Unchained_ A science fiction romance adventure Read online

  “The luxury cells, Jerick?” Cortez prompted his man and nodded toward Skylar and Keiko.

  “You can’t be serious about locking them up without searching them, sir.”

  Damn, Skylar had hoped that argument had already been shot down.

  “We don’t have enough men to leave guards on their cell, do we?” Jerick asked. “You said we still have to secure C and C and round up a bunch of station personnel in hiding, right?”

  Cortez hesitated. “They’re not our prisoners, Jerick. They’re our…”

  “Guests?” Jerick snorted.

  Skylar met Keiko’s eyes. She didn’t feel much like a guest.

  “Or perhaps our clients at the fancy Cloud Bliss resort you seem to think we’re running,” Jerick said.

  Cortez sighed. “Very well. A search.”

  “Time to get naked, ladies.” Jerick came up behind Keiko and Skylar and thumped them on the shoulders. It seemed like he meant it as a friendly pat, but Skylar would have flown forward if she hadn’t braced herself in time.

  “A pat down will suffice,” Cortez said coolly.

  “It didn’t when I was brought in,” Jerick said. “My strip search was invasive and thorough. Like I’m the kind of person who would smuggle a lock descrambler into a prison up my butt.”

  “You were a criminal. They are not. A pat down.”

  Jerick grumbled something under his breath, and Skylar shifted uneasily, wondering if he wanted a chance to pay someone back for the injustices he felt had been done to him. He couldn’t truly believe she and Keiko would have thought to prepare themselves by inserting things into places that should remain insertion free.

  “All right, sir,” Jerick said, “But if they turn out to have lock descramblers lodged in dark crevices and use them to get out of their cells, I get to say I told you so.”

  “If this guy has more than three IQ points he can line up in a row,” Keiko muttered to Skylar, “I’ll be shocked.”

  Jerick made a hand gesture to her, as if he were tipping a hat, then bowed deeply to her.

  “Let’s go, Sergeant.” Cortez waved for Jerick to get on with it. “Don’t take all day.”

  “Jackets, please, ladies.” Jerick pointed toward their outer layers.

  Skylar grimaced, not wanting to remove anything, but since her lab coat had set him off earlier, maybe it would be better if she set it aside, and he wasn’t reminded of it. But how much more would he demand she set aside? Having never broken the law, she didn’t know what exactly a “pat down” involved. A search for strange lumps and bumps with clothing on, she assumed, but how much clothing? She could envision him demanding they strip to panties and tops.

  Keiko dropped her aviator jacket on the floor along with her scarf, then stacked her arms over her chest in a defiant gesture.

  Jerick went to her first, patting down her arms and legs and checking pockets. Cortez watched with narrowed eyes. Skylar sensed his scrutiny was more for his “sergeant” than the prisoners. Skylar would have preferred he do the pat down, especially since Jerick had something against doctors.

  The other two prisoners watched intently, too, though their gazes followed Jerick’s hands raptly, watching as he traced curves. One licked his lips, looking Keiko up and down as if he were a starving dog and she a raw steak.

  Cortez must have seen it, because he walked over and murmured to one of the guards, and a moment later, he and another man led the orange-clad thugs back into the lift. His other men had gone with Pip and the list. That left Skylar and Keiko alone with Jerick and Cortez.

  A clank sounded as Jerick tossed a folding pocket knife to the deck. He cocked an eyebrow at Cortez.

  “That’s hardly a lock descrambler,” Cortez said, “and it was in her pocket.”

  “My point is just that they could have grabbed weapons and other tools,” Jerick said, continuing to search Keiko.

  No, Skylar just had drugs…

  “They knew they’d have to deal with us,” Jerick added. “I doubt you’d object to a strip search if our guests were men.”

  Cortez grunted. “I’d object even more then.”

  “Don’t pretend you’ve never fantasized about naked men, sir.” Jerick grinned and slapped one of his bare pecs. “Like me. I’m particularly sexy in the nude.”

  “Uh huh.”

  Skylar didn’t know what to make of the banter. Or Jerick. One minute, he looked ready to knock Cortez on the ass, and the next, he joked as if they were long-lost buddies.

  She braced herself when he finished with Keiko and moved to her. The grin faded from his face, and he approached the pat down with more professionalism than she had expected from him. If she hadn’t had anything to hide, she wouldn’t have found it that bad, though his hands did brush between her legs, then up to the curves of her breasts.

  She froze. Would he feel the small packets of capsules? They weren’t nearly as large as Keiko’s knife, but her bra wasn’t padded and her thin blouse didn’t hide a lot.

  Jerick’s eyebrows twitched as his fingers found one of the bumps. He brushed its outline with his thumb, investigating it through her clothing. Even though there was absolutely nothing arousing about the situation, her body reacted to the touch, her nipples hardening. Her cheeks flushed with heat and embarrassment. This is what she got for not dating anyone in over a year. He was looking right at her chest. He was going to notice her nipples poking through her shirt.

  “Quit groping her, perv,” Keiko said. “Professor, your thug is groping her boobs.”

  Skylar had no idea if Keiko had seen her stash the drugs in her bra and was trying to distract Jerick from finding them or if she truly thought he was groping her. Either way, Cortez stepped forward.

  “Jerick,” he barked.

  Skylar hoped he might tear Jerick away and put a stop to this before—

  “I’m not groping her boobs, sir. Just whatever she stored in them. In her bra, I mean.”

  Cortez stepped up beside Jerick. Unfortunately, he didn’t tear his man away. He looked at her chest. Dear God, why couldn’t her nipples flatten?

  Cortez sighed. “Remove your bra, please, Doctor.”

  He waved for Jerick to step back so Skylar could do it herself. She hesitated. Could she do it without removing her shirt? She didn’t want these two ogling her naked chest. It was bad enough her thin shirt revealed so much.

  “Maybe she wants me to do it,” Jerick said, waving to her chest—to her perky nipples, damn it. “She looks kind of excited about the situation.”

  Cortez leveled a frosty stare at him, his eyes deathly cold. “Don’t make me regret this, Sergeant.”

  He didn’t say what exactly—letting Jerick do the pat down or the whole prison break?—but Jerick seemed to know. He stepped back, bowing his head and raising his hands as if to ask for forgiveness.

  “Doctor,” Cortez prompted quietly, looking at her eyes now instead of at her chest.

  Skylar, not wanting this to go on any longer, hurried to take her bra off while keeping her shirt down to cover her chest. Neither man tried to sneak a peek. She palmed the packets, doing her best to hide the movement with her shirt, and dropped her empty bra onto the floor.

  Cortez didn’t look down at it. He reached forward, taking her hand before she knew what he intended. He turned it over and gently but firmly pried her fingers open to reveal the packets.

  His gaze still held hers as he removed them, and she felt another hot flush of embarrassment.

  “What did you expect?” she asked, sensing an accusation in his eyes. “You were soldiers. Didn’t they teach you to try to escape any way possible if you were captured by the enemy?”

  “They did,” Cortez agreed, dropping the packets into one of the loose pockets of his suit jacket.

  Skylar didn’t fancy herself a pickpocket, but she did take note of their location in case she had the chance to get him out of that jacket at some point.

  “Do you have any more in your pockets or underwear?
” Cortez asked, still holding her gaze.

  Did he expect her to tell the truth? Or did he think he could tell if she lied? It didn’t matter, since she didn’t have any more drugs stashed anywhere.

  “No,” she said.

  He nodded in acceptance. She appreciated that he didn’t insist Jerick continue. Or continue himself. Her still-flaming cheeks grew even hotter at the image of his hand slipping into her panties to check.

  Cortez stepped back and gestured toward one of the cell-lined corridors. As Skylar bent to pick up her lab coat, Jerick moved closer to her.

  Alarm flashed through her. Would he yank the coat away? Or do something because he’d been reminded that she was a doctor?

  “Sorry,” he said quietly. “Sometimes my mouth makes jokes before my brain has time to vet them.”

  The apology and the earnestness in his blue eyes surprised her, and she didn’t know what to say.

  Gunshots fired down the very corridor they’d been about to go down.

  Skylar jumped and scrambled back, bumping into Cortez as he picked her up and set her out of the way. He strode into the corridor with Jerick at his side.

  They both drew weapons, but a stunner buzzed farther down the corridor, and silence fell before either of them had to do anything.

  “Sorry, sir,” came a call from the direction of the gunshots. “All clear again.”

  “Are you sure?” Cortez asked dryly.

  “Yes, sir.” The man sounded abashed.

  Jerick paused and waved for Skylar and Keiko to follow him. Carrying her jacket instead of putting it back on, Skylar headed in the indicated direction.

  As crazy as it seemed, she was eager for her cell. She was rattled and needed time without the men’s looming presence. And it wasn’t as if she could plan an escape while they remained here.

  A body lay in the corridor ahead, the first they had seen. One of the cyborgs stood at the man’s unmoving head, and Skylar realized this must have been a prison guard who’d leaped out and tried to be a hero. She felt bad for the man and hoped he was only stunned and not dead.

  As Jerick stepped over an outstretched arm and continued past, Skylar noticed a little electronic device on the prone man’s belt. It looked like the kind of electronic fob that opened old-fashioned garage doors that lacked automatic sensors. Could it be the key to open the cell doors?

  Though she feared the sharp-eyed cyborgs would catch on, Skylar feigned stubbing her toe on the man’s boot and tumbled into a fall. She tried to angle herself to land so her fingers would come down next to the fob.

  But a hand caught her arm before she crumpled all the way. She sagged at the waist, as if momentum carried her forward, and dropped her jacket as she pretended she was trying to catch herself on the floor with her palm. Meanwhile, she reached for the fob.

  The hand gripping the back of her other arm pulled her upright as her fingers curled around it. She turned, her foot catching on the downed man’s leg by accident this time, and tumbled against Cortez’s chest.

  She gulped and looked into his eyes, certain he’d seen her grabbing the fob. His eyes widened as her breasts squished against him. She felt the warmth of his chest through their clothing, along with the swell of thick, hard muscle. On the chance that he might be distracted by her having her boobs pressed against him, she leaned her weight into him. His other hand came around her waist to support her. Or to keep her close?

  “Sorry,” Skylar said while groping for words that would distract him further. For a ludicrous moment, she thought of flirting, but she hadn’t done so yet, so that would set off his alarms. “I was trying to tell if he was alive. I didn’t mean to trip on him.”

  She glanced over her shoulder, expecting to find Jerick or the other cyborg pointing at her hand, at her fingers curled closed around the fob. They certainly hadn’t missed her attempt to palm those packets. She’d hoped dropping her jacket had blocked the view, but she didn’t know.

  Jerick was looking at Cortez’s face rather than her hand. His expression was difficult to read.

  “We’re only stunning people, Doctor.” Cortez lowered his arm from her waist and released her arm. “It may be naive, but it’s my goal to get what I want without killing anyone.”

  “What is it that you want?” Skylar asked.

  “The colonies will find out shortly.” Cortez pointed her to a cell, nothing inside but a slab of metal attached to the back wall.

  Realizing he wouldn’t explain further, Skylar stepped inside with Keiko. Cortez picked up Skylar’s jacket and tossed it to her. She almost fumbled the catch since she didn’t want to open her hand and reveal the fob. By now, he must have assumed her a klutz and probably wasn’t surprised when she almost dropped the jacket.

  Jerick touched a control panel, and a forcefield buzzed as it came to life in front of them. The cyborgs walked away without a backward glance. Skylar was glad. With luck, the fob she’d acquired actually did something.

  5

  Jerick watched Tek Tek, a man he hadn’t seen in more than three years, hum and murmur to himself as he puttered around in C&C. Cortez stood in front of the communications panel, waiting for the former lieutenant to finish. Seeing him there, his face a stoic mask and his eyes focused on the view panel showing the rest of the asteroid belt and the stars beyond it, was surreal.

  Jerick kept expecting to wake up from a dream. He had fully expected to die today.

  During his first year in prison, he’d fantasized about his old comrades coming to break him out, but he’d never truly believed it would happen. Nor had he truly believed he deserved it. But it was impossible not to daydream about a better life, or at least a better end.

  Still, he hadn’t ever expected to see Cortez again and certainly hadn’t expected his old commander to turn himself into a criminal to come for him. Oh, Cortez hadn’t said he’d come for Jerick specifically, but if he hadn’t, his timing had been impeccable. Jerick assumed the news feeds had said something about his impending death and that Cortez had learned he was slated for lethal injection today.

  Knowing the sacrifice he was making filled Jerick with emotions he thought he’d long forgotten how to experience, feelings of friendship, camaraderie, maybe even something more that he’d never dared dwell on before. But they’d been closer than brothers after all that time out there in space.

  When they had finally driven the Hrorak out of human territory, and the war had officially ended, Jerick had been ecstatic. They all had. But after that, the military had downsized, and there hadn’t been room for all the soldiers—and all the cyborgs—on the payroll, especially those like him, those who had never specialized in anything except killing aliens. He’d left the military and soon felt lonely and out of place, his comrades of years gone, his sense of purpose also gone.

  Had Cortez felt the same way? He’d had a career and a life to go back to, but not a wife and family. He had to be close to forty now, but he’d never married. Jerick wondered why that was. Maybe, despite being a hero, he too had trouble controlling that cyborg strength when he lost his temper. Maybe he worried that he would be a threat to a woman. Admittedly, Jerick couldn’t remember Cortez losing his temper that often. He got icy cold and dangerous when he was angry, but it was a controlled dangerous. He never lashed out without calculated thought.

  Jerick wished he had that control. He almost wished he had someone standing next to him in life who could enforce that control on him when necessary. To keep him from doing things that could get him in trouble. That had gotten him in trouble.

  “Almost done, sir,” Tek Tek announced, whistling as he ambled across the room and fed a wire directly into a port in his temple. “You’ll be able to make any comms you want. Secure like.”

  “Good,” Cortez said.

  Jerick, not aware of what the plan was, stood back and out of the way. Whoever Cortez meant to contact, it wouldn’t likely help if a prisoner was visible roaming free in the background.

  “She’ll respond
to your handprint now, sir,” Tek Tek said. “You can comm anyone from your mom to the president from here.”

  “I don’t think my mother can help us with this situation,” Cortez said, sighing.

  He looked tense, but he’d lost that deadly predator-poised-to-spring edge he’d had when Jerick had been searching the women. Aware of Cortez watching him and radiating that tension, Jerick had done his best to be professional during his pat down. He was well aware of all the places prisoners could hide implements useful in escaping, since he’d been searched numerous times himself, and even though a part of him had enjoyed having his hands on a woman for the first time in ages, he’d felt like a bit of an ass searching them. Even the doctor. Though he suspected she would already be picking apart prisoners’ brains if her shuttle ride had gone according to plan, he’d felt like a heel for pawing over civilians. It wasn’t as if they’d been Hrorak spies intent on destroying all of humanity.

  He tried not to think about the way their curves had felt under his hands, and he especially tried not to think about the way the doctor’s nipples had turned into tight little peaks when he’d touched her. She looked like a nerdy scholar, not someone with fiery passion who would writhe and scream in bed, but his sex-starved lurid mind couldn’t help but spin fantasies to the contrary.

  He told himself that she might have simply been cold without her jacket, that she hadn’t likely been turned on. That didn’t stop the fantasies. Stupid brain.

  Besides, even if she had liked being touched, she had been looking at Cortez when Jerick had been searching her. They’d likely gotten to know each other on the shuttle over. He was a respectable professor and a colonial hero, the kind of man women drooled over, or at least he had been until he’d made this decision.

  During his best days, Jerick had never been more than Cortez’s attack dog. Head attack dog, maybe. The leader of the pack of infantry berserkers that Cortez had deployed when they’d boarded alien ships. But he’d never been written up by the press or talked about by reporters. He’d just been the muscle for his captain. And now… Now, he wasn’t even that. He was a prisoner, one condemned to death.