Drift Would, the second core story in the Dauntless Cyborgs series, releases next week! Woot!
Today, I’m sharing the fourth and final scene from the very first chapter.
You can read the first scene here:
https://tasteofcyn.com/?p=12015
***
“This is where we leave you, Pilot Drift, Medic Cure.” The female slowed her ship’s speed even more and shifted its trajectory. “It should be smooth flying to Syndiculous 5. The Ministers of Intergalactic Relations have redirected all other flights.”
Strike and his female were aware of the urgency of their mission.
“Thank you for your assistance.” Drift dipped his head.
“It was an honor, Pilot Drift.” The female smiled and ended the communication. The image of her face disappeared from the main viewscreen.
“She would be a great genetic match for one of our brethren.” Drift liked the female.
“Your conversation was relayed via the transmission lines.” Cure pointed his handheld at him. “None of our brethren reacted to her voice.”
Cyborgs identified their genetic matches though voice or scent or touch.
“That’s our loss.” Drift shook his head and increased his speed.
“Nanocybotic production is increasing.” Cure tapped his fingertips against his device.
There was a 95.2369 percent probability the medic was registering that response in his databases.
“My nanocybotics project I’ll soon damage myself.” Drift chuckled. “They don’t have confidence in my flying abilities.”
“Our nanocybotics respond to our processing.” Cure corrected him. “You project you might damage yourself.”
“The possibility of crashing is part of the fun of flying.” Drift laughed with pure joy. They were traveling at organic brain-spinning speeds.
He wasn’t concerned about dying. Frag. He had faced death millions of times during Humanoid Alliance training and the subsequent battles he’d fought for those horrid beings.
Living was more of a priority for him. And he never felt more alive than when he was flying all-out in a ship optimized for speed.
“You speak as though you’re damaged.” Cure pointed the handheld at him again. “But your scans are within spec.”
Drift laughed harder, and he gunned the modified freighter’s engines.
Moments passed.
Drift flew with no restrictions other than the capabilities of his ship. He was enjoying himself.
Cure, however, was quiet. That was unlike him.
“What’re you processing?” Drift darted a glance at the medic.
“It isn’t vital to the mission.” Cure stared at the main viewscreen.
It might not be vital to the mission, but Drift projected it would be interesting. And it would relay more intel about his partner. “Tell me.”
Silence stretched.
Drift decreased the probability Cure would share his processing to 0.2358 percent.
“On the Dauntless—” The medic surprised him by speaking. “—when Captain asked about my contact on Cancri B, I relayed on the transmission line that the medic there said he’d dealt with scanners with more empathy.”
Their topic of chatter widened Drift’s eyes.
Cure wasn’t the type of cyborg to dwell on a conversation.
“I processed that as a compliment.” The medic’s tone contained certainty that he was correct. “Grid processed it as an insult.”
“Humans and humanoids value empathy in their medics.” Drift deleted all the humor from his voice. It was a serious situation for Cure, and he would treat it that way. “There’s a high probability your friend was teasing you.”
“That medic is not my friend.” The emotion in Cure’s response caused Drift to blink. “I’ll play that part of our communication.”
Drift slowed their ship’s speed. His instincts told him he’d need to give the recording a significant part of his processing power.
“You would say that to a patient?” That recorded comment was followed by a simulated snort. “I’ve dealt with scanners with more empathy.”
“I would tell that patient there was a 99.8923 percent probability she’d be dead within two planet rotations.” Cure shrugged. “It was the truth.”
Most cyborgs had faced the prospect of near-certain death at least once in their long lifespans. They had been manufactured to fight battles and death was a significant part of war.
“Humans and humanoids process differently.” They hadn’t been fabricated with the knowledge others viewed them as being disposable. “The statement was an insult.” Drift paused. “And it was delivered in a manufactured voice.”
“I process he utilizes a manufactured voice.” Cure’s words were, once again, scrubbed of all -emotion.
“Are you 100.0000 percent certain the medic is a he?” Drift didn’t share that certainty.
“The attributes of the voice he chose align with those of a male speaker in 86.1482 percent of all instances.” The medic blasted him with data. “88.2235 percent of beings choose a voice that originates from the same biological sex as they do.”
“You’ve assumed the medic is male.” Drift had, in contrast, received confirmation from Strike that his contact was male.
“That’s the logical conclusion.” Cure returned his attention to his handheld.
The universe and the beings within it were rarely logical.
There was a high probability the medic would soon be reminded of that fact.
Drift kept that projection to himself.
He increased the modified freighter’s speed and threw himself into the circuit-buzzing thrill of going very, very fast.
***
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Drift Would
A cyborg and a spy fly into danger.
***
Drift is one of the best pilots in existence, and he has been assigned a perilous mission.
The G Model cyborg must fly to a distant planet, locate the sector-destroying superweapon the enemy is projected to be developing there, and obliterate that threat to the universe.
When Drift arrives at his destination and meets with an informant, he’s distracted by a mysterious human female seated in the shadows. She’s Drift’s genetic match, and she is the one being he’s destined to care for, claim, and protect.
She’s also a liar and a thief. And she might be working with the enemy.
Trusting her could kill him and everyone he cares about.
Liar. Thief. Seductress. Saboteur. Roshini has been called all of those things. And she has earned each label. She’s done some terrible things to safeguard the beings she loves.
A gray-eyed cyborg warrior with nimble hands and a shared need for speed won’t stop her high-risk activities.
She’ll sacrifice everything, including her lifespan, to complete her self-appointed top-secret assignment.
***
Drift Would is a standalone, enemies-to-lovers, Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.
It features a cyborg who loves to break speed records, a human spy with a talent for changing her appearance, and a foe intent on killing them both.
Pre-Order Today:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/Drift-Would-Dauntless-Cyborgs-Book-ebook/dp/B0CSJQC36S
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Drift-Would-Dauntless-Cyborgs-Book-ebook/dp/B0CSJQC36S
Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/Drift-Would-Dauntless-Cyborgs-Book-ebook/dp/B0CSJQC36S
Amazon Canada:
https://www.amazon.ca/Drift-Would-Dauntless-Cyborgs-Book-ebook/dp/B0CSJQC36S
Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/drift-would/id6476230561
B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/drift-would-cynthia-sax/1144659255
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/drift-would
Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/1508730
