I’m sharing scenes from the first chapter of Seizing Power as we wait for its release on February 22nd (2/22/22).
You can read the first scene from the first chapter of Seizing Power here:
This week I’m sharing the second scene of that first chapter.
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While the other members of the council drilled Vector and his crew with queries, Power applied himself to immediate issues like delayed shipments of nourishment bars, the addition of fifteen levels to J Model Structure 2, the fabrication of 150,000 D Model replacement arms. The requests for authorization were lodged faster than he, with his cyborg processors, could approve. It was unsustainable. He—
“My female and I will venture to Mercury Minor to investigate the situation.” Vengeance presented that extremely bad idea to the council.
Alarm coursed through Power’s circuits. The C Model and his female were warriors. Their solution to every situation was to damage or to kill. They would arrive on Mercury Minor, expecting a battle.
And they would find one. Ghost, the sole identified cyborg on Mercury Minor, was severely malfunctioning. He viewed everyone, including his brethren, as threats. The probability he had rigged his planet with explosives and other defensive devices was 99.9999 percent.
There would be war, and that would be…distracting. Power processed possible responses. He couldn’t transfer the task of investigating the situation to another warrior. Vengeance would view that as a slight.
Power also preferred not to place other beings in possible danger.
Other beings…
“I will venture to Mercury Minor.” He could perform his role from anywhere. “Vector, as your crew detected the lifeforms, we’ll utilize your ship. Five additional warships will accompany us.”
A fleet larger than that would look ostentatious, even for him.
The more Power processed his decision, the more he liked it.
The expedition would be a display of his leadership. And it would be a reward for those five captains and crews, would solve a sliver of the assignments challenge.
It would grant the warriors purpose, give them tasks to complete.
It would also be good training should their sector face invasion in the future. They had to be ever ready, ever vigilant. They could practice battle formations en route.
Vengeance didn’t appear as pleased with that solution. The male scowled. “If this is war—”
“This is an investigation.” The C Model’s reaction confirmed Power’s decision had been the right one. “As the leader of the cyborg council, I warrant an escort.” His tone was deliberately haughty.
“No one appointed you as our leader,” Vengeance grumbled.
Power hadn’t been appointed. He had won the role based on his superior fighting skills, his cunning, his lack of any other distractions. “It is done.”
“Fraggin’ hole. He’s coming with us.” Truth, one of Vector’s warriors, muttered that comment at barely audible levels. “That’s no fun.”
Vector leveled a hard glance at the male.
Truth stopped chattering.
But the message had been relayed. No one wanted him on board their ship. None of the males, including Vector, liked him.
That was damaging yet it was unimportant. Power lifted his chin. The males respected him, would follow his orders. That was all he required.
“I’m contacting the warship captains.” He sent that communication to the five beings most worthy of the assignment. “Vector, coordinate with them. We leave in three planet rotations.” He could arrange his duties in that duration. “That is all.”
Vector opened his mouth, paused for a moment, closed it again.
The male, his female, his crew, and their females marched out of the chamber. Many of the cyborgs had located their genetic matches while patrolling the cyborg-sector borders.
Mercury Minor was located close to one of those borders. Hope flickered to life inside Power.
He immediately doused it. The probability of finding his genetic match on the expedition was extremely low.
His processing power was better used elsewhere.
“I never projected we’d see this planet rotation.” Vengeance met Power’s gaze. The male’s eyes gleamed with an emotion alarmingly resembling triumph.
Power’s simulated spine straightened. The C Model was his strongest rival for leadership.
“You’re surrendering your role on the cyborg council to travel to Mercury Minor.”
“I’m not surrendering anything.” Power infused extra chill into his tone. “I won’t physically be in the council chambers, but I will remain in my role. Whether I sit in a chair or appear on a viewscreen has no bearing on my involvement in discussions.”
Vengeance glared at him.
Power gazed back at him.
The warriors around them shifted nervously in their seats.
The C Model finally shook his head. “You will never relent any of your fraggin’ control, will you?”
“I will never do that.” Power had sacrificed, had given too much to ever walk away from his role. He was in charge, would remain as the cyborgs’ leader until the moment he died. “What is the next item on the agenda?”
He pushed the processing of the upcoming journey aside and focused on the decisions that had to be made, the tasks that had to be completed.
***
Read the next scene (available February 7th) here:
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Seizing Power
This cyborg believes he’s in control.
Power is the self-appointed leader of the cyborg council. Other members might debate situations. He makes the ultimate decisions.
When a threat to Homeland is revealed, he takes command of a fleet and ventures to the edge of cyborg-controlled space to investigate. He finds a rebellion led by a mysterious upstart he calls Cadet.
The plan Power derives is simple—he’ll quickly quash the uprising and teach its leader a lesson the warrior will never forget.
NO ONE challenges his authority.
Eirene Ours might be called a cadet by Power but she is NOT his subordinate. She is the arrogant E Model’s genetic match.
For much of her mature lifespan, she has desired the male, yearning for his dark-eyed gaze, craving his sure hands, longing for his respect.
That esteem was never granted. And Eirene Ours can no longer wait to earn it. There’s an external threat to their kind, a danger that might destroy them all.
Having lured Power to her home terrain, she now plans to use everything within her means — her fists, her daggers, her ship-destroying missiles — to pound that truth into her stubborn warrior’s thick metal skull.
The future of every cyborg is at stake. She can’t fail them.
Power will believe her. Or he will die.
***
Seizing Power is an enemies-to-lovers Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.
It features an epic battle between two equally strong cyborg leaders, plans that go terribly yet passionately wrong, and a love that will shake the entire universe.
Pre-order Today:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09HT5RMH8
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09HT5RMH8
Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B09HT5RMH8
Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/seizing-power/id1589084775
B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/seizing-power-cynthia-sax/1140305634
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/seizing-power-2
Smashwords:
