Doc’s Orders – The Fourth Scene Of The First Chapter
As we wait for the release day for Doc’s Orders (Friday, July 10th), I’m sharing the first chapter.
Read the first scene here: http://tasteofcyn.com/?p=6869
Today, I’m sharing the fourth and final scene.
“Leave us alone.” He communicated to the beasts in their language, issuing a barrage of short barks. “And we’ll cause you no damage.”
They won’t believe you. Dissent relayed that projection through a transmission. We were manufactured to inflict damage on others.
The parameters of this mission restrict the damage we can cause. Doc reminded the J Model.
Captain had authorized them to match yet not exceed the aggression levels of the locals. They could inflict damage only if beings attempted to inflict damage on them first.
The beasts don’t know our parameters. Truth’s eyes shone with anticipation. They won’t believe us when we say we won’t damage them and they will attack us. Then we can fight back.
“Smell good.” One of the beasts raised his muzzle. “Nourishment.”
“We are not nourishment.” Doc slashed the air with his hands, seeking to dissuade their opponents. “You cannot consume us.”
“Eat.” Another beast bared its teeth. “Eat.”
The entire pack repeated that word. Doc stifled a sigh. The beasts didn’t have the processing power to view them as anything other than prey.
Distract them as I analyze the vegetation. He gave that instruction to his two brethren. Don’t end their lifespans.
Yes. Truth grinned. The warrior was eager to fight.
Even the normally solemn Dissent appeared pleased with those orders, the J Model repositioning to protect Doc’s back.
The beasts attacked. Dissent and Truth fended most of them off, happily knocking them in the direction from which they came.
Doc crouched, took a soil reading. The ground was as toxic as the rest of the planet. Its temperature was high.
A beast approached him from the side. It lowered, coiling its body, and leaped. Without looking up from his handheld, Doc punched it in the nose.
It flew backward and smacked into a tree, then fell to the ground whimpering.
Doc stored the genetic information he’d taken from the brief contact in his databases. Toxins were incorporated into the beasts’ fur.
Have you sampled their saliva? He asked his brethren.
I haven’t sampled it yet. Truth, that malfunctioning warrior, shed his body armor. Come and get me. He waved his arms.
A beast took the bait, pouncing. Its jaws clamped around the D Model’s right arm.
Got it. Truth grinned. Relaying the information.
He shook the beast loose. Blood spurted from the warrior’s wounds.
It was minor damage, would repair on its own. Doc concentrated on the data. The saliva is extremely venomous, would kill a human.
I’m taking a blood sample. Dissent extracted daggers from sheaths on his body armor.
The beasts attacked, were pushed back, recovered, attacked, were pushed back, recovered. The constant assault slowed Doc’s evaluation of the terrain.
Even a human would have processed the futility of their actions by now. He grumbled as he took a sample of a tree’s bark.
Humans aren’t nearly as much fun as these creatures. Truth caught two beasts by the scruff of their necks, slammed their skulls together and tossed them over his shoulders.
“Lava pocket.” Dissent shoved Doc forward.
Heat blazed over his back as molten rock shot into the air. The lava pockets were one of the reasons why the ship transporting them hadn’t landed.
Are you feeling any aftereffects of being bitten? Doc scanned Truth.
The warrior’s specs were within range. His nanocybotics had neutralized the venom in the beast’s saliva.
My processors say I’m not experiencing any aftereffects. Truth swatted a beast away from him. But they must be malfunctioning. I’ve never felt this strong.
The male might merely be buzzed on the beasts’ venom or he could be affected by the toxins in the air or impacted by a number of other inputs.
Needing his hands free, Doc hung his medic pack on a limb of a tree. The trees grew on the most stable ground, terrain unaffected by lava pockets.
A beast attacked him. He punched it harder than he had hit its previous pack member.
The creature slammed against a boulder and went limp. It continued to breathe, would live, but it wouldn’t bother him for a longer duration.
That was a good thing for the mission and for Doc. With each violent confrontation, his organic side emerged more and more, seeking to take complete control, to eliminate all threats.
He didn’t have his white jacket to combat the turbulent emotions inside him, to remind him why he needed his machine side to be in command. That symbol of his medic role was too visible to wear on a hostile planet, could draw prospective enemies to him and his small team.
But without his white jacket, he resembled the warrior he’d once been. Clad in black body armor and boots, the sheaths and holsters on his protective garment filled with weapons, he was outfitted to hurt, to kill.
To release the primitive part of himself.
Seeking to prevent that from happening, Doc scanned the nearby tree, focused on those findings, those specs. He derived formulas in his processors, performed calculations, determined probabilities.
That pleased his machine, bored his organics.
This approach is illogical. Dissent swiped at the circling beasts with his daggers. If we kill the beasts, they won’t return. We could—
“Danger.” One of the beasts on the edge of the pack yelped that warning.
The rest of the four-legged creatures ran at full speed in the opposite direction, their tails tucked between their hind legs, their heads down.
Doc, Dissent, and Truth looked at each other.
What could be more dangerous than lava pockets and venomous beasts? Dissent frowned.
We’ll soon find out. Truth’s grin spread as he donned his body armor. I love this planet.
Doc felt no love for Khambalia 5.
He wanted to focus on their mission, on scientific discovery, not on threats and not on situations that provoked the unstable, emotional part of himself.
Deal with the new danger. Doc delegated that task to Truth and Dissent. I’m gathering the information we require.
He would ignore everything and everyone else.
***
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Doc’s Orders
She wants both sides of her cyborg—the medic AND the beast.
A fully functional cyborg is balanced. His machine half and his organic half work together to produce the perfect warrior.
Doc isn’t fully functional.
The G Model operates at the two extremes. When his machine is in complete control, he’s the logic-driven medic, saving lifespans. Once his organics take charge, he becomes the savage beast…and beings die.
Both sides of Doc want to be the first to claim his female.
Allinen is one of the few beings in her small settlement who wasn’t born with a fated mate. Determined to belong somewhere, she has crafted a plan to leave the planet.
That plan doesn’t involve a huge stormy-eyed male who alternates between cool seduction and out-of-control ravishment. Doc isn’t her fated mate. Allinen knows that. But his dual nature and forbidden embraces tempt her to forget forever and indulge in more immediate delights.
Neither side of Doc views their relationship as being temporary. Her conflicted cyborg is prepared to battle her family, her planet and death itself to keep her.
Pre-order Now:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/Docs-Orders-Cyborg-Space-Exploration-ebook/dp/B07RML2WG1
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Docs-Orders-Cyborg-Space-Exploration-ebook/dp/B07RML2WG1
Apple/iTunes:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/docs-orders/id1463105812
B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/docs-orders-cynthia-sax/1131529760
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/doc-s-orders
Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/938342
Topics: Coming Soon | Comments Off on Doc’s Orders – The Fourth Scene Of The First Chapter
Doc’s Orders And Glowing Heroines
Allinen, our alien heroine in Doc’s Orders, glows.
The light she emits serves as a defense against some of the dangerous creatures on Khambalia 5, her home planet.
The creatures are accustomed to the darkness. Light scares them.
(In contrast, cyborgs can see well in the dark and nothing much scares them – grins)
Bioluminescence also occurs in some Earth-based creatures, especially creatures living in the water. Some deep sea anglerfish, for example, emit light to attract prey and to also attract mates. Fireflies also emit light for these two purposes.
Some instances of bioluminescence are caused by symbiotic organisms like certain types of bacteria. Some are caused by the design of the creatures themselves.
In Allinen’s case, her kind’s bioluminescence is influenced by the water they drink. When she drinks the purified water other beings bring to the planet, her glow dims.
***
Subscribe To My Monthly Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Doc’s Orders
She wants both sides of her cyborg—the medic AND the beast.
A fully functional cyborg is balanced. His machine half and his organic half work together to produce the perfect warrior.
Doc isn’t fully functional.
The G Model operates at the two extremes. When his machine is in complete control, he’s the logic-driven medic, saving lifespans. Once his organics take charge, he becomes the savage beast…and beings die.
Both sides of Doc want to be the first to claim his female.
Allinen is one of the few beings in her small settlement who wasn’t born with a fated mate. Determined to belong somewhere, she has crafted a plan to leave the planet.
That plan doesn’t involve a huge stormy-eyed male who alternates between cool seduction and out-of-control ravishment. Doc isn’t her fated mate. Allinen knows that. But his dual nature and forbidden embraces tempt her to forget forever and indulge in more immediate delights.
Neither side of Doc views their relationship as being temporary. Her conflicted cyborg is prepared to battle her family, her planet and death itself to keep her.
Pre-order Now:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/Docs-Orders-Cyborg-Space-Exploration-ebook/dp/B07RML2WG1
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Docs-Orders-Cyborg-Space-Exploration-ebook/dp/B07RML2WG1
Apple/iTunes:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/docs-orders/id1463105812
B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/docs-orders-cynthia-sax/1131529760
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/doc-s-orders
Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/938342
Topics: Coming Soon | Comments Off on Doc’s Orders And Glowing Heroines
Doc’s Orders – The Third Scene Of The First Chapter
As we wait for the release day for Doc’s Orders (July 16th), I’m sharing the first chapter.
Read the first scene here: http://tasteofcyn.com/?p=6869
Today, I’m sharing the third scene.
“Humans scare easily.” Chuckles shrugged.
“There might be some logic behind their fear. This is the first lifeform scan.” North displayed a flattened image of the planet.
A gathering of four hundred and sixty-seven humanoids was situated in one area. There were also several small groups of beings spread out on the land mass. Some were human. Most were humanoid.
“This is the second lifeform scan.” North shared that image.
The large gathering remained. Many of the small groups were gone.
“If we wait, we won’t have to collect any genetic information.” Chuckles pulled his female closer to his body. “They’ll all be dead.”
“The large group will remain.” Captain studied the main viewscreen. “Their numbers were static.”
Captain had been given orders by Power, the leader of the Cyborg Council. He and the Reckless’ crew were to gather information on life-sustaining planets in the cyborg-controlled sector. Power expected Captain to transmit data about one of those planets within sixty-two planet rotations.
“Scanning a group that size should take less than a shift, Captain.” Doc assured their leader.
The crew of the Reckless had never failed a mission. And they wouldn’t fail this one. He and the fingertip sensors he’d developed would ensure they didn’t.
“We have sixty-two planet rotations.” Captain didn’t move on that deadline. “We won’t put warriors in peril to complete the task early.” He looked at Doc. “Are the fingertip sensors functional?”
Doc tilted his head. “I’ve tested them.” The sensors resembled a thin layer of skin, were designed to be attached to a cyborg’s fingertips and had the ability to gather vast amounts of genetic and other biological information about any being that warrior touched.
“He’s tested them on himself.” Truth’s tone was dry.
“Those tests were in controlled situations.” Doc ignored the D Model. “There might be some modifications needed once we’re in the field.”
“Then you will lead the team.” Captain made that assumption.
Doc should have expected to be assigned the role of team leader. They were gathering specs about living beings. As Chief Medic, he had the most experience performing that task.
The prospect of exploring an unknown planet, facing danger and extreme challenges, filled him with trepidation. He had intentionally chosen a ship-based role, seeking to control his stimuli, attempting to keep the organic part of him restrained.
With this assignment, that buffer would be stripped from him.
There might be substances on this planet no one has yet encountered. Truth transmitted that message through a private line. Think of the experiments you could run utilizing them, G Model.
That suggestion was more valid than the D Model realized.
If Doc focused on gathering substances, on future experiments, on the science of the mission, he should be able to complete it with no negative repercussions.
“I’ll lead the team.” Doc accepted the responsibility.
Yes. Truth cheered through the transmission lines.
Captain nodded, appearing pleased with Doc’s response. “You’ll be accompanied by two other warriors.”
Oh. Pick me. Pick me. Truth’s transmission bubbled with excitement.
“If the humanoids in the large group resemble humans, having a J Model in the party might put them at ease.” J Models were the most human-like cyborgs on board the warship. “I choose Dissent.” He deliberately shared his number two choice first. “And…”
And me. Truth was relentless. I have your back, G Model. Didn’t I remind you about this debrief?
I’m a cyborg. I don’t need to be reminded…about anything. But the male did have his back and that might be needed on this mission. “Truth is skilled with communications.”
Chuckles, the Communications Officer, grumbled his disagreement.
Yes. Truth cheered again. This is going to be so much fun.
A shift later, the D Model was having fun. Doc, however, was annoyed.
They had been dropped on the surface of Khambalia 5, their systems immediately adjusting to the planet’s high temperatures and the toxins in the air.
The shuttle had returned to the Reckless.
There hadn’t been a safe site for it to land. Very little of the land mass was stable, its fragmented crust constantly shifting.
And some of the locals were hostile. Their arrival had attracted a pack of four-legged creatures.
The beasts circled them, growling and snarling. Saliva dripped from their muzzles.
A fog hung over the terrain, layering a haze over their surroundings. The gray eyes and gray fur of the predators almost blended into their surroundings.
The creatures sported sharp claws on all of their feet and long canine teeth. And they were fast. Their movements would be undetectable to human eyes.
Doc and his two brethren were cyborgs, however. They could easily track the beasts, could avoid the teeth and claws.
That would take time and Doc preferred to concentrate on their mission.
Reading the next scene (available July 8th) here: http://tasteofcyn.com/?p=6875
***
Subscribe To My Monthly Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Doc’s Orders
She wants both sides of her cyborg—the medic AND the beast.
A fully functional cyborg is balanced. His machine half and his organic half work together to produce the perfect warrior.
Doc isn’t fully functional.
The G Model operates at the two extremes. When his machine is in complete control, he’s the logic-driven medic, saving lifespans. Once his organics take charge, he becomes the savage beast…and beings die.
Both sides of Doc want to be the first to claim his female.
Allinen is one of the few beings in her small settlement who wasn’t born with a fated mate. Determined to belong somewhere, she has crafted a plan to leave the planet.
That plan doesn’t involve a huge stormy-eyed male who alternates between cool seduction and out-of-control ravishment. Doc isn’t her fated mate. Allinen knows that. But his dual nature and forbidden embraces tempt her to forget forever and indulge in more immediate delights.
Neither side of Doc views their relationship as being temporary. Her conflicted cyborg is prepared to battle her family, her planet and death itself to keep her.
Pre-order Now:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/Docs-Orders-Cyborg-Space-Exploration-ebook/dp/B07RML2WG1
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Docs-Orders-Cyborg-Space-Exploration-ebook/dp/B07RML2WG1
Apple/iTunes:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/docs-orders/id1463105812
B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/docs-orders-cynthia-sax/1131529760
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/doc-s-orders
Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/938342
Topics: Coming Soon | Comments Off on Doc’s Orders – The Third Scene Of The First Chapter
