Page 19 of A Mate For Matrix (Cyborg Protection Unit #1)

Chapter Thirteen

J ana turned away from where she had been watching K-Nine and Matrix finish their clean-up. Matrix wanted to make sure there was nothing left of the Crawler.

Of course, there would be no way to hide the fact that there was a massive hole filled with coarse synthetic concrete, the acrid smell of an enormous blast, or that nothing but a gritty layer of ash remained where the house, her car, and the back shed once stood.

While Matrix and K-Nine took care of business outside, she decided to explore the interior of the transport. Her tennis shoes squeaked against the polished metal floor.

Her breath caught as she stared in awe. It took a full moment for her brain to process what she was seeing. She couldn’t wrap her head around what the actual spaceship would be like.

“You three behave,” she called out to the kittens who scurried past her.

She ran her fingertips lightly over the interior wall.

Everything looked sleek, futuristic, and impossibly clean.

Curving walls made of what looked like glowing metal seamlessly transitioned into floor and ceiling.

Control panels shimmered with floating symbols and soft lights that danced at the edges of her vision.

The ceiling arched overhead like the inside of a polished dome, showing the stars above as if she were riding in a bubble through space.

The floor beneath her feet vibrated softly, but there was no jarring movement, no sense of an engine like her old Toyota. It was… smooth. Like they were gliding on silk.

“Wow,” she murmured, gazing around as if she was on a theme-park ride through the future.

A small yowl interrupted her awe.

The three kittens—Biscuit, Honeybun, and Butter—were enthusiastically exploring their fresh territory.

Biscuit had leapt up onto a padded bench and was batting at a glowing interface button.

Honeybun had discovered a reflective panel and was attacking her own reflection, while Butter had already crawled halfway into a narrow vent.

“Biscuit, no! Honeybun, stop fighting yourself! Butter—oh for the love of tuna—don’t go in there!”

A deep chuckle behind her caused her to turn. “It looks like they are making themselves at home. It’s not much, but it’s ours,” Matrix said beside her.

K-Nine let out a long-suffering sigh and padded after them. “Welcome to what my new life looks like until you two start adding to yours. It’ll be good training at least.”

Jana flushed and laughed. “Yeah, uh, thanks for that visual, K-Nine. They’re going to be a handful.”

Matrix wrapped an arm around her waist and gently pulled her against him. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. Come on, I’ll show you the controls.”

Jana followed Matrix to the front of the transport. She was expecting the cockpit to be small and cramped. Instead, it was open, with four seats. In front was a window that wrapped around, giving an almost one-hundred and eighty degree view.

She stepped forward, drawn toward the wide observation window. She wrapped her arms tightly around her waist as Matrix slid into the pilot’s seat.

She barely noticed the subtle hum of the machinery or the way the curved glass canopy above her gave a panoramic view of the surrounding sky. Her eyes remained fixed on the scorched earth below.

Where her house once stood, there was now only blackened soil and a gaping emptiness that made her breath catch. The lawn, the porch swing, the tiny white fence she never got around to fixing, her car… everything was gone. Vaporized.

It looked like someone had pressed “delete” on her entire life.

“I have nothing left,” she whispered to no one in particular, curling her fingers into the fabric of her shirt—her only shirt. “There’s nothing left.”

Behind her, the sound of claws clicking softly on the smooth floor reached her ears. K-Nine padded closer, pausing at her side. His head tilted as he studied her in silence for a moment before his voice, surprisingly gentle, broke the stillness.

“What is wrong, Jana?”

She shook her head, her lips trembling before she could form words.

“Everything. I didn’t even think about it until now…

but I don’t have any clothes. Or money. Or…

or a single photo of my parents.” Her voice quivered on the last word.

“They were in a little box in my bedroom or hanging on the walls. They’re… gone. All except?—”

K-Nine’s ears flicked. “All except?”

She sniffed and lifted a hand to wipe away a tear. “I have one left—on my desk at the clinic.”

Matrix rose from his seat and gently rubbed his warm hands up and down her arms.

“Where is Dr. Wilson’s clinic?” he asked quietly.

Jana looked up at him, her eyes brimming with emotion—but also hope.

“About fifteen minutes west of town. Can we get it? It would mean the world to me. And…” She gave a small laugh, wiping another stray tear away with the back of her hand.

“I need to get some stuff for the kittens. Their toys, carrier, food, bowls—everything—are all gone.”

Matrix let out a sigh and dropped his chin to rest on the top of her head as he drew her into his arms. “I should have thought of this before I disintegrated your house.”

A startled laugh burst from Jana. She shook her head and looked at him. “Trust me, I’d much rather lose my house than become Crawler food. You vaporized the right thing.”

She reached up and cupped his cheek. “The only thing I can’t replace are the photos. If I can get even one back… I’ll be okay.”

“We can do that, can’t we, Matrix?” K-Nine replied.

“Oh, and I’m going to need some clothes,” she added with a sniff and a crooked smile, “and a toothbrush, shampoo, some essentials. I can’t go gallivanting across the galaxy in one of your shirts and nothing else.”

Matrix’s golden eyes gleamed with mischief. “Why not? I would be happy if you were naked the entire trip.”

She turned scarlet. “Matrix!” she hissed, glancing at K-Nine. “Not in front of an intelligent, cybernetic, talking dog, I’m not!”

From behind them, K-Nine scoffed. “Don’t mind me. I’ll just look the other way.”

Jana covered her face with one hand. “I can’t believe I walked in front of him naked before I knew he could talk.”

“He’s very discreet,” Matrix teased, tugging her hand down so he could press a kiss to her palm. “Now, what’s your plan to get these essentials that you need?”

“I can borrow the clinic’s van,” she said, trying to regain her composure. “I’ll swing by the bank, close out my account, grab some clothes and toiletries, maybe stop by the pet store and pick up a few things for the kittens. I’ll be fast.”

Matrix’s smile vanished. His eyes darkened. “No.”

Jana blinked. “No?”

“Not alone,” Matrix said firmly. “If you’re going anywhere, I’m going with you. K-Nine can watch the ship and the kittens.”

Jana bit her lower lip, eyeing Matrix’s tall, broad frame and distinctly not-from-this-world look, especially the markings along his forehead and neck that she hadn’t really noticed before.

“Okay. But you’ll have to tone down the alien warrior vibe. The last thing we need is for the government to send in the troops.”

Matrix sat rigidly in the passenger seat of what Jana had optimistically called a “trusty old minivan”.

Trusty? More like a rusted deathtrap on bald wheels.

He tried to hide his horror as he folded his much-too-long legs into the cramped compartment. The seat complained beneath him with a sound that could only be described as a mechanical whimper.

The air was thick with the tangy scent of old straw, dog dander, and something else his sensors classified as organic decay and mold spores.

His fingertips twitched, overloaded by every microbe and contaminant his receptors detected clinging to the cracked upholstery, the dented dashboard—and he didn’t even want to analyze the crusted brown substance fossilized on the floor between his boots.

He stared at it.

Was it once food? Was it once… alive?

It looked a lot like… dried-up poop.

He gingerly shifted his feet, suppressing a full-body shudder as he avoided the unknown substance and leaned his head back against the seat—only to regret it when his sensors flared again.

Contaminants detected: hair, dander, oil, poultry feathers?—

He sat bolt upright.

“Are you okay?” Jana asked innocently, adjusting the rearview mirror.

“Yes,” he lied, his mouth pursed, afraid to open it in case he sucked anything in.

Jana glanced at him, then burst into laughter. “Don’t look so tortured. You’d think the van was going to eat you.”

“Will it?”

She stared at him as if trying to tell if he was serious or not.

“Seriously?” she asked before she shook her head and focused on the road again.

He didn’t dare respond, his eyes darting around nervously as he mapped a dozen escape routes in case this vehicle decided to spontaneously combust in a terrifying blast—or try to devour them whole.

He swallowed, reached up, and adjusted the dark blue ball cap she’d handed him earlier, the one embroidered with a cartoon dog and cat beneath the words Wilson’s Vet Clinic.

A pair of reflective sunglasses rested awkwardly on the bridge of his nose, and his new black long-sleeved shirt clung tightly to his chest and arms—so tightly, Jana had made a strangled noise when she saw it.

“Great,” she had muttered, rolling her eyes.

“Now you look like a hot model biker had sex with a hot bad-boy biker and created a hot alien bad-boy model biker.” She paused and looked thoughtful for a moment before she shook her head.

“I don’t even know if that is possible—though I have read a few male-preg stories. Those are total mind-blowers.”

He watched as she lifted her hands and wiggled her fingers as if her mind was actually about to blow up. He had no idea what a biker was, so he just nodded solemnly and repeated the phrase for future research.