"FULL MOON S_F_ - THE NEW METAL SURGEON (Steve Steed)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Steed Steve)
FULL MOON S.F. - THE NEW METAL SURGEON (Steve Steed)
THE NEW METAL SURGEON
Steve Steed
Rena slid slowly into the seat with a feline sexuality, then paused for
a few moments as if to allow the middle aged man behind the desk to fully
appreciate her sensuous form. Then she leant forward, a hint of a smile on
her full lips, as he openly leered at the sight of her large breasts only
a little of which were hidden by the low cut front of her white, tight
fitting mini dress.
"Well," she began silkily, "it's most unusual to be personally greeted
by the Governor of the planet on my arrival."
"Tomas Vann," he introduced himself. "We don't get many visitors here
on Finnigan's Planet," the man explained, "there's not much interest in a
run down mining colony on the edge of the Galactic rim, and," he added,
"it's been some time since we had a visit from a Metal Surgeon."
Rena gave a brief grimace at the mention of the term. "I think the
politically correct term is now Cybergenic Consultant," she countered,
smiling sweetly.
"But why would you want to come to a God forsaken dump like this
anyway?" he continued. "Especially someone as young and beautiful as you?"
Rena responded to the obvious compliment by slowly crossing her long
legs, the hem of the dress riding up further. She almost absently caressed
them with her hands as she replied. "I'm taking a Masters Degree in
Android Antiquities," she explained. "Back on Earth, there's some material
at the University and a little more can be found in Museums, but out here
on the Rim, there are several isolated planets that still have working
Androids that are no longer found anywhere else. Some are over a hundred
years old."
"My expedition was funded by my parents and a grant from the
University, but in order to fully cover the escalating costs, I am also
carrying out repair work on these old Androids where it is required. Apart
from providing additional finances, it also provides excellent
opportunities to further research the workings of these machines."
"Well," the Governor stated, "we haven't had a Metal - sorry,
Cybergenic Consultant out here for many years. Luke Graymore used to make
an annual visit, but in the end, he decided it wasn't cost effective and
stopped coming. There aren't many men here anymore. The mining operation
also failed to remain cost effective, although there are large deposits of
ore still readily available."
"There's only a skeleton crew to keep things ticking over until the
price of the ore rises to a level where it will be profitable to restart
operations. This is a very rough planet for a young lady travelling
alone."
Rena looked up at the small machine hovering to her left. "There's no
cause for concern," she assured him. "Daddy wouldn't let me travel without
the protection of Mek. He is at the cutting edge of technology, unlike the
subjects I study. In tests, he was able to identify and terminate over one
hundred separate but simultaneous attacks in a crowd of over five thousand
people. His success rate was one hundred percent with no harm caused to
any of the rest of those present. I can assure you I am quite safe
wherever I go, no matter how dangerous it might be."
"There is another issue," the Governor continued. He paused, looking
slightly embarrassed. "All the mining machinery and related androids were
sold off by auction." He paused again. "Mr Finnigan, who still owns this
planet, was and is, a very moral man. He considered females, particularly
the type that would frequent mining settlements to be morally dangerous
and disruptive." He paused again. "However, he realised that the men
needed some form of, er, entertainment."
Rena interrupted him, laughing. "It's okay," she said. "Before I
started to tour this sector, Luke Graymore briefed me on all the planets
he used to visit. I know the androids here are used for sex. I've not got
any moral hang ups on that score," she said. She bent forward again and
lowered her voice to a confidential tone. "In fact, I haven't got any
moral hang ups at all. I think sex is natural, wonderful and fabulous and
we should all get as much of it as we can. Don't you agree?"
The Governor was lost for words, becoming visibly flustered.
"I may only be in my late teens," Rena replied, "but I lost my
virginity very early on, and was mightily glad I did. I'm very, very
experienced and very open minded." She sat back up, adopting a more
business like tone. "I won't be starting work here until tomorrow. I
expect you'd like to have dinner this evening. Come to my space ship at
eight." She stood up, stroking the creases out of her dress. The Governor
watched mesmerised as she began to caress herself. "You'll remember
tonight, forever," she added sweetly. "I promise." Then she turned and
walked out of the room.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Governor Vann downed a second cup of coffee, but still couldn't stop
his hands trembling. He considered himself to be a bit of a ladies man,
and in his time had had many liaisons and had frequented a lot of high
class and low life brothels, but never had he experienced anything like
last night. Maybe he had met women who were as beautiful, sensuous,
passionate, sexual, insatiable and wanton, but never more than one
characteristic at that intensity in any one woman. Rena had all of them,
at maximum. By the time dawn was breaking, she was still as rampant and
demanding as she had been when they'd finished their meal, and she had
dragged him into her bedroom. He shook his head in disbelief
"Hey boss," a voice interrupted his thoughts. It was the foreman from
the mining camp, Bart King. "Got a message for you from that broad who
landed yesterday, you know, the Metal Surgeon. Says she's set up her
clinic in her spaceship. She says you've made a list of appointments for
the boys to take their women in for repair."
"Oh yeah," Vann replied absently, digging out a piece of paper and
passing it over.
"Thanks boss. Say I warned the boys not to get any ideas with that
broad, that hovering machine of hers could make her very dangerous."
"She is very dangerous, indeed," Vann commented. "Tells the boys from
me, if they're not on their best behaviour, they're in big trouble with
me."
"I'll tell 'em, boss," King assured him, "but I've already told 'em
anyone steps out of line'll get their balls chopped off."
Vann smiled wanly at the foreman.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Late in the afternoon, Vann's work was interrupted by a visitor. It was
the girl, Rena. This time, her long dark hair was severely tied up in a
bob and she wore a loose fitting overall.
"How did it go?" Vann asked. "Any trouble?"
"No," Rena assured him, taking a seat, "they were all as good as gold.
I think some of them found it a turn on bringing me their 'women'. A
couple of them even explained to me in great detail what they did with
them." She laughed. "At the other end of the scale, three of them were too
embarrassed to turn up personally and hired an 'agent' to deliver them on
their behalf."
"Name of Brown?" Vann enquired, smiling. The girl nodded. "He's a bit
of a small time wheeler-dealer," he explained. "Plenty of work for you
there?"
"Most of them just need tightening up and servicing." She paused to
smile at her pun. "Having the hell banged out of them for the last ten
years without attention has taken it's toll, but I think I can get most of
them in full working order." She paused again. "I thought I might get a
visit from you," she added mischievously, "or don't you own one?"
"No," Vann replied, not rising to her bait. "My position allows me to
travel off world a lot, so I don't need one to satisfy me."
"Were you satisfied by this morning?" the girl enquired smiling.
"Very much so," Vann replied quietly, feeling at a disadvantage.
"I should hope so," Rena continued. "Maybe we'll do it again before I
leave?"
"I'm free tonight," Vann stated hopefully.
Rena laughed. "I think you'd better rest tonight. Anyway," she added,
"this evening, I've got a date with a sweet young lad my own age."
"Colm!" Vann exclaimed. "It'd kill him!"
"Business, not pleasure," Rena responded. "He says you have some museum
pieces here, on this planet. From his description, It's not a make I'm
aware of." She changed the subject slightly. "He seems a bit out of place
on this world. Surely he doesn't work in the mine like the others?"
"His father did. Got killed in an accident while Colm was visiting here
while his mother was ill. Mother died. He stayed on. Does the clerical
work for me. It's his father's grave and those androids that keep him
here."
"Interesting," Rena commented. "Mind you," she added, "he can't be that
sweet. He brought in a 'woman' himself and its casing was absolutely
wrecked, although the workings were still operational." She giggled. "He
has a very expressive face, and I could tell exactly what he was thinking
all the time he was looking at me. I had a 'shell' in my store, in my own
image. It was quite easy to transfer the workings over and I patched in a
quick enhancement program that I knocked up during the afternoon. You
should have seen his face when I presented it to him and assured him it
was exact in EVERY detail! I don't think he could wait to get it home and
try it out!" She paused again, allowing another mischievous smile, as Vann
tried to stifle a yawn. "Poor boy. I hope he doesn't wear himself out. I
want him to show me these androids."
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Rena knocked on Colm's door. The lock was activated and it hissed open.
Rena stepped inside. The room was sparsely furnished but untidy, littered
with old cartons and other miscellany.
Colm entered the reception room from the bedroom. "Sorry about the
mess," he blurted out, "I was going to tidy up -"
"But you had more important things to do?" Rena suggested, looking over
his shoulder into the next room, where the naked android she had given him
was spread- eagled across the bed. "How's it performing?" she asked
candidly.
The boy's face visibly coloured.
"Come on," she said, "no need for false modesty."
"Fantastic," he mumbled, looking away from her, "and that new program
you put in - I haven't done anything dirty," he assured her anxiously.
"You do what you like," Rena assured him. "I doubt if you'll do
anything to it that I haven't had done to me."
"I'll show you these androids," the boy decided, hastily changing the
subject, "they're through here." He looked up anxiously at the machine,
Mek that constantly hovered by the girl's side. "Is that thing safe?" he
asked. "It seems to be trained on me the whole time."
Rena laughed. "As long as you only think about what you're doing to me
and don't actually try it, you'll be fine."
Colm blushed a deeper shade of red as he led the girl into the back
room. As soon as he switched on the light, the girl's flippant mood
changed completely. "Where did they come from?" she breathed.
"Dad found them during an excavation," Colm explained. "He believed
they were on a space ship that crashed into the planet at some speed. Most
of the ship had welded into the rock strata on impact, but these three had
survived - Oh my God!"
"What's wrong," the girl asked, alarmed by the new tone of the boys
voice.
"The spindly one," he breathed, "it's come to life!"
Rena studied it cautiously. "It seems to be on standby. You say it's
never done this before?"
"No," the boy breathed. "They've all been totally inert, ever since
they were excavated."
Rena was scanning them with her instruments. "They're almost certainly
alien," she decided. "I've never seen anything like them before. Their
casing has an unknown molecular structure to me and its shielding whatever
is inside from my instruments; but I'm certain they're very highly
advanced. Almost certainly well ahead of any of Earth's technology." She
looked up at her own machine, which was now firmly trained on the android.
"Poor old Mek," she mocked, "he thought he was number one. I do believe
he's jealous!" Her tone became more serious. "I can't believe these
machines have been left here 'undiscovered' for so long. This could be a
really major find. I'll have to return to my ship so I can get some decent
surveillance equipment set up here."
"Are we going to be famous?" the boy asked eagerly.
"If we can master their technology, you can add 'rich' to that as
well," the girl assured him. "If anyone asks, don't tell them what I've
said," she advised him. "Originally they would have been the property of
Finnegan Mining, when your father dug them up, but as they've been in your
family some time, a smart Galactic lawyer could challenge ownership. If
anyone asks, say I identified them as an old Earth robot type and they're
worn out and of no functional value at all. You wait here while I go and
get my equipment."
Colm looked anxiously at the machines. "Are you sure it'll be safe for
me to stay here?"
"If it was going to make a move, I think it would have by now," Rena
assured him. She looked pensive. "When was the last time you checked up on
them?"
"About a week ago. Why?"
The girl shrugged. "No reason, just an idea I had...." She paused a
moment, then hurried off back to her space-ship.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Rena returned a few minutes later and immediately began to study the
three androids in some detail. Two were bulky and looked like they were
designed for battle, but the third, which although it hadn't moved, still
appeared to be on stand-by, was slimmer and seemed to have a more refined,
though unknown purpose. Rena spent the next quarter of an hour installing
her equipment, then in a slightly annoyed tone of voice, spoke to Colm.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" she snapped.
Colm shrugged. "I don't know, you seem different ......... you've lost
that vibrancy you had earlier -"
"Keep your fantasies to your toy I gave you," the girl replied coldly.
"There's something else," Colm continued. "While you were gone, I got
to thinking. If there's money in these machines, why should I let you in
on it. You've virtually admitted I could legally claim ownership -"
Rena laughed. "Look, son, I come from a very wealthy family, so I know
that money talks. Let's be blunt about it, you're a nice kid, but you're a
nobody, with no backing and no expertise. If this turns out to be as big a
discovery as I think it might be; you go out on your own and you'd be
eaten for breakfast, chewed up and spat out before lunch."
"Well, we'll see," the boy decided sullenly. "I'll let you investigate
things for the moment."
"Look," Rena explained, "you'd better start to trust me. I could have
got Mek to vaporise you and no-one would have been any the wiser. You're
still here. Just remember that."
Colm gave the hovering machine a frightened glance. "Okay," he said.
"But don't go all cold on me. I like it when you're all flirty and sexy."
"There'll be plenty of time for that," Rena assured him, activating the
final scanner. "Now I've got to get back to my ship and analyse the data
from these monitors. If I can crack how to control these androids, they'll
be worth a hundred times their present value." She looked at the young man
with an almost pitying expression. "Now why don't you go and play with
that toy I gave you. I'll speak to you again tomorrow."
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
A lot of the men from the mining camp were crowded into the bar that
evening. As most of their 'women' were in Rena's space-ship undergoing
repairs, they had nothing better to do than get drunk and have a punch-up
afterwards. It was around the time that one or two of the men were getting
aggressive and were shaping up to each other and trading insults that
suddenly a deathly hush fell over the room.
All eyes turned to the door. Rena had entered. She stood in the doorway
for a moment, then stepped forward. "Hello boys," she stated, "it's
cabaret time." In a graceful motion, she slipped out of the long coat she
wore, letting it fall onto the dirty floor. She was stark naked. She
pushed the glasses off a table and bent forward provocatively. "I hope
you're all going to join in," she said smiling sweetly, "every single one
of you."
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"I'm telling you boss," Bart King enthused to the Governor, "I ain't
never seen anything like it. If I hadn't been there, I wouldn't have
believed it. She couldn't get enough. She had us all and not just one at a
time either and as many times as you could manage. Jesus, if Mr. Finnegan
finds out, he'll have a fit."
Vann was unable to hide his jealousy. It had been obvious she was free
with her favours, but to go with all those miners and in the bar as well.
"The sooner that little slag has finished her repair work, she's to be
banished from this planet and will not be allowed to return," he cursed.
"The boys won't like that, boss," King assured him.
"I don't care what they like. They're paid to maintain the mine in
working order, not to indulge in sex orgies. They knew the score when they
signed up. Sack any of them who show discontent!"
"Okay, boss," King replied, subdued by the outburst.
"Now, down to more serious business," the Governor decided. He was
interrupted by one of the miners bursting into the room. "What the hell do
you want?" Vann snapped, "you can't just burst in here-"
"Governor, governor," the man panted, "you'd better come quick. That
sexy babe; I've just found her on the spaceport perimeter. Someone's
hacked her to pieces. There's blood everywhere!"
Vann looked bewildered for a second, then a serious look crossed his
face. "Let's go," he decided quietly.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
It was not a pretty sight at all. Vann had seen some horrific things in
his time, but whoever had done this wasn't just a killer, but a maniac.
The body had been horribly mutilated. Death seemed to have been caused by
a large knife or axe which had been used repeatedly, long after death had
been achieved.
King pointed at the note that was pinned to the fencing. "You're next,"
he read. "What does it mean, boss? Whose next?"
"I don't know," Vann confessed, realising it could be addressed to him.
"Close off this area and video this scene in detail; then get the body
covered up. I'll call the cops."
"They don't usually bother coming, boss," King stated.
"One miner kills another; that just the way it is out here," Vann
stated. "Someone hacks to death a beautiful young girl whose parents are
rich and influential, all hell'll break loose, believe me!"
"Pity she never brought that floating machine out with her last night,"
King commented.
"Yes," Vann mused, looking puzzled, "it would have blasted her
assailant to bits before they could have even scratched her." He paused.
"So where was it?"
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Colm made his way out to the back room. He used to like going out there
to look at the three androids, but since one of them had 'come to life',
he now felt a sense of foreboding as he opened the door.
The girl's scanners and monitors were humming away, but there was
nothing there for them to watch; the three machines had gone. A hole had
been blasted in the rear wall!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The Governor listened grimly to Colm's story. "So you think that this
girl somehow activated one of the machines in the first place?"
Colm nodded. "There was never a peek out of any of them in the past,
Governor."
Vann tapped his fingers on the table while he reviewed the new
information. He turned to the foreman. "Bart, make sure everyone is armed.
We must assume for the moment that those androids are responsible for the
girl's death. If anyone sees one, shoot first and ask questions later!"
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
An hour or so later, a Police craft landed. Just one officer, a
slightly elderly looking man appeared. "Inspector Jenks," he introduced
himself to the Governor. "The main investigating team are on their way,"
he stated. "I was in this sector, so they diverted me here. I've read your
report on the way here. I'd like to see the scene of the crime first
before I do anything else."
The Governor nodded grimly and with King in tow, the trio walked across
to the perimeter of the spaceport, where two of the miners guarded the
sealed off area, at the centre of which lay a plastic sheet which covered
the corpse.
"It's not nice," Vann warned. "Not nice at all." He pulled back the
sheet.
There was a brief silence. "Oh, but it is," Jenks disagreed. "Very nice
indeed!" He knelt down and shook the naked girl's shoulder. Her eyes
fluttered and a smile broke onto her face. "Hi, officer," she said
silkily. "Mmm, I like a man in a uniform. Can we get together?" He helped
the girl to her feet. He pulled off his coat and wrapped it around her.
Then he looked angrily at Vann and King who stood there, white faced with
their mouths gaping open. "Now will one of you jokers tell me just what
the hell is going on here?" he demanded.
The two men were at a loss to know what to say, they just gawked at
Rena who smiled at them with a little girl lost look.
The impasse was broken by one of King's men, who came running across
the 'port to where the group stood. As he came within hailing distance, he
called out: "Hey, boss, that babe, you said she was dead, well we just
seen her by her space-ship!" He skidded to a halt, looking bemused as he
saw Rena standing with the group. "No kidding, boss," he gasped, "she's
over there .......... ain't she?"
"Right," the Inspector decided. "I think we'd better go and see what's
going on!"
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"I'm so sorry, Inspector," Rena explained apologetically, after she had
listened to what the policeman had been told. "I had no idea what was
going on." She paused for a moment, then continued. "I have an android
decoy for security reasons, my father insisted on it, even with Mek, my
mechanical guardian, he was concerned for my safety out here on the Rim."
"I was, through my android, checking up on some robots I'd been told
about. Some old relics from the mining days. I'm afraid they turned on my
android and destroyed it. Fortunately, it is a very sophisticated
bio-machine and has a self regenerating routine built into it, real state
of the art stuff. Well, daddy only wanted the best for me."
"Mek, my guardian, managed to apprehend the robots and blasted them.
There's not much left of them I'm afraid. He's very thorough when it comes
to my self defence. Let me show you, there'll be no danger from them
anymore."
The group walked over to a pile of twisted and seared junk, the melted
metal now cold in a shapeless heap. "Well," the Inspector decided,
"there's certainly no possibility of them causing any problems." He looked
at the girl severely. "If you'd been a bit more honest with people, young
lady, none of this need have escalated into a major incident."
"I'm sorry, officer," the girl responded, looking suitably abashed.
"Daddy made me promise not to tell anyone in order to maintain my safety.
If those robots had known about my android, they might have then
discovered me in my ship."
"Well, it's just lucky we hadn't filed the report back to your
parents," the lawman decided. He turned back to the Governor. "I'll call
off the investigating team; doesn't look like they'll be needed here.
Goodday, ladies and gentlemen."
As the group dispersed, the Governor grabbed Rena by the arm. "Did I
have sex with that machine?" he demanded angrily. Rena shook his arm free
and regarded him with a cold stare, then a smile broke on his face. "No,"
she assured him sweetly. She paused, the smile vanished. "Would you like
to buy it off me, I'm assured it's very very good and never says no."
"I want you off this planet just as soon as you've finished your repair
work," Vann ordered.
The girl nodded brusquely, then ordered her mirror image android to
follow her back into her ship.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
That evening, Colm had a visitor. "Rena," he gasped. "What's going on?
I've heard all sorts of stories -"
"Are the androids back here?" Rena demanded cutting him short.
"No. Then you haven't destroyed them!"
"I doubt if I could if I wanted to," Rena confessed. "That was a story
I made up to cover up the truth. What I showed them was some unsalvageable
scrap from my repair work that I'd trashed."
"So do I get to know the truth?" Colm enquired, stepping back to let
the girl and her hovering defender, Mek, into the room.
"Very well," the girl decided, "but this is only to underline that fact
that I'm trusting you." She paused, looking slightly embarrassed. "There
is more than one android replica of me," she confessed. "The one that was
'murdered' was the Mark Three. Each one I produced had certain
enhancements over the last. The bio plasma circuitry is very sensitive
indeed and even the smallest change can alter the personality profile
disproportionately. When I produced the Mark Eight, I must have erred
somehow. The android is criminally insane."
She paused again. "It has been stalking me for some time now. It
intends to kill me. It wasn't the alien androids that launched the attack,
I know that for sure; it must have been Eight. You see, I gave it, Three,
as a trade-off, hoping it would stop harassing me, but it reneged on the
deal and now wants me dead."
There was a mixture of fear and admiration in her eyes as she
continued. "Last night, my sensors went haywire. The three alien machines
came to life." She paused. "They went to where Three lay mutilated." She
lowered her voice. "The spindly one repaired Three; she doesn't have a
self regeneration program. They have some sort of shielding that can make
them appear invisible. Their technology is amazing, they are hundreds of
years ahead of us. Although it had no previous knowledge of my android,
the repair it carried out was one hundred per cent perfect down to the
minutest detail. Do you realise how amazing that is!"
"It's a Metal Surgeon," Colm breathed, "it's like you, another Metal
Surgeon."
"Smart kid," the girl enthused, "but I am just an apprentice in
comparison." She paused again. "I suspect it was the arrival of my craft
that triggered the machine into stand-by. The other androids on this
planet are so basic, it probably didn't register them. It was Mek and my
replicas that triggered it. For whatever reason, it has decided to repair
Three. Maybe it is just altruistic, but the other two machines are
warriors, probably its bodyguard. I suspect its a military machine with a
mission to repair damaged android warriors. Where it was bound when it
crashed here, who knows. Although it didn't recognise the design, it no
doubt has the ability to carry out its own rational thought processes, and
decided Three was 'friendly'." She shivered. "God knows what might have
happened if it had decided this was a war zone and we were the enemy."
"So what happens now?" the boy breathed. "This all sounds dangerous!"
"I can't pretend that I can control these alien androids," the girl
admitted, "not yet anyway, but my scanning of them has led me to believe I
may know their operating frequencies. I may well be able to jam them. If
we can then isolate them from any sophisticated androids, I hope they'll
go back 'off line', which will allow me to carry out more detailed
studies." She became animated. "If we can gain mastery of these machines,
we will have conquered awesome technologies that can bring us unlimited
riches!"
"So are we going to try and find them?" Colm asked, a little unsure
that the girl had told him everything about the replicas of herself that
she had created.
Rena smiled. "I know exactly where the aliens are," she confessed. "I'm
still scanning them. There's a spaceship that landed some way from the
settlement. They're heading towards it. I'm convinced it must belong to
Eight. It's all too much of a coincidence otherwise. They are travelling
on foot. I've got a fast carrier on board my ship, we should be able to
get to the ship before the androids. That will give us time to lay a
trap."
"But why are they heading for the other ship?" Colm mused.
"We might find that out when we get there," Rena decided. "Come on,
let's get going!"
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
They left their transport craft a little way from the target spaceship
and proceeded the rest of the way on foot. "We must be very careful," Rena
whispered, "Eight is a very dangerous adversary, and being mentally
unhinged, totally unpredictable."
"But surely with Mek you have no fear for your safety," Colm suggested
quietly.
The girl smiled. "I wish. However, even Mek is not sufficiently
sophisticated to tell us apart; an issue I've taken up with his makers. He
will defend Eight as well as he does me, that is why we must remain
unarmed. If Eight attacks me, or vice versa, he will take no action; if
you try to attack Eight he will blast you to bits."
The boy looked deep in thought for a few moments. "Then reprogram Mek
to defend me instead of you," he decided, "then I can take your replica
out without any danger to you or me."
Rena smiled. "A good thought, and one I'd implement if it would work.
Unfortunately, Mek cannot be reprogrammed; he was constructed around the
central command to defend me and me alone." She scanned the ship. "I don't
think Eight is on board," she decided. She consulted her instruments
again. "The aliens will not be here for a few minutes; let's see what we
can find out on the ship."
They proceeded carefully to the airlock. Rena punched in a code and the
lock hissed open. She smiled. "That's one advantage to a replica, it's
basic thought processes are the same as mine, even if it's superficially
gone haywire."
They went to the control room, where a quick check of the ship's log
confirmed that Eight had indeed brought the ship here. Rena spun round
from the screen as Colm gasped. A figure stood in the doorway. Colm had
studied Rena carefully since he'd first met her; there was something of an
unnatural brightness in the newcomer's eyes and it seemed to exude more
sexuality, but otherwise it was identical!
"Well, Rena," the android sneered contemptuously, "I was coming back to
find you, but you seem to have saved me the trouble." Her face contorted
with rage. "The final humiliation! You've brought your lover with you to
taunt me. You bitch! You knew I'd do anything for you, anything, and I
did. And you threw it back in my face! Well no more, do you hear me. No
more! Well, it's going to end. You've pushed me too far this time!"
"He's not my lover," Rena protested, "he's working with me on a
project; that's all."
Eight's eyes slitted with hatred. She turned to Colm. "Do you know
about her," she hissed. "Do you really know." Her voice fell. "I loved
her. I did everything she wanted me to .... vile, filthy things, but I did
them to please her, because I loved her. We should have been together, it
would have been perfect. If she'd just given me one chance to prove it,
just one - but oh no! She played me for a fool, pretending she cared about
me, but all the time she was using me. Me, her perfect love. Well, you
can't treat people like that. They can't be allowed to get away with it.
They have to be punished. Severely punished!"
Eight was distracted as a voice from the controls spoke. "Alert.
Intruder Alert. The air-lock security is damaged by a forced entry."
"Reinforcements, eh?" Eight sneered. "Well, I'll see them off, then
I'll deal with you." She turned and locked the hatch to the control room
from the outside.
"What is exactly was she going on about?" Colm demanded.
"I told you, it's mad; mentally deranged. It doesn't know what it's
saying," Rena replied evasively.
"Look," Colm demanded. "For all I know, we could be minutes away from
death. We agreed to be honest with each other. If we are to stand any
chance of surviving this, I need to know the whole truth. There's more to
this series of android replicas you've built than just security doubles
isn't there?"
The girl stared uneasily at the floor for a full minute before
replying. Her face was blushed with embarrassment. "I built them to have
sex," she stated. "Each one is more sophisticated than the last,
refinements added to increase their sensual perfection. What I told you is
true, with bio plasma engineering, even the slightest change can be
significant. I did make a minute error when constructing Eight, it is
mentally unbalanced, honestly."
"Sex?" Colm queried. "Sex machines? Why?"
The girl turned away unable to face him. "My sex drives are as high as
anyone else, higher than average I guess, but the thought of getting
intimate with anyone, male or female, I find repulsive, even kissing made
me feel sick." She stopped again. "In my ship, I have a machine that
receives the feelings the android experiences while making love, I can
store it and play it back through contacts on my body." She paused again.
"I can experience every feeling and sensation as if I was there, but
without having to be." She paused again, turning to look at the shocked
expression on Colm's face, then quickly looked away again. "Having very
rich parents and an aptitude for bio-plasma engineering, I was able to
indulge my fantasies. I can also send the androids out to stand in for me,
so there is the security element as well."
"So, if the rumours are true, who spent the night with the Governor?"
"Nine," Rena confessed, "my latest and best. It has none of the
problems encountered with Eight."
"And the orgy in the bar?"
Rena shrugged. "Must have been Three. The early ones were less
discriminating. "Eight must have set her free for some fun before she
mutilated it as a warning to me."
"And this really is you here?"
The girl nodded. "Honestly. You see, in order to increase the sex
drive, something had to be sacrificed. The androids are in no way as
skilful engineers as I am. I doubt if I would have left the ship at all
during my stay here. Nine was covering for me until it saw the alien
machines, then I had to take over myself. If things are going to plan,
Nine is at the moment in the Governor's office, making up with him. It
will smooth the way to get these androids off this planet with the
Governor being friendly." She laughed sardonically. "If things are going
to plan, they should be making up on top of his desk right now."
"That replica you gave me," Colm began. ".......Does it have a feedback
to your ship?"
Rena shook her head. "No, that still is your machine, slightly
enhanced, just in one of my shells." She paused again and then turned back
to face him again, her eyes full of tears. "You must think I'm disgusting;
a pervert."
Colm laughed nervously. "That would be somewhat hypocritical," he
confessed, "when I've got my own sex robot. You've just gone a stage
further, I guess." Now he became a bit embarrassed. "I'm still a virgin,"
he confessed. "I'm okay with machines, but I've been too embarrassed to
try it with a real person. I-"
His confession was cut short by the door opening. Eight was backing in.
"Keep back," she was cursing. "Keep back or I fire."
"No," Rena gasped. "Don't-"
Her warning came too late. As Eight fired, it's body was ripped to
pieces with a bright yellow light. Mek automatically retaliated but the
awesome power caught him as well. Rena shielded her face, expecting to be
splattered with blood from Eight's exploding body, but what she saw as she
lowered her arm made her gasp in horror. The android's components, along
with those of Mek lay in neat piles on the floor.
"My God," she breathed, "this technology is beyond anything I
imagined."
The three aliens had now entered the room, they regarded Rena and Colm
for a moment; then seemingly ignoring them, the 'Metal Surgeon' directed
the other two to pick up the parts of the dismembered machines. The two
humans followed the aliens as they took the parts outside and placed them
on the ground away from the ship.
"Take cover," Rena ordered Colm, "just in case." She activated her
blocking mechanism. She whooped with delight as the three androids froze
where they stood. She cautiously moved forward, constantly scanning them
with her machine. Colm stood up and began to step forward, when Rena
turned and ran back towards him, pushing him down behind the rock.
"What's happened?" Colm demanded.
"They are internally reconstructing themselves," Rena gasped
incredulously, continuing to study her scanner. "No good," she breathed,
"they're completely shielded now."
The 'Metal Surgeon' seemed to look over to where they were and almost
gave a 'good try' gesture, then the three boarded the ship.
"What now?" Colm wondered.
"Of course," Rena concluded sadly.
"What?"
"I couldn't understand why they came out here. At first, I wondered if
it was Eight's instability - they were being drawn here to repair it, but,
no, it was the ship." Her voice was momentarily drowned as the engines
roared into life. "The only ship on the planet captained by an android,"
she shouted trying to be heard above the din. "Their alien android logic
would not allow them to take a human's ship I guess." They covered their
heads as they were splattered with debris as the ship took off and headed
skywards. "They're going home," Rena concluded.
She sadly watched until the craft had vanished from sight. "Oh well,"
she said sadly, "back to my Master's degree I guess. If I'm going to be
rich, I'll have to earn it the hard way." She looked at Colm. "Let's get
back to the settlement. I'll distribute the rest of the robots I've
repaired and then I'll be on my way."
"Can I come with you?" Colm blurted out. "There's nothing to keep me
here now the androids are gone, and well, I can't live in the past by my
dad's graveside forever."
"You want to come with me after what I've told you?" Rena asked
incredulously.
Colm nodded. "It doesn't worry me. I understand."
"Look, I like you. You're not like all the other men I've met. You're
kinder and more, well, innocent, but that doesn't mean anything's going to
happen between us. You do understand that don't you?"
Colm nodded. "I like you too. Look, there's no danger, I'd be too
embarrassed-"
The girl giggled. "Maybe you could try out Nine. The Governor seemed to
like her."
Now it was Colm's turn to blush. "Maybe," he said. "So can I come with
you? At the end of the day, it's your company I want, not a fantasy
machine."
"Come on then," Rena decided. She held out her hand.
"Holding hands is okay, then, friend," Colm asked.
Rena nodded and holding hands they walked back to her transporter.
GO TO THE
UPDATE INFORMATION PAGE
GO TO THE
STORY INDEX
|
FULL MOON S.F. - THE NEW METAL SURGEON (Steve Steed)
THE NEW METAL SURGEON
Steve Steed
Rena slid slowly into the seat with a feline sexuality, then paused for
a few moments as if to allow the middle aged man behind the desk to fully
appreciate her sensuous form. Then she leant forward, a hint of a smile on
her full lips, as he openly leered at the sight of her large breasts only
a little of which were hidden by the low cut front of her white, tight
fitting mini dress.
"Well," she began silkily, "it's most unusual to be personally greeted
by the Governor of the planet on my arrival."
"Tomas Vann," he introduced himself. "We don't get many visitors here
on Finnigan's Planet," the man explained, "there's not much interest in a
run down mining colony on the edge of the Galactic rim, and," he added,
"it's been some time since we had a visit from a Metal Surgeon."
Rena gave a brief grimace at the mention of the term. "I think the
politically correct term is now Cybergenic Consultant," she countered,
smiling sweetly.
"But why would you want to come to a God forsaken dump like this
anyway?" he continued. "Especially someone as young and beautiful as you?"
Rena responded to the obvious compliment by slowly crossing her long
legs, the hem of the dress riding up further. She almost absently caressed
them with her hands as she replied. "I'm taking a Masters Degree in
Android Antiquities," she explained. "Back on Earth, there's some material
at the University and a little more can be found in Museums, but out here
on the Rim, there are several isolated planets that still have working
Androids that are no longer found anywhere else. Some are over a hundred
years old."
"My expedition was funded by my parents and a grant from the
University, but in order to fully cover the escalating costs, I am also
carrying out repair work on these old Androids where it is required. Apart
from providing additional finances, it also provides excellent
opportunities to further research the workings of these machines."
"Well," the Governor stated, "we haven't had a Metal - sorry,
Cybergenic Consultant out here for many years. Luke Graymore used to make
an annual visit, but in the end, he decided it wasn't cost effective and
stopped coming. There aren't many men here anymore. The mining operation
also failed to remain cost effective, although there are large deposits of
ore still readily available."
"There's only a skeleton crew to keep things ticking over until the
price of the ore rises to a level where it will be profitable to restart
operations. This is a very rough planet for a young lady travelling
alone."
Rena looked up at the small machine hovering to her left. "There's no
cause for concern," she assured him. "Daddy wouldn't let me travel without
the protection of Mek. He is at the cutting edge of technology, unlike the
subjects I study. In tests, he was able to identify and terminate over one
hundred separate but simultaneous attacks in a crowd of over five thousand
people. His success rate was one hundred percent with no harm caused to
any of the rest of those present. I can assure you I am quite safe
wherever I go, no matter how dangerous it might be."
"There is another issue," the Governor continued. He paused, looking
slightly embarrassed. "All the mining machinery and related androids were
sold off by auction." He paused again. "Mr Finnigan, who still owns this
planet, was and is, a very moral man. He considered females, particularly
the type that would frequent mining settlements to be morally dangerous
and disruptive." He paused again. "However, he realised that the men
needed some form of, er, entertainment."
Rena interrupted him, laughing. "It's okay," she said. "Before I
started to tour this sector, Luke Graymore briefed me on all the planets
he used to visit. I know the androids here are used for sex. I've not got
any moral hang ups on that score," she said. She bent forward again and
lowered her voice to a confidential tone. "In fact, I haven't got any
moral hang ups at all. I think sex is natural, wonderful and fabulous and
we should all get as much of it as we can. Don't you agree?"
The Governor was lost for words, becoming visibly flustered.
"I may only be in my late teens," Rena replied, "but I lost my
virginity very early on, and was mightily glad I did. I'm very, very
experienced and very open minded." She sat back up, adopting a more
business like tone. "I won't be starting work here until tomorrow. I
expect you'd like to have dinner this evening. Come to my space ship at
eight." She stood up, stroking the creases out of her dress. The Governor
watched mesmerised as she began to caress herself. "You'll remember
tonight, forever," she added sweetly. "I promise." Then she turned and
walked out of the room.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Governor Vann downed a second cup of coffee, but still couldn't stop
his hands trembling. He considered himself to be a bit of a ladies man,
and in his time had had many liaisons and had frequented a lot of high
class and low life brothels, but never had he experienced anything like
last night. Maybe he had met women who were as beautiful, sensuous,
passionate, sexual, insatiable and wanton, but never more than one
characteristic at that intensity in any one woman. Rena had all of them,
at maximum. By the time dawn was breaking, she was still as rampant and
demanding as she had been when they'd finished their meal, and she had
dragged him into her bedroom. He shook his head in disbelief
"Hey boss," a voice interrupted his thoughts. It was the foreman from
the mining camp, Bart King. "Got a message for you from that broad who
landed yesterday, you know, the Metal Surgeon. Says she's set up her
clinic in her spaceship. She says you've made a list of appointments for
the boys to take their women in for repair."
"Oh yeah," Vann replied absently, digging out a piece of paper and
passing it over.
"Thanks boss. Say I warned the boys not to get any ideas with that
broad, that hovering machine of hers could make her very dangerous."
"She is very dangerous, indeed," Vann commented. "Tells the boys from
me, if they're not on their best behaviour, they're in big trouble with
me."
"I'll tell 'em, boss," King assured him, "but I've already told 'em
anyone steps out of line'll get their balls chopped off."
Vann smiled wanly at the foreman.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Late in the afternoon, Vann's work was interrupted by a visitor. It was
the girl, Rena. This time, her long dark hair was severely tied up in a
bob and she wore a loose fitting overall.
"How did it go?" Vann asked. "Any trouble?"
"No," Rena assured him, taking a seat, "they were all as good as gold.
I think some of them found it a turn on bringing me their 'women'. A
couple of them even explained to me in great detail what they did with
them." She laughed. "At the other end of the scale, three of them were too
embarrassed to turn up personally and hired an 'agent' to deliver them on
their behalf."
"Name of Brown?" Vann enquired, smiling. The girl nodded. "He's a bit
of a small time wheeler-dealer," he explained. "Plenty of work for you
there?"
"Most of them just need tightening up and servicing." She paused to
smile at her pun. "Having the hell banged out of them for the last ten
years without attention has taken it's toll, but I think I can get most of
them in full working order." She paused again. "I thought I might get a
visit from you," she added mischievously, "or don't you own one?"
"No," Vann replied, not rising to her bait. "My position allows me to
travel off world a lot, so I don't need one to satisfy me."
"Were you satisfied by this morning?" the girl enquired smiling.
"Very much so," Vann replied quietly, feeling at a disadvantage.
"I should hope so," Rena continued. "Maybe we'll do it again before I
leave?"
"I'm free tonight," Vann stated hopefully.
Rena laughed. "I think you'd better rest tonight. Anyway," she added,
"this evening, I've got a date with a sweet young lad my own age."
"Colm!" Vann exclaimed. "It'd kill him!"
"Business, not pleasure," Rena responded. "He says you have some museum
pieces here, on this planet. From his description, It's not a make I'm
aware of." She changed the subject slightly. "He seems a bit out of place
on this world. Surely he doesn't work in the mine like the others?"
"His father did. Got killed in an accident while Colm was visiting here
while his mother was ill. Mother died. He stayed on. Does the clerical
work for me. It's his father's grave and those androids that keep him
here."
"Interesting," Rena commented. "Mind you," she added, "he can't be that
sweet. He brought in a 'woman' himself and its casing was absolutely
wrecked, although the workings were still operational." She giggled. "He
has a very expressive face, and I could tell exactly what he was thinking
all the time he was looking at me. I had a 'shell' in my store, in my own
image. It was quite easy to transfer the workings over and I patched in a
quick enhancement program that I knocked up during the afternoon. You
should have seen his face when I presented it to him and assured him it
was exact in EVERY detail! I don't think he could wait to get it home and
try it out!" She paused again, allowing another mischievous smile, as Vann
tried to stifle a yawn. "Poor boy. I hope he doesn't wear himself out. I
want him to show me these androids."
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Rena knocked on Colm's door. The lock was activated and it hissed open.
Rena stepped inside. The room was sparsely furnished but untidy, littered
with old cartons and other miscellany.
Colm entered the reception room from the bedroom. "Sorry about the
mess," he blurted out, "I was going to tidy up -"
"But you had more important things to do?" Rena suggested, looking over
his shoulder into the next room, where the naked android she had given him
was spread- eagled across the bed. "How's it performing?" she asked
candidly.
The boy's face visibly coloured.
"Come on," she said, "no need for false modesty."
"Fantastic," he mumbled, looking away from her, "and that new program
you put in - I haven't done anything dirty," he assured her anxiously.
"You do what you like," Rena assured him. "I doubt if you'll do
anything to it that I haven't had done to me."
"I'll show you these androids," the boy decided, hastily changing the
subject, "they're through here." He looked up anxiously at the machine,
Mek that constantly hovered by the girl's side. "Is that thing safe?" he
asked. "It seems to be trained on me the whole time."
Rena laughed. "As long as you only think about what you're doing to me
and don't actually try it, you'll be fine."
Colm blushed a deeper shade of red as he led the girl into the back
room. As soon as he switched on the light, the girl's flippant mood
changed completely. "Where did they come from?" she breathed.
"Dad found them during an excavation," Colm explained. "He believed
they were on a space ship that crashed into the planet at some speed. Most
of the ship had welded into the rock strata on impact, but these three had
survived - Oh my God!"
"What's wrong," the girl asked, alarmed by the new tone of the boys
voice.
"The spindly one," he breathed, "it's come to life!"
Rena studied it cautiously. "It seems to be on standby. You say it's
never done this before?"
"No," the boy breathed. "They've all been totally inert, ever since
they were excavated."
Rena was scanning them with her instruments. "They're almost certainly
alien," she decided. "I've never seen anything like them before. Their
casing has an unknown molecular structure to me and its shielding whatever
is inside from my instruments; but I'm certain they're very highly
advanced. Almost certainly well ahead of any of Earth's technology." She
looked up at her own machine, which was now firmly trained on the android.
"Poor old Mek," she mocked, "he thought he was number one. I do believe
he's jealous!" Her tone became more serious. "I can't believe these
machines have been left here 'undiscovered' for so long. This could be a
really major find. I'll have to return to my ship so I can get some decent
surveillance equipment set up here."
"Are we going to be famous?" the boy asked eagerly.
"If we can master their technology, you can add 'rich' to that as
well," the girl assured him. "If anyone asks, don't tell them what I've
said," she advised him. "Originally they would have been the property of
Finnegan Mining, when your father dug them up, but as they've been in your
family some time, a smart Galactic lawyer could challenge ownership. If
anyone asks, say I identified them as an old Earth robot type and they're
worn out and of no functional value at all. You wait here while I go and
get my equipment."
Colm looked anxiously at the machines. "Are you sure it'll be safe for
me to stay here?"
"If it was going to make a move, I think it would have by now," Rena
assured him. She looked pensive. "When was the last time you checked up on
them?"
"About a week ago. Why?"
The girl shrugged. "No reason, just an idea I had...." She paused a
moment, then hurried off back to her space-ship.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Rena returned a few minutes later and immediately began to study the
three androids in some detail. Two were bulky and looked like they were
designed for battle, but the third, which although it hadn't moved, still
appeared to be on stand-by, was slimmer and seemed to have a more refined,
though unknown purpose. Rena spent the next quarter of an hour installing
her equipment, then in a slightly annoyed tone of voice, spoke to Colm.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" she snapped.
Colm shrugged. "I don't know, you seem different ......... you've lost
that vibrancy you had earlier -"
"Keep your fantasies to your toy I gave you," the girl replied coldly.
"There's something else," Colm continued. "While you were gone, I got
to thinking. If there's money in these machines, why should I let you in
on it. You've virtually admitted I could legally claim ownership -"
Rena laughed. "Look, son, I come from a very wealthy family, so I know
that money talks. Let's be blunt about it, you're a nice kid, but you're a
nobody, with no backing and no expertise. If this turns out to be as big a
discovery as I think it might be; you go out on your own and you'd be
eaten for breakfast, chewed up and spat out before lunch."
"Well, we'll see," the boy decided sullenly. "I'll let you investigate
things for the moment."
"Look," Rena explained, "you'd better start to trust me. I could have
got Mek to vaporise you and no-one would have been any the wiser. You're
still here. Just remember that."
Colm gave the hovering machine a frightened glance. "Okay," he said.
"But don't go all cold on me. I like it when you're all flirty and sexy."
"There'll be plenty of time for that," Rena assured him, activating the
final scanner. "Now I've got to get back to my ship and analyse the data
from these monitors. If I can crack how to control these androids, they'll
be worth a hundred times their present value." She looked at the young man
with an almost pitying expression. "Now why don't you go and play with
that toy I gave you. I'll speak to you again tomorrow."
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
A lot of the men from the mining camp were crowded into the bar that
evening. As most of their 'women' were in Rena's space-ship undergoing
repairs, they had nothing better to do than get drunk and have a punch-up
afterwards. It was around the time that one or two of the men were getting
aggressive and were shaping up to each other and trading insults that
suddenly a deathly hush fell over the room.
All eyes turned to the door. Rena had entered. She stood in the doorway
for a moment, then stepped forward. "Hello boys," she stated, "it's
cabaret time." In a graceful motion, she slipped out of the long coat she
wore, letting it fall onto the dirty floor. She was stark naked. She
pushed the glasses off a table and bent forward provocatively. "I hope
you're all going to join in," she said smiling sweetly, "every single one
of you."
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"I'm telling you boss," Bart King enthused to the Governor, "I ain't
never seen anything like it. If I hadn't been there, I wouldn't have
believed it. She couldn't get enough. She had us all and not just one at a
time either and as many times as you could manage. Jesus, if Mr. Finnegan
finds out, he'll have a fit."
Vann was unable to hide his jealousy. It had been obvious she was free
with her favours, but to go with all those miners and in the bar as well.
"The sooner that little slag has finished her repair work, she's to be
banished from this planet and will not be allowed to return," he cursed.
"The boys won't like that, boss," King assured him.
"I don't care what they like. They're paid to maintain the mine in
working order, not to indulge in sex orgies. They knew the score when they
signed up. Sack any of them who show discontent!"
"Okay, boss," King replied, subdued by the outburst.
"Now, down to more serious business," the Governor decided. He was
interrupted by one of the miners bursting into the room. "What the hell do
you want?" Vann snapped, "you can't just burst in here-"
"Governor, governor," the man panted, "you'd better come quick. That
sexy babe; I've just found her on the spaceport perimeter. Someone's
hacked her to pieces. There's blood everywhere!"
Vann looked bewildered for a second, then a serious look crossed his
face. "Let's go," he decided quietly.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
It was not a pretty sight at all. Vann had seen some horrific things in
his time, but whoever had done this wasn't just a killer, but a maniac.
The body had been horribly mutilated. Death seemed to have been caused by
a large knife or axe which had been used repeatedly, long after death had
been achieved.
King pointed at the note that was pinned to the fencing. "You're next,"
he read. "What does it mean, boss? Whose next?"
"I don't know," Vann confessed, realising it could be addressed to him.
"Close off this area and video this scene in detail; then get the body
covered up. I'll call the cops."
"They don't usually bother coming, boss," King stated.
"One miner kills another; that just the way it is out here," Vann
stated. "Someone hacks to death a beautiful young girl whose parents are
rich and influential, all hell'll break loose, believe me!"
"Pity she never brought that floating machine out with her last night,"
King commented.
"Yes," Vann mused, looking puzzled, "it would have blasted her
assailant to bits before they could have even scratched her." He paused.
"So where was it?"
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Colm made his way out to the back room. He used to like going out there
to look at the three androids, but since one of them had 'come to life',
he now felt a sense of foreboding as he opened the door.
The girl's scanners and monitors were humming away, but there was
nothing there for them to watch; the three machines had gone. A hole had
been blasted in the rear wall!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The Governor listened grimly to Colm's story. "So you think that this
girl somehow activated one of the machines in the first place?"
Colm nodded. "There was never a peek out of any of them in the past,
Governor."
Vann tapped his fingers on the table while he reviewed the new
information. He turned to the foreman. "Bart, make sure everyone is armed.
We must assume for the moment that those androids are responsible for the
girl's death. If anyone sees one, shoot first and ask questions later!"
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
An hour or so later, a Police craft landed. Just one officer, a
slightly elderly looking man appeared. "Inspector Jenks," he introduced
himself to the Governor. "The main investigating team are on their way,"
he stated. "I was in this sector, so they diverted me here. I've read your
report on the way here. I'd like to see the scene of the crime first
before I do anything else."
The Governor nodded grimly and with King in tow, the trio walked across
to the perimeter of the spaceport, where two of the miners guarded the
sealed off area, at the centre of which lay a plastic sheet which covered
the corpse.
"It's not nice," Vann warned. "Not nice at all." He pulled back the
sheet.
There was a brief silence. "Oh, but it is," Jenks disagreed. "Very nice
indeed!" He knelt down and shook the naked girl's shoulder. Her eyes
fluttered and a smile broke onto her face. "Hi, officer," she said
silkily. "Mmm, I like a man in a uniform. Can we get together?" He helped
the girl to her feet. He pulled off his coat and wrapped it around her.
Then he looked angrily at Vann and King who stood there, white faced with
their mouths gaping open. "Now will one of you jokers tell me just what
the hell is going on here?" he demanded.
The two men were at a loss to know what to say, they just gawked at
Rena who smiled at them with a little girl lost look.
The impasse was broken by one of King's men, who came running across
the 'port to where the group stood. As he came within hailing distance, he
called out: "Hey, boss, that babe, you said she was dead, well we just
seen her by her space-ship!" He skidded to a halt, looking bemused as he
saw Rena standing with the group. "No kidding, boss," he gasped, "she's
over there .......... ain't she?"
"Right," the Inspector decided. "I think we'd better go and see what's
going on!"
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"I'm so sorry, Inspector," Rena explained apologetically, after she had
listened to what the policeman had been told. "I had no idea what was
going on." She paused for a moment, then continued. "I have an android
decoy for security reasons, my father insisted on it, even with Mek, my
mechanical guardian, he was concerned for my safety out here on the Rim."
"I was, through my android, checking up on some robots I'd been told
about. Some old relics from the mining days. I'm afraid they turned on my
android and destroyed it. Fortunately, it is a very sophisticated
bio-machine and has a self regenerating routine built into it, real state
of the art stuff. Well, daddy only wanted the best for me."
"Mek, my guardian, managed to apprehend the robots and blasted them.
There's not much left of them I'm afraid. He's very thorough when it comes
to my self defence. Let me show you, there'll be no danger from them
anymore."
The group walked over to a pile of twisted and seared junk, the melted
metal now cold in a shapeless heap. "Well," the Inspector decided,
"there's certainly no possibility of them causing any problems." He looked
at the girl severely. "If you'd been a bit more honest with people, young
lady, none of this need have escalated into a major incident."
"I'm sorry, officer," the girl responded, looking suitably abashed.
"Daddy made me promise not to tell anyone in order to maintain my safety.
If those robots had known about my android, they might have then
discovered me in my ship."
"Well, it's just lucky we hadn't filed the report back to your
parents," the lawman decided. He turned back to the Governor. "I'll call
off the investigating team; doesn't look like they'll be needed here.
Goodday, ladies and gentlemen."
As the group dispersed, the Governor grabbed Rena by the arm. "Did I
have sex with that machine?" he demanded angrily. Rena shook his arm free
and regarded him with a cold stare, then a smile broke on his face. "No,"
she assured him sweetly. She paused, the smile vanished. "Would you like
to buy it off me, I'm assured it's very very good and never says no."
"I want you off this planet just as soon as you've finished your repair
work," Vann ordered.
The girl nodded brusquely, then ordered her mirror image android to
follow her back into her ship.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
That evening, Colm had a visitor. "Rena," he gasped. "What's going on?
I've heard all sorts of stories -"
"Are the androids back here?" Rena demanded cutting him short.
"No. Then you haven't destroyed them!"
"I doubt if I could if I wanted to," Rena confessed. "That was a story
I made up to cover up the truth. What I showed them was some unsalvageable
scrap from my repair work that I'd trashed."
"So do I get to know the truth?" Colm enquired, stepping back to let
the girl and her hovering defender, Mek, into the room.
"Very well," the girl decided, "but this is only to underline that fact
that I'm trusting you." She paused, looking slightly embarrassed. "There
is more than one android replica of me," she confessed. "The one that was
'murdered' was the Mark Three. Each one I produced had certain
enhancements over the last. The bio plasma circuitry is very sensitive
indeed and even the smallest change can alter the personality profile
disproportionately. When I produced the Mark Eight, I must have erred
somehow. The android is criminally insane."
She paused again. "It has been stalking me for some time now. It
intends to kill me. It wasn't the alien androids that launched the attack,
I know that for sure; it must have been Eight. You see, I gave it, Three,
as a trade-off, hoping it would stop harassing me, but it reneged on the
deal and now wants me dead."
There was a mixture of fear and admiration in her eyes as she
continued. "Last night, my sensors went haywire. The three alien machines
came to life." She paused. "They went to where Three lay mutilated." She
lowered her voice. "The spindly one repaired Three; she doesn't have a
self regeneration program. They have some sort of shielding that can make
them appear invisible. Their technology is amazing, they are hundreds of
years ahead of us. Although it had no previous knowledge of my android,
the repair it carried out was one hundred per cent perfect down to the
minutest detail. Do you realise how amazing that is!"
"It's a Metal Surgeon," Colm breathed, "it's like you, another Metal
Surgeon."
"Smart kid," the girl enthused, "but I am just an apprentice in
comparison." She paused again. "I suspect it was the arrival of my craft
that triggered the machine into stand-by. The other androids on this
planet are so basic, it probably didn't register them. It was Mek and my
replicas that triggered it. For whatever reason, it has decided to repair
Three. Maybe it is just altruistic, but the other two machines are
warriors, probably its bodyguard. I suspect its a military machine with a
mission to repair damaged android warriors. Where it was bound when it
crashed here, who knows. Although it didn't recognise the design, it no
doubt has the ability to carry out its own rational thought processes, and
decided Three was 'friendly'." She shivered. "God knows what might have
happened if it had decided this was a war zone and we were the enemy."
"So what happens now?" the boy breathed. "This all sounds dangerous!"
"I can't pretend that I can control these alien androids," the girl
admitted, "not yet anyway, but my scanning of them has led me to believe I
may know their operating frequencies. I may well be able to jam them. If
we can then isolate them from any sophisticated androids, I hope they'll
go back 'off line', which will allow me to carry out more detailed
studies." She became animated. "If we can gain mastery of these machines,
we will have conquered awesome technologies that can bring us unlimited
riches!"
"So are we going to try and find them?" Colm asked, a little unsure
that the girl had told him everything about the replicas of herself that
she had created.
Rena smiled. "I know exactly where the aliens are," she confessed. "I'm
still scanning them. There's a spaceship that landed some way from the
settlement. They're heading towards it. I'm convinced it must belong to
Eight. It's all too much of a coincidence otherwise. They are travelling
on foot. I've got a fast carrier on board my ship, we should be able to
get to the ship before the androids. That will give us time to lay a
trap."
"But why are they heading for the other ship?" Colm mused.
"We might find that out when we get there," Rena decided. "Come on,
let's get going!"
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
They left their transport craft a little way from the target spaceship
and proceeded the rest of the way on foot. "We must be very careful," Rena
whispered, "Eight is a very dangerous adversary, and being mentally
unhinged, totally unpredictable."
"But surely with Mek you have no fear for your safety," Colm suggested
quietly.
The girl smiled. "I wish. However, even Mek is not sufficiently
sophisticated to tell us apart; an issue I've taken up with his makers. He
will defend Eight as well as he does me, that is why we must remain
unarmed. If Eight attacks me, or vice versa, he will take no action; if
you try to attack Eight he will blast you to bits."
The boy looked deep in thought for a few moments. "Then reprogram Mek
to defend me instead of you," he decided, "then I can take your replica
out without any danger to you or me."
Rena smiled. "A good thought, and one I'd implement if it would work.
Unfortunately, Mek cannot be reprogrammed; he was constructed around the
central command to defend me and me alone." She scanned the ship. "I don't
think Eight is on board," she decided. She consulted her instruments
again. "The aliens will not be here for a few minutes; let's see what we
can find out on the ship."
They proceeded carefully to the airlock. Rena punched in a code and the
lock hissed open. She smiled. "That's one advantage to a replica, it's
basic thought processes are the same as mine, even if it's superficially
gone haywire."
They went to the control room, where a quick check of the ship's log
confirmed that Eight had indeed brought the ship here. Rena spun round
from the screen as Colm gasped. A figure stood in the doorway. Colm had
studied Rena carefully since he'd first met her; there was something of an
unnatural brightness in the newcomer's eyes and it seemed to exude more
sexuality, but otherwise it was identical!
"Well, Rena," the android sneered contemptuously, "I was coming back to
find you, but you seem to have saved me the trouble." Her face contorted
with rage. "The final humiliation! You've brought your lover with you to
taunt me. You bitch! You knew I'd do anything for you, anything, and I
did. And you threw it back in my face! Well no more, do you hear me. No
more! Well, it's going to end. You've pushed me too far this time!"
"He's not my lover," Rena protested, "he's working with me on a
project; that's all."
Eight's eyes slitted with hatred. She turned to Colm. "Do you know
about her," she hissed. "Do you really know." Her voice fell. "I loved
her. I did everything she wanted me to .... vile, filthy things, but I did
them to please her, because I loved her. We should have been together, it
would have been perfect. If she'd just given me one chance to prove it,
just one - but oh no! She played me for a fool, pretending she cared about
me, but all the time she was using me. Me, her perfect love. Well, you
can't treat people like that. They can't be allowed to get away with it.
They have to be punished. Severely punished!"
Eight was distracted as a voice from the controls spoke. "Alert.
Intruder Alert. The air-lock security is damaged by a forced entry."
"Reinforcements, eh?" Eight sneered. "Well, I'll see them off, then
I'll deal with you." She turned and locked the hatch to the control room
from the outside.
"What is exactly was she going on about?" Colm demanded.
"I told you, it's mad; mentally deranged. It doesn't know what it's
saying," Rena replied evasively.
"Look," Colm demanded. "For all I know, we could be minutes away from
death. We agreed to be honest with each other. If we are to stand any
chance of surviving this, I need to know the whole truth. There's more to
this series of android replicas you've built than just security doubles
isn't there?"
The girl stared uneasily at the floor for a full minute before
replying. Her face was blushed with embarrassment. "I built them to have
sex," she stated. "Each one is more sophisticated than the last,
refinements added to increase their sensual perfection. What I told you is
true, with bio plasma engineering, even the slightest change can be
significant. I did make a minute error when constructing Eight, it is
mentally unbalanced, honestly."
"Sex?" Colm queried. "Sex machines? Why?"
The girl turned away unable to face him. "My sex drives are as high as
anyone else, higher than average I guess, but the thought of getting
intimate with anyone, male or female, I find repulsive, even kissing made
me feel sick." She stopped again. "In my ship, I have a machine that
receives the feelings the android experiences while making love, I can
store it and play it back through contacts on my body." She paused again.
"I can experience every feeling and sensation as if I was there, but
without having to be." She paused again, turning to look at the shocked
expression on Colm's face, then quickly looked away again. "Having very
rich parents and an aptitude for bio-plasma engineering, I was able to
indulge my fantasies. I can also send the androids out to stand in for me,
so there is the security element as well."
"So, if the rumours are true, who spent the night with the Governor?"
"Nine," Rena confessed, "my latest and best. It has none of the
problems encountered with Eight."
"And the orgy in the bar?"
Rena shrugged. "Must have been Three. The early ones were less
discriminating. "Eight must have set her free for some fun before she
mutilated it as a warning to me."
"And this really is you here?"
The girl nodded. "Honestly. You see, in order to increase the sex
drive, something had to be sacrificed. The androids are in no way as
skilful engineers as I am. I doubt if I would have left the ship at all
during my stay here. Nine was covering for me until it saw the alien
machines, then I had to take over myself. If things are going to plan,
Nine is at the moment in the Governor's office, making up with him. It
will smooth the way to get these androids off this planet with the
Governor being friendly." She laughed sardonically. "If things are going
to plan, they should be making up on top of his desk right now."
"That replica you gave me," Colm began. ".......Does it have a feedback
to your ship?"
Rena shook her head. "No, that still is your machine, slightly
enhanced, just in one of my shells." She paused again and then turned back
to face him again, her eyes full of tears. "You must think I'm disgusting;
a pervert."
Colm laughed nervously. "That would be somewhat hypocritical," he
confessed, "when I've got my own sex robot. You've just gone a stage
further, I guess." Now he became a bit embarrassed. "I'm still a virgin,"
he confessed. "I'm okay with machines, but I've been too embarrassed to
try it with a real person. I-"
His confession was cut short by the door opening. Eight was backing in.
"Keep back," she was cursing. "Keep back or I fire."
"No," Rena gasped. "Don't-"
Her warning came too late. As Eight fired, it's body was ripped to
pieces with a bright yellow light. Mek automatically retaliated but the
awesome power caught him as well. Rena shielded her face, expecting to be
splattered with blood from Eight's exploding body, but what she saw as she
lowered her arm made her gasp in horror. The android's components, along
with those of Mek lay in neat piles on the floor.
"My God," she breathed, "this technology is beyond anything I
imagined."
The three aliens had now entered the room, they regarded Rena and Colm
for a moment; then seemingly ignoring them, the 'Metal Surgeon' directed
the other two to pick up the parts of the dismembered machines. The two
humans followed the aliens as they took the parts outside and placed them
on the ground away from the ship.
"Take cover," Rena ordered Colm, "just in case." She activated her
blocking mechanism. She whooped with delight as the three androids froze
where they stood. She cautiously moved forward, constantly scanning them
with her machine. Colm stood up and began to step forward, when Rena
turned and ran back towards him, pushing him down behind the rock.
"What's happened?" Colm demanded.
"They are internally reconstructing themselves," Rena gasped
incredulously, continuing to study her scanner. "No good," she breathed,
"they're completely shielded now."
The 'Metal Surgeon' seemed to look over to where they were and almost
gave a 'good try' gesture, then the three boarded the ship.
"What now?" Colm wondered.
"Of course," Rena concluded sadly.
"What?"
"I couldn't understand why they came out here. At first, I wondered if
it was Eight's instability - they were being drawn here to repair it, but,
no, it was the ship." Her voice was momentarily drowned as the engines
roared into life. "The only ship on the planet captained by an android,"
she shouted trying to be heard above the din. "Their alien android logic
would not allow them to take a human's ship I guess." They covered their
heads as they were splattered with debris as the ship took off and headed
skywards. "They're going home," Rena concluded.
She sadly watched until the craft had vanished from sight. "Oh well,"
she said sadly, "back to my Master's degree I guess. If I'm going to be
rich, I'll have to earn it the hard way." She looked at Colm. "Let's get
back to the settlement. I'll distribute the rest of the robots I've
repaired and then I'll be on my way."
"Can I come with you?" Colm blurted out. "There's nothing to keep me
here now the androids are gone, and well, I can't live in the past by my
dad's graveside forever."
"You want to come with me after what I've told you?" Rena asked
incredulously.
Colm nodded. "It doesn't worry me. I understand."
"Look, I like you. You're not like all the other men I've met. You're
kinder and more, well, innocent, but that doesn't mean anything's going to
happen between us. You do understand that don't you?"
Colm nodded. "I like you too. Look, there's no danger, I'd be too
embarrassed-"
The girl giggled. "Maybe you could try out Nine. The Governor seemed to
like her."
Now it was Colm's turn to blush. "Maybe," he said. "So can I come with
you? At the end of the day, it's your company I want, not a fantasy
machine."
"Come on then," Rena decided. She held out her hand.
"Holding hands is okay, then, friend," Colm asked.
Rena nodded and holding hands they walked back to her transporter.
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