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Bridget Midway
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"Adam and E-V-E"
Chapter One

"Eve, at some point you’re going to have to listen to me," Adam shouted over the whirring and whizzing
sounds of his KN-47 weapon.

The over-forty-foot tall steel robot in front of them with its round body, solid titanium legs and modified
claws for all four feet, raised another metallic shield over its exoskeleton. It showed no sign of stopping
its assault.

E-V-E, or as she preferred to be called, Emergency Violator Equalizer, stood with her back to the thick
steel door protecting the last few humans on planet Earth.

Although basically human, with tissues, organs, muscles and nerves, she thought of herself as a robot,
a computer, no different than the thing in front of her that she wanted to take down. A sophisticated
computer chip existed in her brain, implanted at conception and remaining until today, her twenty-fifth
year.

She’d been trained to be a killing machine. With one hand-chop to the throat at the right angle, she
could crush a man’s windpipe and leave him gasping for air until he curled into a ball to die. With an
upward thrust of her hand, she could shove the cartilage in any human attacker’s nose into his brain,
killing him within milliseconds. Endless hours of combat training had guaranteed that she would never
need weapons. But in a case like this, where the attacker wasn't human, she'd be foolish to discard them
in favor of fighting with her bare hands.

E-V-E squeezed her finger on the trigger of her assault rifle, firing off several rounds. The shots landed
around what could be considered the knee joint on machine.

Nothing.

The physics of the contraption astounded E-V-E. The shot should have taken it down. She was an
expert at spotting weakness, since it had filled her training schedule from the beginning.

Her regimented and practiced skills thrived while protecting those who couldn’t fend for themselves—
humans—against all outside forces determined to take over. The last thing she needed was to take
advice—no, orders—from a man, especially one that made her question herself.

This was the gratitude E-V-E got for surviving beyond a few years. Leaders of the Federation offered
her a role in their Army. She could have had her own troops to lead. But she'd chosen to work alone, at
least that was what she’d wanted.

Peering over at Adam in his now tattered pants and opened jacket, she took in a long, haggard breath
and jerked her attention back to the advancing monster. However, the image of his muscled thighs and
the honey-colored skin of his thick neck and smooth, barrel chest invaded her thoughts until she had to
swallow the saliva gathering in her mouth.

Her reactions didn’t compute. Once she took this spherical giant down, E-V-E would have to defrag her
computer chip. Seemed to be about that time anyway.

As soon as the Cerillions had entered the Earth’s atmosphere three months ago, E-V-E’s internal
sensors had been on alert. Three rapid beeps every five minutes for the entire three months had given
her a not-so-gentle reminder to remain alert until the attack. Sleep mattered little to her until she could
ascertain the cause of her protective signal. When it had finally stopped, the robot appeared.

Why Adam, this human, had to tag along, made no sense. She’d been told he was sent to assist her
because he was the best in the squadron unit.

But E-V-E had been told she was the best. Period.

She recognized a babysitter when she saw one. But at least he offered a pleasant diversion from looking
at the flat, rusty Earth all day.

"Adam, get inside," E-V-E demanded. "I’ll stay here and hold off this thing until you can get the
inhabitants to the tunnels."

"All twenty thousand of them? Not likely." He took a precise shot at the underside of the predator’s
carriage. Good to see that he remembered the basics of his robot-defense training. Go for the weakest
spot.

The thing didn’t falter. It took another step closer, shaking the ground until both E-V-E and Adam fell into
one another. Adam put his arm around her shoulders to steady her.

As though he willed her to do so, E-V-E turned her attention to Adam when the robotic intruder stopped
its attack, righting its clunky posture and lowering its rifles as if at ease.

"What’s going on? A truce?" E-V-E asked.

She’d never known a Cerillion to give up. It had to have been a trick.

"That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you." Adam held his gun at the being and managed to turn E-V-E
around to face him. "I figured something out and I think it’ll work."

E-V-E glanced at the robot, which started to hoist its guns back up for a second wave of attack. She
asked quickly, "What? We don’t have much time to—"

Before she could finish, Adam pressed his firm lips on hers. Keeping her eyes open, she glared at the
lieutenant. Her pulse quickened and that scared her more than the attacker. The loss of her senses
reminded her of her training days when her programmers took over her body during exercises. When
she felt herself lowering her gun, she pulled back.

"What are you doing?" she asked, holding on to his muscled arm.

He nodded toward the gatecrasher. "Take a look."

Turning her head, she noticed that not only had the robot lowered its weapons, it started to shake
uncontrollably as though on a self-destruction mode. When she turned back to Adam, he kissed her
again, passionately.

His hand pressed against the small of her back as he held her even closer. Sweat rolled down the side
of her face, a first. She turned to break from the embrace. If Adam wasn’t trying to pass secret
documents from mouth to mouth, then this action proved futile. But her slight struggle caused him to
hold her tighter.

E-V-E took in his masculine scent, a combination of red clay dust, salty sweat and ammonia, the last a
permanent aroma that constantly wafted through the atmosphere. Her hand snaked up to the back of
his neck as she took in the kiss, another first.

When Adam broke from her, he asked, "How was that?" He peered over at the robot, which still vibrated
violently but struggled to hold its gun to them. "Say it now. Say it fast."

"What are you talking about?"

"Christ, Eve. For a computer, you sure aren’t the fastest processor in the lot."

"I’ll have you know that I’m able to compute multiple—"

A laser shot blasted over their heads, denting the door and burning a small hole in its wake.

"Don’t argue with me," Adam said as he moved her over to avoid the molten steel pouring down the door
as a result of the gun blast. "It's reacting to conflict."

E-V-E blinked. "Which is why we need to continue our rifle assault."

"Not that kind of conflict." He waved his hand between the two of them. "Us. Our fighting is causing that
thing to fire on us."

She didn’t have a chance to ask why. Without warning and with no hesitation, Adam pressed her back
against the door, the smoldering hole over their heads a reminder that they weren’t doing a practice
attack. He paused for a moment, then did something she’d never thought he would do as long as she’d
known him: he dropped his weapon.

"What are you doing, Lieutenant?" she demanded. "We have an intruder in our midst!" Standing on the
tips of her toes in her class five work boots, she peered over his shoulder to see the Cerillion attacker
gearing up for another battering. "Pick up your weapon!"

"I can’t hold it and do this at the same time." As though he’d done it before, he ripped open her moss-
green government issued jacket, lifted her t-shirt and palmed her bare breasts.

Shock should have been the appropriate response. Perhaps E-V-E should have been appalled. She’d
seen other women, non-enhanced women, get offended when a man leered at them in a manner that
they must have found disgusting.

Instead E-V-E’s body melted to Adam’s touch. She closed her eyes and let her head fall back as he
massaged her sensitive orbs. Her body felt like it belonged to him. He elicited responses she’d never
felt. Aside from examinations from Army doctors, no man had ever touched her this way—in a manner
that made her forget her self-defense training. Why didn’t she want to twist his arm behind his back until
he cried for mercy? Or jam the heel of her hand against his nose until it snapped?

Wetness pooled between her legs and she felt her clitoris throbbing. A moan flowed through her parted
lips when her pebbled nipples brushed the calloused palms of his hands.

Her body reacted in a way that was unfamiliar to her. Not used to sweating, she now felt a trickle of it
rolling down between her breasts. A few beads of the perspiration dotted her forehead. Wanting to feel
more of his touch, a sensation so foreign to her she thought her chip would short circuit, she pressed
her free hand on top of his.

"Eve, one of us is going to have to keep an eye on that thing," he said and chuckled.

E-V-E snapped her head up. The Cerillion invader. That’s right. She did have a job to do. And what in
the hell was Adam doing?

“I am an Emergency Violator Equalizer, Lieutenant.” She hoped using her full title, and his, would snap
him out of whatever crazed state that made him react this way. Maybe hearing her say it out loud would
trigger her to react as she should as well—with force, with violence, without feeling.

“I know what you are, Eve.” He said the name he liked calling her like a curse.

E-V-E had known Adam’s reservations—no, hatred—for all things robotic. He’d expressed his feelings to
anyone within earshot of how the robots were trying to take over human jobs in the Army. E-V-E still
remembered his look of disgust the day he’d been told to pair with her.

For all she knew, Adam could have been trying to lull her into a false sense of security before he
attacked her. Perhaps he wanted give her a head butt to attempt to damage her circuitry. Or maybe he
wanted to get close enough to cram his large hand up her nose to shove her cartilage into her brain.
The thought made her blink.

Although the Cerillion robot remained still, E-V-E was fully aware of a possum attack. She aimed her gun
at the dormant giant but reserved her ammunition for when it started its next wave of attack.

"What the hell are you doing? I could have you charged with sexual assault on a fellow officer." She
struggled, weakly, to close her jacket but her body craved more of Adam’s touch, his attention.

What was wrong with her? How could her body react to a man who had been anything but welcoming to
her?

"Yeah, and when home base gets a look at your computer response read-out they’ll drop the charges."
He dipped his head and let his tongue lave over her other nipple.

For that, he was rewarded with a moan that nearly matched the groaning sound from the robot behind
them. He lowered himself to his knees. When he started unzipping her pants, he pushed his luck too far.

Moving her hand behind her back, she retrieved her small handgun that she kept tucked into her back
holster and placed it at his temple. "Section 41B-12 of the Officers’ Handbook states that an officer may
not physically nor sexually violate another at any time," E-V-E stated matter-of-factly as her hand
trembled. "A violation of any rules stated in the Handbook is subject to arrest, incarceration and
punishment including execution. I hereby place you under arrest, Lieutenant Adam B’Luven."

"Get down!"

He grabbed her wrist and yanked her to the ground. In one swift move, he covered her body with his,
making sure to shield her face. The blast from the Cerillion’s robot seared through the door where they
had been standing.

"Are you trying to get us killed?" he yelled. He placed his hands on either side of her head as he loomed
his face over hers. "What did I just say about conflict? No more arguments between us, get it?"

"What are you doing? Turning the thing on and off?" She turned her gaze to the machine. Its smoking
guns sank to the ground again.

He smirked. "No, but apparently I’m doing that to you." Snatching the handgun from her grip, he tossed it
a couple of feet away from them. "Just keep your rifle aimed and concentrate on me."

"I don’t understand."

Adam blinked. "You really don’t get it, do you?"

She shook her head, feeling inadequate for the first time that she could remember.

"Who is the leader of the Cerillions?"

As E-V-E was about to answer, he kissed the side of her face, then circled his tongue around the shell
of her ear. His warm breath sparked a fire in her abdomen that spread throughout her body.

"Dr. Lars Urlean," she answered in a moan.

Adam lifted his head. "Very good. Do you know what he’s known for?"

Before she could respond, he bowed his head again and repeated the same kissing and licking process
to the other side of her face. Her toes curled in her boots. War wasn’t supposed to feel this good.

"Robotics," she answered. "Machinery. Artificial Intelligence."

"Sex," Adam said bluntly. "The man uses sex like the way humans take in oxygen."

"What does that have to do with me? With us?"

"Who is your creator?"

"You mean my biological parents?"

"No." Adam tapped his index finger on the center of her forehead. "The chip. Who made it? Who put it in
you?"

"Dr. Sonjie Tuumlar."

"I'm thinking there’s got to be a correlation between the two. Every time I protect you, that thing stops
blasting at us. And when you throw this gorgeous body in front of mine, it sets its guns down. Why is
that?"

"You think my body is gorgeous?" she asked.

"It gets my attention quite often." He winked.

“Does my appearance aid in combat?”

“Believe it or not, in this situation it really helps.”

She put her hand to her cheek when her face felt oddly tight around her mouth. Was she actually
smiling?

In a supine position, E-V-E gazed at the blue-black sky as though searching for answers. As she lay still,
Adam managed to undo her pants and pull them down to her knees. This time she offered no protest.

As odd as it seemed, E-V-E was willing to concede that Adam’s methods may be on the mark, even
though every ounce in her logical being screamed that it didn’t make sense. She balled her free hand
into a fist as she struggled not to do the same with the other and shoot the Cerillion robot instead.

Rolling her head to the side, she gazed at the steel enemy.

Quiet. Unmoving.

"Seems like the trick to stopping this thing is making you happy," he said.

“Fine. Do what you need to do so that we can take this thing down. The inhabitants are relying on us.” E-
V-E’s body stiffened.

“I need a little cooperation from you. All hands need to be on deck for this exercise.”

~ ~ ~

Copyright © 2005 by Bridget Midway.  All rights reserved.