Free Eric 754 by Donna McDonald Page A

going to have as bad a headache when he came around as she’d had in the shower. The dosage he’d received was commensurate with the knowledge he was cyborg and not human.
     
    Disgusted with the turn of events, and the interruption, Lucy let the sedative delivery tools fall to the ground. She shifted her interest to who had shot Eric 754 and why.
     
    Two figures dressed all in black walked slowly out of the trees and approached her. Their eyes were hidden behind a sheer black insert that barely allowed for sight.
     
    Over their shoulders were slung weapons she identified as swords in illegal leather scabbards. Small stunners were strapped to bands crisscrossing their chests. One of them carried the weapon used to deliver the tranquilizer darts which had rendered Eric 754 unconscious.
     
    Both recited the companion location codes as they walked forward. She recited response codes back to them as they neared.
     
    But she was functioning without logical intention because really she had no actual clue what was going on. The Other was supplying what was needed and advising her of what to do.
     
    She felt a sudden urgency to constrain them. The Other understood they were a threat.
     
    Both stopped three feet from her and stared, their gazes registering shock which she could read even through the black veil. Finally, one stepped forward.
     
    “We are looking for a missing cyborg. State your identity,” she ordered.
     
    Lucy calmly stared back at the one speaking. “I am Lucy. I am a New World Companion. I am under contract to service the needs of Eric 754 whom you have injured. Who are you?”
     
    She was surprised when the second one turned to the first. “I told ya, Aja. The captain has forgotten who she is. Looks like those prayers to all yar Hindu gods have gone unanswered.”
     
    Lucy heard the first one huff indignantly.
     
    “Don’t shove your Irish drama into my face, Meara. The captain we knew remains in this woman. Do you not see her now calmly assessing us as she has every situation we used to encounter? Even now, she is planning how to handle our attack. We must act swiftly and overcome her while we can.”
     
    Lucy watched the one named Meara stomp the ground while the one named Aja merely laughed.
     
    “Get fecking hold of yarself, ya bloody Indian. We are not attacking the captain. I will not be part of it. We’ll find another way to rescue her.”
     
    “Then I swear by Shiva’s six arms you better run while you can, Irish. I’m at least killing the man who was abusing her. We have all suffered enough. I will not allow any more of it.”
     
    Lucy watched the one called Meara cover the distance separating them and slap the one called Aja sharply.
     
    “He was kissing her, you eejit. The man was just bloody kissing her. And he was doing a fine job from where I was standing,” Meara protested.
     
    “You don’t know that her enjoyment was voluntary. Look at her hair, Meara. Does the captain look cared for as a woman should? No. She looks worse than we do and that’s saying more than I need to know to feel justified in wanting to kill him,” Aja declared.
     
    “Well, you don’t know that her moaning in pleasure wasn’t voluntary… or real,” Meara supplied. “And haven’t you learned your fecking lessons about randomly killing people yet? That’s how the bloody Chinese bots nearly nabbed us. Your temper is out of control, Aja.”
     
    Lucy stayed calm, even when the one named Aja continued to advance on her. She lifted her arm, pressed the proper points, and then stared hard at the woman. “Stop or I will have no choice but to disarm you.”
     
    When the one named Aja both growled and screeched her displeasure over the warning, Lucy wondered briefly why she found the attacker’s reaction more amusing than threatening.
     
    “Did they install magic freckles on your arm, Captain? Well, I don’t care if they did.” Aja exclaimed angrily.
     
    Lucy recognized the attack yell