Heart of Steel Read Free Page A

lock of blonde hair, caught in the wind. The touch of slender fingertips, the gentle nip of a cool breeze.
    A wave of dizziness hit him, and he staggered, putting a hand against the viewing window to steady himself. He felt like the floor had suddenly dropped from under him. His lungs felt tight, and he had to stop to catch his breath. He clutched his temples, squeezing his eyes shut as the dizziness gradually abated. He grasped at the fading memory, but it scattered like fall leaves.
    “Sir?” Arthur prodded.
    Mechanus opened his eyes and again gazed at the nameless beauty that his machines were maintaining. The  mechanical  lens  that  had  replaced  his  left eye
    focused in closer on her face, and then scanned down the smooth curves of her naked torso…
    “Sir, what do you wish done with her?”
    Mechanus blinked, suddenly feeling like a pervert, and dropped his gaze to a point on the floor between his feet. He was, after all, staring at an unconscious nude woman. That she was breathtakingly beautiful had nothing at all to do with it. Nothing at all.
    Once he’d regained command of himself, he looked her over again with a more clinical eye. She had dark circles under her eyes, suggesting that she was suffering from sleep deprivation, and she had a thin, white scar on the left side of her neck, just over the carotid artery. It was about three inches long, but well-healed. The scar fascinated him, and as he stared at it he reached up and touched the left side of his jaw, near where the overlapping metal plates that dominated that side of his face gave way to old scar tissue. He wanted to touch her scar—but going in there and fondling her while she was unconscious would just be creepy . He wanted to make a good impression, after all. He tore his eyes away from her throat, and his gaze settled on the ragged flesh just below her left knee. As with the male, her stump had been threaded with tubes that kept the blood circulating through what remained of the limb.
    Here, at least, he could make a good impression. Fortunately, he had detailed files on anatomy, so this should be simplicity itself.
    “Repair her,” he instructed, “Restore her to prime functioning—biological means only. Then take her to one of the guest rooms to recover, and see that she is given clothing. I will not be a poor host.” Never mind
    the fact that he never had any real guests there any-
    way. He shook his head, dismissing the thought. “Did they have any belongings?”
    “Scuba gear, swimsuits, a waterproof camera, and each had a mesh bag containing an assortment of seashells. In addition, the male had a wrist pouch containing a folded note on waterproof paper.”
    Mechanus raised his eyebrow. “A note? What did the note say?”
    “‘All the mermaids of the sea would be jealous. Julia, will you marry me?’”
    Mechanus frowned in thought. On the bright side, he now knew the name of this beautiful angel that Scarface had collected for him. On the other hand… He glanced back at the man in Laboratory 8.
    “I wouldn’t worry about it, sir,” Arthur assured him, “To borrow a handy turn of phrase, he’s half the man you are.”
    This startled a snort of laughter out of Mechanus. “Always the quick wit, Arthur. I need to be careful these days.”
    “Thank you, sir.”
    Mechanus headed off, initiating a number of seldom-used processes that he was certain would make his beautiful guest happy.

 
     
     
     
     
    Chapter
    TWO
     
     
     
     
     
    Julia’s mind barreled up through nightmares of shark-monsters, and she surfaced to wakefulness with a shriek of fright. As she lay there, her breath coming in gasps and her heart hammering in her chest like a panicked rabbit, she stared up at the ceiling at first, trying to convince herself that she was safe. There were no shark-monsters, and that it had all been a nightmare.
    Then she realized that she was in an unfamiliar room. It wasn’t the sort of comforting unfamiliarity that