“One man broke his neck during the warp. We think he was asleep when it happened and didn’t have time to hang on to something. The rest,” the prisoner shrugged with exhaustion, “killed. There’s fourteen of us left but several refuse to fight and they remain in the brig like frightened cattle. Fucking cowards. Those idiots think we’ll all die regardless and there’s no point in trying to fight for freedom. I mean, they don’t even want to fight for food! But how can you blame them? I guess fear sucks the soul out of some people.”
Gunner nodded. He knew what fear could do better than anyone. Mixing fear with uncertainty, and adding a dash of anxiety, was a cocktail for a crash-and-burn of the worst kind. The fact that Elodie was able to sleep for more than an hour at a time made him a grateful beast.
“And what about you? Are you willing to fight when the stench gets thick?” he asked, curious.
“Like it isn’t already? I’ll be fighting. Freedom tastes good, even if it’s a lie. Either way, I won’t be dying on an empty stomach or cowering in the dark if it comes down to that. I’ll die on my feet before I go back on my knees.”
Gunner gripped the man’s shoulder. “Good.” He left him to find the others.
It didn’t take him long before he found Chesnik. He was sitting behind several makeshift barricades near the elevator. Gunner’s gaze moved up to where the door was currently jammed open by a metal crate.
Below it and scattered on the floor were broken androids and bloodstains that ended with no bodies attached. He rubbed the back of his neck. No carrion for him to be distracted by.
His target was fiddling with a gun but stopped when he neared.
“News?”
“Ely?” Chesnik shot back.
Gunner moved closer and lowered his voice. “She’s fine. Sleeping if you should know, and healing. She’s in better conditions now than she has been in weeks. Probably years.” He would almost call what he created for her a nest, but no man was privy to his inner thoughts.
“Go fuck yourself, Cyborg,” Chesnik sneered.
“Why?” he goaded unfairly.
Chesnik stared at him with hatred. “You know why.”
“I have some suspicions...”
“You're using her!”
Gunner made a loud noise to cover the outburst and he was at Chesnik’s side in the next second, whispering, “Elodie is a woman. An adult I may add. She can make her own choices and she chose me.”
Chesnik chuckled with self-deprecation. “Under duress. What do you think this situation is? We could die at any time, or we could be overrun and be made into slaves. Neither option is comforting. None of her choices, or anyone's for that matter, are sound.”
The plates in his jaw demanded to shift to reveal his jackal in its dark profile. There was nobody in the universe that would talk to him like this without fear of death—death he would gladly give. Except Chesnik, apparently. The man knew he was untouchable, because of Elodie and the deal they had between them.
Gunner narrowed his eyes and took in his mate’s father.Maybe he knows what I really want. He’s afraid I’ll take her away from him.He clicked his tongue and the blood that frenzied his veins forcibly cooled down.He should be.
“You have little faith in your daughter,” his voice darkened the man’s ear. “She’s followed you her whole life because of love? Maybe? Misguided trust? If anyone is wrong in their fucking head, it’s you. Do you really think I’m coercing her?” His laugh was strained and quiet. “I’m the fucker bending toherwill. For once, your daughter has a little control over her life. Let her have it.” Gunner wiped the back of his hand over his mouth and took a half step back.
“Then what’s her will? And don’t spew meyoursin hopes I’ll buy it. Your words might be pretty but I know her better than that.”
“Saving you,” Gunner spat and waved at him. “And saving the others. Pretty much doing what I can to ensure you guys live, that you don’t make it to the slave rings or the flesh stalls, and to get you off this ship.”
There was a moment of silence while Chesnik held his ground and looked into his eyes. “Sounds like her,” he eventually said. “The one thing I couldn’t get out of her head, even after all these years, was thinking about others.” Chesnik sighed. “She’s a lot like her mother in that way.” His voice was wistful before it hardened anew. “What was her trade, Cyborg? I know you’re using her—”
“—I’m not using her.”
“Usingher. But the price of a Cyborg is well beyond that. No one person can afford you. No one like her, or me, or anyone else on this ship except maybe the captain. Usually, only planetary governments can hire a Cyborg, and even then it hurts. What are you taking from my daughter?”
Everything.
He was going to take everything that he could from her, everything that she allowed him to have. It started with her voice and a bargain for her companionship, he had taken her name and then he had stolen her touches and her kisses. Elodie then gave him her body and he had given her a window into his head, into which she had looked and hadn’t flinched away.
I would give her my soul.Gunner clenched his hands at his sides as the thought brought on a numbing shock.
If she reached out and took it, he would let her have it. She would keep it safe and in turn, he would protect her from the horrors of the universe and the despairing thoughts of hell, because loneliness washell. And they had both been so alone for so long.
