Page 1 of Trusting Warik (Hissa Warrior #9)

Chapter 1

Nisha

Nisha managed to duck out of the way a split second before old hydraulic fluid came shooting out of the droid’s primary ambulation track tensioner.

Your reflexes are getting better , Shift said. The melodic female voice sounded directly in Nisha’s ear. Only a week ago, the voice had been deep and masculine. A month before that, Shift’s voice was childlike. For most of Shift’s life, the voice had been gender-neutral and ageless, but lately, the AI was experimenting with age and gender. Right now, Shift was trying on a human woman in her late twenties, copying Nisha.

“A warning would’ve been nice,” Nisha grumbled.

I don’t have access to the images captured on this ship, remember? I can only see what you see, Shift responded, sounding a little hurt.

“Sorry,” Nisha said. She’d forgotten she’d forbidden Shift from integrating herself into the ship's systems.

It’s okay, Shift responded in a reassuring tone. I know why you did it. That Hissa male is far too clever. The last thing we want is for him to find out about me.

After several truly sapient AIs were independently invented and almost wiped out the species that created them, AIs were hated throughout the universe. When discovered, they were mercilessly destroyed, and the people who invented them were usually dealt with just as harshly.

The thought of losing Shift made Nisha stop trying to get the ambulation track tensioner off and rubbed the patch of skin behind her ear. The implant that let her talk to Shift was there. Touching it was Nisha’s way of touching Shift.

“I love you. I never want anything to happen to you. You’re my only family now.”

I love you right back, monkey face , Shift said, her voice reverting to her child’s voice. You’re my only family too. As long as we’re careful, nothing will happen to either of us.

“I wish I’d never promised Mom,” Nisha grumbled. “We could be back on Torl fixing droids and spending all night on fun projects. Instead, we're on a spacecraft that’s held together with spare bolts and hope, accompanied by a man who doesn’t trust us at all. I swear, he didn’t even eat the food I brought him this morning! What does he think I’ll do, poison him?”

You’re a stranger, and the Hissa have been struggling for over a decade, Shift pointed out, reverting back to her current feminine voice. First they get hit by the plague that wipes out all their women and half the men. Then several species declare war on them, trying to take advantage of their misfortune. Every survivor was forced to mobilize to save their homeworld. It’s trauma on top of trauma.

“They’ve had some good luck too,” Nisha said. “Finding a rare mineral in one of their moons made them a ridiculously rich species.”

The implant hummed a little. It was Shift’s thinking sound. No amount of wealth would’ve helped them if they hadn’t discovered they’re breeding compatible with Decanted humans. Your mom’s technology is going to save them. I think she would’ve liked that.

“That’s why she developed it in the first place,” Nisha agreed. “So couples could have kids. Not so humans could be grown on demand and sold as slaves. I’m glad Earth Government shut that down. It’s too bad they didn’t bother keeping it from happening outside their own solar system.”

It’s bad that the corporation is trying to grow humans for the slave trade again, but thankfully, the Hissa are a kind species. They’ve already rescued almost one hundred Decanted humans and set them free on their homeworld. They could easily force them to become broodmares, but instead, they hope the women find mates among their males. It’s all kinds of romantic. The last sentence was spoken in a high-pitched squealy voice.

“Easy on the volume,” Nisha said with a wince.

Sorry, Shift said. The only downside is the Kaklans. I’d feel bad because they went through the same plague as the Hissa, but they’re not nice at all. They treated their own females badly. How much worse would they be to a Decanted human? That’s not so romantic.

“The Kaklans going to war with the Hissa isn’t romantic either,” Nisha agreed with a sigh. “I guess given all that, it’s no wonder Warik doesn’t trust me. It’s extra sad because he’s so cute.”

Nisha instantly regretted her comment when she felt the slight static through her implants; it was an indication that Shift was laughing.

Ohhhh! You think he’s cute? she exclaimed with another high-pitched squeal. The moment Nisha had access to the right equipment, she was going to turn down her implants sensitivity settings.

“That means nothing,” she grumbled. “I can acknowledge that he’s aesthetically pleasing without it being more. I think dovorian puppies are cute too, but I wouldn’t date one.”

There are different kinds of cute, and you know it. You haven’t thought anyone was cute since Talvin broke your heart. I still think you should’ve let me ruin him.

“Talvin didn’t do anything wrong. We wanted different things.”

Yeah, you wanted to be a good daughter and a positive force in the universe, and he wanted to be a dickhead.

Nisha snorted. “That might be a little too accurate.”

She finally got the part off with a hard tug and almost fell off the stool she was sitting on.

Careful, Shift warned. Or don’t be careful, and Warik would have to look you over for injuries.

“Falling off a stool wouldn’t even cause a bruise. Besides, I can look after myself just fine,” Nisha said as she examined the assembly. It looked like it only needed a new seal. That was good luck. “I think I can get this droid running for you soon.”

That’s nice, but don’t change the subject, Shift said. Every time you're around Warik, your heartbeat kicks up, and you focus on his lips. That’s not how you look or react to others. There’s more going on than you finding him aesthetically pleasing.

“Even if I wanted him, it can’t go anywhere,” Nisha reminded Shift. “You know why.”

Getting up, she dug out some resealer from a surprisingly well-stocked tool box. She also found some droid type I hydraulic fluid. Perfect! Soon, Shift would have a droid to use so she wasn’t stuck with only Nisha’s eyes and ears.

You can have sex with him without telling him about me, and it’s not as if you talk in your sleep, Shift said. There was a hint of impatience in her voice.

Nisha sat back down on the stool and stared at the droid. “Why are you pushing this?”

Shift went silent at her question. No static, pulses, humming, ticking, or the many other ways Shift communicated through the implant.

“Shift? What’s wrong?”

This adventure isn’t like our normal outings. It’s so much more dangerous, Shift finally answered. Her feminine voice was pitched softly, as if she was whispering. I’m so scared for you.

“It is dangerous, but we’ve got the advantage,” Nisha reminded her. “The station-ship growing the humans doesn’t know we’re coming. And you’re going to jump into their computer and shut things down. You might even be able to lock them into one room and make it easy for Warik to subdue them.”

Or they might have too many safety protocols in place, and I won’t be able to do anything, Shift said. Warik has one goal: capture that ship. He won’t be concerned about looking after you, unless he’s got feelings for you.

“Are you saying you want us to sleep together so he’ll keep me safe?” Nisha tried for a teasing note. “That seems like faulty logic.”

Not at all, Shift responded with a little thinking hum. I’ve been doing a lot of research on the Hissa. They’re an extremely loyal species. Even before the plague, they displayed exemplary devotion to their species as a whole and their mates in particular.

“That’s a flawed conclusion,” Nisha argued. “I’m not Hissa or Warik’s mate.”

But sleeping with him might create a bond where he’ll see you as a mate, Shift said. I’ve made a study of his micro expressions when he interacts with you. He’s interested. Interest comes first, then lust, and finally love. As his mate, he will focus on keeping you secure.

Nisha didn’t think Shift was reading Warik’s micro expressions correctly, but she let that go. Shift could be sensitive about her ability to gauge emotions.

“I’m not sure Hissa fall in love. Their mates develop mating marks and that’s how they know they’re supposed to be together. It’s all biological.”

There’s an emotional element to it, Shift insisted. Besides, you’re beautiful, smart, and wonderful. He’s lucky to breathe the same air as you. He should drop to his knees and worship you.

“Woah! When did this go from wanting me to sleep with Warik to upset because he’s not venerating me like a deity?”

A surprising amount of humming came through the implant. Shift was thinking hard about something. Giving her time to process, Nisha went back to working on the droid. Shift’s silence lasted long enough for her to get the droid back together and hit the reboot sequence. The silence didn’t worry Nisha because Shift hummed the entire time.

I’m experiencing some conflicting emotions, Shift finally said while the droid went through its start-up process.

“Do you want to share with me?” Nisha asked. When she admitted she was having emotional difficulty, Shift almost always wanted to talk about it, but Nisha never wanted to assume.

Yes, I’d like that, Shift agreed. Part of me is eager for you to form an emotional bond with Warik. But there is another part of me that’s jealous and doesn’t want him in your life. It’s making it hard for me to push you to sleep with him, even though I know it’s in your best interest.

“You’re my only family, Shift,” Nisha reminded her. “Even if I fell in love with someone, I’d still want you in my life. Always and forever.”

I believe I needed to hear that, Shift said, her voice pitching a little higher with happiness . I feel much less conflicted now.

“Great!” Nisha said and looked around until she found the small cylinder that was Shift’s travel form. The cylinder was linked to the quantum computer back on Torl that was Shift. With some clever use of quantum entanglement, Shift could go anywhere with her while leaving her large computer self at home. “Are you ready to try out your newest droid?”

“Yes!” Shift agreed. Nisha tugged the cap off the cylinder and pressed the space standard interlock into the back of the droid control panel. The cylinder grew warm as Shift worked on integrating herself into the droid.

“This isn’t a very good droid,” Shift said through the droid monotone speaker. Pulling the cylinder away from the control panel, Nisha tucked it away in the special holster on her belt. Stepping back, she watched Shift test the droid's functions. It was a standard multiuse droid with a flat-top pyramid body. Inside the body were four arms and many attachments. Depending on the job, the droid could put different attachments on the arms, then deploy the arms from the front of the body. It wasn't a bad model, but it was old.

“We’ll get you a better one later,” Nisha promised, trying not to laugh as one of the arms deployed, then went limp when Shift tried to use it.

The sensor cluster on top of the droid swung around and focused on her. “Are you laughing at me?”

Nisha shook her head. “No, absolutely not!”

The droid rolled in a circle around Nisha, the main ambulatory track squeaking loudly. Shift wasn’t going to be sneaking up on anyone in this droid!

“The moment we have access to a droid market, I want a Harkax 7 model with the integrated grav plates.”

“I’ll look, but those are hard to find,” Nisha warned her, then noticed a new stain on her shirt. “You’re not the only one who misses having her stuff.” They’d been forced to leave Shift’s last droid behind, along with most of Nisha’s stuff on the transport ship they’d taken to Gafican Station. The days leading up to meeting Safina and her Hissa companions had been a whirlwind, and the last few days traveling with Warik were the first calm moments she’d had since learning about the illegal Decanting going on.

Shift moved the droid around the room and tried to pick up a few things. Only one of the arms fully worked and when she managed to lift a small tool into the air, Nisha cheered.

“Good job! Now we’re ready to conquer the universe!”

Before Shift could give an appropriately sarcastic reply, a voice spoke behind her.

“Do you always talk to droids like they’re sapient?”

Two things happened at once: Nisha screamed and swung around, and Shift tossed the tool she was holding at the owner of the voice.

Standing in the open hatch of the workroom was Warik. He scowled as he caught the tool before it hit him square in the face, then he dropped it and bounded forward. It was only then that Nisha realized she was falling. She’d stepped on a discarded track tensioner, and it rolled under her foot. With startling speed, Warik was on her, grabbing her before she took a painful and ungainly fall to the hard metal floor.

His hold was gentle despite the fierce expression on his face. “Are you trying to hurt yourself?”

His unnecessary anger put her on the defensive. “I’m sorry I wasn’t more coordinated when you snuck up and scared me! I’m not the enemy, remember?”

“That has yet to be proven,” he grunted. He was still holding her tight against his chest, and she had to crane her neck back to meet his gaze. If they hadn’t been full of distrust, his lavender eyes would be beautiful. She lifted her gaze to the scale pattern on his head. The default color for all Hissa was a greenish blue, but the pattern changed color when they felt strong emotions. She’d never seen his change color, not even when he was engaged in combat.

Even now, it should be dark blue or brown, bordering on black, because he seemed angry, but the bluish green never shifted.

Then his words hit her.

“Put me down!” she demanded, enraged that this warrior was going to be so blatant with his insults. He was quick to set her down and step back. If he was anyone else, she’d think he was trying to be polite and give her space, but he was probably worried she was going to stab him with a hidden weapon.

Before she could come up with a scathing insult, Warik pointed to Shift’s droid. “What could you possibly do with that thing?”

Crossing her arms over her chest to hide her fear at his interest in the droid, she sneered. “I was bored so I thought I’d tinker. This unit wasn’t working yesterday and now it is.”

“Barely,” he said, and backed up to lean against the hatch frame. “It’s a task droid, not a combat or even defense unit. Why did it throw a tool at me?”

“Because even droids don’t like you,” she snapped.

His frown disappeared, replaced by the awful blank expression he tended to wear most of the time. Without another word, he turned and left.

She stared at the empty hatch in surprise. He’d never left like that before. At least not before he got a last dig in.

“I think you hurt his feelings,” Shift said. Once she’d realized Warik wasn’t a threat, she’d shut down the droid body to avoid notice.

Nisha almost felt guilty. “I didn’t know he had any.” She rubbed her hands over her face with a sigh. “We should probably go back to only talking through the implants. I don't want Warik to overhear us and come to the correct conclusion.”

You’re right, we’re being careless.

“It’ll be nice when this is all over and it’s the two and the shop,” Nisha said. “We can go back to normal.”

A little static came through the implant. Normal is relative.

Nisha looked at the open hatch. “I should probably go find him and explain I’m going to bring as many of the droids online as I can to act as distractions when we get to the station. I’ll give him some story about programming them for combat. That's why when you’re controlling them, he won’t wonder why task droids are suddenly acting out of character.”

As long as you don’t apologize, Shift said through the implant. He insulted you first.

“I’m going to be an adult about this,” Nisha said, tugging her hair free of the binding ring and letting it flow down her back in thick, black waves. It felt good to let it loose after having it bound up in a bun for so long.

Adult as much as you want, but no apologizing. He’s not nice. Why can’t he be more like Rakin? That Hissa is nice!

A genuine smile stretched across Nisha’s face at Shift’s annoyance. “Have you changed your mind about wanting me to sleep with him? Should I try to seduce Rakin instead?”

No, you have no reaction to Rakin. It’s as if he was a brother to you. The only male you’re interested in is Warik. I still want you to sleep with him, as long as he makes it good for you. You should gag him so he can’t talk. When he talks, he’s not as cute anymore.

That pulled a chuckle out of Nisha. “Noted,” she murmured as she headed out of the work room in search of Warik with Shift’s droid right behind her.