Cyborg Claude
Episode 12
In the previous episode, Salindra and Stefen’s foray on the station is turned into finding a way back to the yacht unnoticed when Conrad and Angela appear in the crowded concourse.
This episode will bring us back to Claude and Min.
Cyborg Claude Main Page and Table of Contents
Claude rolled over on his back and stretched with a grin. Then he heard the com beeping. Had that beeped before?
“What is it now?” Min’s commanding tone had a hint of irritation to it.
“It’s Stefen. Salindra and I just had to dress up to get away from the dynamic duo of goeks while out on the station. They even came up to the guard outside trying to say they were here for a party. At least they went away, but I’m not sure what they are up to now. There is still an hour and a half of furlough time. Shall we stick to that or call them back?”
“Stick to it. It doesn’t matter if they all come back at once either. It will just seem like the hired help got a break. A normal thing of most yachts in this yacht club.”
“Sounds good.” Stefen paused for a second and his voice lowered. “Are you having fun, or are you working through another furlough?”
Claude slapped a hand over his mouth. No doubt Stefen knew both of them were still in the office. He wanted to laugh all the more because he had fallen asleep on the floor.
“Having fun and sounds like you are, too.” Min’s tone accented her smile.
“The other thing you requested of me just before dinner, should that be done or not?”
“No. We’ll try something different, and I’ll tell you in the morning.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Stefen over emphasized his words and then broke the call.
“He knows you and I have been in here a long time.” She walked back over to where Claude lay on the floor. “Has it really been two and a half hours?”
Claude stretched before rolling onto his stomach and rising to his hands and knees. His muscles felt so relaxed he wondered if he could stand up.
Min crossed her arms. “If I didn’t know your system and what Stephen fed you at dinner, I would be worried about you falling asleep on my office floor.”
Claude slowly rose with a grunt. “No need to worry.”
Had he fallen asleep to avoid doing too much? Probably not. He had broken many of the rules his family had set when he became a teen. He winced when the train of thought led to the visage of his parents in a twisted wreck. That event had changed everything.
“I want to ask you a question, and I hope it doesn’t upset you.”
Claude arched his brows as he wrapped his arms loosely around her. “We won’t know until you ask.”
She nodded with a worried expression that made Claude gulp. “What kept you from initiating anything with me?”
His gaze took in the contours of Min’s face. He tensed when the memory of his parents’ deadly collision surfaced and then led to remembering all his close calls. He sucked in a breath while slamming the door of his thoughts before the death shot could play. If Salindra hadn’t found him, he could have died three days ago.
“You are thinking too much.” Min placed a hand on his cheek. “Then again, I do that to you all the time, don’t I?”
Claude cleared his throat and worked to smile. “Yes, you do.” He had to answer the question. “Fear of loss.”
Her brows furrowed, as if contemplating the deeper meaning of his words. She would surely dig for more information, and he could not run.
“I think I understand.” She bit her lip. “I didn’t mean to make you a test subject of biotech, but I couldn’t lose you. You aren’t happy about being alive, are you?”
He glanced about the room, but forced himself not to pull away from her. It took several long breaths to calm himself and lock his gaze with hers.
“I’m not ready to know what all is keeping me alive beyond those nanobots running around my body. I have mixed feelings about it.”
“That made you far more aware of my love?”
He nodded. His throat constricted.
Worry in her eyes mixed with her attempt at smiling. “Do you think we can handle taking this relationship further and still run the agency?”
He had little choice now. His ghost of an identity didn’t matter when the goeks had pictures of him. This was a harder life change than the ordeal of waking up with biomechanics running through his system. His eyes locked on hers, finding that comforting expression she always had when trying to make him feel better. Nothing seemed different on the surface, but delving deeper proved it better to step into this change. So why did he feel like he stood on marbles? He had to stop thinking so much.
Her finger traced his lips. “Claude?” She smiled when he blinked. “You are lost in thought again.” Her body pressed against his seductively. “Tell me what you are thinking.”
“Umm, well.” Great, just stammer like a fool. “I’m digesting.” Her warm smile assured him she understood.
“Take your time. I know we have to keep you out of the field now, and that is probably harder than confessing our love. After all, we did that already.” Her brows quirked, as if to tease him.
He nodded and blew out a breath. That had proved easier than expected. He smiled. Maybe having the relationship settled would help put everything else in place.
“I want to give it a try because I love you. I always have. Losing you would wind up worse.” He shook his head. “I’m the one running into the line of fire to stop nightmares of dying. It’s not working.”
“Thank you for your honesty.” She stepped away, but took one of his hands. “Come along. I think you need to get some proper sleep. Then we can start fresh tomorrow on figuring out the next step.” She led him to the secret door leading to her private suite.
He stepped into the only place he had never been with Min, her bedroom. Come to think of it, she had never been to his room either. Another little realization to make him wonder.
Red dominated the room. Not his favorite color, but a color of good luck and health to those from the Zen Free States. The low bed with its king-sized mattress and the canopy of sheer red curtains with red dragons marching across it made it over powering in the confines of the room.
“Relax and get some sleep.” She disappeared into the bathroom.
Claude nodded while he glanced about. He rubbed his face, wondering how things changed so fast. The little voice with its rules about propriety nagged from the dark recesses of his mind. The memory of his parents telling him to wait for the right one came to mind. That led to the vision of the twisted wreck they had died in. He couldn’t change that any more than the fact he lived today because of Min and biomechanics Stefen agreed to use.
“I need to stop running from my past.”
“What?” Min stepped back into the room in a simple, red nightgown.
Claude lowered his hands. “Remembering something my parents told me.” He pulled her into his arms even as his emotions fought between fears of the past and the joy he felt whenever with her. “Both told me to wait for the right one, but I need to stop worrying about losing them if I care.” He stroked his finger against her soft cheek. “I’ve always loved you.” He swallowed the lump in his throat that nearly cut off his last words.
“I love you.”
He saw the mist in her eyes as he bent close to kiss her lips.
“Everyone is aboard, sir. Do you know what time we plan to depart?”
Admiral Hawkins looked around the bridge of the yacht. At this late hour, he had seniority over anyone on duty. However, he had no clue what instructions to carry out now that the furlough had ended. The graveyard shift sat waiting as if hoping for something to do. The information technician sat reading, but what would anyone else do? He should probably sleep, but fours had not been enough to unwind. Too many questions about who Claude really was swirled in his mind.
“For now, we are staying in port.” He watched most of them slump. “I’ll confirm this, but we can entertain ourselves by figuring out more about the goeks disguised as pirates and their dynamic duo that stand out like a sore thumb on this station.” That perked them up a bit.
Hawkins slipped a headset on and verbally requested the computer to connect him to Min. He sat on the edge of the communications station desk while he started counting beeps. “Hmm.” Still, no answer came. “Hang up and tell me where Min is, please.” He frowned, though slightly amused, as the information technician and the computer both started looking for her location aboard the ship.
The computer reported, “Min is in her private rooms.”
“Interesting. Why isn’t she answering her com per the norm?”
“How should I know? I’m just the computer.” The female voice held sarcasm.
“Maybe she is sleeping, sir.”
Hawkins did not even look at the one that suggested that. The woman slept with her com as far as he could tell. Tonight marked the first night it had taken over three beeps for her to answer.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“Yes, sir.”
Hawkins strode out the door and crossed the hall to the lift, which sat there waiting at this level. Otherwise, he would have taken the stairs to go down one level. He passed the office door and then stepped back to look at the panel. She had manually locked the door. His month of full time on this yacht still had him wondering about the woman. She could turn up at the oddest times, checking on things, and other times, no one saw her for hours on end. This night had become an hours-on-end situation, but at a time that critical things were afoot. Usually, when not seen, she would be heard. He continued on to the door to her private suite.
He reached up and pushed the button for the doorbell. Chimes rang inside, but nothing more. His foot tapped as he waited a full minute before ringing the bell again. Still no answer, so he quickly punched in the security override code. The door slid open to reveal an orderly sitting room done in a traditional Zen style of low tables and cushions. An ornate tea set made of delicate porcelain graced the center of the main table, obviously magnetized on the bottom to keep them from sliding on the table while flying through space.
“Min?”
He stepped cautiously into the room, hearing the swish of the door as it closed once he stepped far enough away from it. No one answered, but a sound came from an inner room. Slowly, he moved toward the closed door and raised his hand to knock on it. He leaned close, trying to hear more. Someone landed on the floor as if jumping off of something, which made him quirk a brow in curiosity.
The door whooshed open and an old fashion pistol pressed against the center of his forehead. He froze in position as his eyes took in the obvious male hand holding the gun. A quick glance down and he noted the man only wore briefs. His eyes snapped back up to focus on the stern face of Claude.
“Hello, Admiral. Why the security override?”
“It is unlike Min to not answer her com no matter what time of the day or night, sir.”
“True. I tried answering mine.” Claude smirked. “I should change how it rings.”
“Would you mind lowering the gun away from my head?”
“It isn’t loaded.” Claude expertly popped the cartridge out and opened the chamber as well, proving his point. “An antique that works amazingly well and makes exceptional noise without a silencer.”
Hawkins could not stop his sigh of relief, though he tried to peek into the room. Movement caught his eye and Min appeared in a simple kimono she held shut with her arms crossed.
“Sorry to disturb you, ma’am, but there was no answer, even at the door.”
Min tucked a stray lock of loose, damp hair behind her ear. She remained silent.
Hawkins glanced back to Claude to find him absently twirling the reassembled gun around. The man definitely had dexterity above the normal person, even more than most trained Droeken Armada personnel. Actually, this whole situation did not bode well at all. Salindra had an infatuation with a man who obviously had an affair already going with the agency’s leader. He felt like punching the man for the way he had looked at her at dinner. No one messed with Salindra that way in front of him.
Claude looked over his shoulder at Min. “Did you find your com?”
“Yes, it is right behind the dresser where we thought it fell. You’ll have to move it. I forgot how heavy the antique thing is.” Her dark gaze turned to Hawkins. “Sorry to cause an alarm. What needed my attention at this hour?”
“Ma’am, I need to know what the next command is. Everyone is back from furlough, but there are no further commands.”
“Hmm.” She pursed her lips. “Anything else happen out of the ordinary since Angela tried a poor act of looking for a party to get on our yacht?
“No, ma’am. Angela and Conrad were last spotted getting on the spaceliner currently in port. They have not booked passage upon it, but have temp passes for use of whatever facilities it is allowed to have open while in port.”
“I bet it is the only way they can get a computer connection at this space station.” Claude rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “They had enough time to reconnect and do quite a bit.”
Min pursed her lips in thought. “How did they get here so fast?”
“It had to be a ship with a hyperdrive that arrived some time shortly after we did, but no later than an hour to an hour and a half after.”
Hawkins glanced between the two as they pinged ideas off of one another as if it occurred all the time. Neither had showed a sign that his standing there at the door of her bedroom was out of the ordinary. He tried to keep his jaw from clenching. What had Claude intended to do with Salindra tonight if the so-called pirates had not interrupted the party?
“Hawkins, we stay in port for now. I want the two agents watched, and I want to know how they got here.” Min had her standard business manner on, despite hugging a kimono about her. “For a challenge, figure out what information they shared on a link to Goeken.”
“I’ll get right on it, ma’am.” Hawkins saluted.
“And from now on, if I don’t answer my com, call Claude.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Hawkins nodded and strode out of the suite.
Once in the hallway, he growled in frustration. “He better not hurt Salindra or I will punch his lights out.” A glance up and down the hall proved he stood alone.
He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly while counting to ten. Then he shook out his hands and flexed them, since the clenching had caused his arthritis to act up. At least, he had more details to add to what he told the graveyard shift to do. Maybe it would help put his mind on something else. He snorted as he continued back to the bridge.
Who am I fooling? I want to know Claude’s actual rank in this organization.
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