Claudia laughed and waved a hand toward the cyborg door. “Those guys are top-secret. Pretty sure that’s why we’re not let loose to talk about it. Not until our contract’s up, anyway.” She finished her water and crumpled the pouch into a wad. “I’ve been in this business a long time, so let me give you some advice; focus on the money, then the job doesn’t seem so bad.”
“But this isn’t my job!” Attie stopped pacing and dropped her arms, facing Claudia. “Syndicorp wouldn’t assign me here. My father is a major with the Planetary Logistics Regiment on the SNV Talus. I was the first in my class to make corporal. For nebula’s sake, I used to be part of Admiral Olly’s staff!”
Claudia’s eyes narrowed, and she crossed her arms. “Whatever, miss hoity toity. You obviously rubbed someone the wrong way. I’d say you’re being punished. What’d you do?”
Attie’s mouth went bone dry as clarity settled over her for the first time in what felt like days. This isn’t a test for a promotion. She was being punished because of Marlis. “I helped a terrorist escape the Icarus.”
“Whoa.” The scorn in Claudia’s eyes was replaced by curiosity as she pushed herself upright. “Seriously? Are you with the rebels? Because before I left Madame Miliano’s, there was a rumor that the rebels were looking for women to join them.”
Attie barely heard her. Was she going to be stuck here until her enlistment expired? They couldn’t do that. She hadn’t had a trial. How was she going to get out of this mess? “Did you say there were other women here before me? What happened to them?”
“You answer my question first.”
“What?” It took Attie a second to backtrack. “Oh, the rebels. No, I’m not with the rebels. I was helping my sister.”
“So, your sister’s with them?”
“No. I mean, yes. I mean, I don’t think she means to be. Nebulas!” Attie swore and rubbed her temples. “Tell me about the other women that were here.”
Claudia let out a puff of air. “There were two others here when I first arrived. The first woman left a few days later, while I was sleeping. I asked Jinson, and he said her contract was up. A few weeks later, he came in and told Tia it was time for her to go, too.”
At least the women didn’t appear to be here permanently. That was a relief. “How long have you been here?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe four months? Tia said she’d been here over a year.”
I will not spend another day in here, let alone a year. She looked around the big room, hoping for cameras. “Hello? I want to talk to someone in charge.”
“I don’t think anyone’s listening, or if they are, they don’t give a shit. I tried asking the cyborgs questions the first few times, but they never answer.”
“Who are these cyborgs, anyway? Why do they get a top-secret brothel?” Saying brothel out loud made Attie nauseous.
Claudia tilted her head thoughtfully. “I heard there was a new start-up company called SexAI that specializes in personalized sex bots. Maybe this is a sex-cyborg training program.”
Attie’d never heard of someone using a cyborg for sex. The few in existence were used as bodyguards for high-level Syndicorp officials and were considered closer to robots than people. “Who needs an AI for that? I’d think there are enough genuine people willing to do the job.”
“People like to talk after sex, and even a trusted lover can be bought.” Claudia shook her head somberly. “I knew a couple of girls who disappeared after they had a falling out with a high-level client. Some clients might prefer an AI because they can be kept silent.”
Talking about AIs made Attie remember Twerp. She’d left the device hidden inside her closet light fixture. What if her quarters were reassigned to someone else while she was here? She ran her fingers along the edges of the door again, hoping she’d missed the latch. “That doctor guy seemed like he was in charge. Will he be back?”
“That’s the first time I’ve seen him,” Claudia said and stood. “Sooo…” She leaned one shoulder against the wall, watching Attie try to open the door. “I’ve never seen that cyborg you were with show interest in a woman before.” Her gaze rolled down Attie’s body and back to her face. “Was he rough?”
“He only kissed me.” Attie recognized that he’d done it because the doctor had shown up, but nebulas, her panties were still wet from the encounter. Drugs or not, he was exactly the sort of man who could make her weak in the knees. What would happen the next time they met? She shook her head. The last thing she should be imagining right now was what his palms would feel like roaming her bare skin.
Her hands fell still and she let out a slow breath, remembering Marlis whispering to her about a top-secret research program on board the Icarus. The rebel pirates had been trying to rescue one of the test subjects. “Do you know that cyborg’s name?”
“The guys call him Doug.”
Attie’s veins turned to ice as she recognized it as the name Marlis had used.
There was a secret test lab on the ship. And Doug was the prisoner Marlis had been after. The question was—why?
Chapter 7
Attie had decided she should stop drawing attention to herself until she had some answers. If her sister had been right about the lab, then maybe the other things she’d said were true, too. Were these cyborgs prisoners or were they here willingly? Marlis had been trying to free Doug, but it seemed strange that prisoners would be provided the company
