The connection amazed her even more once they had cleaned up and rejoined the others in the command center of the Treatymaker class warship.
Youngest half sister, the luscious moon-dark Mercury, welcomed them to the conference room. Her husband, analytical y-class android Yves, shook her hand with fingers that, like Resa’s skin, were fully human and no longer robot.
Older half sister Cressida greeted her with an elegant bow. Her rugged x-class soldier Xan welcomed Resa with a lopsided grin. “Glad you’re on our side this time.”
Ah. All the injuries… the unusual scar jagging across Xan’s forehead and the bandage wrapping Cressida’s dominant hand….
Resa swallowed her sudden hit of nerves. “Perhaps I should apologize?”
“Why? Do you remember anything worth apologizing for?”
She regarded the blunt x-class and the quiet, analytical y-class. Then, she searched her memories. But nothing was there. She shook her head. “I’m sorry.”
Xan shrugged and glanced at Yves.
“Apology accepted,” they said in unison.
“Good! Now we’re all friends.” Mercury hugged Aris, of course, who rubbed her long, dark hair.
Then she turned on Resa. “I’m so glad you’re alive!”
Unfamiliar awkward nervousness gripped Resa. “Thank y—”
Mercury threw her arms around Resa and squeezed her in a hug.
Resa froze.
“We were so worried,” Mercury cried. “Yves isolated the nanobots, and Xan built the machine to stop them, and then we were so terrified we had managed to kill you, too, but Aris said you were stronger than that. And he was right, because here you are, still alive.”
Yves shook Resa’s shocked hand as she was still squeezed in his wife’s hug. “I’m very glad our guesses were accurate. You will, of course, want to complete a full systems check for yourself in the medical bay after we finish here.” He glanced at Aris. “Or when you’ve finished, ahem, whatever.”
Aris’s brows rose.
Mercury let go of Resa, seeming to have missed the manly teasing. She took Resa’s hands in both of hers and drew her to the map. “We have to decide where to go. Here. Have a macaroon.”
Resa took the small sweet and the tea. “Thank you.”
Mercury clapped her hands. “Now you’re a member of the Secret Summertime Brunch Bunch.”
“She already was.” Aris plucked one of the desserts and studied the small, delicate globe. “Are these the cookies I made? They look different.”
“I improved the recipe.”
He appealed to Resa. “Did she?”
The delicious sweet, already half consumed, suddenly tasted dangerous in Resa’s mouth. “Um…”
“Of course she did.” Yves handed one to Aris, ever loyal to his wife’s cooking. “Taste for yourself. Now, business. Your planetoid is safe, but our actions here have had dire consequences.”
Right. Resa felt sick. “The Faction identified the corruption gene.”
Aris rubbed her back.
“You are correct, Resalynn Zenyar,” the rogue said from off to their right.
They all jerked to face her. Not her, the screen. Somehow, using superior communications technology to anything Resa knew about, the rogue had taken over one of their communication screens. She looked younger than Resa thought, but not youthful. And her smile, when she greeted them, seemed sad.
“Resa is fine,” she said.
The rogue nodded. “The Faction isolated the corrupted gene and caused you to fall in love with yourself. Robot-human, I mean.”
Wait. What?
She gestured at Aris. “The Robotics Faction wasn’t testing me to see if I’d fall in love with him, but to see if I’d fall in love with myself?”
“And you did.”
“And then I also happened to fall in love with this man?”
Aris smiled. “I am very lovable.”
Resa blinked at him. “Yes. Of course, that’s true.”
Mercury giggled. Cressida covered her slender smile. Aris puffed out his chest.
She had a sense that she was going to be hearing more about this. In the bedroom, and out of it.
She couldn’t wait.
He slid his hand over her sensitive wrist. “And, since you do love me, I hope you’ll consider spending the rest of your life by my side.”
Hot warmth blushed through her. “I will.”
“I’m a ship’s captain,” Mercury said. “And so is Cressida. Say the word and we’ll record your marriage.”
Aris pulled Resa into his arms and sealed their promise with a mind-bending kiss that left both of them passion-glazed and breathless.
When Resa caught her breath again, Aris’s siblings talked about his lovable qualities that could induce anyone, including a robot, to fall in love with him.
“Aris definitely helped me,” Mercury said, her hand on her collar. “When I was in the hospital, holding the MAC necklace he gave me filled me with strength I didn’t know I had. It helped me to escape the Faction robots chasing me and led me to Yves.”
“He’s very helpful,” Cressida agreed, a ringing endorsement from her command seat with Xan.
“Yes, well, now we need to determine where we head next,” Yves said, bringing them back to the main conversation.
“Might I propose a destination?” the rogue asked.
Yves also stepped forward. “Actually, I have a few questions, if you don’t mind. Who exactly are you and what is your interest in this—”
“I do mind. Resa.” The rogue centered on Resa and gave her a deep, quiet, genuine approval. “When I found out what the Robotics Faction had done to you, I almost gave up. You’ve exceeded my highest hopes and managed the ultimate union of human and robot.”
Resa linked her fingers with Aris.
He squeezed her back.
“The ‘human connection flaw’ is the Robotics Faction’s greatest leap forward and also the source of its darkest fear. Because taking out the corrupted code would set them back a hundred years, they will instead attempt to eradicate all sources of the human gene. Their first execution orders have already gone out.”
“Shit,” Xan said.
Mercury clasped her hands and stepped forward. “We have to help those people!”
“Was it all for nothing?” Aris asked quietly, more to himself than anyone else.
“Not for nothing,” Resa murmured, kissing his hand. “You helped me find myself and break free.”
“Resa is correct,” the rogue said, startling them. “Your resistance delayed the Faction and allowed me to append a code to their execution orders. In the presence of a corruption gene, any robot will disconnect from the Robotics Faction.”
“They’ll disconnect,” Xan said, instantly understanding. “Like you did with us.”
She smiled. “It’s all I can do.”
Her smile seemed sad to Resa, although she couldn’t tell that anyone else noticed.
Yves tapped his broken oculars. “Once the Faction realizes their agents are disconnected, they will pursue the targets with all force.”
“They’ll be spread throughout the universe,” Xan said. “All at once, hundreds of robots activated to kill.”
“And disconnecting.” Cressida pursed her lips. “Yes, Mercury, we must help them.”
“Of course,” Aris said. His sisters smiled up at him, and he grinned back. “That’s what we do.”
“That is exactly where you come in.” The rogue transferred data from her ship to one of their lower screens. “Here is their first list of targets. You might see some familiar names, but of course,” she raised a brow at Yves, “I know you’ll want to conduct your own analysis.”
He returned her smile, quiet and calculating. “Of course.”
She clapped her hands. “Congratulations, you six. You’ve already defied thousands of odds to end up here, alive, together. I wish you the best fortunes in your journey forward.”
The screen wink
ed out.
Yves stepped forward. “I’d like to ask… just a few questions…. Dammit. Again.”
Mercury comforted him, resting his serious head against her full cheek.
Yves tangled his fingers in Mercury’s and drew her to the rogue’s data screen, seeming to draw strength from their contact.
“My uncle is a military commander,” Mercury said. “He said the bases were having strange problems. Identity and robot problems.”
“Armies use robots to fight their campaigns,” Aris said. A disagreeable emotion crossed his face, but Resa watched him force the unhappy words out. “Ah. It’s just occurred to me that we may be able to cover more ground if we split up—”
“No,” Cressida said, at the same time that Mercury protested, “We’ve been apart for too long.”
Aris crushed his sisters to him, joy suffusing all their faces. “I agree with my whole heart.”
Yves agreed. “There may be a tactical advantage in bringing three ships to a battle when they are expecting only one.”
“We’ll get more too, maybe.” Mercury played her fingers in Yves’ hair.
“We’ll gather an army,” Cressida affirmed.
Xan threw an easy arm around her. “We already have.”
Aris put his arms around Resa. She relaxed into his embrace.
They linked hands around the table. The military bases highlighted from the ones most likely to need assistance onward. It was as good a place to start as any.
And on the way, they could start those marriage proceedings.
“Shall we?” Aris asked.
“Yes,” Resa said.
She had found her people. She had united her robot and human to make a whole self. She had faced down the Faction and found true love.
Now, her people were crying out for her help. She would join Aris in answering their call. Together, they would save a hundred thousand worlds.
Until the last ones were free and safe, until everyone could live as they wished and be allowed to fall in love, she would carry on the fight.
Thanks for reading! Please write a review. You are awesome!
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Acknowledgments
Thanks to my insightful editors Bev Katz Rosenbaum and Hot Tree Editing’s Kayla Robichaux and Becky Johnson. Any remaining errors are my own.
The gorgeous cover is designed by Clarissa Yeo of Yocla Designs.
About the Author
Wendy Lynn Clark is from the vibrant green Pacific Northwest. She writes contemporary and science fiction romance with sexy heroes and undefeatable heroines, as well as sweeping epic fantasy and creative nonfiction. Her words are infused with wonders from her travels—teaching in Japan for three years, earning her MA in Brighton, and studying abroad in Greece. When she’s not hiking in the Cascade mountain range, she’s writing on her couch with a steaming cup of tea and her two snuggly calico cats.
Her books are a mix of soaring imagination, blockbuster action, and thrilling romance. They are recommended for anyone who enjoys a well-told story with a happy ending guaranteed.
For updates about new releases, as well as exclusive promotions, visit the author’s website and sign up for the Reader’s Group mailing list at wendylynnclark.com.
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Robotics Faction Series
Have you checked out the other sizzling books in the Robotics Faction series? Click here to get started: http://www.wendylynnclark.com/series/robotics-faction/
* * *
Android Assassins Series
Liberation’s Kiss
Liberation’s Desire
Liberation’s Vow
Liberation’s Mystery
* * *
Origins Series
Liberation Origins
Liberation’s Passion
* * *
Cyborg Mercenaries Series
Resurrection Heart
Resurrection Hope
Resurrection Love
Resurrection Need
Resurrection Dream
Sneak Peek of Liberation Origins
Special Note: This is the prequel story of Aris’s mother and stepfather meeting.
An empress who must marry for duty. A race pilot who breaks all the rules. Their forbidden passion could cost everything.
Emprezia is betrothed to one of the most powerful men in the Antiata conglomerate. Marrying him will bring her one step closer to the coveted Star Chamber seat—and power over the deadly rivals threatening her family. Despite how close she is to securing their future, she can't deny the tug of her heart for the ones she had to leave behind.
Then she meets Kaolin.
As a no-name shuttle pilot and close friend of her fiancé, he should be off limits. But the passion he evokes with his steady dark gaze and skillful hands cannot be denied. When her rivals strike, Kaolin is the one who protects her. Now she has to make a choice.
Choosing Kaolin will destroy her family. But not choosing him will destroy her very soul.
Chapter One
“Brace for impact!” the captain shouted over the intercom.
Shots blasted their ship. The small, luxurious space-yacht shuddered.
Emprezia gripped her golden teacup. She sat on a low bench in the most shielded inner room. Decorated in marble and framed by wall screens displaying a beautiful starscape, it felt like traveling in a space-faring gazebo.
Her first mate stood at the doorway holding a gun.
The ship shuddered again. Cool hibiscus tea sloshed over the edge of the porcelain and wet her fingers.
When the ship stilled, she depressed the comm button. “How soon do we reach my fiancé’s planet?”
“We passed the outer marker,” her captain replied, grim-faced. “He isn’t responding.”
“Please keep trying.”
Her pursuers were two bright dots on the wall screen above the antique vase of orchids. The Corleon family. They would kill to stop her marriage, and also to steal the contents of her gold tea box.
Her only fear was that they had gotten to her fiancé first.
“We are receiving a message,” her captain said. “The owner of the planet is not at home.”
“Shit!” her first mate cried.
Emprezia glanced at him. He gripped his weapon and straightened.
The captain focused on his navigation screens. “However, if we can make it to the high orbit, his houseguest Kaolin Sarit will see us landed safely.”
Kaolin Sarit. Emprezia tasted the name like an unfamiliar wine. She knew the man as a close personal friend of her fiancé. He had the authority to promise her safety? How lucky for her and how generous of him.
The ship shifted. Her second teacup rolled off her marble table, hit the ground, and shattered.
“How long until high orbit?” she asked the captain.
“One hour.”
The yacht groaned. The captain turned a greener shade of gray, and his copilot hugged the emergency distress beacon.
“Contact me in one hour,” Emprezia replied, and closed the comm again.
The first mate whimpered.
She glanced at him. Even if the worst happened, their ship was blown to pieces, and her bargaining mineral stolen, it shouldn’t affect him so personally. Her family would pay the exorbitant fees to resurrect him.
“Doubting your health insurance?” she asked.
“We only get memory snapshots once a year,” he said. “Since my last one, I met a girl.”
Ah. If he died today, he’d lose the memories of his new girlfriend. First meetings, first dates, first kisses. First loves.
All gone.
“We’ll make it,” she assured the young man.
At only six decades old, her first mate was one of the least experienced crew members, and she had sele
cted him because he also had one of the cleanest service records. No gambling debts, no addictions, decent judgment. He would be hardest for her enemies to get to and bribe. Emprezia added “new girlfriend” to his risk factors silently in her head.
“The Corleons will stop savaging our ship once they realize we have received clearance to land,” she said.
“How did they find us?” he asked.
Yes, how had her family’s arch rivals learned that her marriage negotiations to rich, powerful Domingo Chen had stalled? How had they learned she was embarking upon this secret, desperate mission to woo him back by offering him a prize he could not refuse?
There was only one explanation.
“A leak,” she said.
The first mate grimaced.
Emprezia specialized at springing leaks in other people and organizations, so it was unfortunate to discover one in her own private crew. She made it her business to know everything about everyone. Under the guise of negotiating contracts for her family’s shipping business, Emprezia penetrated deep into enemy territory and sold her knowledge to the highest bidder.
The Corleons used brute force. They had been breaking up her family’s convoys and decimating their cargo. They killed anyone who got in their way.
But the Corleons still had to use ports to resupply, and the closest ports belonged to single bachelor Domingo Chen.
Hence Emprezia’s marriage proposal. Domingo had entertained it, and the Corleon attacks had immediately slowed.
Then, as the date for accepting or rejecting the proposal approached, the attacks had begun again. They knew something. Something Emprezia didn’t.
She put on her clear oculars and searched Domingo’s recent transactions and company stock prices. Anything to glean the details she needed to face him.
A golden planet grew in her forward-facing wall-screens. Domingo Chen’s private stronghold glimmered with heavily armed satellites forming an impenetrable defense network.
Liberation's Vow (Robotics Faction #3) Page 24