The Star Thief (Star Thief Chronicles #1)(67)
Author: Jamie Grey

Finn tugged the sheet down on his side of the bed and said, “His arm, Renna. What have they done to him?”

Her gaze flew to Myka’s forearm. The skin there was pulled back to reveal a mess of wires, nerves, and veins. She couldn’t tell which ones were human and which were synthetic.

“The kid’s a frakking robot.” Viktis stared at the boy, his mouth clenched into a hard line. “There’s no way he’s still human with all of that cybertech inside him.”

The taste of copper burned the back of her throat, and she swallowed. “I don’t care what he is. We have to get him out of here.” Steeling herself, she unpinned the skin on his ribs and folded it back to cover his insides. It disappeared seamlessly into his body. If she hadn’t seen it a second ago, she would have never known.

Renna gasped. That wasn’t possible. What the hell had they done to this kid? She seriously would like to meet this Dr. Navang in a dark alley some day. Quickly, she injected the clay into the boy’s arm.

Viktis nodded across the room. “Looks like that helped. He’s stable for now.”

Finn wrapped the kid in the sheet and picked him up. “Is there a faster way out of here, Renna? We can’t go back the way we came.”

She pulled up the schematics. “There’s a door not too far from here. We’ll have to pass through the rest of the lab, but if it’s as empty as this, it won’t matter.”

He nodded. “Make sure it’s clear.”

Renna pulled her gun and peeked out the door. She took a moment to suck in a deep breath and try to scrub her mind clear of the image of the boy’s cybernetic insides. No matter how horrified she was, Myka was counting on her. She exhaled her fear out with her next breath. “It’s clear. Let’s go.”

Together she and Viktis took point, scanning the hall as Finn carried the boy behind them. The labs they passed were still empty. No sign of the woman who’d sent the distress signal. No sign of whatever had happened.

Her skin prickled.

They reached the end of the hallway and turned left. “We’re almost there,” she said, glancing back over her shoulder. “One more set of doors and then the stairwell and we’ll be outside. How’s Myka doing?”

Finn shook his head. “Not moving, but I can feel his heart beating. He needs help.”

Who could help him? They didn’t even know what he was anymore. She pushed the thought away. One thing at a time. She needed to focus on getting them out of here.

Renna pushed open the door and gestured Finn and Viktis through. Just a little farther to the stairwell and they’d be almost out.

Two labs sat on either side of the hallway, and she expected them to be empty like all the rest. But as they approached, the doors slid open and a group of people marched out into the hallway from each lab. They fell into formation, three abreast, and one of the young men in the front row stepped forward. His eyes seemed to gaze past her, and a red light flashed once, deep inside the cornea.

They were the people from the auditorium.

“Intruder alert. You may not pass. Please come quietly with us.”

His voice sounded human, but the cadence was off, as if he’d been programmed to say that. She risked a glance at Finn and saw that he was backing toward the doors. Viktis had his pistol out, aimed at the leader.

“Let us go and no one gets hurt,” she said sternly.

“Assassination protocols have been engaged,” the man said. “Please return the boy to his room immediately.” He took another step toward her, and Viktis fired his gun into the man’s head.

It erupted in a shower of metal and flames and screams. Organ tissue and blood splattered everywhere, coating her face and hands, and Renna pressed a hand to her mouth.

He spoke like a machine but bled like a human.

“What are you?” she whispered.

Another man stepped forward to take the leader’s place. “We have been perfected.”

Dear gods. These things were hybrids. Robot-human creations. Navang’s drug was keeping the human bodies from rejecting the tech.

Had they done this to Myka?

“Viktis. Remember our job in New Holland?”

He raised an eyebrow. “You want to try that here?”

“Now.”

Renna and Viktis dropped to one knee, opening fire on the robots. Renna focused on the column to the right, Viktis on the left. She aimed at each robot’s head, squeezing off a shot with her blaster. Each one exploded in a mess of flying tissue and metal.

Blood splatters turned the walls into crimson rivers, and the rich metallic scent filled the air, mixing with the smell of the drugs. She gagged, forcing her nausea back down with every shot.

She fired again just as one of the robots surged forward. The bullet ripped a hole through the woman’s chest, spinning her away, but not before Renna caught sight of a living, beating heart through the wound.

Bile burned her throat as her lunch tried for another return trip.

“There are too many of them! Get Finn and the kid out of here!” Viktis yelled, still shooting. He’d cleared a path down the left side. She glanced back at Finn. He dashed past, and she followed, shooting at anything that moved toward them. The sound of Viktis’s blaster screamed through the narrow space behind them.

“Up the stairs and to the right. The exit is at the end of the corridor!” She turned back to keep shooting at the robots following them. These things moved fast, and there were mere yards between her and the front of the crowd. The only thing left to do was stop and fight. Finn needed enough time to get out of there with the boy.

“Take him to Aldani. He’ll be able to help,” she shouted over her shoulder. “Don’t wait for us!”

“Renna!” Finn’s eyes were wide and terrified as they darted between the limp boy in his arms and Renna’s blood-smeared face.

She flashed him a smile. “I’ll catch you later, Captain. You still owe me a shore leave.”

He shook his head. “No. There’s got to be…”

“Go!” she shouted, drilling two bullets into the head of the closest robot, then pivoting to hit the next one through the door.

She heard the airlock swish open behind her, and then he was gone.

Down the hall, Viktis’ gunfire was slowing. Was his pistol charge running out, too?

Another surge of robots pushed through the door, and she picked them off until her gun whined and vibrated in her hand. She threw it to the floor and grabbed her knife from her boot.