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They both lapsed into silence as they tried to make out what their companions were trying to convey. It took him a few seconds, but only because he’d never seen a drone from this angle before. The phrase, a bird’s-eye-view, suddenly took on new meaning.
“Son of starbeast. That’s an IAF reconnaissance drone,” he said out loud while layering on more information for Amun.
“Is that what they are? Douglas is really pushing his luck. Isn’t he? Oh, and Hera says there are two of them.”
A wicked thought occurred to Axe, and he broke into a grin. “Think our feathered friends would like to play with the lieutenant’s new toys?”
Rin’s eyes widened, and she clapped her hands with unrepentant glee. “Why don’t we ask them?”
Amun, Hera, and the rest of the subjects were more than happy to go after anything the IAF owned, and Rin had to talk fast to convince Hera to wait until the two of them were in the open so they could watch.
Rin grabbed her viewing glasses out of her pack and scanned the sky. “Where are they?”
“Target one is at your four o’clock. Target two is at eight o’clock. It looks like Amun and Hera are going after the second one.”
“Thank you. I see them now. You’ve got amazing vision.”
“Cyborg, remember?” He tapped his chest with his fist. “I’m stuffed full of the best technology available eight years ago.”
“Eight years?” Rin spun around to stare at him in shock, the pending battle above forgotten.
“What?” He hadn’t a clue why she was looking at him like that.
“You’re eight years old. Holy hells and gravity wells, that makes me the queen of the cradle robbers!”
He snorted. Of all the things to worry about, that was her concern? “Physically, I’m in my early thirties. I came out of my maturation tank as a fully functional soldier, with all the skills and knowledge I needed. My technical age is irrelevant.”
She didn’t look convinced, so he added, “Besides, the Vardarians live for centuries and some of them have found cyborg mates. None of that matters here.”
He enjoyed watching her expression as she processed what he’d said and realized he was right.
Before she could say anything more, several hawks screamed in challenge and went on the attack. One by one, the hawks dove at the drones, each strike threatening to knock the machines out of the air.
Chunks of debris and shattered housing fell to the ground after each successful hit, and the entire skirmish ended quickly. The last drone fell in a drunken spiral that ended when it crashed into a tree.
Amun sent a pulse of smug satisfaction that made Axe chuckle. “You wrecked them, bird. Good job,” he said out loud.
Rin smiled too, but her eyes moved from the downed drones to the hawks and back several times. “They took them apart so fast.” She tapped her chin thoughtfully and looked skyward again before continuing. “You said you were born with the skills and knowledge you needed to fulfill your function. Do you think the same thing could have been done to them? I’ve worked with predatory birds from various planets and ecologies for years, and I’ve never seen anything like that. In your opinion as a combat veteran, were they using combat tactics against these things?”
Axe pulled up the recording he’d automatically made and replayed it with her question in mind. Once he stripped away his enjoyment of the spectacle and focused on the fight, the answer to her question was as clear as the sky above.
“Yes, they were.” There wasn’t a doubt in his mind. Amun and the others had assessed the target, made a plan, and followed through. They’d been created to be weapons… just like him.
“Dammit. That’s what I thought, too, but I haven’t had hard proof until now, so I’ve been able to keep that information out of all my reports because it was just a theory. Now…”
She didn’t need to finish. He understood. Douglas had deployed those drones to spy on them. Now there was a good chance the lieutenant had seen more than he bargained for—footage that suggested the birds were exactly what the IAF wanted.
They called down Amun and Hera while the other two birds stayed aloft, looking for more “toys” to play with.
All thoughts of what they’d started in the forest fell to the wayside for the moment. They’d have to revisit that kiss again but not until they’d dealt with this new problem.
If the hawks were what he suspected, the IAF would never let them go, and the rest of the galaxy would consider them too dangerous to live. If Amun and the others had any chance at gaining their freedom, he and Rin would need proof, a plan, and the support of Haven’s leadership council. And they needed to come up with it fast.
9
Rin’s thoughts raced around her head like grains of rice tossed into a tornado. Everything she’d suspected about the hawks was true. Axe had kissed her. She needed to keep Hera and the others safe somehow. Holy fraxx, that had been some kiss. Had anyone seen the drone footage yet? Had she really been ready to climb the sexy cyborg like a tree and to hell with the consequences? Did she trust Axe enough to tell him everything?
She latched on to that last thought. She trusted Axe completely. Not just because of her attraction to him, or his bond to Amun, but because she knew he was a good, honorable man. He’d help her protect the psy-hawks. And maybe, when this was over, she’d get to kiss him again.
