Chapter 22

Solaris City, Solaris VII,
Freedom Theater, Lyran Alliance,
July 30, 3069

Jeremy had never run from somebody the way he ran now, and he felt cowardly. He prided much on his swashbuckling skill, and aside from Amber, he never had any real opposition in sword fighting. He beat everybody soundly. To think that his fighting skill didn't do him any good so he had to run away from the battle made question his own merit.

But look at Mac, or whatever that 'thing' was! He was covered in metal… were they metal body parts or just shields? Jeremy didn't know. He had never seen anything like it sans cyborgs in silly sci-fy movies. Cyborgs were real but they were clunky. The living tissues and the mechanics never integrated smoothly. In contrast, Mac moved like a breeze. With a simple flick of his hand he broke Jeremy's katana. Then he threw Jeremy without an effort. Then Jeremy tore his lung apart, but he kept breathing as if he had a reserved set of lungs.

What had the Word of Blake done to him?

Amber led Jeremy to run down the streets of Solaris City, snaking in and out of dark alleys, until they arrived at an abandoned apartment building. She ran up the stairs to the top floor and checked the doors. One of the doors was chain-locked but she drew her dadao and busted the chain. She kicked the door, waited until Jeremy barged in, then locked the door from the inside. It was an empty apartment that had not been occupied for some time but basic furniture were still there. It was a corner apartment with almost 180 degree of view.

Amber closed the curtain but left a small slit to recon the area. The streets looked quiet, with only a few homeless people chattering around a burning drum. Jeremy stood by the door, listening to building, trying to catch even the slightest hint of Mac coming through the stairs. But so far, everything was dead quiet.

"I think we lost him," Amber said, half whispering.

"Isn't this pathetic?" Jeremy scoffed as he sat on the floor by the door. "We, a couple of accomplished martial artists, cowering under the darkness of the night, running away from a guy that had no clue about martial arts?"

"That wasn't just a guy," Amber replied, maintaining her vigil by the window. "That was a monster, if you can call it a monster. You saw what he could do. He was stronger, faster, and impervious do damage. No normal human is capable of those. What we do is smart. A wise leader knows when to attack and when to retreat."

"Patton?" Jeremy quipped halfheartedly.

"No, Sun Tzu, The Art of War," Amber muttered. "You need to brush up your history."

"You seem to admire him."

"Who? Sun Tzu?"

"No. Mac."

"What?" Amber turned around, her brows cocked. "What did you say?"

"Don't you like Mac's new physical attributes?" Jeremy stood and met Amber's gaze with flame. "Strong, fast, indestructible, unbeatable, impervious to pain… don't you wanna be with somebody like that?"

"What is this?" Amber huffed, still clueless about what Jeremy was talking about, but starting to sense that he was about to make a big deal about her past relationship with Mac. "Why does my taste in men suddenly become important to you?"

"I need to know who I am working with," Jeremy growled. "I need to know where your allegiance lies."

"How dare you to question my integrity!" Amber blurted.

"You had two chances to kill Mac!" Jeremy snapped back. "You had a chance to kill him when he was fighting me, and you had another chance to kill him after I stabbed him from the back! You did nothing! You didn't even draw your sword!"

"Why would I want to kill Mac?"

"He tried to kill me!" Jeremy held nothing back. At this time Mac's presence wasn't a concern anymore. He just had to say what he had to say.

"You tried to kill him first! He wasn't even confrontational and you, Mister Accomplished Martial Artist, had to draw the first blood with your sword! He was defending himself, and even when he had a chance to kill you, he didn't take it! The only one trying to kill somebody is you!"

"He tried to kill you!"

"Because I was asking for it!" Amber screamed from the top of her lung. "He wanted me to join him and I said I would rather die!"

That took Jeremy aback. "You would rather die than join him, is that what you're saying?"

"Yes, I would rather die than ally with the Word of Blake!"

"He might not ask you to join the Word of Blake! He was asking you to join him! Him, with his rejuvenated physique and stamina that will leave you giddy and happy in the morning!"

"I don't care! Why do you think I care about that?" And then, Amber realized something. "Why do you care about that?"

"I have to make everything straight about who's with me and who's with the Word of Blake!"

"This is not about allegiance, is it Jeremy? This is not about Mac joining the Word of Blake or me joining the Word of Blake! This is about me and him, our past history as a dysfunctional couple… is it right, Jeremy?"

"I don't give a damn about you and him…"

"Then why are you making a big damn about this? You know damn well where I stand! You know damn well what I fight for! And you know damn well that I am not a slut who shed my dignity just for a few romps! You insulted me with your accusation! Mac never saw me more than his sex toy but he made it known to me. You, you talked to me about respect and rectitude but deep inside you saw me as nothing but a whore. You are worse than Mac, Jeremy Stewart!"

Amber's outburst stopped Jeremy's rant in its course. It was not true; Jeremy didn't see Amber that way. But something about Mac's sudden appearance got the best of him. He had never felt threatened by Mac. In fact, it was Mac that felt threatened by Jeremy's arrival at the Ground Control. So why did he felt uncomfortable around Mac, gleaming in his new metallic body parts, all of sudden?

"I don't mean to sound that way," Jeremy lowered his tone. "I just saw you hesitate to attack Mac and I just thought…"

"What?" Amber walked closer to Jeremy. "That I still have feeling for him?"

"Wha… No… Uhm… Well, do you?"

"Nǐ zhè me shuō shì shén me yì sī?" Amber sighed in exasperation. "You know the answer to that!"

"I don't anymore, not after I saw the way you looked at him and the way he looked at you…"

"Jeremy?" Amber squinted. "Are you… jealous?"

"No I'm not!" Jeremy took a step back, but the red flash in his face was a clear sign that he wasn't telling the truth. "Why would I be jealous of Mac? It's not like he's coming back to steal you with all those blingy metal in his face, right? Am I right, Amber?"

"Steal? Steal?" Amber flashed a quick smile. "You're jealous because Mac is stronger, faster, more advanced than you. You're jealous because this situation starts to become too familiar to you. You're jealous because Mac reminds you of that Solaris jock that stole your fiancée. You're jealous because you're afraid that Mac's new physical prowes will be enough to...," she paused in her own reckoning, realizing what this entire situation might center around her in the first place, "… to make me leave you for him."

That was the knock-out punch for Jeremy. He didn't have time to figure out why Mac's new physical attributes bothered him so much. Now that Amber laid it down perfectly for him, he didn't have room to flinch anymore. Might as well yield and throw everything all out.

"Well I may be afraid of losing you," Jeremy spat, still maintaining the bitter façade, but with a much softer tone. "You're the backbone of Ground Control, and it's a damn shame if you leave."

"We both know this has nothing to do with the Ground Control," Amber pushed.

"You're right it's not," Jeremy let out a long sigh. "It's about me. I think I'm falling for you. There, I said it! Happy now?"

"No," Amber shook her head. "Do you think your confession will right all the wrong you did to me?"

"Then what else do you want?" Jeremy moaned. "My sincere apology? My crawling on all four, looking up to you, begging for your forgiveness?"

Amber didn't answer. Instead she grabbed Jeremy's collar, hooked her arms around his neck, and planted her lips on his. Jeremy didn't expect her advance and for a moment he froze, but Amber's soft and warm lips melted him, and before long the two of them locked their lips in a passionate kiss.

"The truth is…" Amber said when they finally let go of each other, "I can't stop thinking about you."

"You can't?" Jeremy smiled foolishly. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought you were still thinking about your old fiancée! Why didn't you tell me about your feeling?"

"Because I thought I still wanted my old fiancée back," Jeremy chuckled. "Because I was blinded by my past and forgot to see the best thing in front of me. You never know what you have until you lose her… or think you will lose her."

"You will never lose me," Amber grinned before giving Jeremy another wet kiss. "Ever."

"Are you sure? You just saw the worst of me."

"Getting jealous? I think it's very cute," Amber kissed his nose. "Nobody has ever got jealous because of me."

And that was the last inhibition for Jeremy. He pressed his lips on Amber's and carried her. Amber locked her ankles behind his back, and he staggered around the apartment until he found a bed. He put Amber down and pinned her while his hands scrambled her shirt in desperate urgency.

"Jeremy! Jeremy, what are you doing?" Amber still found a will to act decently. Her body was burning with desire, but they were in somebody else's place, and Mac could find them any minute.

"Closure," Jeremy winked as he stripped his clothes. "Something that I should've done long time ago." She kissed her lips, then her chin, down to her neck, and between her exposed breasts. He circled her right breast then kissed her hard nipple.

Aw, what the hell, Amber thought as she yelped in pure ecstasy. She never made love to anyone before. If she were to die tonight, she wanted to die fulfilled by the man she loved.