Chapter Seventeen

Snapper caught Gina as she fell, dropping the part in the process. The ceramic piece shattered against the concrete floor and if there was anyone a few yards away, they would no doubt hear them.

He cradled her in his arms, and shook her gently. “Gina. Gina wake up.”

This couldn’t be happening. She’d said over and over she didn’t sleep or shut down. Had the terminal somehow tapped into her? Was the frequency she’d used to message Jack through his arm dangerous to her?

Unfortunately, he didn’t have much time, so he gently set her on the ground and worked to wipe their presence from the terminal. He did his best with the knowledge he possessed, though not nearly to Gina’s caliber.

Once complete, he scooped her up and that was when the lights started to come on. He moved swiftly, using the cover of vehicles and toolboxes to shield him as much as possible until he got out through very door they had come in.

After a quick adjustment of Gina in his arms, he started scanning for Jack. Jack wasn’t behind the building—no way the hauler would have made it back here without being an eyesore—so Snapper used the cover of the giant cacti to shield them as he moved away from town.

The low hum of an engine vibrated in the air. Snapper silently prayed this would be Jack, otherwise he’d have to risk losing Gina in defense of her. Deciding to be cautious over risky, he laid Gina down next to a small bush, tucking her legs and arms to reduce her size in the hopes she’d be safe if he had to get into a fight.

He stood up scanning the horizon. The line of Singh buildings was to his back, the terrain to his front, and there, coming out of the main road through the gang-town, were Jack and the hauler. Snapper could flag him down, so instead chose to grab Gina again and start moving in Jack’s direction. At the very least, they’d converge.

This is the worst plan.

In retrospect, they should’ve decided on an agreed spot to meet up, instead of the situation he found himself in now—desperate to not draw attention to himself, but needing to if he wanted to get himself and Gina back to Frog Lick.

Gina… Hell, what the fuck happened?

She was still lifeless in his arms. She didn’t need to breath or blink. Her eyes were open with none of the usual curiosity there. No way to know if she was safe or alive. He needed to get her back to town to call someone, to figure out something. Franticness and panic ruled his mind and he clenched Gina’s body closer to him.

Somewhere in his movement toward the hauler, Jack spotted him and turned, pulling up beside him.

The driver brought the vehicle to a complete stop and looked ready to jump out. “What the hell happened?”

“Stay there and be ready to get moving.” Snapper gently laid Gina into the backseat of the hauler. Then he got in the front passenger seat. “Let’s move.”

Jack took off, pushing the hauler as fast as it could go. “Tell me.”

“She just collapsed. Not sure what happened.”

“She doesn’t look like she’s even breathing.”

Yeah, he couldn’t explain that one. Gina’s secret wasn’t his to share, even though he’d used that against her at first. A way to bargain. He’d never tell anyone about her true nature. It wasn’t his story to tell.

“She’s just super knocked out. We get back to Frog Lick, go let Drag know.”

“And the part?”

Snapper shook his head. “No luck. I had the part in my hand, but didn’t think twice about dropping it to make sure Gina didn’t hit her head on the floor. Fuck.”

This meant the engine wouldn’t be finished. They were running out of time and now with Gina out, he wasn’t sure what would happen. A problem to solve tomorrow. Right now he needed to take care of Gina. Fix her, get her back online.

His stomach clenched at those words as they played in his head. She wasn’t human, but somewhere along the way he had begun to hate comparing her to a machine. She deserved to be respected in the same ways as anyone else.

“Shit. Do I need to get the doctor?” Jack asked, his concern evident in the way he kept glancing over his shoulder back at Gina.

“No, make Drag aware and I can handle it.” Snapper was determined to figure out a solution, but unsure of the best approach. He couldn’t let a doctor see her. They would discover she was synthetic. Something had shut her down, and musing back through his conversations with Gina, he remembered interrupting a conversation she was having with someone called Sampson. Her best friend and the man who’d helped her grow into the woman she’d become.

He’d try to reach out to this Sampson. Maybe he had some clue as to what to do with her.

“Do I need to alert anyone else?”

They were hauling ass and coming up on the outskirts of town. Dread pooled low in his gut, a churning grind like chained tires crunching over gravel. There were a lot of what ifs and he believed things were a sign. A sign that maybe this engine wasn’t such a good idea after all and they had risked too much.

Jack brought hauler to a stop in front of the bay. “I’ll tell Drag and send him over.”

“No, don’t send him. Just tell him. That’s it. I’ve got the rest of this covered.” Snapper got out of the hauler and tossed Gina her his shoulder like a sack of bone powder. Jack gave him a weird look as he drove off.

But fuck it, he moved into the bay and over to Gina’s room, laying her down with as much gentleness as he could considering. Then he started his hunt for her holo-communicator. He checked all the usual places with no luck. Going back to the door, he took in the room as a whole. Gina had carried over a minimalist approach from her days on a ship. Limited clothing, a couple of pairs of boots and grav boots, and everything was neat, tidy…arranged. He’d barely taken notice of these things before, so caught up in Gina herself.

Looking now, the room appeared to be barely lived in, but if she wanted to hide her identity, he would have accepted more mess. Some things you couldn’t reprogram inside a person. So in many ways, maybe Gina was just as human as the rest of them. The holo-communicator would be somewhere people couldn’t easily get to. That was when he had the stroke of genius, checking under her bed, then behind the small table that sat next to it with a lamp. His hand brushed again the cold metal and he pulled the communicator out of its hiding spot. He used Gina’s handprint to unlock the screen, then he was in.

She hadn’t taken the time to add extra security, meaning she’d believed she was safe here. Safe…with him. That shouldn’t have warmed his heart at all, but it did. Added to the slowing stoking of his admiration and caring for her, when he should take the situation as a warning sign.

Scrolling through the contacts, he found Sampson’s name and pressed the button to initiate the video call. A lilting melody played in the background as they connected, then Sampson’s face appeared.

“Gina, I haven’t heard from you in over a week. You really should call more frequently… Who the hell are you?”

“I’m Snapper and I need your help. Something is wrong with Gina.” Snapper turned the communicator around so Sampson could see Gina on the bed.

“Holy shit, she shut down. Quick, in her closet there should be a portable battery-charging unit. I told her to put it there. Let’s hope she listened to me.”

Snapper sprang into action, moving to the closet and throwing the door open with enough force it fell off the tracking. He scanned the contents. “Tell me more about what it looks like.”

“White box, about the size of an extinguisher.”

“Got it.” Snapper grabbed the box from the shelf at the top of the storage area. “What do I do now?”

Sampson’s brows were furrowed, words clipped. “Flip her over on her stomach, place the box on the table. At the base of her skull is a circular indentation. Press it and the circle will pop open. Remove the charging cable from the side of the box. Insert the male end with her female part.”

“Gender parts? This isn’t sex.”

“You’re a mechanic. I’m surprised you’re not familiar with the terms.”

Snapper clenched his jaw. “Hold on a minute.”

He set the communicator down and followed Sampson’s directions. Of course, Sampson didn’t shut up as he worked.

“How did this happen?”

Snapper finished rolling her onto her stomach. “Your guess is as good as mine. Honestly, she never told me she has to charge herself.”

“Seriously?” The surprise in his voice echoed Snapper’s frustration.

Gina hadn’t trusted him with this part of her. Again, someone he’d started to feel things for cut him out, kept things secret. This here was a reminder of how the long-term for him and Gina wasn’t possible. There had to be a finish date on them. He needed people he could depend on who were honest and open about everything, even things they might regard as weaknesses.

“She has to charge at least every two weeks for a few hours. It isn’t long, but it’s required. As much as she wishes she didn’t need it, she does. It’s her only limitation. Do you have it plugged in yet? Once you do, a light on the box should go green.”

“Almost.” Snapper finished the last bit, pressing the circle indentation. It popped up with a small click, revealing a rectangle-shaped port. He put the charging cable into the port until it was secure and glanced at the box. The green light illuminated.

Grabbing the communicator, he showed his handiwork to Sampson. “This look right?”

“Yes. Yes, but how long was she without power?”

“The better part of an hour or two. We were out of town visiting another gang.”

Sampson shook his head. “She told me about the engine work. Trading for parts again?”

Seemed Gina wasn’t telling Sampson everything either, but Snapper would let her deal with that.

“Yes, we were and I had to get her out of there fast.”

Sampson nodded. “I appreciate you keeping her safe. I won’t lie—I’ve been worried about her being there, without people who know how special she is.”

Special…pain in the ass, aren’t they the same thing?

“She’s something all right. Drives me nuts.”

Sampson chuckled. “Oh yeah, she does that too. Can you have her run diagnostics when she wakes, ensure she isn’t having any issues?”

“I can.”

“She likes you, and you drive her nuts, too.”

Snapper blanked out a bit at those words, not sure how to respond. He waffled between anger and shock. She talked about him, with someone else, and expressed interest in him. Cared for him.

But she doesn’t trust me with everything.

Relationships, even friendships relied upon trust.

Snapper cleared his throat against the lump lodged there. “Well, at least our feelings our mutual.”

“If you hurt her in any way, I’ll kill you. Not a threat, just a statement of fact. Gina is family and is like a sister to so many. She deserves happiness, and for some reason, she’s finding it in Frog Lick with you.”

Snapper hated how those words twisted things up more inside him, like a coiling rope, getting tighter and smaller. He hated being vulnerable to this. Almost as if his emotions were being manipulated to serve her purposes. Gina was hiding plenty from a lot of people, even someone like Sampson who’d kill for her.

“I’ll do my best. Anything else?” Because even though Gina hid things, he’d still protect her. Still keep her safe.

Because it’s the right thing to do.

“Sometimes she’ll do things without considering the ramifications. It’s important she has someone beside her that will be able to prop her up. Asking questions doesn’t always give the right answers.”

Didn’t Snapper know it. “I’ll bear that in mind and I’ll reach out if there are any issues.”

“All right, tell Gina to call me soon when she gets up.”

Snapper gave a nod and disconnected the call. He heard a solid knock on the door, and didn’t hesitate to say enter, expecting Drag to not have listened to Jack at all and come running.

The door swung open, the creak of the hinges loud and clear.

“So it’s true.” Artie’s voice had Snapper twisting around lightning quick.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

She smirked and pointed at Gina prone on the bed, the charging cable sticking out from her neck. “We need to talk.”