Vyken Dark: Cyborg Awakenings Book One Read online

  “Do you know where he went?” Danya asked the woman called Belle.

  “I think he went to the river to fish, but I thought he would be back by now,” she said.

  “We’re not leaving yet,” said Danya. “Maybe he will get back before we do. I’ll ask Vyken if we can look for him if Nick doesn’t get back soon. I don’t think it’s safe for you to stay here alone, even with Nick.”

  “Is there any safe place around here?” Belle asked.

  They both knew the answer to that. Danya didn’t say what they were both thinking. Nick would not just leave Belle. In their late teens, they were devoted to each other, and Belle was about halfway through her first pregnancy. There was no way, Danya was leaving her there alone. Instead of just waiting, she went back outside to talk to Vyken immediately.

  “I can go to the river and look for him,” he said.

  “I should come with you. Nick doesn’t know you, and he would probably take one look at you and run like hell,” Danya laughed softly. “I might have done that had I been alone when you showed up.”

  Vyken nodded, aware that even without weapons, he looked formidable.

  It didn’t take them long to get to the river where they could see a fair distance along the banks on both sides.

  “There,” Vyken said and pointed.

  Danya looked in that direction. “Oh, no!” A man lay in the grass on the river bank about a hundred yards away.

  Before she could bolt in that direction, Vyken gripped her upper arm. “Wait.” He scanned the area for heat signatures in case someone was lingering to prey on anyone who came along to help. The cyborg could tell the young male was alive but not in good condition.

  Taking his ion rifle in hand, he put Danya at his left side to walk along the river bank, and they moved slowly toward the downed man. As they walked, Vyken scanned the area. His primary concern was an enemy with a projectile weapon. He could take many bullets and survive, but Danya couldn’t.

  “It is Nick,” Danya said when they were about twenty feet away. He was laying belly down, with a gash on his head. Anything he might have had with him was gone.

  “He’s injured, but his life signs are stable,” Vyken told her. “Matix will bring the transport. Jolt says we have enough people to fill it so we will take them back to the Enclave as soon as everyone is loaded.”

  Meanwhile, Vyken took out a medical injector from a pouch on his belt. He had started carrying one after encountering James and Danya. He squatted down beside Nick, pushing back his shaggy dark hair, and pressed it to his neck. “The nanites will begin the healing process while we wait.” He put the injector back in the pouch and passed his hand back and forth over the young man scanning him.

  “His worst injury is the head wound. He has only minor cuts and bruises elsewhere, most likely from fighting his attackers,” Vyken added and stood up beside her.

  “There had to be more than one. Nick’s pretty good in a fight. He probably had a decent catch, and someone decided to take it from him. Bastards!” Danya spat out the last. “That’s the way it is here. You always have to be on alert and even then, you risk your life just to get a few pieces of food.”

  “He and his mate will be safe at the Enclave. They have enough food stores to feed many until their crops are ready to harvest, but they will need help because there is no machinery to work the fields.”

  “It’s better to work the fields than risk your life for a few fish or a fat sewer rat,” she said, looking up at him. “I’m glad we’re doing this.”

  “I’m happy it pleases you,” he said with a faint smile that made Danya focus on his oh-so-kissable mouth, remembering his kisses.

  Just thinking about it made her body react, and she felt her cheeks heat up at the memory. She turned to look out over the river, watching the water ripple in the slight breeze. Carnal thoughts were never far from the surface when she was around Vyken. It was getting harder and harder to control them. Danya was starting to realize that she didn’t really want to.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  Altogether, Vyken’s team brought back twenty-eight more people including children back to the enclave. Only three adult males, eight women, and seventeen children. One woman’s mate had been killed, and two others had been raped by the different men that fathered their children. The other two had been abandoned by the men who fathered their children.

  All of the children, as well as the adults, were undernourished. Jolt and Brekar passed out protein bars to the group before they flew them back to the enclave. The smell of unwashed bodies filled the passenger hold, and some of the children had to sit on the floor. Nobody seemed to mind the crowded conditions as they munched on the bars they were given. They were getting out of the hellhole where they had merely existed with little hope. Now they had the promise of something better than they had ever dreamed.

  Matix commed the enclave to let them know they were on their way back so they would be ready to receive their new members. Jacob Black seemed thrilled with their success.

  Vyken didn’t entirely trust him, partly because he never mentioned the cyborgs in stasis on level three of the facility. Black never offered an explanation of why he hadn’t shared that information. Would he have told Vyken about them if he hadn’t found them? He didn’t seem pleased that the cyborg commander had discovered them. No one would stop him from activating them.

  Although the cyborgs had been bred and born to be warriors, they were capable of other types of work. Star, the ship’s AI could upload subroutines to their onboard computers on collecting material and building shelters for the people they were bringing into the Enclave. Plus, they had three more transport vehicles they could activate with the additional men to staff them.

  Jacob had staff ready to do intakes on the refugees from the city and assign them quarters. As each of them was recorded and checked in, enclave staff took them to the medical clinic for health assessments after which they were guided to an apartment to settle in.

  Before they returned to the Enclave, Vyken had taken Danya aside and told her about the cyborgs in stasis at the facility. He wanted her to trust that he wasn’t keeping secrets from her. So, when he asked her to help Jacob’s people with the intakes while he went to activate and move some of the cyborgs to the ship, Danya understood what was happening.

  Vyken also knew the cyborgs were all naked in their stasis chambers. He didn’t want Danya looking at them before she ever saw him naked. Not that he was worried. She had already been exposed to his pheromones and knew she was his female. But it was also common for cyborgs to be disoriented and lash out when they first came out of stasis. Vyken didn’t want to have to kill any of them for hurting her accidentally. He knew he wouldn’t be able to help himself.

  Kydel met them at the elevators to the facility after all the refugees had been taken down to intake. Once they got to Level One, they took the stairwell to the third lower level. The medic had accessed the archives Star had on the facility and discovered there was an alternate exit stairwell that led directly to the surface at the back corner of the lab. The access was buried three feet underground. There was also a fourth lower level that was only accessible from the same elevator at the back of the lab.

  Vyken decided to take Matix, Jolt, and Brekar down to the next level to investigate. Clearing out level three and possibly four would give the Enclave more space to house its members before they would have to begin building shelters on the surface for them. The lower level was divided into about sixty rooms with a corridor running down the middle between the two rows of them. There were windows in the doors, so they didn’t have to go inside to see what was in them. They were stunned to find more rows of stasis chambers containing inactivated cyborgs.

  The dozen or so on each side were empty. On up the rows, the rooms had empty stasis chambers lined up in rows.

  Commander, this room is filled with cyborgs in stasis! Jolt exclaimed.

  This one too! said Brekar

  After that,
they ran from one room to the next looking in every window down the hall, and each room was filled with cyborgs in stasis chambers.

  What the hell? We thought we had three hundred cyborgs and now we have three thousand three hundred. Vyken related. We have to contact the council. We can handle the three hundred but three thousand…

  They’re safe for now. Kydel related. The chambers are all powered and working at optimum levels.

  I’ll have Star send a message to the Cyborg World Council. We can’t turn all of these unsocialized cyborgs loose. They are ready to go to war. It’s going to be enough work to orient those upstairs for peacekeeping. Vyken said. Let’s go upstairs and start working on the first thirty.

  Commander, in one of those rooms back there, one wall was lined with shelving loaded with clothing for the cyborgs. Jolt said. Do we need to get that, or is there stock, upstairs?

  It took Vyken a split second to access his memory as he had not consciously noted such a room. Yes, there is. We can use that for the cyborgs upstairs.

  Vyken led the way up to the next floor and into the first stasis room that was directly off the stairwell. Kydel refreshed them on how to deactivate the stasis chambers and bring the cyborgs online. The five of them made quick work of opening the chambers and bringing the thirty cyborgs to awareness.

  The first thing they did as they stepped from their chambers was to stretch and look around. They stood in front of their cubicles waiting for orders.

  Vyken connected with them through their silent network:

  Welcome to your life cyborgs. I’m am Vyken Dark, and I am your commanding officer. We are not currently at war, but you have been awakened to aid in our mission to build a settlement and secure people from the nearby city of Chicago to join the Enclave.

  Now you will follow Brekar to the fourth room down the hall on the left where you will secure clothing and shoes and dress. Then we will take you to our ship, Starfire Nemesis to upload updates to your memory banks with Federation history since you were spawned. You will also be briefed on our mission and uploaded with maps of the city.

  Tomorrow, we will divide into teams and travel by air transport into the city.

  Privately to his team members: I’m going up to see if Danya and her father are ready to return to the ship and take them there. When our newbies are ready, take them to the ship.

  When Vyken returned to level one, the new group of refugees had been checked in, and about half of them had been checked out by the medic. He found Danya talking with her friend Belle outside one of the apartments down the hall from the medical clinic. Almost as if she sensed him coming she turned and looked up at him with a welcoming smile. It made him want to run and scoop her up into his arms and kiss her senseless.

  But, instead, he continued walking toward her at a leisurely pace. No other males present would compete with him for her attention even if he hadn’t already marked her with his scent and his nanocybots.

  “Hello,” Danya said and slipped her small hand into his when he came to stand by her. “Belle, this is Vyken Dark, he is commander of the Starfire. Vyken, this is my friend Belle Forest.”

  “Thank you so much for finding Nick,” Belle said. “I don’t know what I would have done if he didn’t make it, but he is already feeling much better. He’s in our room resting.”

  The underground facility was made of concrete and steel, and the walls were painted with a semi-glossy cream-colored paint on the top half and a semi-glossy khaki green on the bottom half. The floors were covered with glossy green, and white tiles and the apartments were divided into one four and six rooms. Couples like Belle and Nick were given a one-room space with a sitting area as well as a bed and a private bathroom with a shower. The floors were tiled the same as the hallway, and the walls were solid cream-colored with white ceilings.

  There was nothing fancy about the living areas, but they were clean, comfortable and safe. Meals were served mess hall style. None of the apartments had kitchens or food processors, though the residents were free to take their food to eat in their quarters. Jacob, however, told them he would like them to eat their meals together in the mess hall initially to build a sense of community and so he could share their progress with them.

  “It’s getting late,” said Vyken, “I came to see if you are ready to return to the ship for the evening.”

  “I am,” she said without elaborating. “But I think Dad is going to stay here. These people look up to him, and he thinks he can help them adjust to living here.”

  Vyken seemed to think about that for a few seconds. “If that is what he wants. We can go now if you wish.”

  “Yes,” she said softly. “Belle, I will probably see you sometime tomorrow. I am so glad you and Nick are here.”

  “Me too,” Belle agreed. “You have a good night.” As the younger woman turned and went inside her apartment, Vyken guided Danya down the hall with his hand at the small of her back.

  They got into the elevator together, and Vyken swept her into his arms as soon as the elevator started climbing upward. He lifted her up as before and claimed her lips in a heated kiss. He was still kissing her even as they reached the top and he stepped out of the elevator. Danya had wrapped her legs around his hips and her arms around his neck.

  “Vyken,” she murmured his name as an endearment when he freed her mouth. She had never wanted a man the way she wanted him. She knew he was going to claim her this night, and she would accept him as hers.

  He didn’t put her down as they emerged from the cinder block building that hid the entrance to the Enclave. Danya was feather light to him, and he had wanted to hold her again all day. She seemed content with that and laid her head on his shoulder and hugged him. She knew he could smell her arousal, so it didn’t surprise her when Vyken took her into his quarters instead of her own.

  He had the commander’s suite complete with a lounge area, a dining nook and a food processor kitchenette, and a bedroom with a very large bed. Once inside, Vyken stopped and left his rifle in the gun locker beside the door then carried Danya into his bedroom. She raised her head to look up into his dark blue eyes and parted her lips for his kiss. She welcomed his tongue sliding into her mouth, caressing it with her own, as shockwaves of pleasure coursed through her body.

  Her nipples tightened into stiff peaks and her pussy clenched against his erection pressing against her core. She wanted to be joined to him, to possess that hard cock pressing against her. He was hers, and she craved the pleasure only he could give her.

  Genetics had drawn them together, and neither could fight the inevitable any longer. Vyken broke the kiss and set her down on her feet quickly.

  “I will not make you pregnant when I claim you, Danya,” he told her.

  “Someday, I will want you to,” she murmured. “We need time to be lovers before we become parents.”

  It only took them seconds to toe-off their boots and take off their shirts and pants they both wore without underwear. Danya eyed his long thick cock, and her dripping pussy clenched repeatedly.

  “Now,” she said, “I need you inside me now.”

  “As you wish, female,” Vyken grinned and lifted her against him a guiding his cock into her. They both groaned in delight as he filled her and her tight sheath hugged his shaft. He widened his stance to balance better and pressed his lips to hers and claimed her mouth with his tongue as he claimed her with his cock.

  Danya moaned as he pulsed his cock inside her still kissing her. Vyken moved them to the bed and knelt on the edge of it, putting one hand out to lower them to it with Dana beneath him. They kissed for a long time hyper-aware of every point their bodies pressed together skin to skin. Vyken caressed her face with his fingers and followed them with kisses, nibbling and tasting her heck, making her squirm beneath him and squeeze him with her inner walls.

  They thoroughly relished the way they fit together and the waves of carnal delight that pulsed through their bodies by the simple act of joining. When they could wa
it no longer, Vyken began pumping in and out of her, slowly and smoothly at first then harder and faster until he was pounding into her. Danya cried out in delight, cheering him on and assuring him of her profound pleasure.

  He was hers, and she was his, emphasized with each thrust of his cock and the upward tilt of her pelvis to meet him. The surge of his tongue deep into her mouth and the rubbing of his hard, muscular chest over her taut, sensitive nipples.

  Their pleasure kept building and building, taking them up that summit to ecstasy until they both shattered in a climax that ripped through them with a tidal wave of utter bliss that left them screaming in rapture. It was by far the most wonderful thing they had ever felt and most extraordinary because it happened when they came together.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Vyken lay on the bed beside Danya watching her sleep. They mated for hours, repeatedly and he still wanted her again. He had never known such joy or bliss in his long life as he had found mating with his woman. His woman. She was probably the last thing he ever expected to find when he came back to Earth.

  From the time he was first activated, his life had been about his duty to those who made him to fight their war against the aliens. The Federation literally owned him, and his brethren until the Humanoid Rights Coalition challenged the high council’s interpretation of the laws against slavery. They knew their treatment of the cyborgs was not technically legal, but that didn’t stop them from treating them as property.

  By the time they had been declared free beings, the war was almost over. Vyken had spent his whole life following orders, towing the line, longing for the same rights of natural born humans to exist in the Federation and to explore beyond its borders. Once the truce had been settled the cyborgs had officially been freed. Free to do what?

  They had spent their whole lives as warriors following orders. That was what they were made for. Vyken went to Admiral Gregor as he lay in hospice for the last days of his life, a naturally born human he had come to respect in his days of service. Gregor had known the cyborgs would be freed and told him that the Federation still needed their services more than ever with so many worlds devastated by the war.