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“You guys take off. I’m heading back to my rig anyway.”
    “That’s over one-point-seven kilometers.” His dismay tinted the innocuous words with clear alarm. Not even bots worked that fast. She would be alone and vulnerable.
    Obviously he’d offended her again. She picked up the engineered pet and hobbled for the exit without commenting.
    “Let me.” Marcus scooped her into his arms.
    “I can walk, Galahad,” Tori told him, but she didn’t struggle or demand to be set down. Galahad was a clear term of affection.
    “How’re those swollen knuckles?” Marcus asked.
    Tori flexed her fingers. “Amazingly good.”
    “Who is this Galahad anyway?” Marcus winked at Horace over her head.
    “One of those ridiculously handsome guys of legend, who is way too good to be real. He was always busy saving fair maidens and such.” She grinned up at Marcus.
    Her easy manner with his friend emphasized Horace’s dismal failure. Fear clutched at him. What if she accepted Marcus, but not him or Gideon? Horace couldn’t imagine anyone rejecting Gideon. He amended the question. What if she accepted both of them and denied him? That outcome had a high degree of probability.
    “Where are we going?” Marcus smiled into Tori’s beautiful hazel eyes, which sparkled back at him.
    “East about a mile to my ride. Ready to put me down now?”
    “No way.” Marcus grinned.
    Horace watched her leave with sadness clouding his vision. He could’ve carried her with equal ease. However, he hadn’t offered and she hadn’t shown any indication she would’ve accepted such help from him. Still he wished he’d thought of it first. Something unfamiliar banded around his chest and tightened. Likely some malfunction in his systems. The band tightened more. He set up a diagnostic scan of his critical functions, let it run in the background and tried to ignore the odd constriction.
    “Take one of the motorcycles. Horace and I will salvage what we can and follow with the rest of the vehicles,” Gideon said with enough firmness to guarantee agreement.
    Tori handed Horace the droid. “Keep him safe.”
    “Thanks, Gideon.” Marcus tugged a helmet on Tori and settled her on the first of the two-wheeled vehicles. Then he climbed on in front of her, she wrapped her arms around his lean waist and the motorcycle disappeared in a roar of power.
    “Have you analyzed the fluid samples from the first site?” Gideon’s quiet question accomplished the impossible. It took Horace’s mind away from Tori.
    “Yes, I have. The first was blood. However, the second was most intriguing—an entire nanobot dump.”
    Gideon elevated an eyebrow. “A singularly lucky hit for our Tori.”
    His leader’s use of “our” lifted Horace’s flagging hopes. “Quite. A design flaw in his armor or a possible careless fastening that loosened during their struggle combined with a precise strike from a short blade at the perfect time to catch his bots in refreshment cycle or the wound wouldn’t have resulted in a complete nano loss. Without bots on board, there was no possible recovery for the injured cyborg. A minor wound became instantly critical.”
    “Amazing luck for us.” The triad leader’s mouth thinned into a grim line. “She might not have survived had the enemy team been at full strength.”
    “True, she sustained multiple cuts, scrapes and contusions. However, she was most fortunate in there were no serious injuries.”
    Gideon faced him, meeting his eyes. “She wasn’t raped?”
    “No.”
    “You’re sure? I thought she’d refused to be examined.”
    Horace ducked his head and shifted the lifeless droid from hand to hand. “She did. I scanned her.”
    “Thank God.” Gideon squeezed his shoulder with such sincere approval Horace felt less guilty for the deception.
    “Give me the pet. I’ll put it in the truck.”
    Horace passed the furry bundle he’d been charged with safeguarding to his leader.
    Gideon tossed it in the cab. “We need