They'd caught him. Lock, stock and fucking barrel.
Lyon seethed in silence as the security officers buzzed around his maximum-
security cell like flies around a honeypot. He was furious, more with himself than
anyone else. He should have known General Ryland, über-marine legend, wasn't going
to be that easy to catch.
For heaven's sake, he'd read the goddamn file on the woman. The one clearly
marked "Do not fuck with". He might as well have just looked at the pictures. He'd
been too arrogant and assured of his own abilities.
As soon as he'd seen her among the Arcadia marines, he'd recognized her. She was
dangerous, inventive and unpredictable. He'd known that. What he hadn't known, and
was now kicking himself for, was that she'd have an Empath virtually joined at the hip.
"To the back of the cell," the guard ordered. The hard look in his eyes warned Lyon
not to try anything. His team had killed some of this man's crewmates and, from the
looks of it, the guy was itching for payback. Lyon would prefer to avoid being the
mechanism for that payback. Cyborg he might be, but even he could feel pain.
Rolling to his feet, he stood, and smothered a smile as the female guard at the back
gasped. Yeah, he was big. Over six foot and broad across the shoulders, just the same as
any other Leo class out there. It wasn't fate. It wasn't hours spent in the gym honing his
physique. He'd been designed to be big. He was the biological equivalent of a tank.
A right lot of good that had done him when he'd tracked Ryland. He'd been so
focused on getting the general in his clutches and finally getting a shot at persuading
someone high up in the Fleet that he and his kind weren't the monsters they were made
out to be that he'd all but ignored the guy with her.
Big mistake.
All it had taken was for Ryland to distract him by flitting almost close enough to
catch. While his attention was on her, the Empath had sneaked up behind him. Lyon
couldn't figure out how he'd done it. Anyone else he'd have detected. Something would
have tipped him off. The slight scuffle of a boot in the undergrowth or a caught breath
would have caught his hypersensitive senses. Not this time.
He replayed that chronology of his capture over and over in his memory to try to
figure it out. There was nothing. It was as though the guy hadn't even been there until
he'd placed his hand on the back of Lyon's neck and tumbled him into darkness.
Note to self, avoid Empaths in future. That, or break their fucking necks before they get
close.
He moved to the back of the cell. He'd been through the drill before, so he moved
before they gave the order, standing facing the wall with his hands behind his back.
"Being a good little machine today, are we?" the guard behind him sneered as he
clipped the heavy manacles over Lyon's wrist. He activated the magnetic locks.
Instantly, Lyon felt the energy drain.
The Fleet had created him and his kind. They knew how to contain them. At least,
they thought they did. What they didn't know was how extensively Lyon's base
systems had been hacked and modified. Something he intended to stop them
discovering at all costs, even if he had to set the tri-sappherium crystals that powered
his cybernetics and combat chassis to overload. The resulting blast would take out not
only him, but also the ship and possibly most of the system as well.
Gritting his teeth, he ignored the pain as they hauled him backward out of the cell.
"That won't do you any good. Once they get you on the Valkyrie, they'll slice and
dice you. See what makes you tick."
"The Valkyrie?"
He couldn't help the query. It slipped from between his lips before he could stop
himself. Even as he spoke, he ran a query through his onboard computer. What portion of his memory banks he could access at the moment. As soon as he'd realized there was an Empath near, he'd locked his memory banks down.