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“We’ll manipulate the image.” Her cyborg shrugged. “To the Powluks hailing us, you’ll look exactly like Vera Inada.”
“You can do that?” She stared at him.
“I’ve already pulled footage of the female from the Syndicul databases. There are sufficient inputs to fully replicate her image.” He was thrillingly efficient. “Once we’ve done that, human or humanoid visual systems won’t be able to detect the difference.”
Excitement zinged through Kesser. She had another application for that ability. “Can you manipulate the background of a communication?”
“That’s much easier to accomplish.” He displayed live footage of the two of them, except it looked like they were sitting in a field of tall yellow vegetation with a blue sky above them.
“Where’s that?” She could almost feel the heat of the sun’s rays on her shoulders.
“It’s Mercury Minor, a cyborg-protected planet.” He liked that place. She heard that in his voice.
“Could you add beings to the footage? In the background?” She extracted her handheld from the pocket of her cape and searched the saved footage for one of Talley.
When she found a good snippet, she showed it to Strike.
He touched the screen and then, like magic, Talley appeared behind them on the footage. The replication of her friend danced and laughed and looked amazingly real.
“That’s perfect.” Kesser clapped her hands. “I have to?—”
Her stomach rumbled. Loudly.
Her face heated. “Ignore that sound.”
“I will not ignore that sound, my female.” Strike lifted her off his lap and set her on the seat next to his. “I’ve neglected your needs, and that’s damaging you. I’ll rectify that situation immediately.”
There was blur of darkness, and he was gone.
She was alone on the bridge of the ship.
That ship was hurtling through space. And its pilot was gone.
“Fates. I hope the guidance control is working.” She gazed down at the control panel embedded in the console. There were a lot of buttons and readings on it. “I have no idea how to fly a ship.”
“I can fly it remotely.” Strike had returned. He carried a container in one hand. His other hand gripped numerous nourishment bars.
“You’re fast.” She blinked.
He placed the treats and the container on the console. “I’m a cyborg.” He claimed the captain’s seat once more and returned her to her place on his lap.
She sighed with happiness. For some unexplained reason, she felt more at ease when she was touching him.
“Humans require beverage.” He grabbed the container, opened it, and handed it to her.
She was thirsty. Kesser tilted the container back and swallowed greedy gulps of a slightly sweet unidentified liquid. “Cyborgs don’t require beverage?” She wiped some droplets off her chin.
“No.” He drew a dagger from a sheath on his body armor and cut one of the nourishment bars into smaller pieces. “Open.” He held a piece to her lips.
She obeyed his command.
He popped it into her mouth.
She chewed. The nourishment bar was sweet also. “This is good.”
“The Pirx Berry-flavored nourishment bars are the best.” He devoured three pieces in quick succession. Then he gave her another one.
They ate several bars in companionable silence, munching happily.
