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She wasn’t certain how long she was unconscious, but when she woke, pain consumed her, mostly centered on her right side, but also at the back of her head. She tried to sit up, but froze when a voice beside her spoke.
“Go easy there. I think you have a serious concussion.”
Slowly, Carrie turned her head in the direction of the voice, and she was certain she recognized the features before her. They belonged to whomever had coordinated the attack with the synthetic.
She tried to scramble backward, but all that accomplished was sending pain down her spine. The left side of her was faring far better than the right, but she wasn’t in any shape to get up and move around just yet. At that moment, she wished Owen had fully converted her skeleton, skin, and vascular system to a cybernetic one so she could heal more rapidly.
“That was quite a fall.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t finish me off,” said Carrie in a raspy voice.
The black woman frowned, looking startled. “Why would I do that?”
Without thought, she shrugged her right shoulder before a dart of agony reminded her why that was a bad idea. “I’m not sure why you had your synthetic attack me either, but you did. I was fully human then.”
The woman shook her head, and the motion caused the hood she’d been wearing to fall to her shoulders and reveal a vibrant fall of dark, kinky curls. “I saved you. I didn’t attack you or have that thing go after you.”
Carrie snorted. “Your definition of saving is different from mine.” She looked at her left side ruefully for a moment.
“If I hadn’t used a pulser on that thing, it would have finished you off. I wasn’t trying to hurt you. I was just happy to see someone finally show up to meet us, and then the synthetic appeared. I did what I could to help you, whether or not you believe that.”
Carrie eyed her doubtfully, but could find no hint of artifice in the features before her. “What’s a pulser?”
“It sends a small EMP pulse outward. It’s not enough to destroy them, but it temporarily short-circuits their systems, kind of like pressing reset. That’s how it was described to me. It’s enough to allow us to escape, and it usually wipes the last few seconds of their memory as well, from what we can tell.”
Carrie’s head was pounding, which made it difficult to follow the words for a moment. “Why would you be afraid of the synthetics? You made them.”
The woman let out a harrumphing sound. “I didn’t do anything of the kind. It was my ancestors who started this mess, and my great-grandfather was one of the few deemed worthy of saving when they made the decision to deploy the weapon that they knew would destroy just about everything aboveground, but don’t blame me for that.”
Carrie lifted a hand to rub down her face, wincing when she found traces of blood above her right eye. “I guess I didn’t mean you personally, but I’m confused. Don’t the synthetics work for you? They were the replacement for the cyborgs, right? Meant to be obedient and wipe out the cyborg problem?”
“I’ve heard that was their purpose, but they must’ve disagreed. They were programmed to believe cyborgs are fundamentally flawed, and their own logic led them to the conclusion that humans are even more fundamentally flawed, since cyborgs are merely an “enhanced” version of humans. They’re out to destroy us just as much as they are to kill you cyborgs. That’s why I hope we can make peace between us and find a way to fight them together.”
Carrie’s eyes widened. “You want to work together with the cyborgs? You genuinely mean that? After I was attacked, I was certain it was just a trap, which is what they all believe after the last time they tried to meet with you.”
“That wasn’t a trap either. The synthetics tracked the humans and attacked both sides that day. We lost a lot of our people, and we continue to lose more each year this conflict continues. To be blunt, this enclave doesn’t have a lot of people left to lose.”
“I’m not sure you’ll get the cyborgs to believe that. Sounds like they have good reason to fear and hate humans.”
The woman’s shoulders squared, and there was look of determination on her face. “And I intend to give them a reason to change their minds. Are you willing to help me, or do you want this conflict to continue until we’re all dead?”
“I’ll help you if I can, but I’m not sure how influential I’ll be. I’m a recent arrival myself.”
“Why don’t you tell me about that while we get you back to the living quarters?” As she spoke, she stood up and took off her duster. “You’d better put this on, or you’ll scare the humans back at the enclave.”
With some assistance from the human woman, Carrie managed to get to her feet. It startled her to realize she had classified the woman as human and was already feeling a divide from her that was deeper than just the external changes. In an effort to do away with the disconnect, she said, “I’m Carrie Morgan, formerly of Denver, Colorado, circa four hundred and thirty years ago or so.”
The black woman’s eyes widened significantly. “You’re claiming to be a time traveler?” Her skepticism was obvious.
“I am, and I’ll tell you all about it on the way. What’s your name?”
“I’m Gwen Harrison, and I’m the leader of the enclave. There’s no one left who wants the thankless task.”
Instead of holding out a hand to shake, Carrie put an arm around the other woman’s waist, using her for support as they moved gingerly away from the pile of debris that had scattered around when she had fallen and landed so hard.
Each step felt like torture in the beginning, but as she immersed herself in conversation and focused on her companion, Carrie found the pain fading. She wasn’t certain if it was the distraction of the meeting, or if her healing ability had kicked in, or a combination of the two, but by the time she they stopped at the mouth of the cave through the passageway they had navigated, she was only limping a little and feeling much better than she had.
Gwen hesitated. “I’m not asking you to hide that you’re a cyborg, but I do need you to be discreet for a bit until I have a chance to prepare them. None of us know how cyborgs will react to us, since we’re technically at war. None of them know I’ve been sending out messages to try to set up a meeting except for Leith, who’s our communications person. He keeps the rickety equipment running enough to send the transmissions, and he helps me determine the safest coordinates for meetings. Even he thinks I’m mad, but is willing to go along with it because he knows our choices are rapidly dwindling.”
Carrie pulled the duster tighter around her face and did her best to obscure her left side as she took a step back, allowing Gwen to precede her. She followed the other woman into a larger opening in the underground pathway. She’d learned during their walk that it had once been a government bunker meant to secure dignitaries and the people deemed important enough to save. It could still function as a bunker, but now it housed one of the last few remaining enclaves of humans about which Gwen had any knowledge.
Most of the enclaves had lost touch over the years, and she didn’t know if there were survivors among any of them except one other group that was hundreds of miles away and impossible to reach on foot. Their communication equipment was faulty and often dropped the connection, so Gwen had told her they were lucky to speak with the other group once or twice a year.
At first, no one seemed to realize Gwen had brought in a stray, which allowed Carrie a moment to observe them without mutual curiosity. From what she saw, it was mostly older people moving around in the open area. There were more women than men, and only a few children. She assumed there were more people who weren’t moving around the main gathering area, but it was a grim sight if this was one of the last surviving groups of human civilization.
Abruptly, the two children who had been chasing each other caught sight of them and came running over. The little girl moved more sedately than her clearly younger brother, but was obviously equally eager to reach Gwen.
The little boy arrived first, throwing himself against Gwen. “Mama, Mama, Britta said you wouldn’t be back.”
Gwen frowned. “Did you tell your brother that, young lady?”
Britta shook her head, frowning. “I said you wouldn’t be back until late tonight, Mama. I told him I’d tuck him in if you weren’t back.”
Gwen nodded, and her expression was soft as she knelt down to hug both of the children. “That was very nice of you, Britta. I’m sure Pollux would appreciate you giving him a bedtime story if I’m not around do it.” She looked up at Carrie. “I always try to be home for that, but sometimes things happen.”
Carrie nodded.
“Who’s she?” asked Pollux, his brown eyes big with curiosity.
“This is my new friend, Carrie. She’s come to meet everyone, and we have some things to talk about.”
“Grown-up things?” asked Pollux with a hint of indignation.
Gwen nodded. “Yep, so you and Britta will have to find somewhere else to play in a little bit.”
“It’s not fair,” said Britta in a sharp tone. “I’m almost eight years old. Pollux is a baby, because he’s only four, but I’m old enough to stay.”
Carrie carefully hid a twitch of her lips, not wanting to offend the child. It was obvious from Gwen’s posture that this was a common argument, suggested by her air of weariness.
“You’re a very mature young lady, and that’s why I need you to keep an eye on Pollux while we discuss important matters.”
Britta seemed to consider her words for a moment before sighing. “Fine, Mama.”
“When do we have to leave?” asked Pollux.
“Soon. I’m going to have Leith call everyone in.” She turned to look at Carrie. “Radios,” she added.
Carrie nodded her understanding, and then took an abrupt and automatic step back when Pollux approached. Normally, she had no reason to fear children and enjoyed interacting with them, but the awareness of how he would be frightened if he saw her face kept her from engaging him.
He stared up at her anyway, seeming undeterred by her moving away. “Where did you come from? Are you in the Alaska enclave? Did you walk all that way? Mama says Alaska used to be covered in snow, and she showed us pictures. Is it really covered in snow? Is it really all gone like she says it is now?”
“I’m not from Alaska, but the one time I visited, there was a lot of snow. That was a long time ago though.”
“How long?” asked Pollux as he moved closer still.
“Umm...” How did she answer that? In her time, it would have been about seven years ago, when she had gone on an Alaskan cruise with her parents. It had been one of their last family vacations together. Was the answer more like four hundred and thirty-seven years? That was far too much to try to explain in a brief amount of time, so she settled for shrugging. “It’s just been a really long time. I wouldn’t be surprised if all the snow is gone now, just guessing from what I’ve seen where we are.”
He came closer still, reaching out to touch her duster. “How come you’re wearing Mama’s coat?”
“She was cold,” said Gwen.
“It looks better on my mama. You’re too short for it.”
That startled a laugh out of Carrie, and she brought up a hand to hold in the giggles. It wasn’t until she saw Britta’s face turn ashen and Pollux stumble back a step that she realized she had brought up her left hand instead of her right. The faintly blue skin was visible for all to see, and it provoked an uproar around her. There was a combination of angry voices tinged with fear and movement from all sides as people either scattered or tried to press closer in a threatening fashion.
She reared back, pressing her shoulder against the wall of the cave when she reached it, unaware until that moment that she had been backing away as they pressed closer. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
Gwen stepped in front of her, physically shielding her with her body. “Stop this right now. I brought Carrie here so we can make peace. We’ve fought needlessly, and we’ve been enemies with the cyborgs for far too long. It’s time to end things, and you’re ruining it by frightening her.”
Carrie took a deep breath and step forward, pulling back the cloak to reveal her face. There was a stunned silence, followed by gasps of shock and a few cries that could have been fear or repulsion. She tried not to let it bother her, though it did.
“I have a lot in common with you, all of you. Until a few days ago, I was completely human. The cyborgs took me in, and when I was injured by one of the synthetics, they saved my life with their technology. I’m not on either side, and I have a unique perspective. I think peace is in everyone’s best interest, especially if the synthetics are out to get both our groups. I don’t want to fight with you, and I’m certainly not going to hurt you. I hope you won’t hurt me either.”
An older woman stepped forward, and she appeared to be the oldest one in the group. “How do we know you’re telling the truth?”
Carrie shrugged. “I guess you have no way of knowing for sure, but I’m not lying. I’ve only recently been thrust into the situation.” As quickly as possible, she relayed the events that had brought her to their time period. She could see the skepticism on the faces around her, but she couldn’t do anything to change that either. It was only when she got to the point of revealing that Davis was her mate that voices rose again in protest.
The older woman was glaring at her. “You claim to be in a relationship with one of those cyborgs? They’re as unfeeling as synthetics.”
Carrie glared at her. “No, they aren’t. They’re a lot like you, and in fact, they were once just like you. For a variety of reasons, they chose to become cyborgs, or were forced into it, but they retain their humanity. I hope I can say the same for you.”
After a moment, the older woman bent her head. “I’m sorry. I’m regurgitating what I’ve heard, and I should know better by now.”
Carrie let her voice soften. “I understand. I can’t imagine being in your position, and I couldn’t imagine being in the cyborgs’ until a few days ago. This was all bewildering to me. I went from crocheting in my living room to being embroiled in a cyborg-human war.”
“It’s my fault,” said the older woman.
“That isn’t true, abuelita,” said a man who was probably two decades younger than her, and likely around sixty.
“Indirectly, I am. Henry—that was my husband, and the leader of the program that decided to unleash the weapon that would destroy the ionic bonds and hopefully wipe out the cyborgs, though they knew it would also kill humans—asked if I thought we were doing the right thing. I was trying to be a good wife and supportive, and I thought I was acting in humanity’s best interest when I encouraged him to do what had to be done. Of course, I made sure my family was safe first.” Bitterness tinged her words. “So please don’t let me stop your attempts at making peace, Gwen.”
“It certainly won’t, Elena, but you’re being too hard on yourself. Ultimately, you weren’t the one who made the call, and I doubt Carrie is going to let your initial lack of welcome frighten her away.”
Carrie took another step to stand in line right beside Gwen. “No, I won’t. It’s far too important to form an alliance and make this work. We all need peace, and we need to bring an end to the synthetics.”
“We can’t afford not to make peace,” said Gwen. “We’ve lost too many people. Most of the able-bodied adults are gone, and even more of the men. We’ve all lost someone. I lost Stephen...” Her voice broke on the word for a moment before she cleared her throat. “Britta and Pollux lost their father. We all have similar stories, and I’m sure the cyborgs have their own. We can’t let anything jeopardize an alliance, and it has to start with a cease-fire.”
Carrie opened her mouth to agree, but was prevented from doing so by the sudden discharge of a plasma weapon. It just barely missed her, and she cried out. Ducking down instinctively, she looked around for the source of whomever had attacked her.
She fully expected it to be one of the humans, so it was like a punch in the solar plexus when she saw MX409 suddenly looming over her as the humans scattered out of his way. His weapon was centered directly on her, and a brief glance at his face revealed he was fully committed to firing and ending her life.
Later, Carrie couldn’t be certain if Elena had deliberately drawn MX’s fire, or if it had been an accident. Either way, when she stumbled and crashed into Carrie, it sent her flying, and MX’s weapon struck the old woman instead. Carrie cried out, but she was the only one, since Elena immediately fell silent and dropped to the ground with a strange, innate gracefulness. She scrambled closer to the elderly lady, still wary of the weapon MX409 held, and soon realized there was no need to feel for a pulse. There was a huge hole in the woman’s chest and abdomen.
Tears scalded her eyes as she glared up at MX. “Why did you do that? She was just an old woman.”
“She’s a human and plotting against us, just like you.”
She was certain he was going to try to kill her again, and she searched frantically for a means of escape. It came in a surprising form as Britta held up a small handheld device and pointed it at MX. He started twitching, and the luminescent quality of his veins flickered for a moment. He dropped his weapon and looked confused. “What’s happening?”
Carrie didn’t bother waiting around to explain it to him. She was just guessing, but assumed the child had used the pulser on him. Since he didn’t have a cybernetic brain, it hadn’t been enough to short-circuit his system, but it had disrupted the ionic bond between his human and mechanical parts long enough to incapacitate him briefly.
She wasn’t certain to where she was running, but she had to get away from him, so she surrendered to the urge. Carrie ran a few feet before slamming into something hard and solid, which stole her breath.
It took her a long moment to regain her equilibrium and realize the thing she’d run into was actually Davis. Looking at his expression, along with the set of his shoulders and the way he crossed his arms over his chest, she guessed he was an angry Davis. She licked her lips. “Davis, is everything all right?”
He let out a small breath that sounded ragged a second before hauling her into his arms. “It is now. We’ve come to rescue you from the humans.”
She shook her head, frantically pushing against his chest so she could see his face. “There’s no need to rescue me from them. They’re on our side. MX409 is the one you need to deal with. He tried to kill me because he thought I had betrayed you, and he ended up killing an old woman instead.”
Davis’s eyes widened, and he seemed to be considering her words for a moment. While he considered, she looked over his shoulder by stretching on her tiptoes and peering off to the side, unsurprised to find at least a dozen cyborgs behind him. “Were you mounting a rescue party?”
He nodded just once. “Everyone who’s here is strictly volunteer, but you should know I had to restrict the number of people who could come. Practically the whole base volunteered.”
That warmed her, and she snuggled closer to him for a brief moment before reality intruded in the form of a crying child.
Abruptly recalling the circumstances, and where they were, Carrie turned away from him, though he didn’t allow her to leave his side. Three cyborgs now surrounded MX, who had collapsed to the floor and looked like he was still shaken. The crying came from Pollux, who was snuggled tightly against Gwen. She wasn’t certain which issue was the source of his tears, but imagined it was a combination of all factors—MX trying to kill her and succeeding in killing Elena, the incursion by the cyborgs, and the resulting chaos.
“Gwen wants a cease-fire.”
Davis stirred slightly behind her. “Who’s Gwen?”
She pointed to the leader of the enclave, who was currently holding both her children and rocking them in a maternal fashion that sent a pang of longing through Carrie that she couldn’t deny. “That’s Gwen. She leads the enclave. She said the synthetics are out to destroy the humans too. It would be in our best interest to make peace.”
He nodded, his body softening slightly behind her as both of his arms slipped around her waist. “That sounds like a sensible idea.”
“What about Max...MX?”
“He’ll go in the brig for now until he can explain his actions. Then we’ll decide how to proceed.”
She let out a shaky breath and melted completely against him. “I was certain he was going to kill me, and I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.” She turned around slowly in his arms, twining hers around his shoulders and uncaring that they had an audience of human and cyborgs. “I love you, Davis. I guess Freydon Rote was right. I am your mate.”
He grinned at her. “He was one hundred percent right about that, and he was right about something else too.”
She arched a brow. “What’s that?”
“You have brought an end to the war with the humans. We aren’t done fighting, but the conflict with the humans appears to be over, and they’ll be our allies.”
As his words permeated her brain, she let out a small sigh of contentment. She hadn’t been a fool to believe in Rote’s words after all. The route to this point had been complex, with a series of twists and turns she hadn’t expected, but she had fulfilled her destiny and was right where she belonged—in her mate’s arms, on a bleak world, more than four hundred years in her future. Right then, it was the most amazing place to be, and she whispered a silent thanks to Freydon Rote as Davis bent his head to kiss her.