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    Cyborg Rescuer: Men of Mettle, #6
    Cyborg Rescuer: Men of Mettle, #6
    Cyborg Rescuer: Men of Mettle, #6
    Ebook139 pages1 hour

    Cyborg Rescuer: Men of Mettle, #6

    By Cara Bristol

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    About this ebook

    A cyborg with haunted past, a woman with a clouded future…
     

    Battered and broken, hostage and sole survivor Solia waits for death at the hands of vicious predatory aliens when Cyber Operations agent Guy Roarke disobeys orders, charges in, and rescues her. A former medic, he initiates emergency medical procedures before rushing her to Cybermed, in hopes of saving her wings so she can fly again. He's taken with the delicate, brave Faria, but his best intentions result in unfortunate consequences that place her in greater jeopardy. Can he overcome the guilt of past mistakes in time to save her life?
     

    Cyborg Rescuer is a standalone read in the Men of Mettle series. It was originally titled Rescued by the Cyborg and published in Pets in Space 2: Embrace the Romance.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCara Bristol
    Release dateMar 12, 2018
    ISBN9781947203006
    Cyborg Rescuer: Men of Mettle, #6

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      Book preview

      Cyborg Rescuer - Cara Bristol

      Chapter One

      Hissing and growling, the Ka-Tȇ emerged from the jungle.

      Solia hid her face under her good wing, feigning unconsciousness. Will it be me? Please, not me. Tears trickled from her eyes. If her life was spared, another’s would be taken.

      Her hair registered disturbance in the air as the Ka-Tȇ approached. Through a tiny gap in the vanes of her wing, Solia caught sight of dirty, razor-like claws. Two sets of feet stopped beside the electro-cage.

      No. no. no.

      A hiss. Save this one for last. A long tail snapped.

      Her hair prickled as they moved on; her heart pounded as she listened for an indication they’d stopped at the adjacent cage containing the human girl. She heard no buzz of the force field shutting off or cry from the captive.

      It would be the other one, then—the sentient who rolled silently in her cage. Without legs, she moved on a rotae, a natural wheel. Solia had never seen such a creature and wouldn’t have guessed she was female except the Ka-Tȇ somehow knew. They’d killed the males first, reserving the females for a special torture.

      The force field hummed.

      Get out. The microimplant behind Solia’s ear translated the snarl into Faria. Now.

      The hiss was followed by a cry of pain from the sentient. Make it quick. Make it quick. Nothing could save the creature, but Solia prayed she wouldn’t suffer for long.

      Run. Run for your life. The Ka-Tȇ laughed.

      Branches snapped as the sentient fled. She wouldn’t get far. None of them did. Solia bit her lip until it bled and squeezed her eyes shut.

      Laughter. Grunts. Screams. Then growling, chomping, and slurping. Bile rose in Solia’s throat, and tears seeped past her shuttered eyelids. Finally, the jungle rustled as the predators moved on. Silence fell. The rusty scent of blood drifted on humid air.

      She never had a chance, the human girl whispered.

      Holding her broken left wing tight to her body, Solia sat up. No. Traffickers had delivered to the Ka-Tȇ eighteen hostages: six males and twelve females. All the men, one of them the human girl’s husband, had been slaughtered at the start then, each day thereafter, the Ka-Tȇ came for a female.

      Now, only two remained.

      Which—which one of us do you think they’ll take next? the human asked. Rachel, her name was.

      I don’t know, Solia said. The human woman had never stopped hoping for a rescue. It wasn’t going to happen. No one knew they were here, and no one would risk a landing if they did. The Association of Planets had charted Katnia as a forbidden zone.

      Rachel choked and pressed a knuckle to her mouth. If I hadn’t complained so much…John was working long hours. I hardly got to see him. So he booked a cruise to surprise me.

      Solia had heard the story several times. It’s not your fault. You couldn’t have guessed slavers would attack. Thinking the pirates coveted the ship, the overwhelmed, outgunned crew had directed the passengers to the escape pods. The slavers had swooped in and scooped up Solia’s pod, taken everyone aboard prisoner, and handed them over to the Ka-Tȇ. Each day, another female was raped and murdered, the victims’ screams and creatures’ laughter and grunts breaking the silence of the jungle. Dwindling numbers marked the passage of time.

      How’s your wing? Rachel asked. Does it still hurt?

      It’s all right, unless I move it. With a swipe of his powerful claws, one of the Ka-Tȇ had almost torn her wing from her body to prevent her flying out of reach.

      If we could talk to them, reason with them—but they can’t speak. They hiss and growl, Rachel said. How can you communicate with animals?

      They’re not animals, exactly, Solia said. The Ka-Tȇ were humanoid felines, vicious, indiscriminate predators who had decimated their ecosystem by hunting nearly to extinction most large animals on their planet. Birds, which could sometimes escape, and rodents too small to catch, had survived. They have a language. An ugly, guttural one.

      All I hear is growling.

      I can understand some of their vocalizations. I’m a linguist. She’d worked day and night, charting the ancient languages for the Farian ambassador’s presentation to the AOP. After completing the project, she’d treated herself to a star cruise. And ended up here.

      So you can talk to them! Tell them we can be ransomed.

      Solia touched her throat, shaking her head. I don’t have the anatomical structures allowing me to make those sounds. My aural implant helps me translate languages, but I can’t speak Katnian. They’re not interested in money. They want the kill."

      I never knew such creatures existed, Rachel said.

      I knew because of my work with languages and my connections to the Association of Planets. The AOP had barred Katnia from the alliance and issued a galaxy-wide travel advisory, except pirates and slavers didn’t obey advisories.

      Rachel hugged herself. I won’t let them rape and torture me. I’d rather kill myself.

      A swift death was the best they could hope for. Solia had thought long and hard how to provoke the creatures to anger so they would kill her quickly, but doubted she would be successful.

      But there’s nothing here! The human girl struck the invisible force field with her fist, crying out as electricity jolted through her with a sizzle. While causing considerable pain, the voltage wasn’t high enough to kill. Rachel flung herself onto the ground, dug her fingers into the dirt, and threw a handful at the force field. Sparks, earth, and rocks sprayed. Her sobs of despair were the most heartbreaking sounds Solia had ever heard, and she realized the human girl finally had lost hope.

      Chapter Two

      Did you like my present, Uncle Guy? Jessamine grinned. With the loss of another tooth, her smile appeared even more mischievous.

      Guy winced. He’d forgotten about it! I’m sorry, sweetie. Uncle Guy had to launch the ship, so he didn’t get the chance to open it yet. He loved his seven-year-old niece like crazy; however, her antics put a cyborg’s patience to the test. R&R on Terra with his sister and her family had gone well, but he’d be lying if he said returning to work wasn’t a bit of a relief. His sister had her hands full with that little moppet.

      You…open…away. Jessamine’s image and audio flickered as a solar storm broke up the transmission.

      What was that?

      You…open it right away.

      I will. Promise.

      His sister, Jill, appeared on the view screen. I’m sorry, Guy. If I’d…inkling…what Jessamine had—

      Don’t tell him! Jessamine cried. He hasn’t…yet. You’ll spoil…surprise.

      Oh, he’s going…surprised. Although the image pixilated, the censuring glare Jill shot at her daughter still came through. Their mother had employed that look when they were kids. It never had failed to have the desired effect on him and Jill, but it didn’t work so well on Jessamine.

      His niece’s insistence he open the gift immediately and his sister’s apology had him a bit worried. What could Jessamine have given him? His bags had been collected and loaded onto the shuttle by a Cyber Operations robo when he’d kissed his family goodbye. Jessamine had hugged his neck with candy-sticky fingers. I’m going to miss you, Uncle Guy. I got you a special present. Be sure you open it right away.

      Will do. Thank you, he’d said. I’ll miss you, too, munchkin.

      He’d boarded the shuttle, but an unexpected solar storm had interfered with the electronics, necessitating his full attention—and he’d forgotten about the gift.

      Guy eyed his sister and niece. Maybe you’d better tell me what it is—

      Their images wavered then the transmission went black.

      So much for that. Once clear of the solar storm, he would run back to his cabin. Many pilots might have switched to computer control during a solar incident, but, like most cyborgs, Guy preferred hands-on when situations got a little dicey. Sometimes decisions had to be made in a flash, and Guy preferred to be the one making them.

      Solar wind rocked the ship, but Guy’s hands remained steady on the stick as he boosted power to the engines. The added thrust would burn more fuel, but he’d clear the storm quicker.

      Once the ship was free, he set a course for Alpha Nine Seven, a space station in the Herlian sector where he would meet up with his mission partner, Brock Mann. Cy-Ops had gotten word the terrorist nation planet Lamis-Odg had set up another outpost, and he and Brock had been ordered to investigate. Guy switched piloting to the computer and left the cockpit. Now, the gift.

      What could Jessamine have given him?

      Ping! An encrypted communiqué from Cy-Ops Director Carter Aymes shot into his cyberbrain. He opened a frequency, but continued to shoulder his way through the narrow corridor.

      Where are you? Carter asked.

      Just left Terra. Had to bypass a solar wind storm, so I went a little out of my way, but I’ll be on Alpha Nine Seven as scheduled.

      Change in plans. I’m sending Kai Andros to A-9-7. I need you for recon in the Katnian sector.

      Katnia? What’s going on?

      Intel has picked up signs of activity.

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