B Free, the fourth standalone story in the Rebel Cyborgs series, is releasing next week! Woot!
Today, I’m sharing the fourth and final scene from the very first chapter.
You can read the first scene here:
***
All I want is access to the B Model Cyborg. The message taunted him, calling to the wildness rising within his soul.
Cadet fumed about arrogant asses and the unfairness of fate and the dangers of aligning with beings who didn’t respect others.
B supplied the required responses while battling the urge to be careless, to take unnecessary risks. The probability the communication was a trap hadn’t changed. It remained at 94.1256 percent.
That was dauntingly high, and the consequences were dire. He could be imprisoned, experimented upon, tortured, killed.
A fully functional being would never consider hunting down the being who sent the message.
But he wasn’t a fully functional being. The gaps in his timeline bothered him. The emotional isolation further damaged him. The prospect of spending the rest of his almost endless lifespan that way decimated his logic. He couldn’t, wouldn’t endure it.
And he might not have to do that. There was a 5.8744 percent likelihood his investigation might lead to the discovery of another warrior with his model type.
That wasn’t zero.
The B Model referenced in the communication might exist, might be alive.
He could liberate him. The warrior would then fill in the voids in B’s databases, repairing him. He would be whole again, wouldn’t have to hide anything from his leader, his other brethren.
“I need a ship.” That request burst out of him.
Cadet stopped talking, turned her head and looked at him. “Another space station has been located. There are warships in its docking bay. You can have one of those.”
Guilt raked over him. He was an integral part of her team. When Cadet had rescued him, it had consisted of only her, her C Model father, and her human mother. He had been the first retrieved warrior added to it. She relied on him.
“The commandeering of that space station will take additional planet rotations.” His gaze slipped from hers. If he delayed his self-appointed mission, the B Model, if he existed, would be relocated. He might never find the male again. “I need the ship now.”
Silence stretched.
“You’ve found another B Model.” Cadet’s voice lilted with excitement.
If he was any other warrior, she would have projected he’d located his genetic match.
His lips flattened.
But he was a B Model. His genetic match, if he ever had one, must have perished hundreds of human lifespans ago.
“I can’t project what I’ve found.” The probability of locating someone like him was too low to communicate. “It might be a Humanoid Alliance scheme to ensnare someone with my model type.”
Cadet studied him for a moment.
Tension tugged at his muscles. He owed the C Model female his lifespan. If she forbade him to go, he would honor that command.
But it would damage him even more. He wanted…needed…to take action. That yearning clawed at him.
“If it’s a trap, you will transmit your location and the situation to me immediately.” Cadet surprised him with that response. “Don’t seek to relay the communication through sites. That will utilize time you might not have.”
He lifted his gaze, stared at her. “Contacting you directly will give the enemy your location.”
His leader was hyper cautious about concealing that information from Power, her genetic match and nemesis. She had forbidden outgoing transmissions and any direct communications.
That she would discard her rules to protect him touched him.
“It will also relay your existence to Power.” She shrugged. “Your lifespan is more valuable than all our secrets.”
“Because I’m the last of my model type.” When he died, his model type would be extinct.
“Because you’re my friend.” Cadet defied his projections again.
B’s chest heated. She was his friend also.
“You were rescued first due to your model type.” Her smile was sheepish. “When I was a newly manufactured offspring, my father would share footage of B Models in battle. They saved his lifespan. Numerous times. He would tell me “Best” after each relay.” She imitated Ghost’s blunt manner of speaking. “I doubt I could have convinced him to help me liberate anyone else.”
B wasn’t the best. He was damaged. But he could protect his leader, would instruct Odium to guard her while he was gone. “I don’t project you will have to liberate me again.” He would watch for traps, avoid them. “And there should be no emergency transmissions.”
“Communicate if you need help.” Cadet’s tone was brusque. “Take one of the warships we recently obtained. They’re fast and should have all the firepower you’ll need.” The vessels had been found in the previous Humanoid Alliance space stations they’d commandeered, had been relocated to Mercury Minor before the structures were destroyed. “Be careful.”
B nodded and pushed himself to his booted feet. His mechanics creaked in protest, and his big body ached as he moved toward the doors. He was tired of the pain, weary of being broken, of hiding his secrets from his leader, his friends.
It had to end. One way or another.
“And B?” Cadet called to him.
He stopped, looked over his shoulder at his leader.
“I hope you find what you’re looking for.” Her eyes glowed with sincerity.
B grunted. He was searching for a repair for his damage, and there was a 98.1258 percent probability he’d find it.
Because, at the end of his mission, he projected he would either be fully functional and the gaps in his databases would be filled with the applicable memories.
Or he would be dead. He wouldn’t be taken alive if it was a trap, wouldn’t ever return to the torture, the torment he had experienced while under the Humanoid Alliance’s control.
That wasn’t an option.
Either way, his pain would end. And he’d find some semblance of peace.
Pleased by that prospect, he exited the ship, tilted his head back, gazed up at the sky.
“I’m coming for you, Quinn.” B addressed the sender of the message. “You’ll soon have access to a B Model cyborg.”
His lips lifted into a smile.
***
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B Free
B is the last remaining B Model cyborg. All of his brethren, the beings he trained with, fought with, cared deeply for, have perished.
Or so he believes.
When he intercepts a communication mentioning the existence of one of his kind, he has to investigate its source. The message could be a trap set by his enemies. He’ll take that risk if it secures him the companionship he requires to be fully functional.
What he finds is a daring brown-eyed female who activates all his systems. She proudly proclaims she’s a researcher, brandishing that information like a weapon before her. He wants to kiss the sass off her beautiful face, protect her from the dangers around them, claim her forever.
Quinn is on a quest to locate the mechanics of an early-version cyborg. She believes the information captured within that frame will give her valuable insights into the past.
When her mission goes zombie-like beings levels of wrong, she comes face-to-face with a living, breathing B Model. He has big hands, a primitive countenance, and stern hard lips crafted for kissing.
She doesn’t trust him. And she doesn’t have time to indulge her desires.
Their shared enemies are chasing them, would kill to get their precious specimens back. One minor mistake could reduce B and Quinn to a mere line in the databases of history.
***
B Free is a STANDALONE Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.
It features the sole surviving B Model cyborg warrior, a courageous researcher seeking to uncover the past, and an unplanned visit to a settlement ruled by an extremely scary all-knowing, all-powerful being.
B Free is the fourth of five core stories in the Rebel Cyborgs Series.
Book 1: Containing Malice
Book 2: Under Strain
Book 3: Baring Grudge
Book 4: B Free
Book 5: Seizing Power
Pre-order Today:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B097CJJ6B7
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B097CJJ6B7
Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B097CJJ6B7
Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/b-free/id1572709749
B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/b-free-cynthia-sax/1139701466
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/b-free
Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1089821
