Emma: Part Two (Outpost Nine Book 2) by Lopez Lolita

Author:Lopez, Lolita [Lopez, Lolita]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Scifi romance
Publisher: Night Works Books, LLC
Published: 2014-12-15T08:00:00+00:00

4 Chapter Four

Jack cringed at the high-pitched whine of the cutting saw eating through a piece of metal. He stood just inside the wide open floor-to-ceiling doors of the converted hangar where all of the Outpost's mechanical and engineering needs were handled. Gray, one of the best engineers and mechanics in the entire cyborg fleet, bent over a workbench and guided the saw through the metal fabric. Just the man Jack need to see…

As if sensing his presence, Gray killed the saw and slowly turned. He flipped up the helmet shielding his face and set aside the saw. Jack's gaze glanced over the mess of scars twisting up the right side of the man’s face. An improvised explosive device set by a rogue team of cyborgs during a period of insurgency within the ranks had nearly killed the brilliant engineer.

Hovering in the open doorway, Jack waited for Gray's invitation to come into the warehouse any further. The man could be a bit cagey about his personal space. Gray flicked his gloved fingers and removed his helmet. “Well, get on in here, Stillwater.”

“How you doing, Gray?”

“How the hell do you think I’m doing? I’ve got a backlog of maintenance orders a foot high on my desk, and there hasn’t been a new recruit smart enough to pass the engineering tests to apprentice with me in more than a year.” Gray yanked off his gloves. His scarred fingers, the skin burned and knotted in places, sent Jack back to a time of blood and death and the very worst of the war.

“If you weren’t so damned mean, you would get more volunteers for this post.”

Gray snorted. “Mean is how men survive out here. We aren’t doing any of them a favor by coddling them.” Wiping his face with a rag, he continued, “I hear you and Max grabbed a human woman from the Outlands. Never figured you two for the kidnapping types."

Jack fought the urge to roll his eyes. The wild stories circulating the base over the last three days were getting out of hand. "It wasn't like that. She saved our lives. We saved hers. Her home was destroyed. She chose to come with us. End of story. Nothing salacious about it."

"Uh-huh," Gray replied, unconvinced. "I hear she's smart. Word is she scored off the charts on the math, mechanical, electrical and engineering portions of the aptitude tests."

Jack allowed a proud smile to curve his mouth. He didn't mention that she had miserably failed the history portion. Apparently, the version of history she had been taught wasn’t the one the cyborgs had lived. "She's amazing, Gray. That's why I'm here."

Gray shot him an unhappy look. "I know what you're going to ask, and the answer is no."

"Look, Gray, Emma is really nice. She's easy to work with and I think she could be a lot of help to you."

"I don't doubt that," Gray admitted. “I took a look at her scores. I saw the notes she made on some of the problems.

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