Never Love A Stranger Part 33

Charles' face went cold and hard. "You do not need to know the answer to that question. Now come along."

Annie turned back to James, and he inclined his head slightly, indicating that she should go with Charles. She blew him a kiss and followed Charles out of the building.

"I don't like this at all," she said to Gar a few minutes later. They were seated alone, under a tent-like shelter one of the humanoids had set up'"as protection for your fragile human skin," Charles had said with contempt. Humanoids occasionally pa.s.sed by the shelter, but unlike the humanoids in the holo-image, their gazes were not in the least friendly. They quickly glanced away, with revolted expressions that suggested they had just seen a scorpion or a dung beetle. Evidently humans were not popular here.

"What's wrong, Annie'"

"Charles told me the Bureau refused to let the humanoids go until their minds were wiped of something, and now they're trying to get the information back by downloading it from James. I don't know what it is that they want to know, but I'm afraid it's something that could hurt the humans in the cylinder cities."

"I don't know why you're so certain of that," Gar said. "It could just be farming skills, or knowledge of mining, or something practical along those lines. Something they need to know outside."

"But why would the Bureau have wiped their brains of that' No. It has to be something important." Annie got to her feet and began to pace in the narrow band of shade. "You know the humanoids better than I do, Gar. What did they know that might be dangerous to humans'"

"To the Bureau in my reality, their most dangerous trait was their desire for freedom."

"Well, they've got that already in this reality, so that can't be it. What else'"

Gar compressed his lips. "They had knowledge of the layout of the cities," he said at last. "I suppose that could be dangerous, if they wanted to attack the humans. The cylinder cities are practical in many ways, but a closed ventilation system is extremely vulnerable to terrorist-type attack. The water supply is susceptible to sabotage as well."

Annie continued to stalk back and forth. "But how many of the humanoids really knew the layout of the cylinder cities' I know each living area was pretty much cut off from the rest, wasn't it' I mean, except for the elevator shafts, which you and James claim haven't been used for travel in a long time. It's not like the humanoids visited each other or anything, right'"

"Most visiting, among both humans and humanoids, was done via holovideo. But if the humanoids visited each other, they did it via the Gates."

"The spatial distortion thingies. Right. So they weren't really familiar with the ' the actual geography of the cities. Isn't that right'"

"I suppose that is true. But James may be more familiar with the geography than most. He led us a merry chase through several cities."

Annie shook her head. "But we don't even know if the cities of this reality are the same as the cities of your reality."

"The Bureau and my mother's dwelling appeared the same."

"Not much of a statistical sample, Gar. The humanoids can't know if it's the same, either, so that information would be pretty worthless." She shook her head. "I don't think that's it. What could James know that they'd want'"

"Very little," Gar admitted. "James was only a domestic servant. His knowledge was extremely limited."

Annie frowned, and a thought niggled at the back of her mind. Struggling to focus her sleepy brain, she realized that in at least one area his knowledge was unusually extensive. In her mind she heard an echo of James' voice.

I helped my mistress and master with the TDM for years.

"The time machine!"

Gar stared at her blankly. "You mean the temporal displacement module' What would the humanoids want with that'"

"The same thing everyone else wants, I suppose. They want to go back and change reality."

"But none of them would have known anything about it besides James. Their minds wouldn't have been wiped of that, because there was very little there to wipe. They might have heard of it, but they didn't have any technical information."

"So they're lying about their reason for downloading information from James," Annie said impatiently. "Big surprise. They're as capable of being devious as humans, Gar. They're carefully downloading every piece of information in his brain so that he can't figure out what they're doing. They're obviously playing a deep game here, doing something they don't want either James or us to guess at."

She paused, then went on thoughtfully, "And there's something really weird about the way they're downloading it, too. How come they have to take apart his chest and abdomen to download the information' Wouldn't you think he would have been designed with a ' a port somewhere'"

"His chest and abdomen'" Gar repeated.

"Yeah, they had to strip his skin and muscles off. Seems like an awful lot of trouble. Do you have to do that to a humanoid just to download information'"

"I'm not sure, Annie. I'm not an expert on humanoids, not at all. But that does seem odd. His brain is in his skull, just like ours. I'm not sure why it would be necessary to expose his abdomen."

Annie growled with frustration and sat down on the tarp that served as a floor, aware of the sweat trickling down the back of her neck. The sun was barely up, but it was already as hot as h.e.l.l on the fourth of July. "Something is going on here, Gar. I wish I knew what the humanoids were up to. But the way I see it, we've got two options. We can either get out of the way and let them do what they want, or try to stop them."

Gar's square jaw tensed. "I can't let them do anything to the past, Annie. G.o.d only knows what they might try to do to humans. G.o.d only knows what they might do to reality this time."

"Then we don't have much choice, do we'" she said softly. "We'll have to try to stop them."

An hour and ten minutes later, James walked into the primitively constructed tent, ducking his head under the overhang. He appeared to be all in one piece. Even the gash in his arm had been repaired.

"James!" Annie exclaimed, flinging her arms around his neck. His warm, solid arms wrapped around her, leaving her with no doubt'this James was no holo-image.

"It is all right, Annie," he said against her hair. "I am fine."

"I was worried about you," she said, her voice m.u.f.fled by his shoulder.

"So was I," Gar said from behind her. "Annie told me what they did to you, James. Are you all right'"

James nodded seriously as he released Annie. "My skin has been resealed. It is now impossible to tell I

was ever'" He slid a look at Annie. "Opened."

Annie gave a wry smile. "You're lucky, James. It takes us a lot longer to recover from something like that." James blinked at her, giving her the impression he was shocked by her deliberately light tone. At last he said, awkwardly, "Annie ' you saw my internal workings. Were you ' repelled'" She lifted her chin and looked him straight in the eye. "Why would I be repelled, James'" "You saw my ' machinery." "Yeah, I did. But you know what, James' You look a lot better with your skin off than I would."

His jaw dropped, and she grinned, amused at his reaction. Seeing the gleam of worship in his eyes again, she decided to change the subject. She really didn't like it when he looked at her as if she were an angel from Heaven, because she knew all too well she wasn't. G.o.d knew she'd had her share of troubles accepting him as a person. But she no longer did. He was a person, no matter what his inner workings looked like.

"So now that Charles has what he needs," she asked, "is he going to let us go back to the cylinder city'"

James nodded. "But we must rest first."

"Rest'" Annie echoed with some dismay. She didn't want to spend any more time among the humanoids

than she had to. Charles' att.i.tude of revulsion bothered her. She supposed it helped her understand how

the humanoids felt when humans looked at them that way, but she still didn't like it. "But it's morning." "Precisely, which is why we should rest. Summer days here in the desert are extremely hot. We will travel back to the cylinder city when dark falls."

"That's actually a good idea," Gar agreed. "I think we could all use some sleep. When we get back to the cylinder city, we'll all need to be alert. And we need some time to come up with a plan." Annie remembered abruptly she hadn't had any sleep last night. Weariness washed over her in a wave. "Maybe you're right," she admitted grudgingly.

James took her hand. "Gar," he said, "you may sleep here. Annie and I are going to sleep in the infirmary structure." Again Annie noticed the way he unconsciously took command. Charles acted like a leader too, a man who expected to be obeyed. The humanoids might have been designed as servants, but some of them had obviously grown beyond their original programming.

James tugged on her hand, and she followed him, amused and touched by his eagerness. She wasn't sure it was such a good idea to separate, but she supposed he trusted Charles enough to be certain Gar wouldn't be injured in their absence. At any rate, it was obvious what James had on his mind. She was pretty sure it wasn't sleep.

They reached the small metal building. James politely held the door for her, somewhat to her amus.e.m.e.nt, and she went inside, with him following closely behind. The lights inside the structure didn't seem as painfully bright now that the sun was up, and it was cool inside, compared to the unpleasant heat of the Sonoran summer. She could feel the movement of air. Apparently the place was air conditioned somehow, although it wasn't nearly as cool as she would have preferred.

She turned around and faced James. "I'm glad you're all right," she said softly.

"I was never in any real danger. It does not harm me to have my skin and muscles removed in that area, and they are easily replaced."

"Still, it was a little scary to see my lover in pieces."

James pinned her with that intense, disconcerting stare. "Do you still want me to be your lover, Annie' Even now that you have seen what I am'"

Annie didn't hesitate. "Yes, James, I do. I have to admit, I was a little shocked when I first saw your ' internal workings. But it didn't take me long to realize it doesn't really matter what's here." She placed a hand on his abdomen. "Because here'" She gently touched the side of his head. "You're a person."

He looked at her a long moment longer, then captured her face between his hands and kissed her roughly. It was a hard, demanding kiss, the kiss of a man who knew what he wanted. The kiss of a man in charge.

Tangling her hands in his long hair, she responded, opening her lips and welcoming the eager thrust of his tongue. Despite the heat, and all the exertion they'd been through, he still smelled clean, and the odor of oranges and lemons surrounded her.

His arms went around her waist and pulled her hips against his. She felt his hot, demanding erection rub against her belly, obvious even through their clothing, and she pressed against it, welcoming his heat, aching for him.

So much had happened that it seemed as if it had been forever since they'd made love.

He pulled his mouth away from hers at last and buried his face in her hair. "Annie," he whispered. "Oh, Annie."

The stark anguish in his tone startled her. She lifted her head and stared at him. "James, what's wrong'"

"Nothing is wrong."

"Bulls.h.i.t. Something is bothering you."

A corner of his mouth quirked up at her blunt response. "It is only that ' I wish that you had not seen me in this room earlier."

"I told you," Annie said, a little impatiently, "it didn't make me see you as some sort of machine, James. I know better now."

"I am a machine," he said softly. "I had managed to almost forget that fact until we found my people again. But it has been forcibly brought back to my consciousness that I am merely ' a mechanism."

She studied his face, trying to figure out why he sounded so melancholy. "James," she said gently. "Do you want to stay with your people'"

His eyes went wide. "Do I want to leave you' Is that what you are asking'" She nodded, and he frowned. "Of course not. How can you ask that' Don't you know what you mean to me'"

In fact, she wasn't sure what she meant to him. He apparently saw the doubt in her eyes, because he caught her by the waist and held her, very tightly. "You are extremely important to me, Annie. I cannot imagine a life without you. In fact'." He hesitated for a long moment, staring into her eyes. "I believe I am in love with you."

Tears sprang to her eyes. "I love you, too, James," she murmured, recognizing the truth of the words as she uttered them. She wasn't sure when her numb, frozen heart had thawed enough to fall in love a second time, but there was absolutely no doubt in her mind that she loved him.

Somehow she was certain that Steve wouldn't mind. Steve would have wanted her to be happy. And she had never been happier than when she was in James' arms.

"I hoped that you did. And since I love you, of course I do not ever wish to leave you. I ' I am simply upset."

"Because they took you apart."

He nodded, slowly. "When I was lying in pieces on that table, I felt ' like a machine again. I was embarra.s.sed to be seen that way, especially by you."

"You shouldn't be embarra.s.sed, James. You aren't human. But different isn't the same as inferior."

"Perhaps not. And yet the reminder of my true nature somehow ' distressed me, in a fashion I cannot clearly define." He paused for a long moment and gazed into her eyes. "Annie," he whispered at last.

"Yes, James'"

"Make me feel like a person again."

Chapter 28.

Annie looked into the azure depths of James' eyes, seeing his sense of alienation clearly reflected there. She wrapped her arms around his neck in a rea.s.suring hug, then stepped away from him.

Slowly she removed her shirt and shorts, then stood in front of him in her lacy, dark green bra and panties. It had, she realized, been a while since she'd had a shower and a change of clothes, especially considering she'd been running through the desert, but James didn't seem to mind. His eyes blazed with masculine interest. "Want to remove the rest yourself'" she invited in a throaty murmur. James stepped toward her as if drawn by an irresistible force. Reaching around behind her, he unfastened her bra'in, she noticed, much less than five seconds. He was a quick learner. The bra fell to the ground, and he cupped her b.r.e.a.s.t.s in his big hands and stared like a starving man gazing at a Christmas dinner.

"You are beautiful," he murmured.

"I'm glad you think so now. But what about when I'm old and wrinkled'"

"You will still be beautiful," he said with absolute certainty. "You will always be beautiful to me, Annie."

Tears p.r.i.c.kled at her eyelids again, for the second time in five minutes, and she bit her lower lip to stop it

from trembling. She'd wondered if she could form a permanent relationship with a man who never aged,

and now she knew the answer.

Gar was right--James was utterly incapable of disloyalty. He loved her the way she was, despite her flaws, and he would always love her. He wouldn't care if she grew plump, if her hair turned gray and her skin wrinkled and sagged'he would still love her just as much.