Page 6 of The Cyborg Way (Cyborgs on Mars #9)

CHAPTER SIX

“ T here wasn’t anything wrong,” Ellie said quickly. “I just didn’t have a scan.”

“Why not? It’s a standard procedure.”

Damn. She’d been braced for the question when she first arrived on Mars, but no one had ever asked, and she was no longer prepared.

“No special reason—I just didn’t have one. Would you, umm, like some tea?” she asked nervously, trying to take a step back.

He prevented her from moving away by taking her hand in his much larger one, rough fingers curling gently but inescapably around hers.

“What’s wrong? Tell me,” he ordered.

She tried to think of the convenient stories she’d developed, but all of them escaped her and besides, she didn’t want to lie to him.

“I didn’t have a medical exam,” she burst out. “My passage was arranged for me.”

“Arranged? Who arranged it?”

This was the worst part. She dropped her eyes, unable to look at him as she answered.

“Apparently he was my father.”

She hadn’t even known he existed until a week after her mother’s funeral.

She’d been sitting alone in their apartment, still in a state of shock from her mother’s unexpected death.

A key suddenly turned in the lock and a distinguished-looking man entered.

He gave her a quick, assessing glance from cold blue eyes.

“Do not be alarmed,” he said calmly, but she’d been too sad and numb to be frightened. She simply stared at him.

“You are Eleanor, are you not?” he asked.

“My name is Ellie.”

He frowned. “I was told it was Eleanor.”

“That’s the name on my birth certificate, but everyone calls me Ellie.”

“I see.”

They stared at each other for a moment longer, and although she was sure she had never seen him before, she suddenly had the feeling that there was something vaguely familiar about him. Curiosity finally penetrated her grief enough for her to ask the question she should have asked immediately.

“Who are you? And what are you doing in our apartment?”

He cleared his throat, but it didn’t seem to be a nervous gesture, more as if he were debating what to say.

“Technically, the apartment belongs to me. I arranged for you and your mother to live here.”

“I don’t understand.”

They had lived in the small unit since she was a baby. It was one of the things her mother used to rhapsodize about—the unlimited space that would be available to them on Mars. The memory brought tears to her eyes, and the man took a quick step back.

“There is no need for that. You are, of course, welcome to remain here. Unless… unless you still wish to settle on Mars?”

How would he possibly have known about that, she wondered dully, but she only shrugged.

“Our application was for two people. I will have to go through the entire application process again.”

“Is that what you wish to do?”

She tried to think past the grief. The one thing of which she was sure was that her mother would still want her to go.

“Yes,” she said, surprising herself with the firmness of her answer. “Yes, I would still like to go.”

Did he look relieved? It was hard to tell given his expressionless face, but she thought that he did.

“Then I will make it happen. I believe you should be able to leave on your originally scheduled voyage.”

“How?” The application process was long and complex, and the departure windows for the voyages were very narrow.

He raised an arrogant brow. “I have useful acquaintances.”

She should have let it go at that, but she couldn’t.

“Why? Why are you doing this for me?”

He hesitated, looking at her, and she had the distinct impression that he was deciding whether or not to tell her the truth, but in the end he did.

“Because you are my daughter.”

Her mouth dropped open, suddenly realizing why those blue eyes looked so familiar. They were the same ones that met hers in the mirror every morning.

“You can’t be,” she protested anyway. “My mother told me my father was dead.”

Why would her mother have lied to her? The sense of betrayal sweeping over her was almost as painful as the sense of loss.

“That was our agreement. We have been… acquainted for a long time. When she decided she wanted to have a child, I agreed. I even arranged for a childbearing license so you would have legal status. However, there was no room in my life for a child, nor was I willing to act as a father.”

The fact that he hadn’t wanted her stung, despite her already overwhelming grief, but she did her best to hide it.

“I see,” she said as calmly as possible.

“Your mother agreed to the terms.” He didn’t even sound defensive. “And of course I provided for both of you.”

Some odd little pieces of their lives suddenly sprang into place—such as how they could afford the apartment.

Given the housing crisis on Earth, the two tiny bedrooms made it extraordinarily valuable despite its diminutive size, and her mother only worked part-time as a medical transcriptionist. Or had that been true?

“Did my mother work for you?” she demanded, and he looked slightly pained.

“I would not have put it in those terms. We had an arrangement—a mutually agreeable arrangement.”

“What kind of arrangement?”

“I don’t believe I intend to discuss that with you,” he said calmly.

She supposed it wasn’t really necessary. Her mother had been a very pretty woman. She looked at the stranger standing so arrogantly in what had been her home and knew that, despite their biological tie, they had no relationship. There was nothing to keep her here on Earth.

“Then I’ll take the trip to Mars,” she said, and he nodded.

“I will notify you about the arrangements.” He hesitated for a moment longer, but she could see that he had already reached the same conclusion that she had.

“Goodbye, Eleanor,” he said, and left.

She had never seen him again, but he had kept his promise.

The next day she’d received all of the paperwork to complete the voyage as they had originally planned, bypassing the entire lengthy official process.

He’d been generous as well, arranging for additional supplies to be provided for her once she arrived, including the small flock of chickens and their habitat.

He had also deposited a large supply of credits in her account, although she rarely touched them.

Even though she had accepted the supplies, it seemed wrong to take money from a man she didn’t know, even if they were related.

She’d been so lost in her memories, she’d forgotten that Levi was still standing there patiently holding her hand until he gave it a gentle squeeze.

She sighed. “Turns out I had a father I never knew I had. My mother kept it a secret from me my whole life, even though she continued to see him.”

Levi’s face darkened.

“I don’t understand how any man could not acknowledge his own child.”

“Apparently he wanted it that way.” She sighed again. “And I think perhaps my mother did as well.”

She had thought about it a lot on the long voyage to Mars, trying to understand why her mother had kept the secret.

Despite her best attempts to move past it, the sense of betrayal still lingered.

Eventually she’d decided that the arrangement had probably suited her mother just as well as it had suited him.

Her mother had created a cozy little world for the two of them, and Ellie didn’t think she’d wanted anyone else to be part of it.

The fact that her mother had continued to see her father surprised her more, but apparently her mother had enjoyed seeing him.

Despite her subtle attempts to discourage Ellie from having a relationship with a man, she’d always come home from her “job” smiling and happy.

But whatever the reasons, it didn’t change the facts of her own life, and she lifted her chin defiantly.

“In other words, I’m the illegitimate daughter of a man who didn’t want me.”

Levi shook his head, his hand tightening around hers.

“I’m very sorry, sweetheart. I find such behavior incomprehensible. I was brought up in one of the state-run orphanages, and I always dreamed of having a family. I would never deny my child.”

His child. Her breath caught as she suddenly envisioned sharing a child with him. She was quite certain he would be a wonderful father.

“Now, of course, it’s too late,” he added.

Was it? Was there a reason why a cyborg couldn’t have a child? Before she could ask, he nodded thoughtfully.

“I think perhaps that is why I joined the military as soon as I was eligible—to find some type of family bond.”

“I understand,” she said softly. “And I guess now you have that with the other rangers?”

He looked surprised, then nodded thoughtfully.

“I suppose that’s true, although we were certainly never encouraged to think of ourselves as having those types of emotions.”

She turned her hand in his, not in an attempt to get free but to clasp his and tug him gently closer. “I told you before. As far as I’m concerned, you’re still a man.”

And then she went up on tiptoes and kissed him.