the Civies tried to stop her. “There’s plenty more life pods out there.”
Tim flapped his arms, clearing a path to her side. “I’m picking up life signs outside the door.”
A trickle of fear snaked into Burkina’s belly. How had they found her so fast with the systems offline? Could it be a coincidence? Had to be. She’d picked up nothing on the com system. Like the good little machines they were, the Syn-En were undoubtedly systematically sweeping the decks, prioritizing repairs. Still… She ordered the cannons to lock onto more targets in a broad spectrum shot. “Call them off, Bei, or I’ll blow up ten more pods.”
Bei glanced to his left and nodded.
A blip registered on the com. She’d been right. The Syn-Ens had found her by dumb luck. Too bad their blundering had revealed her location. She needed another diversion.
Tim sighed. “Life signs are retreating.”
She rolled her eyes. Did the Civie really think she needed him for confirmation? She’d witnessed firsthand how much the Syn-En valued their mechanical hides. Not that they allowed her into the club. Her citizen status had set her apart from them. It had also revealed their debilitating weakness: their fondness for each other.
A flaw she planned to exploit.
“I should eliminate the pods for insubordination.” Burkina drummed her fingers on the console. The ship rolled with the salvo. “There. Five gone. I can be merciful, but any more disobedience and I’ll take them all out.”
Bei stiffened. The camera pulled back, widening its focus and highlighting the fact that his hips had twisted almost a hundred and eighty degrees from normal.
Whispers rumbled through the cargo bay at the damage.
Had his spine snapped? Was he even now on the verge of a fatal error? Perhaps she should order the mighty admiral’s twisted carcass preserved as a visual aid to the other tinmen. She considered tightening the frame on his face then decided against it. The Civies needed a reminder that the Syn-Ens were more circuits than flesh. Machines could be switched off.
“First order. You will address me as Sir, as will the rest of your kind.” Power surged through Burkina’s veins. She shivered at the intoxicating effects. What good was power if it wasn’t wielded? “Do you understand,
Commander
?”
“Aye, Sir.”
Damn. No reaction to his demotion. Didn’t he realize the only reason she’d bothered to sleep with him was because of the stripes on his uniform? Too bad the camera wouldn’t pan to the command deck’s other inhabitants. She knew his two women weren’t so good at hiding their emotions, especially where Burkina was concerned.
“Good. As for rescue procedures, you’ll bring only citizens on board the
Starfarer
. Your soldiers will be confined to the
Orion
and
Beagle
ships.”
Bei’s gaze cut to the right, no doubt considering his options.
Burkina estimated the amount of time he would need to carry out her orders then cut it by two-thirds. She wanted all hands at the task, leaving no one left to search for her. “I’ll give you two hours to complete the rescue mission. Oh, and Commander, if you attempt to retrieve any of your soldiers before all my people are saved, I’ll blow up twenty life pods.”
The screen fell dark before she could see Bei’s reaction.
When she ground her teeth together, pain flared through her jaw. The arrogant prick thought he could dismiss her. “Bring him back up.”
Tim reached out a hand toward her. “But Burkina…”
She wrapped her hand around his throat and pressed her finger and thumb against his carotid arteries. “Bring him back up before you pass out!”
Bei’s prostrate image flickered on the screen. The once mighty leader lay on his belly, his head turned toward her. His fake skin peeled away from his spine like the rind of a banana.
A tech leaned over him, orienting the Syn-En’s legs in the correct direction.
While familiarity rippled through her, the civilian’s name eluded her. Not that it mattered. She didn’t have time to eliminate the collaborator.
“You did not acknowledge my command,
lieutenant
.” Burkina stressed Bei’s second demotion. The civilian traitor stiffened but the Syn-En did not. She didn’t fool herself into thinking paralysis was part of the repair process. “Should I put someone else in charge and risk demoralizing the rest of the Syn-En?”
“Orders acknowledged, Sir.” Bei smiled.
Despite the careful thermoregulation of her cybernetic limbs, Burkina’s fingers felt like frozen popsicles. She’d never seen Bei smile before. The gesture seemed more psychotic than humorous. Shoring up her faltering courage, she stuck to her improvised plan. “Two more pods must pay the price for your insubordination. You can choose which ones.”
“Delta five one six and Omega seven two nine. Sir.” His answer rattled the com system like machine gun fire. No hesitation, just devastation and death in its wake.
Around her, gasps erupted in the cargo bay as the Admiral calmly sentenced his men to death.
On screen, the civilian technician rocked back on his heels.
“Tsk. Now you understand why humans must be in charge. You sacrificed your fellow soldiers without batting an eyelash.” Burkina swallowed her rising fear. If he caught her, her death would not be quick. Syn-Ens were trained to keep people alive for months. That was no myth. She powered down the targeting array. “Humans would be horrified, are horrified. I think even your heart is a machine, lieutenant.”
“If that is all, Sir.” Bei’s foot twitched. Over his open spinal column, the civilian hunched and kept his face hidden.
“One hour and fifty-seven minutes remain.” Burkina stepped back. Heat burned a trail over her hip as a jagged edge of rubble cut into her. Should she order him to salute? It might be amusing to watch his limbs flop around. She sighed. Not today. She doubted her Civie followers could stomach much more of the requirements for leadership. “I’ll be watching.”
In a quick jerky motion, Bei’s legs bent at the knee. “Aye-aye.”
The screen blipped to darkness. Burkina stared at it, emotions scrambling her thoughts. “He did it again.”
“No.” Tim poked her shoulder with his status pad. “I cut the link.”
“Too bad you didn’t show as much initiative finding the correct bay, Tim.” Burkina eyed the point of contact. So the little weasel thought he could take command, did he? How like a man to let her do all the unpleasant tasks and try to take the credit.
Tim waved the book like object, swatting fine particles of organic and inorganic matter away from his lean face. “What is all this crap about loading the civilians on board and blowing up the pods? We never agreed to that. You were supposed to pilot us back home, that’s all.”
Pale faces nodded in the gloom.
So the fools got a little squeamish when blood had to be spilled. Who cared? The blood was synthetic, like motor oil in an automobile. “Syn-Ens are little better than animals. They understand only force and strength. Your countermanding my order is viewed as weakness. Something they can exploit and use to shove us all out of an airlock.”
“What about returning to Earth?” Tim tapped the silver rectangle against his pale forehead. “That’s the plan I signed on for.”