The Syn-En Solution Read online

  “Are you and your thirteen followers aware of the punishment for mutiny, Ensign?”

  The gasps around her overshadowed the hiss of leaking gas and the zap and crackle of the containment field. The stench of their fear lodged in her lungs. Didn’t they hear him or had their cowardice made them deaf? She and her followers had company in the cargo bay. Turning away from the camera, Burkina focused on a bald man blinking at her through the clammy fog. While his name eluded her, she knew from his time in her bed that he liked being ordered about and was obsessed with going home. She turned on her charm, flashing him an inviting smile, a duplicate of the one that had gained his attention five months ago.

  “Find the extra Civie,” she mouthed to Baldy.

  He touched his forehead with two fingers in a mock salute then disappeared behind the fuselage of an Orion-class ship.

  Burkina tapped her index finger to her lips. “Mutiny? Hardly, Admiral. A citizen is legally required to lead the Syn-En missions. So it is you who should be punished…”

  Bei cocked his left eyebrow.

  Finally a reaction. Victory drummed in her veins. Wait until you see what’s next, Admiral. Striding forward, she set her hands on the com’s fold down keyboard. The LCD buttons glowed green under her fingertips. Scrolling through the active portals, Burkina found the weapons array and brought the pulse cannons online. “First your sentence for addressing a superior without permission, Syn-En.”

  Red lights flashed as systems locked onto their targets. One. Two. Three. A perfect number. Her broken nails flirted with the firing order. Would he recognize it as the same amount of times she’d slept with him?

  “Burkina.” Batting aside a curled piece of rudder, Tim strode toward her. “Don’t—”

  She pressed the button. She no longer took orders from men. The ship’s deck bucked under her feet with each shot fired. Soon more debris would knock against the hull. “That’s three of your precious life pods gone and how many tin soldiers dead? Thirty? Forty?”

  “What have you done?” Tim yanked on her fingers as if trying to undo the damage.

  Twisting at the waist, Burkina slammed her palm against his chest. She pulled the punch at the last minute, preventing his ribcage from collapsing like a soda can in seven atmospheres.

  Momentum shot him backward and Tim’s magnetic boot heels scraped the metal floor. He grunted when he collided with the interior wall then rebounded into the metal cloud with a tinkling of metal.

  Burkina’s gaze remained on the screen, waiting for a reaction from the Admiral.

  A muscle clenched in Bei’s jaw.

  There. She’d done it. Yet it wasn’t enough. She wanted him on his knees. He asked for it, trying to be human, perverting the race. Her fingers twitched on the panel. None of the Civies tried to stop her. “There’s plenty more life pods out there.”

  Tim flapped his arms, clearing a path to her side. “I’m picking up life signs outside the door.”

  A trickle of fear snaked into Burkina’s belly. How had they found her so fast with the systems offline? Could it be a coincidence? Had to be. She’d picked up nothing on the com system. Like the good little machines they were, the Syn-En were undoubtedly systematically sweeping the decks, prioritizing repairs. Still… She ordered the cannons to lock onto more targets in a broad spectrum shot. “Call them off, Bei, or I’ll blow up ten more pods.”

  Bei glanced to his left and nodded.

  A blip registered on the com. She’d been right. The Syn-Ens had found her by dumb luck. Too bad their blundering had revealed her location. She needed another diversion.

  Tim sighed. “Life signs are retreating.”

  She rolled her eyes. Did the Civie really think she needed him for confirmation? She’d witnessed firsthand how much the Syn-En valued their mechanical hides. Not that they allowed her into the club. Her citizen status had set her apart from them. It had also revealed their debilitating weakness: their fondness for each other.

  A flaw she planned to exploit.

  “I should eliminate the pods for insubordination.” Burkina drummed her fingers on the console. The ship rolled with the salvo. “There. Five gone. I can be merciful, but any more disobedience and I’ll take them all out.”

  Bei stiffened. The camera pulled back, widening its focus and highlighting the fact that his hips had twisted almost a hundred and eighty degrees from normal.

  Whispers rumbled through the cargo bay at the damage.

  Had his spine snapped? Was he even now on the verge of a fatal error? Perhaps she should order the mighty admiral’s twisted carcass preserved as a visual aid to the other tinmen. She considered tightening the frame on his face then decided against it. The Civies needed a reminder that the Syn-Ens were more circuits than flesh. Machines could be switched off.

  “First order. You will address me as Sir, as will the rest of your kind.” Power surged through Burkina’s veins. She shivered at the intoxicating effects. What good was power if it wasn’t wielded? “Do you understand, Commander?”

  “Aye, Sir.”

  Damn. No reaction to his demotion. Didn’t he realize the only reason she’d bothered to sleep with him was because of the stripes on his uniform? Too bad the camera wouldn’t pan to the command deck’s other inhabitants. She knew his two women weren’t so good at hiding their emotions, especially where Burkina was concerned.

  “Good. As for rescue procedures, you’ll bring only citizens on board the Starfarer. Your soldiers will be confined to the Orion and Beagle ships.”

  Bei’s gaze cut to the right, no doubt considering his options.

  Burkina estimated the amount of time he would need to carry out her orders then cut it by two-thirds. She wanted all hands at the task, leaving no one left to search for her. “I’ll give you two hours to complete the rescue mission. Oh, and Commander, if you attempt to retrieve any of your soldiers before all my people are saved, I’ll blow up twenty life pods.”

  The screen fell dark before she could see Bei’s reaction.

  When she ground her teeth together, pain flared through her jaw. The arrogant prick thought he could dismiss her. “Bring him back up.”

  Tim reached out a hand toward her. “But Burkina…”

  She wrapped her hand around his throat and pressed her finger and thumb against his carotid arteries. “Bring him back up before you pass out!”

  Bei’s prostrate image flickered on the screen. The once mighty leader lay on his belly, his head turned toward her. His fake skin peeled away from his spine like the rind of a banana.

  A tech leaned over him, orienting the Syn-En’s legs in the correct direction.

  While familiarity rippled through her, the civilian’s name eluded her. Not that it mattered. She didn’t have time to eliminate the collaborator.

  “You did not acknowledge my command, lieutenant.” Burkina stressed Bei’s second demotion. The civilian traitor stiffened but the Syn-En did not. She didn’t fool herself into thinking paralysis was part of the repair process. “Should I put someone else in charge and risk demoralizing the rest of the Syn-En?”

  “Orders acknowledged, Sir.” Bei smiled.

  Despite the careful thermoregulation of her cybernetic limbs, Burkina’s fingers felt like frozen popsicles. She’d never seen Bei smile before. The gesture seemed more psychotic than humorous. Shoring up her faltering courage, she stuck to her improvised plan. “Two more pods must pay the price for your insubordination. You can choose which ones.”

  “Delta five one six and Omega seven two nine. Sir.” His answer rattled the com system like machine gun fire. No hesitation, just devastation and death in its wake.

  Around her, gasps erupted in the cargo bay as the Admiral calmly sentenced his men to death.

  On screen, the civilian technician rocked back on his heels.

  “Tsk. Now you understand why humans must be in charge. You sacrificed your fellow soldiers without batting an eyelash.” Burkina swallowed her rising fear. If he caught her, her de
ath would not be quick. Syn-Ens were trained to keep people alive for months. That was no myth. She powered down the targeting array. “Humans would be horrified, are horrified. I think even your heart is a machine, lieutenant.”

  “If that is all, Sir.” Bei’s foot twitched. Over his open spinal column, the civilian hunched and kept his face hidden.

  “One hour and fifty-seven minutes remain.” Burkina stepped back. Heat burned a trail over her hip as a jagged edge of rubble cut into her. Should she order him to salute? It might be amusing to watch his limbs flop around. She sighed. Not today. She doubted her Civie followers could stomach much more of the requirements for leadership. “I’ll be watching.”

  In a quick jerky motion, Bei’s legs bent at the knee. “Aye-aye.”

  The screen blipped to darkness. Burkina stared at it, emotions scrambling her thoughts. “He did it again.”

  “No.” Tim poked her shoulder with his status pad. “I cut the link.”

  “Too bad you didn’t show as much initiative finding the correct bay, Tim.” Burkina eyed the point of contact. So the little weasel thought he could take command, did he? How like a man to let her do all the unpleasant tasks and try to take the credit.

  Tim waved the book like object, swatting fine particles of organic and inorganic matter away from his lean face. “What is all this crap about loading the civilians on board and blowing up the pods? We never agreed to that. You were supposed to pilot us back home, that’s all.”

  Pale faces nodded in the gloom.

  So the fools got a little squeamish when blood had to be spilled. Who cared? The blood was synthetic, like motor oil in an automobile. “Syn-Ens are little better than animals. They understand only force and strength. Your countermanding my order is viewed as weakness. Something they can exploit and use to shove us all out of an airlock.”

  “What about returning to Earth?” Tim tapped the silver rectangle against his pale forehead. “That’s the plan I signed on for.”

  Burkina resisted the urge to drive the thin book pad through his skull. Instead, she caressed his cheek returning to the bidable lover he’d grown used to. Did he honestly think she’d decommission scores of Syn-En and stick around to see if the tinmen grieved? “We will return to Earth, my love.”

  “Then what is all this business about humiliating the Admiral?” The debris field shimmered. Three Civies waded into a clearing to stand behind Tim.

  She scanned their faces, memorizing the features. So, they thought they could switch allegiances just because their plan hit a snare? She flexed her cyborg arm, reveling at the strength contained under her armor. They’d learn different on the trip home, or they’d never see Earth again. “He’s a lieutenant now. And thanks to Tim’s bad directions, they now know all of your names.”

  Tim stabbed the air in front of her chest. “I want to be alive when we return to Earth.”

  She grabbed his finger, tugging him closer. Crushing his finger into dust might make her feel better, but she still needed one or two of the Civies to reach home. Until she figured out which, she’d have to play nice. Tim’s rancid breath surged into her nose when she inhaled. She lightly kissed the top of his finger, felt his heart race kick up at the sexual gesture. “Then you should have picked the right cargo bay. The ships are obviously not here, and I needed to buy us time.”

  “And how does pissing off the entire Syn-En Fleet accomplish that?” Tim’s nostrils flared as if he’d only just caught the scent of danger. The furrow between his eyebrows deepened.

  How like a man to underestimate a woman. Of course, if she hadn’t been so confident of one of her lovers, she’d never have been stripped of her rights in the first place. “I had to improvise. If you hadn’t screwed up, we would have escaped before they discovered us missing. All of us would have been listed as killed in action and freed from service. Humans rights restored.”

  Tim’s followers looked from him to each other.

  Burkina kept the smile from her face. They were so easy to manipulate. It was why she’d chosen them. Of course, she’d trade the lot of them for one Syn-En, but that was not to be.

  Tim braced his thin shoulders and looked her in the eyes. “So how does murder buy us time?”

  “While Bei and his mechanical minions are busy rescuing the modified humans, we will escape in the shuttle prototype.” Burkina glanced down at the screen of the pad. A green light flashed on the Starfarer’s schematic.

  “Now that you killed a bunch of them,” Tim whined, “they’ll probably shoot us out of the sky as soon as we leave the hangar.”

  “You forget, I infiltrated the Syn-En, pretended to be one of them while on a top secret mission from the United Earth Council. I still have the codes needed to authenticate rescue orders. They won’t realize we’re heading home until we’re out of weapon’s range.” She set her hands on his shoulders, caressed the large bones as she mentally calculated how much pain crushing them would inflict. “Now where are the shuttles?”

  “Burkina.” A man’s voice carried through the darkness. “I think you should see this.”

  She sighed. “Is it a way off this death trap?”

  “No. It’s the thirteenth civilian.”

  “Neutralize him so he can’t tell the others where we went.” Her gaze lasered back to Tim’s. “The shuttles?”

  Tim nodded and consulted his pad. “I found them. I’m just waiting for more data to plot a course to reach them.”

  “She’s a citizen,” Baldy gushed, his voice thick with lust. “Unmodified.”

  A hush filled the expanse. Even the conduits stopped leaking gas.

  “Citizen?” Burkina shoved a path through the floating wreckage. There had better not be an unmodified citizen on board, who could claim leadership over the Syn-En, usurping Burkina’s claim. Especially when she was so close to achieving her goal. “Where are you?”

  About ten yards away, Baldy’s tan face popped up over a solid lump on the floor. “Over here.”

  The sarcophagus shaped box remained fixed to the deck. Glowing symbols decorated the sides, and a slight hum vibrated from it. Burkina stopped next to the find and peered inside. “Well, well, look what we have here.”

  A petite woman lay inside, blue eyes wide in her oval face. Her pale skin gleamed in the white light of the wormhole and the azure glowing interior. Long blonde tresses covered her bare breasts but not the naked sex at the juncture of her trim legs.

  Burkina’s sensors registered one hundred percent organic. Had the citizens really followed them to colonize Terra Dos, or was this another Syn-En groupie? Either way, the bitch had to go.

  Baldy caressed the woman’s bare thigh but his leer skipped from her breasts to her sex. “I can’t read the writing.”

  Others crowded around. The men practically salivated with lust.

  Maybe because you’re not looking at the writing on the side of the life pod. Burkina bit back the comment and groped for a way to turn this to her advantage. Dangling in the space near the bottom of the woman’s sarcophagus, a severed arm caught Burkina’s eye. The Syn-Ens always inspired paranoia. “Of course you can’t. The Syn-Ens developed their secret language to conspire against humans.”

  “Is she human?” As if he hadn’t heard, Baldy trailed his fingers over the woman’s stomach. “I’m not registering any implants, and she feels real.”

  Two more men edged closer, fondled the organic tissue then retreated before nodding their agreement with Baldy.

  Jealousy battered Burkina’s control. Her legs were longer, her breasts perkier, hips leaner, yet her lovers, her chosen followers wanted to lose themselves in unmodified flesh. She would not lose when the prize was so close.

  The woman’s blue eyes darted from her to Baldy, who palmed her breast.

  “Does this mean the citizens are following us?”

  “I said it looks human. My implants register a Syn-En identity chip and a neural implant.” Men! Just because the woman was naked, they gawked and thought
of little else. Burkina would spin a conspiracy to knot their dicks, then she’d deal with the competition. “This thing is an experiment to fool our sensors into thinking the cyborgs are citizens. I became a Syn-En mole to uncover this conspiracy. Command suspected the Syn-Ens were working on technology to pass as citizens so they could topple our rightful government.”

  “But it’s organic tissue.” Baldy smacked his lips.

  The woman opened and closed her mouth but no sound came out.

  “Cloned skin, no doubt from one of our tissue samples, and layered on their scaley body armor.” Burkina slapped the woman across the face. Red bloomed on the pale skin. “You’re not fooling anyone. Once a Syn-En always a Syn-En.”

  “We should take her with us. Turn her over to the UEN Authority.” Baldy hitched the pants of his uniform. The material stretched taunt against his erection. “With her as proof of their treason, the Syn-En will be disbanded, if not permanently deleted.”

  Burkina slapped his hand away from the woman’s breast as the air thickened with her followers’ building lust. So they wanted a plaything on the way home, did they? Did they think this blob of flesh could provide something Burkina Faso couldn’t? She’d show them how she climbed her way up from nothing, right before she stuffed them into a vacuum and watched them turn inside out.

  “Maybe if the shuttles were in this cargo bay, we could take her. After all, it is my secret mission.” Burkina cupped her hand over the woman’s breasts as she plotted her death. “But with the Syn-En breathing down our neck, we can’t be slowed down by a useless hunk of junk. See what’s taking Tim so long? He should have a way out of here by now.”

  Fear flashed in the woman’s eyes.

  Burkina drank in the scent. Yes, you know I’m going to kill you don’t you? But do you know how? She squeezed the tender flesh hard and the woman arched her back in response.