Choosing Chuckles, the next cyborg romance, releases on March 19th (It is available for pre-order now). While we wait, I thought I’d share the first chapter.
This week, I’m sharing the first scene of that first chapter.
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Chapter One
Chuckles hated humans. All of them.
Captain’s female wasn’t an exception to that stance. He placed two nourishment bars and a container of beverage on the console she shared with her male. After bonding with the captain and manufacturing their offspring, she was no longer 100.0000 percent human.
That meant she was…tolerable.
Chuckles paused for a moment, perusing the selection before him. He then opened the packaging around one of the nourishment bars. It was Captain’s female’s favorite flavor. She’d choose that nourishment bar to eat first.
Are you planning to chew it for her too? Trust, a fellow D Model cyborg, teased over a private transmission line.
Frag off. Chuckles scowled at his never serious friend.
Someone had to supply the nourishment and beverage for the female, and Captain was busy, commanding their ship, the Reckless. Their current mission was to ensure no unauthorized vessels crossed the border they patrolled, since that would jeopardize the safety of every fraggin’ being within their sector.
Chuckles’ gaze remained on Truth. Some beings didn’t process that.
He limped back to his seat, dragging his left booted foot behind him. His leg was permanently damaged. No one, not even Doc, the ship’s skilled medic, could repair his malfunctioning limb.
If Chuckles had remained under Humanoid Alliance control, the humans would have deemed him not worth saving. They would have decommissioned him, raiding his form for parts before killing him in the most horrific way possible.
He lowered into his chair, forcing his leg to bend. Pain shot along the limb, stressing his processors.
Chuckles was no longer a slave to his human manufacturers. He and his brethren had escaped.
Some of those cyborgs would also view him as being defective.
Captain entered the bridge. The big C Model carried his female in his arms. Future, their newly manufactured offspring, was training this shift and didn’t accompany them.
Chuckles rubbed his aching knee.
Captain didn’t perceive him as being defective. The male claimed his seat on the bridge, setting his no-longer-human female on his lap. He didn’t make any allowances for Chuckles’ malfunction, holding him to the same high standard he demanded of all beings on board his ship.
Chuckles respected that.
Captain’s female touched the opened nourishment bar on the console. Her head turned toward Chuckles and she met his gaze. Her lips lifted into a small smile.
Chuckles frowned back at her. Why was she looking at him like that?
It was a nourishment bar, for frag’s sake. He left two of them for her every planet rotation. It was nothing to get excited about.
“There’s a ship approaching.” North, Captain’s second-in-command, redirected his attention to the main viewscreen.
A red dot appeared on the edge of the terrain they monitored. It flashed once and then disappeared, the ship quickly moving out of range.
“Hail the vessel.” Captain straightened in his seat, forcing his female to do the same. “And follow it.”
Chuckles hailed the vessel. There was no immediate response.
“Following the ship, Captain.” Truth grinned, placing his hands on the viewscreen embedded in the console before him. “Finally, we have some excitement.”
They abruptly changed course. The engines growled and the floor tiles vibrated under Chuckles’ booted feet as the warship accelerated.
Their target’s speed increased also, the vessel skimming along the border of Reckless’ monitoring range.
That had to be intentional. Chuckles frowned. The beings on board the ship were deliberately trying to avoid detection.
“They’re running from us, Captain.” Truth’s voice was edged with glee. His friend was enjoying the chase.
Chuckles wasn’t as thrilled with their opponent’s response. He didn’t trust them to adhere to the rules of engagement, to behave honorably. “They’re not answering the hail, Captain.”
“Don’t lose them.” Captain’s tone was dark and disapproving. “And continue trying to communicate with them.”
Chuckles wouldn’t stop hailing the ship, but the probability anyone would respond was 5.2596 percent. That number lowered with every passing moment.
“They’re flying a freighter.” Captain’s female enlarged an image of the ship on the main viewscreen. “It must be modified. According to the specs, they’re surpassing their top speed.”
“Freighters aren’t manufactured with hidden gun ports either.” Dissent highlighted the weapons hidden on the ship. The J Model could have been the captain of his own battle station, yet had chosen to serve on the Reckless.
“Lifeform scans indicate three cyborgs on board.” North surprised Chuckles with that revelation.
“There are no transmissions originating from the freighter.” He monitored all public communications on the cyborg-only lines.
Their kind tended to transmit constantly, sharing information and experiences with millions of their brethren. That was one of their strengths.
“Are the lifeform scanners malfunctioning?” Captain proposed an explanation for the silence.
“I ran a systems check. The lifeform scanners are fully functional, Captain.” North rejected that possibility.
“The cyborgs are hiding from us.” Captain’s female, a master of evasion, voiced the scenario Chuckles deemed most likely.
He trusted very few beings and these cyborgs were unknown to him. They had also hidden the true function of their ship, disguising a vessel designed for war as a ship manufactured to convey supplies.
Deception was very seldom utilized to benefit others. Its primary function was to harm.
The pain in his knee was a constant reminder of that.
The Reckless shifted hard to the right. The container of liquid Chuckles had placed on Captain’s female’s console toppled over, rolling forward on the bridge.
“They won’t lose me.” Truth, that illogical cyborg, laughed.
Read the next installment (Available February 25th): http://tasteofcyn.com/?p=6773
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Choosing Chuckles
A Cynical Cyborg Meets A Bad, Bad Female.
Chuckles hates all humans. In the past, humans betrayed him. That treachery caused permanent damage to his muscular form, resulting in a lifespan of pain.
When the primitive D Model cyborg answers a distress call sent by a pink-and-blue haired, sparkly human female, he knows it’s a trap. He still has to respond to her fake cry for help. She belongs to him, is the one being genetically fabricated for him. But he plans to be her captor, not her captive.
Bettina, aka Bait, works with a team of females, snaring sexual predators in space, seizing their ships and transporting them to primitive planets. As soon as she speaks with Chuckles, she knows he’s not like the others. He has honor, is a being worthy of respect, of caring.
But she can’t let him go. She has to trap him. His dominance thrills her. His deep voice evokes desires she’d never experienced in the past. She’ll risk it all, breaking every rule for one wild encounter with the male she calls Sir.
Pre-order Now:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/Choosing-Chuckles-Cyborg-Space-Exploration-ebook/dp/B07MXQ13WS
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Choosing-Chuckles-Cyborg-Space-Exploration-ebook/dp/B07MXQ13WS
Apple/iTunes:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/choosing-chuckles/id1450000541
B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/choosing-chuckles-cynthia-sax/1130326339
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/choosing-chuckles
Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/918618
