Her Cyborg Champion (The Drift Haven Colony #2) - Susan Hayes Page 0,43

isn’t her responsibility anymore.”

Edge caught up within a few seconds and matched Striker’s new pace. “You know why that isn’t easy for her.”

“I do. That doesn’t change the facts. Maggie doesn’t need Skye’s protection. She has mine.”

Edge did a double take and nearly tripped over his own feet. “Say that again.”

“I don’t need to. You have perfect recall of every conversation we’ve ever had.”

They ran the last hundred meters to their usual stopping point, a bare patch of ground just outside the gharshtu pens.

“Yeah, but I’m saving that for later when I’m trying to convince myself I didn’t imagine this whole conversation. When did you start trusting them?”

“I don’t. I trust Maggie.” He paused and then added, “And Denz, Sevda, and Phaedra. I’m coming to like Anya, too. She asked about you, by the way. I gather you haven’t been around for your weekly chat about Zero-G hockey. She wanted to know if you were okay.”

Edge looked sheepish for a second and then laughed. “Okay, I like some humans. Not all of them are a waste of atmosphere.”

“Some,” Striker agreed. He wasn’t giving the whole human race a pass because Maggie and the small cohort of humans in Haven hadn’t tried to enslave anyone or destroy this world the way they had Earth.

“So. This thing with the human…”

Striker answered him with a swat to the arm. “Her name is Maggie. And when did you get this nosey?”

“Maggie. Right. This thing with Maggie. It’s serious?”

He shrugged. “It’s something.” Being with her made him happy. She was a bright light in the gray twilight of his existence. He wasn’t ready to put any of that into words, though. Not yet. They were. That was enough for him.

Denz caught up to them, his arrival stirring up the gharshtu. The flightless birds were big, vile tempered, and dangerous. They were also tasty and fierce enough to fight back against most of the local predators and win, which was why they were so common in Vardarian colonies.

“You two look serious. You telling him about the platforms?”

Edge shook his head.

Striker shrugged. “He’s being nosy. Wants to know about Maggie.”

Denz looked momentarily startled, and Striker realized he’d been speaking aloud.

“Yeah. He talks now,” Edge said. “This woman must be magical.”

Striker jabbed two fingers into the air in an obscene gesture, and both men laughed.

“I heard. You and the new bartender. This keeps up and Anya is going to need to post a sign warning patrons that drinking at the Bar None can lead to relationships.” Denz pointed to himself and then Striker. “You. Me. And I heard a pair of Vardarians found their mahaya there last week.”

Edge nodded. “Talia.”

Talia was like River and Skye. She’d been created after the war with behavior mods that made her more nurturing and almost shy in comparison to most of her brethren. Striker had heard the rumors, of course, but he’d been too distracted by his own situation to pay much attention.

“She’s happy?” Denz asked.

“Overjoyed,” Edge said, his voice dryer than dust.

“Relax, I’m fairly sure it’s not contagious.”

Edge snorted. “Think I’ll stay away from the Bar None for a while, anyway. Just in case.”

“It’s not so bad. Is it, Striker?” Denz asked and grinned at him.

He smiled back and flashed a thumbs up. Not only in agreement, but because he was enjoying teasing Edge. The surly cyborg was even more solitary than he was, at least when it came to female company.

After a moment, he pointed upward and then raised his brows in query.

“Yeah, the platforms. There’s a problem,” Denz said, his tone darkening.

“A big one,” Edge agreed. “But you’re going to be one of the first to know, so… discretion is needed.”

He touched a finger to his lips and then made a locking gesture.

“The defense grid is down,” Denz said grimly.

“When? How?” Striker asked.

“It started acting up a few days ago. Minor outages and glitches at first, but it’s turned into a cascade failure. We’ve got crews working on a fix here and in orbit, but so far no one’s been able to find the problem.”

He had no doubt Phaedra would be part of the team dealing with this crisis, and if one of the most talented cyber-jockeys in the galaxy couldn’t find the reason for the failure, it wouldn’t be an easy fix.

A thought occurred. “Positioning data?”

“Yeah. That’s where it started. Yours went out, too?” Edge asked.

“Maggie’s.” And if that was going to be a concern, he’d have to tell her she couldn’t leave the colony. Not until he