The Outlaw Cyborg (Cyborgs on Mars #5) - Honey Phillips Page 0,9

them being around.

At the thought of other people, his mind inevitably traveled to Serena. The one glance he’d had of her on the landing field had stayed with him and he frequently found himself thinking about her despite the amount of time that had passed. He knew it was ridiculous—he knew nothing about her other than that she was in charge of the organization the general so distrusted. But every time he tried to convince himself that he couldn’t possibly be interested in someone like that, he remembered the haunted look he had seen in those blue eyes and remembered that graceful figure walking away from him, completely alone despite the people surrounding her.

As usual, his body also reacted to the memory, his cock hardening, but he was tired of taking himself in hand. With a sigh, he picked up his tablet and pulled up a book on the history of the Martian colony instead. But he had no sooner settled in his favorite chair by the big window overlooking the desert than the communicator beeped.

That’s unusual. General Biggs rarely responded so quickly.

The general’s message was short and to the point. Investigate further.

J-100’s pulse quickened as he prepared to leave, despite the efforts of his nanites to keep it steady. This was the first time the general had asked him to take action and he welcomed the change in his routine.

At the door, he hesitated, then grabbed a breathing mask. Due to his cyborg enhancements, he didn’t need the mask, but if he should encounter another settler, it was an easy way to maintain his disguise.

He set out at an easy lope, running effortlessly across the plain. Closer to the city, the homesteaders had started planting lichens and other hardy plants to continue the terraforming process, but there were no homesteaders this far out and his footsteps only sent puffs of orange dust into the air. His habitat was nestled at the base of one mountain range. A higher range of mountains rose to the east while a vast crater lay to the west. He headed for the crater.

During his previous explorations, he had seen unexpected signs of activity on the crater floor. If what the general suspected was true, an outpost was being created—one that GenCon had chosen to conceal from Earth Government.

At the edge of the crater, he hid himself amongst the rocks and surveyed the ground below. His enhanced vision made it easy to pick out not only the small signs of development along one rim, but what appeared to be a track of some kind leading to a break in the far edge of the crater wall. A pass that would lead through in the direction of the spaceport and New Arcadia.

He moved further along the rim until he had a clear view of the activity below. From this angle, he could see robots busily working on the crater wall and it was clear that they were creating an outpost of considerable size. As the general suspected, because of its position it would be invisible to overhead satellites.

There was a glint of more movement in the distance, almost too far for him to make out what was happening. He focused more intently and realized that a cyborg ranger, astride one of the robotic horses that made up their usual means of transportation, was heading into the crater through the break.

Interesting. He wondered if the general had sent the ranger as well but the man didn’t seem to be moving with any great degree of caution. He trotted out onto the open floor of the crater, then seemed to notice the track for the first time, guiding the horse in that direction.

As J-100 debated the merits of making contact, he caught a second flash of movement. Another figure had entered the crater. He was too far away for J-100 to make out any details other than the white pallor of his face. The second man set off after the ranger, but the angle of his approach and the rocks that cluttered the crater floor meant that he would be concealed until he was almost upon the ranger.

Was the second man a cyborg as well? His gait was awkward, but he moved as quickly as one of the rangers. And yet… something about him made J-100’s skin crawl and he had long ago learned not to ignore his instincts. If it was an ambush, he would never reach the pair in time but neither could he stay here