WARNING: POWER CAPACITY AT FIFTY PERCENT
With a grunt, Nick swipes away the alarm in his head. But what little peace he’d hoped to gain is smashed with each pound on the shuttle door.
“Give up, Nicky!” a voice jeers from the other side. “The Silverclad just wants a little heart-to-heart!”
Nick huffs in annoyance. Who knew one of the most interesting days of his life would quickly turn into his worst—and probably his last.
He lifts his hand from the gash in his abdomen and stares at the oil on his metal fingertips. He’d silenced his internal diagnostics hours ago, but he can tell the damage has only gotten worse.
If only he could silence his sensory receptors.
Stella bends over the shuttle’s controls, but for all her efforts, she can’t disarm the station lockdown that has them bolted to the ground. With a cry, she slams her palm against the panel in defeat.
“Maybe…” she whispers. “Maybe if we opened the door quick enough I could—”
“No.”
Nick grabs the edge of the control panel and tries to stand, but his torn wires send a painful jolt through his system and he falls to the ground.
Stella drops down next to him and presses a hand against his shoulder. “You need to conserve your power!” The sternness of her voice doesn’t match the fear in her eyes.
“You’d never shoot all three of them fast enough.” Nick winces. He takes a long look at Stella. Her makeup is smudged, blonde curls a tattered mess around her face, eyes dull with exhaustion. And she’s still the most beautiful woman Nick’s ever laid eyes on.
He reaches toward her, then hesitates. Stella offers a sad smile and rests her soft cheek against his palm.
Perhaps the sensory receptors aren’t all bad.
“Heh,” Nick chuckles. “We may not have known each other long, but you brought life back into these metal bones.” He sighs. “I didn’t think that was possible.”
Stella’s face contorts, brow furrowed and chin quivering. “Nick…” her voice strains.
“Stella, listen to me.” Nick clutches her hand in his. “You know the power my heart contains… how dangerous it is.”
Stella presses her lips into a thin line and nods.
The banging outside intensifies. Nick’s gears whir with urgency. “No matter what happens, you can’t let it fall into the Silverclad’s hands.”
Stella’s eyes widen. “Wait… what are you—”
Nick deactivates the last safeguard in his defense program. Releasing Stella’s hand, he opens his shirt to expose his metal chest. With a soft click, a hatch opens to reveal the compartment within.
Stella watches agape as Nick reaches inside and wraps oily fingers around his nuclear heart. With a twist and a grunt, he detaches it.
WARNING: POWER CAPACITY AT TEN PERCENT
Yeah, yeah. Nick sighs.
The heart pulsates with soft green light, reflecting in Stella’s eyes, a mixture of sadness and regret and… something he can’t quite place.
Nick holds it out to her.
“I can’t!” Stella whispers.
“This body is… shutting down,” his words slur together. “No use in… letting Silverclad…”
Stella stares at him, tears welling. She’s so bold, so vibrant, so star-darned beautiful. She cups the heart between her hands as if it were a newborn child.
“Set it against… the door… Hide in the… escape pod… and… and…”
Detonate.
Stella wipes her eyes. “Thank you,” she whispers. “For everything.”
WARNING: POWER CAPACITY AT FIVE PERCENT
Nick sighs. “I suppose… this is… goodbye…”
Suddenly, Stella leans forward and presses her lips against his. They’re soft and warm against his cold metal.
Well, if he must, Nick supposes that dying in the embrace of a beautiful woman isn’t the worst way to go.
WARNING: POWER CAPACITY AT ONE—
The sound of whirring machinery comes to an abrupt halt, and Stella leans away from the motionless android.
She did it.
She actually got the nuclear heart.
For a moment, Stella can only stare into his lifeless eyes. Then a bang rouses her, and she quickly taps at her wristwatch. Immediately, the shuttle goes silent.
She pushes to her feet, and with a swipe of the control panel, the shuttle door slides open. Three men step inside, lowering their beam rifles.
“Miss Ray?” the first man, Jameson, says.
Stella lifts the heart for them to see. “I got it.”
Grins spread over their ugly faces and they cheer in unison.
“The Silverclad will be pleased,” Jameson adds.
Stella smiles weakly. These days, pleasing her father is becoming more and more difficult. If she had failed—
“Ha!” Harding leers down at the android. “Not so tough now, are you Nicky?” He aims a swift kick at Nick’s legs.
“Hey!” Stella barks, and the men grow still, staring at her.
“Miss Ray?”
Stella swallows, then smirks. “Don’t want to pay damage fees, do we?”
The men chortle, but Stella’s heart is racing. Nick’s heart pulses warm in her hand, a steady beat of its own.
The price of approval.
Stella sighs.
“Could you give me a moment to fix my makeup?” she asks.
The other two roll their eyes, but Jameson shrugs. “Of course, ma’am. Just don’t take too long—we don’t want to keep the Silverclad waiting.”
No we don’t, Stella thinks grimly.
As the three men turn to leave the shuttle, Stella withdraws her ray gun.
Zap!
Zap!
Zap!
They fall like ragdolls into a smoking heap at the shuttle’s entrance.
Well… no going back now.
Stella steps over them, high heels clacking on metal. She heads for the adjacent shuttle and disables the lockdown with ease.
Her father will chase her. The Silverclad does not accept failure.
Then again, neither does Stella Ray.
As she guides the shuttle out of the space station and prepares for lightspeed, Stella glances down at the heart nestled in her lap. She smiles.
Thank you, Nick. She gives the heart a small pat. You’re my ticket to escaping my father for good.