Assessing Survival Read Online Free PDF Page B

doctors and the support staff that work on the base. All of us can be used as weapons. We just need to know how to pull the trigger.”
    “You are not here to be a weapon.”
    She cocked her head and wrinkled her nose. “Last night, I caught up to the news reports and what they are willing to give to us. No new staff. Only the frozen volunteers who were ejected from the Earth before they locked it. No communications in or out for civilians. The weekly updates that you send are not answered. They want to forget about us, and if the Splice get past us, we will be a stain on human history. I want to make sure that doesn’t happen, one warrior at a time.”
    He blinked. “You figured all that out last night?”
    “Well, I was woken up by my own screams a few times, so I decided to do some research on what I have missed.”
    Nikolai leaned forward. “You are still having nightmares?”
    “Memories. The last thing I remember. All those women lying in pieces, my friends bleeding and we were just having a birthday party. It took so much effort to get us all together, and there we were for the first time in months. They planned it so carefully for maximum damage. I am pretty sure I am angry. Very, very angry.”
    Understanding dawned on his face. “And it was all taken care of while you were sleeping.”
    “Sleeping, dead. Whatever. Apparently, I did my fair share of both.” She shrugged. “So, I am all caught up, and I even have a good idea of the parts that are in stock as well as a list of replacements that are needed. If you authorize me to communicate with Cracker, I can put in an order and see what she can come up with.”
    “You know that your friend had a brain injury.”
    “It wasn’t obvious, but I am not surprised. All of the survivors have had extreme damage, but there are only five more ladies who survived that party.”
    She flicked out her reader and glanced at him. “Why are we still listed as on medical leave?”
    “The administration doesn’t want any live female cyborgs on record.”
    “What?”
    “Yeah; they want us to pretend you don’t exist.”
    “Why?”
    “I wish I knew.” He shrugged. “Nothing in the briefing bursts has stated why you are to remain camouflaged on the rosters.”
    “As long as I can find ways to contact the ladies from my station, I can live with being a hidden secret.”
    “So, do you want command of the base?”
    The blunt question surprised her. “Ask me after the enhancements are in.”
    He leaned back in his chair. “How do you know so much about the enhancement program?”
    “Ah. That. My parents were both scientists working with nanite programming, my brother was an alteration historian, and my sister was a micro mechanic.” The message from Cracker was listed between the lines of code that she had sent over.
     
    Glad to hear you made it.
    This should give you an extra boost.
    Let’s get this party started.
     
    A slow smile spread across Stitch’s lips. “You could say that I trained for this.”
    “Why did you volunteer?”
    She looked at him and cocked her head. “Why did you?”
    “To defend my world. I have parents, sisters and brothers, nieces and nephews. I wanted them safe.”
    “Same here. Well, no nieces or nephews that I know of, but my family is brilliant, and I was the only one of us fit for duty. When the conscription tried to pass us over, I jumped in the truck.”
    She wanted nothing more than to communicate with her family, but she would need the code to send a secure message through the shielding. How fortunate that she was with the man who had the access to get her that code.
    Sure, Cracker had sent it to her in thirty pieces, but getting the code out of Nikolai was going to be fun. She needed a distraction.
    Nikolai growled. “So, you knew all about the implants.”
    “I did. I do. Only the theory though. I know how they interact with the human body and how the nanites bridge the gap as long as they have enough staff to do the