Free Deadly Betrayal by Maria Hammarblad Page A

again.
    John looked thoughtful. “I could probably replace the parts, we just don’t have any. I’m not even sure the Bell carries everything we need.”
    That was definitely a problem. Adam was unique. We couldn’t go to Android-Shack and buy spare gadgets.
    “There is one place…” He sounded reluctant.
    “What?”
    “I’m just thinking, there’s one place where we might be able to get what he needs.”
    As averse as he sounded, the place must be awful.
    “You look like you don’t want to go there.”
    “I certainly do not.”
    The puzzle finally came together in my mind. He was talking about the planet where Adam and Eve were built. Cheryl made two androids, and there might be parts there for more.
    It sounded like a good idea to me and I was curious to see John’s home and Adam’s birthplace. I could probably learn a lot about my two favorite people in the world from visiting.
    “From what I have heard it’s a desolate planet. The place is probably empty.”
    He gave a slight shrug. “We don’t know that. I haven’t been there for over a decade, there might be vindictive androids everywhere.”
    Adam and Eve might have siblings. Why didn’t I ever think of that?
    I was useless. Adam would protect me, but he wasn’t in shape to think of any brilliant plans. If we went there, everything would be up to John. As if asking him to return to the place where everything went wrong wasn’t enough.
    John said, “It’s not far from here, should just be a couple of days. I’ll set the course.”
     
    *****
     
    John kept Adam busy with fabricated ship repairs most of the day, but when evening turned into night, all three of us sat in the lounge.
    I yawned. “I need to go to bed.”
    John smiled. “Good night, honey.”
    This was going to be weird. It didn’t matter how I turned, it would be weird. Last night things just happened, not that much happened, but now it involved a conscious decision.
    The sofa that had been my bed for so long, our bed for so long, had to return to being a sofa. I needed to stop thinking about this as my bedroom.
    I headed for the corridor. Adam didn’t move.
    John said, “Go with her.”
    I waited by the door. To be honest, I didn’t want either of them to follow me, there was too much to figure out and I could do so better in an empty room, but Adam was my husband, and he was so damaged. He had gone through so much to return to us, to me .
    He crossed the floor with a couple of long steps. “May I come with you?”
    “Of course. Come.”
    I felt like I spoke to a pet and the thought made me feel guilty. John’s mouth twitched and he clearly had a hard time suppressing laughter, so maybe he heard it too. He shook his head as he met my eyes, and allowed himself to grin when Adam couldn’t see him.
    Once we reached the relative privacy of the corridor I said, “I’m so sorry you had to be alone for all that time. If I had known, I would have come for you.”
    Being locked in a closet alone, without even being able to move, sounded awful beyond belief.
    “I know you would have. I wish I could have reached you. You thought I was dead and that’s worse than being alone and broken.”
    Broken. What a cold word for such a warm and caring person. I reached my hand out to him and felt a wave of relief when he took it.
    “How do you feel?”
    “I feel…” He frowned. “Down to twenty-six percent. I know there are many things I should know and care about, but I don’t. I try not to think about it.”
    I didn’t know what to say, so I hugged him and he held me carefully. This, at least, remained.
    Once we reached my room he stretched out on the bed with all his clothes on, just like the night before. Probably more because he didn’t have anywhere else to go than out of a wish to lie down.
    When did life become this surreal? Had it always been and I just didn’t notice?
    I sat down with my back to him and lifted my hair to the side. “Would you please unzip me?”
    “I