Page 37

CORINNE

“Well, well—where’s the body? I know you must have killed her by now.”

Silas stood in the doorway, smirking up at Karnex , who was standing silently in the center of the room.

They had agreed that he would play dumb at first while Corinne hid in the bathroom until it was the right time to come out.

She was watching the two of them through a crack in the door, getting ready to make her move.

“Well? Where is she? Answer me, you hunk of junk!” Silas kicked at the big Cyborg’s metal boot but Karnex still didn’t answer. Silas gave an exasperated sigh. “ All right, I’ll find her myself.”

He strolled into Corinne’s room, looking around. It made her blood run cold to see him searching for her body so casually. What an evil bastard!

But he was going to get what was coming to him, she promised herself. She and Karnex had already discussed exactly what to do. The big Cyborg had wanted to kill him, of course—especially when he remembered that Silas had tried to make him kill her. But Corinne had a better idea.

As soon as Silas was fully into the room, Karnex stepped forward and shut the door. Then he locked it and turned to face Silas , with his back to the door, blocking the exit.

“Hey—what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Silas whirled around to stare up at the big Cyborg .

“Keeping you from going anywhere,” Karnex rumbled. He crossed his arms over his broad chest. “ We have some unfinished business.”

Silas went pale and took a step back.

“What…how are you talking? Did your memories return?”

“Yes— all of them,” Karnex growled, taking a step towards him. “ Including the one about how you tried to make me kill my Handler !”

“I never did! I wouldn’t!” Silas’s voice had gone high and frightened and his eyes were darting around, looking for an escape. But Karnex was blocking the only exit—there was no other way out of the room.

Corinne took this as her cue to come out of the bathing chamber.

“Oh yes you did. With this.” She held out the still-blinking kill cube in one palm. “ You slapped this on his arm and locked me in with him,” she snapped.

Silas’s face twisted, going from frightened to angry.

“So what if I did?” he demanded. “ You deserved it! You tried to steal my job and my bonus. Fucking female! ” He spat the word as though it was a curse, glaring at her with hatred he couldn’t hide. “ I don’t know how you reprogrammed him, but you ought to be dead right now!”

Corinne didn’t answer him. Instead she turned to Karnex .

“Did you get all that?”

“Every bit of it.” He nodded and tapped the small node in the hardware of his neck.

“Good.” Corinne stepped up to the still-fuming Silas . “ I’ll take this, thank you,” she said and slipped the Long - Distance Communication Interface off the cord that hung around his neck.

“Hey—what are you doing? Stop that!” Silas made a snatch for the small black box, but a growl from Karnex made him take a step back.

“Just relax, Silas . I need to make a call,” Corinne told him.

The LDCI blinked when she pressed the right buttons, placing a call directly to the Company .

She knew how to use it because all Department Heads got one, so she’d had one for quite a while before Silas stole her job.

Of course, it was meant to be used only in the most dire emergency, but Corinne felt like this situation warranted a call.

There was a moment of silence, then a beeping. A holographic image of a woman appeared, hovering over the LDCI . She’d clearly had the latest in surgical enhancements—her waist was impossibly narrow and her lips looked like inflated balloons.

“Yes?” she asked politely. “ What seems to be the nature of your call?”

“I’d like to speak to the Chairman , please,” Corinne said calmly. “ Please tell him this is Dr . Corinne Virelle calling him about the promotion and the bonus he offered me for my discovery of the Kindred Cybernetics lab on Old Earth .”

The woman’s eyes widened and her three-inch-long eyelashes fluttered dramatically.

“Oh my— Dr . Virelle ! You’re all we’ve been talking about for weeks. I’m sure the Chairman will be pleased to take your call.”

“Thank you.” Corinne waited.

“You can’t do this!” Silas muttered in a furious undertone. “ You don’t dare say anything about me when he comes on the line!”

“Oh, I’m not going to say a thing,” Corinne said sweetly. “ I’ll let you do all the talking.”

Silas puffed up his narrow chest.

“That’s good, because?—”

Before he could finish, a hologram of an important-looking older man with graying hair and deep-set eyes appeared above the LDCI . His eyes brightened when he saw Corinne .

“Ah, Dr . Virelle ! I was wondering when you were going to call me back. We’re all so pleased with your discovery of the ancient Kindred lab.

They had so much wisdom we can learn from.

And I’m waiting to hear if you’re going to take the promotion we’ve offered you.

You’ve certainly taken enough time thinking about it. ”

“Pardon me, Sir , but I wasn’t able to answer you before because I was locked in my room by Dr . Drex , here.” Corinne nodded at Silas , who at once began to protest.

“She’s lying! I never?—”

“Shut…the fuck… up.” Karnex’s low, menacing growl and the glare he leveled at the much smaller male made Silas go pale.

“Dr. Drex locked me in my room and then tried to have me killed by my own Cyborg ,” Corinne continued.

The Chairman looked startled.

“Well, this is…quite an accusation, Dr . Virelle .”

“I don’t expect you to believe me right away,” Corinne said calmly. “ I think you should hear it from Dr . Drex himself.”

“Dr. Drex ?” The Chairman looked at him, eyebrows raised, waiting for an explanation.

“She’s lying! She’s just a stupid, lying female!” Silas exclaimed. “ She never?—”

“Enough!” The Chairman raised one hand and looked back at Corinne . “ Do you have any other proof of your accusations, Dr . Virelle ?”

“I do. Please watch this recording made a few minutes ago.” She nodded at Karnex . “ Play it.”

Reaching up, he pressed a node in his throat and a holographic image of Silas started playing. The entire conversation where he’d admitted to trying to kill her was on display.

“Hey! That’s not right—that’s a lie!” Silas shouted but the Chairman made an angry gesture at him.

“If you please, Dr . Drex —you and I both know that holograms can’t be faked. Dr . Virelle , please have your Cyborg rewind the holo— I need to see what I missed.”

So Silas had to stand there, fuming, as the entire conversation played out again. When it was over, Corinne turned to the Chairman .

“He also admitted to me that he used a kill chip on C -17—a Cybernetic Unit that was Linked to my good friend and protégé, Isla Farrington . After her Cyborg killed her, Drex leveraged her death to take my job.”

“My!” The Chairman’s eyes widened again. He looked at Silas with distaste. “ There is no excuse for such reprehensible behavior.”

“It’s all lies!” Silas whined again, but it was clear the Chairman didn’t believe him.

“Dr. Drex , you are going to be brought up on charges of treason against the Company as well as murder and attempted murder and whatever else we can think of,” he snapped. He turned to Corinne . “ Please have him locked in the brig until I can send some agents to take care of him.”

“I will.” Corinne nodded.

“Very well then.” The Chairman rubbed his hands together. “ Now for you, my dear Dr . Virelle . Are you prepared to take his place and accept the generous bonus we have for you?”

Corinne took a deep breath—here was where things got tricky.

“Actually, I’m not,” she said carefully. “ In fact, in lieu of the bonus, I’d like to be allowed out of my contract.”

“You would?” The Chairman’s eyebrows shot up. “ Have you received a better offer from a competing Company ?”

“No.” She shook her head. “ But Karnex — I mean K -lx—thinks we can find the Kindred Mother Ship . I’d like to take him with me and go search for it.”

The Chairman frowned.

“So…you want to quit your job and go looking for a lost alien civilization?”

What she wanted was to get away from the station, the Company , and greedy, stupid humans in general, Corinne thought. What she wanted was to get away from a place where the people in charge might decide to decommission Karnex and take him apart to study him any time they chose.

But of course she couldn’t say any of that.

“Yes—if we can find the Kindred Mother Ship , think of all the new technology I can bring back to the Company ,” she said brightly.

“Oh, well…” The Chairman frowned and tapped his chin thoughtfully with one long finger.

Corinne waited, her breath clenched tight, for his answer.

At last, he nodded.

“Well, that is certainly a unique proposition, Dr . Virelle . Do you really think you can find them?”

“I do.” Corinne nodded firmly. “ My Kindred Cyborg thinks they haven’t gone as far as we believed they had. All I need is one of the station’s long-range hoppers with a replicator.”

“And you want to take the new Cyborg , K - L -1- X with you?” he asked.

“If I find the Kindred Mother Ship , I’ll need him with me in order to be granted entry,” Corinne said quickly. “ I’ll send back regular reports,” she added.

“Well…” At last the Chairman nodded. “ Very good. I’m going to personally authorize your use of a hopper. And please let us know how it goes.”

“Of course.” Corinne nodded, trying to contain her joy. “ Thank you, Chairman .”

“Thank you, Dr . Virelle .” He cleared his throat. “ Did you know that we’re on the verge of making a whole new Cybernetic prototype, thanks to your findings?”

“I would expect nothing less, Sir .” Corinne nodded her head.

“I’d like you to take charge of the program, once you come back,” he went on.

“I would be honored,” Corinne said, knowing she would do no such thing.

She wasn’t planning on sending reports or any Kindred tech back either—even if she and Karnex did find the Kindred Mother Ship . She just wanted the two of them to get away, but she knew if they just tried to sneak off, the Company would be after them at once.

This way, at least, they would get a head start before the Company realized what they had done, which was to leave forever.

The Chairman nodded again.

“Happy hunting, Dr . Virelle ,” he said to her. “ There will be a place waiting for both you and your Kindred Cybernetic Unit when you get back.”

“Thank you, Sir .” Corinne nodded.

“You’re welcome. Now please have your Cyborg escort Dr . Drex to the brig. I’ll send agents to pick him up for trial at once.”

And then the hologram faded from above the LDCI and she nodded at Karnex .

“All right—take him away.”