“Hello. I’m glad that you are with us again. We hoped the oxygen would revive you when we opened the lid. You were both unconscious.” Flint arched an eyebrow.

“We’ll back away while you fix your clothing.” His gaze lowered down Megan’s body and he chuckled. “And put pants on.”

Heat flamed Megan’s cheeks, realizing that she straddled Ice, her body na**d from the waist down. She sat up slowly, afraid to move off him, and peered over the edge of the open capsule. She recognized the cargo bay of the Star immediately and saw a group of cyborgs standing about ten feet away with their backs turned. Four other capsules were taking up space on the floor near them.

“We’re on the Star,” Ice stated.

“I know.” She slowly eased off his hips, embarrassment still warming her cheeks as they separated, and she lifted up enough for Ice’s c**k to totally withdraw from her body. “Shit. They just saw my ass,” she whispered.

“You have a very attractive one.” Ice chuckled.

Her gaze lowered as she frantically reached back, feeling for her discarded pants.

So, he found the situation funny. She sure didn’t. She eased completely off him and he pulled his pants up, covered his flaccid cock, and fastened his pants. He sat up and pulled his legs out of her way. She sat up, yanked on her pants, and kept low so no one could see her movements. Ice climbed out by using the edges to lift up and swing a leg over the rim of the capsule.

Megan fastened her pants and then Ice bent over her, one arm hooking under the back of her knees while his other one wrapped around her waist. When he lifted her, she wrapped her arms around his neck as he straightened, turned, and then gently set her on her bare feet on the deck of the cargo bay.

Flint turned and walked close again, his humor gone and his expression tense.

“Now that you’re alert, where is Councilman Zorus? We recovered three council members and Roan. They had reprogrammed the computers by remote linking and hacking the pods to head back to this ship and signaled us to meet them when they were within range. We immediately traced the path of the enemy shuttle and found your pod floating dead in space.” He paused. “Why didn’t you reprogram your pod to reach us?”

A sheepish expression crossed Ice’s features. “I wasn’t aware of the onboard computer until it made its presence known seconds before it gassed us. I was distracted.”

“You decided to have sex.” Amusement had Flint grinning.

“I had an episode.” Ice glanced at Megan and sighed. “I know I need to address my issues with tight spaces. Luckily Megan kept me from panicking. It seems sex overrides my fear.”

Flint turned serious. “The sixth pod hasn’t been located. Did it deploy? The shuttle from Earth blew up into large pieces that we found scattered in space. We checked the debris field but did not find it or his body but it was a mass of objects, too many and too tightly compacted to search. It’s possible we missed it. The council is very agitated to discover the fate of Zorus.”

Ice opened his mouth but before he could talk, Megan stepped forward to draw Flint’s attention.

“Zorus and Coal are out there somewhere in the sixth capsule. We have to find them.”

“I don’t understand why Zorus didn’t link to and reprogram the computer to pilot him toward my ship, as the others did. We were scanning as we looked for you and did not find them.” He paused. “Coal is with him? I thought he returned to the Rally.”

“Um,” Megan swallowed the lump that formed in her throat. “Zorus was out cold.

He, um, hit his head. Would Coal have reprogrammed the capsule to return to the Rally? Maybe that’s where he’s heading.”

“Zorus has been injured?”

Ice sighed. “He was after I hit him.”

Megan winced. Why had he admitted that? Would he be in trouble? Worry ate at her as she darted a glance at Flint, seeing his dark eyebrows rise in reaction to that information.

“You struck him?”

“He ordered me to leave Megan behind to die.”

Flint’s gaze hardened. “I would have punched him as well if he ordered me to abandon my wife.”

“I do not know where he is. Coal struck me when I ordered him and Megan to take the last two capsules. I had planned to stay behind with Zorus on the enemy shuttle.”

“Coal told me he would put them both into the last one,” Megan said softly. “He wanted them to have a chance at survival. We could smell wires burning and he said the fire had reached the conduits inside the walls and he thought life support would fail at any time.”

A loud sigh escaped Flint. “I will inform the council that we have no idea what happened. I’ll contact the Rally and have them backtrack to our location and scan for them. We’ll start a search grid and attempt to locate that capsule.” He fixed his full attention on Megan. “Did they launch before you did or after?”

“After. Coal sealed the lid on the capsule Ice and I were in. The last I saw of him, he stood over me, but I know he planned to put himself and Zorus into the other one.”

Another cyborg approached. Megan did a double take when he did. He had the silver-gray hair that came with old age but his face contradicted that. He didn’t look a day over thirty-five. His bright-blue eyes drew her attention and held it. The unusual color was so pale and blue they nearly glowed. For a second, she wondered if he was blind. He gave her a tight smile, glancing directly at her, and then met Ice’s gaze.

“They may not have had a chance to escape.” He had a really unusual voice with its gruff, raspy tone.

Flint nodded, his expression grim. “The explosion that destroyed the Earth shuttle was severe. We’ll do an extensive search, cover the area, and if we don’t find them we’ll assume they didn’t survive.” He addressed the cyborg with the strangely beautiful eyes. “I’m off shift so it’s all yours, Sky.”

Ice wrapped an arm around Megan, pulling her to his side. “What of the Markus Models?”

“We saw one of them drifting in space.” Sky shook his head. “It survived the blast.

It attempted to wave its arms to flag us down to pull it inside our ship. It was creepy as hell to see it and I hope to never do so again. They really appear human. Seeing him floating out there, moving around, was freakish, and then to top it off, he attempted to throw small debris items at the Star to get our attention, as if we weren’t aware of him.”

Ice’s body tensed. “You brought it inside the Star?”

The large cyborg shook his head. “Hell no. We left it out there. It can drift in space until it uses up all its battery power or something slams into it. I’m hoping a big asteroid smashes it into tiny pieces. They are not allies, and with Zorus not here to demand we do otherwise, we decided it wasn’t worth the risk. They wanted to turn us over to Earth Government so it can kiss my ass. It’s lucky I didn’t think it was worth some target practice.”

Flint chuckled. “I’m glad to have you back, Sky. I’ve missed your unique assessment of matters.”

Ice chuckled. “Sky is our Earth expert. He was assigned by the council to listen in on all Earth vessel transmissions. He tends to speak as they do and take on some of their traits.”

“He has picked up of their amusing language.” Flint grinned. “Kiss your ass? Really? I hope that’s not a literal statement.”

“Bite me.” Sky grinned. “And no, not literal.” His gaze lowered to Megan. “You’re hot, babe. Ever done a cyborg?”

Ice tugged Megan tighter against his side. “She’s my wife.”

Sky’s grin died. “Sorry. I wasn’t informed you’d joined a family unit. I had hoped you’d rescued her from the Earth shuttle and she happened to be an unattached female.

I’d love to possess one of my own.” He laughed suddenly. “To help with my language skills, of course.” He winked.

Flint chuckled. “If you’d arrived in the cargo bay a few minutes earlier when we opened the capsule you wouldn’t have had to ask if she’s familiar with a cyborg male.”

Megan’s cheeks burned and Ice shook his head. “Stop teasing my female.” He hesitated. “Is there anything I can do to help with the search? I can take Megan to my quarters and settle her there before reporting for duty.”

“I have it.” Sky shifted his stance. “How hard do I really have to look for Zorus? He’s not my favorite person. He ordered me into his special project, and let me assure you, I haven’t enjoyed being stuck on Garden with his uppity attitude. As soon as we find him, he’s going to drag my ass back there. The only reason I’m here is because he thought I might be of use with those freaky machines that can pass for human. I am in no hurry to go back or have him barking out orders at me. The guy is a first rate ass**le.”

Flint hesitated.

“Coal is with him,” Ice reminded them.

“Got it.” Sky muttered something under his breath. “Poor sucker. I feel sorry for anyone stuck with Zorus.” He turned on his heel and marched away.

Flint smiled, watching Sky leave the cargo bay, and then turned to face Ice. “It wouldn’t be a tragedy if Zorus didn’t survive.” His smile faded. “Coal, on the other hand, would be a loss. I like him, though we’ve only briefly known him.”

“Hopefully they escaped the shuttle before it blew.”

“Hopefully. You’ve survived an ordeal. Take your wife to your quarters and I’ll have some food sent to you. Relax. I’ll tell Sky to inform you of the results of the search.”

“Thank you for picking us up.”

Flint studied him. “I’m surprised you’re alive and didn’t fight your way out of that tiny life pod. I know you have issues with being enclosed in small spaces.”

“Megan kept me calm.”

“Is that what she was doing on top of you? When my wife is half naked, sitting on my lap, I’m anything but calm.” Flint grinned.

“Funny.” Megan shook her head at the two smiling men, seeing their shared amusement at the joke. “I’m more than ready to get out of this outfit.”

“You were just out of half of it,” Flint pointed out, chuckling.

Ice laughed, tugging at Megan. “I don’t believe she’s amused by our teasing. She doesn’t enjoying the weight of the uniform I gave her. We’ll be in my quarters. The Rally is great but it’s tighter on space and as you mentioned, more is my preference. I’ll be happy to spend time in my quarters here.”

“I am glad that you survived.” Flint moved away, walking toward the cyborgs who were moving the capsules to the side of the bay, clearing the center of the large room.

“Come with me,” Ice ordered softly, releasing her waist as he offered her his arm.

She gripped it and walked beside him. Five minutes later they entered his living space on the Star. “Nice. It’s about ten feet bigger than your other one.”

“Yes. I do enjoy commanding the Rally but I mainly live here.” He paused. “I’ll put in a request for larger quarters. They have them for the males in a family unit who have their female travel with them.”

Megan watched Ice remove his clothing. She hesitated and then stripped out of the uncomfortable uniform, planning to take a foam cleansing. Her thoughts were on the cyborg who had saved their lives and what it would mean if Zorus hadn’t survived.

“What is wrong?”

She lifted her chin. “I was just thinking about Zorus and Coal.”

He closed the distance between them and peered down at her. “You have a worried expression. They might have survived.”

“Zorus is the one who hates humans and the one who really pushed for that vote for everyone to decide to kill me, right?”