Zero's Heart - Mina Carter Page 0,1

No biggie.”

“As the medical officer aboard, I’ll make that decision,” Talent said firmly, still spooning. Zero got worried about the level of ice cream left. How much could one tiny human woman eat? Then what the guy said registered and he looked up, shaking his head.

“Uh-uh… yeah, no. For the rest, yes. Me? No.” He balanced the spoon on the end of his nose, crossing his eyes to look at it. “I’m not Lathar. Machine, remember? Don’t need a medical officer. I need a mechanic.”

Talent handed the ice cream tub back. Zero checked the level, and enough was left to send him into a sugar coma… for all of 2.3 seconds before his systems purged the spike.

“In that case, it’s a good job I have some engineering training. Isn’t it? Now talk. Or I’ll go get Lizzie. After you put some pants on.”

Zero blinked. “That’s low, using your mate as a threat.”

It was a viable threat. Lizzie was lovely, a genuine breath of fresh air and brightness that the entire Warborne crew had adopted immediately. But… she was relentless. If she thought there was a problem, she would not rest until she got to the bottom of it.

Within days of coming aboard, she’d cornered them all for a “getting to know you” chat. So far, T’Raal had actually been caught smiling, Red was sporting a new hair style and Skinny had learned a ditty in Terran that was so dirty it made Fin smile. Even the recalcitrant Beauty had a new plant on his bridge console.

Talent shrugged. “Whatever works. Now talk.”

“I have nightmares.” Zero hadn’t intended to admit that, but somehow, once the words started flowing, he couldn’t stop them. “It’s a memory, but I don’t remember it.”

“What do you mean you don’t remember it?” The Lathar slid into the seat opposite, his expression one of interest. “Don’t you have…” he waved toward Zero’s arm, “bits for that?”

“Bits? Is that the best you can do?” Zero barked a laugh. “Yeah, I have an onboard comp and memory storage.”

“Really?” Talent leaned forward, studying Zero’s face like he could pierce the skin with his eyes and see what lay beneath. “All cybernetic or do you still retain some percentage of organic brain matter?”

Zero shook his head. “Not all cybernetic, no. My cybernetics are integrated with my bio-organics, with approximately a sixty-forty split. Most memory functions are cybernetic, and that’s the problem.”

Talent shook his head, his expression blank.

“When T’Raal found me, years ago, I was damaged almost beyond repair. It took months before I could move properly and even longer before I could fight. This memory is from before then.”

“Okay…”

Zero sighed and scrubbed at the top of his head. “My memory banks were blank. Completely wiped. I remembered nothing before waking up on the Sprite. Yet this nightmare… the people in it… I know them. They’re trying to reach me, and I’m falling… I wake screaming some guy’s name. Jesh. But I don’t know who the fuck they are, or who Jesh is. And it’s driving me fucking crazy.”

❖

“I’m sorry, Ms. Archer, but I’m afraid I don’t have good news for you.”

Eris Archer only kept her expression level by dint of long practice. The doctor’s offices were not on her list of favorite places to be. She’d seen enough of them over the years. She knew better than to get her hopes up, but Doctor Reed’s expression killed any secret hope she’d been harboring deader than a dodo.

Doctor Reed was a specialist, the best in lower limb neuro-reconstruction, which was the reason she’d hired him. She’d hoped… prayed… he could help her.

“Okay, Doctor. How bad is it?” Her voice was level, which she was proud of. Silly little thing to be proud of, but there you had it. In situations like this, when her very ability to walk hinged on his answer, sometimes she had to hold on to the little things.

“We have your test results back and… well, can I be frank?”

She shrugged. “You can be whoever you like, Doc.”

Her attempt at humor fell flat, Reed’s expression not changing.

“I’m afraid the Markovian technique will not be an option.”

She nodded slowly, keeping her hands neatly folded in her lap. A veteran, she was used to being cool under fire, and her tenure as Tarantus Station Security Chief had ensured she could keep calm and professional…

Which came in real handy when all she wanted to do was scream about the unfairness of it all. She’d had so many dreams for her life, and none