The countdown to the release day for Seizing Power continues!
I’m sharing the third scene from the first chapter this week.
You can read the first scene here:
***
Two shifts later, Power remained in the cyborg council chambers. His surroundings were quiet, still. He was now completely alone.
Vengeance and Death had left with their females. The caring reflected in the couples’ eyes had emphasized his solitude.
The other members of the cyborg council trained with their model types, building, strengthening their relationships with those warriors. There were no concerns about undue influence because Power ultimately made all the decisions. They were free to openly care for their brethren.
He was free to work. Wires had been inserted into his wrist sockets. That restored his energy levels. Sleep was unnecessary for cyborgs. They didn’t have that weakness.
Power could work every shift…and he often did that. Nothing and no one waited for him in his private chambers. Only emptiness and isolation lingered for him there.
In the council chambers, there was an 18.1245 percent probability someone might enter. He—
Are you sending ships to rescue our forgotten brethren? The voice over the transmission line was robotic, male. No visuals accompanied the audio.
Power processed who it belonged to, however. The cyborg he had named Cadet contacted him at regular intervals, always inquiring about the warriors who hadn’t been freed during the mass rebellion—the males who remained trapped, often under Humanoid Alliance control.
Although he projected it would be a futile effort, Power attempted to track the origins of the communications. It was relayed through multiple sites. The trail grew fainter and fainter until it eventually disappeared.
His lips twisted. One planet rotation, the warrior, that constant pain in his processors, would make an error. Then he would be identified.
Until that time, Power should ignore him. That would be as simple as muting the transmission line.
Yet, for some illogical reason, he couldn’t take that step. There was something about the cyborg that interested him, that kept him communicating with him. I have more urgent priorities.
And he would never again assign retrieval missions to warriors. That task was too dangerous to force his brethren to undertake.
You have more urgent priorities. The simulated laugh on the transmission line held no humor. Like adding fifteen levels to J Model Structure 2? Is that more urgent than saving the lifespans of our brethren?
Power narrowed his eyes at the blank viewscreen hanging on the far wall. How do you have knowledge of the addition to J Model Structure 2? That decision hasn’t yet been broadcast.
Was Cadet a J Model? Had he been involved in the proposal?
Power projected the male was more recently manufactured than he was. His past comments had held a naivety real-universe experience would have quickly and thoroughly eliminated.
The requests from our brethren for retrieval have been broadcast. The warrior didn’t answer his question. Yet you and the other members of the cyborg council take no action. Our brethren are dying, Power. They— Cadet’s transmission broke.
Guilt pierced Power’s frame. Those deaths rested on his shoulders. That damaged him, yet he accepted that fate…because he’d experienced the alternative, and that was much, much worse.
The lifespans of the many outweighed the loss of the few.
He squared his shoulders. My decision remains the same.
Stars. You’re such an arrogant ass. Cadet showed him no deference.
It was irritating…and unique. Others might mutter about him behind his back, but Cadet spoke his truth directly to him. If you had more experience, you would process why I made my decision.
I have experience, and I process more than you project. The warrior’s tone was dry. What is your current stance on the Humanoid Alliance’s actions? Will you address them, or are you too busy sourcing nourishment bars?
Power was tempted to mute the male’s insolence. There is nothing to address. The Humanoid Alliance’s actions don’t impact our sector.
There’s nothing to address? Cadet snorted. Our greatest enemy is fabricating space stations, filling those spaces with warships and robot warriors. They’ve created forces of undead beings. It is merely a matter of time before they try to retrieve, to recapture their former weapons of war—all cyborgs everywhere, including you and me. And you state there’s nothing to address? What universe are you living in, E Model?
Anger rose in Power, amplified by his doubts. He wasn’t merely an E Model. I am your leader. He reminded the warrior of that fact. Are you intercepting secured communications?
How had the warrior processed the specifics of his dealings with others?
You’re not my leader. That transmission sported a sharp edge. And how could a cyborg with no experience, a mere Cadet, have the skills to intercept secured communications?
Fraggin’ hole. The male irritated him. Unable to remain still, Power extracted the wires from his wrist sockets and stood. You didn’t answer my question.
Cyborgs were unable to lie. Their programming didn’t allow them to take that action. But they could evade queries.
Power paced the perimeter of the chamber, seeking to burn off some of his decision-hampering emotions and excess energy.
Are you intercepting secured communications? He repeated his query.
If the communications were adequately secured, no one would have the ability to intercept them. Cadet’s answer verified his projections.
The warrior was intercepting his communications.
Power’s speed increased. He clutched his hands behind his back.
Control over intel was key for success as a leader. An unidentified cyborg was accessing his transmissions. That was…alarming.
***
Read the next scene (available February 14th) 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:
