Vyken Dark: Cyborg Awakenings Book One

by Christine Myers

  “And when you leave?”

  “I won’t leave without Danya; however, our leaving is not decided. You would be welcome to come as well,” Vyken said, meeting her gaze as he said it. “There is a world the cyborgs have built---a colony called Phantom. Only cyborgs know the location.”

  “We haven’t even talked about it yet, Dad,” Danya quickly pointed out. “I have not consented to be his mate.”

  “Your father asked my intention. What you want matters very much to me. Just think about it for now, and I will ask when I need your decision.”

  “That’s fair.” She nodded, blushing at his appreciative gaze.

  As they chatted about the Enclave, Vyken linked with their com center to request a tour for James and Danya. Jacob Black answered almost immediately inviting them to come right over.

  Jacob Black met them at the elevator in the block milk house. He was a dark-haired man of medium height and a bit stocky. His amber eyes lit with interest as they focused on Danya. The khaki cargo pants and a black t-shirt that was just a bit snug over her ample breasts emphasized her sexy figure. Her long hair was now neatly braided down her back. One look at Vyken’s dark look cooled his interest almost immediately. There was something about Black that needled Vyken’s human side, and it was not just his interest in Danya.

  They entered the elevator together and took it down the equivalent of three stories to the first underground level of the old cyborg facility now dubbed The Enclave.

  “Vyken Dark, at last, we meet,” Jacob Black said as the doors closed behind them.

  Jacob would have offered his hand, but cyborgs shunned the practice. Instead, he shook hands with James and Danya. “Come, let me show you around.” He led the way out into the corridor. James fell into step beside Jacob and Danya walked with Vyken.

  Vyken didn’t exactly need the tour because this was where he was born over eighty years before. He knew the corridors in the facility as well as he knew the ship he’d served on since he left the facility. The colors were a little brighter, but the place hadn’t changed that much.

  There was a block of offices near the elevators then the staff apartments. Whole families lived there in the days when the facility was growing genetically engineered cyborg embryos in tanks on the third level lower. That’s what Vyken wanted to see, and he didn’t plan to ask permission.

  James and Jacob chatted animatedly as they headed for an apartment. Vyken leaned down and whispered in Danya’s ear, “Go with them, I’ll catch up with you. I need to check on something.”

  She nodded and gave him a look that let him know she wanted to know about it later.

  Vyken turned and ran back down the hall with the silent stealth of an assassin. Instead of taking the elevator, he turned to the right and quietly opened the door to the stairwell. He leaped from the top landing to the next landing until he reached the third lower level.

  The corridor was dimly lit, but Vyken’s enhanced vision allowed him to see just fine. He first stopped at the embryo lab and nurtury. The door was open, so he went inside. The nurturing tanks were all empty, and the room smelled dusty. In the corner, the liquid nitrogen vault where the frozen embryos were stored was still operational. Vyken connected with the unit monitor and discerned that there were still ten thousand viable embryos contained within. He frowned. What are they going to do with these?

  Vyken walked from room to room, rooms that used be labs where the cyborgs went through different processes throughout their development. Those were obviously abandoned decades before. It was actually the last chamber he was interested in. That was where the cyborgs ready for deployment were stored in stasis. The door was locked electronically, but that didn’t stop him.

  His processor broke the code in seconds, and the door slid open automatically. What he saw stunned him. There were rows of naked cyborgs in active stasis lockers, ten different genetic lines of thirty in each section. Grown to adulthood, trained and placed in stasis waiting to be deployed for at least fifty years, maybe more. Why were they never deployed?

  The Federation could have used every one of them. Untold human and cyborg lives had been lost because they lacked the manpower to defend their positions. Reinforcement never came. All these men standing there waiting to begin their lives for fifty years and they were still waiting. It was an abomination! They deserved to live! Vyken was going to make sure they had the chance.

  By now, Jacob Black was well aware that he had wandered off on his own. Vyken wasn’t intimidated in the least by Black. He didn’t take orders from Black. His orders regarding the cyborgs came from the Cyborg Command. He could only guess that they didn’t know about the three hundred viable cyborgs in the depths of this facility. Vyken wasn’t sure he was going to tell them either. He didn’t trust Black not to have them terminated. Natural humans liked to call it decommissioned.

  It didn’t sound as bad as killing them. In Vyken’s mind, it would be the murder of cyborgs that couldn’t defend themselves. Even though they were classified as sentient beings, they could debate these had never been activated. Therefore they had never actually been alive. That was a bunch of crap! It was a very thin excuse to justify mass murder. It wasn’t going to happen. They were going over to the Starfire, and so were the embryos.

  Vyken paced around the room then up and down the rows of encased cyborgs. They were all alive and ready for release. He was tempted to start bringing them out of stasis immediately. There was room on the Starfire for all of them, and he could get this job done a lot faster if he had more than four cyborgs to do it.

  They were safe for now. Vyken decided to go back to level one and catch up with Black and his friends. He left the chamber, and the door slid closed behind him. He ran down the corridor and took the stairwell back up to level one, climbing the steps four at a time. Vyken had been gone ten minutes when he caught up with the other three people.

  They hadn’t progressed very far in the tour as James got into a lengthy discussion with Jacob about the administration of the Enclave. Jacob glanced at Vyken as he rejoined them. A quick raise of his dark brows was the only indication that Jacob had noticed his absence. He would talk to Jacob later, privately to find out what he knew about the third level.

  “Currently we have about forty people living here. Some of them are descendants of the technicians that ran the cyborg labs in the third level,” Jacob explained. “We currently don’t use that level, and no one goes down there.” He glanced at Vyken pointedly.

  “That, seems a waste of space, don’t you think?” Vyken said. “There is the same amount of space on each level. You could probably house a few hundred people down there.”

  “It would be something to consider, only the cyborg facility must be dismantled before it can be converted to living space,” Jacob said, “but we just don’t have the manpower. That’s why your help is needed to bring more people into the Enclave.”

  “That’s why I wanted to come here and talk with you,” James said. “I’ve lived in the city all my life, and it’s only gotten worse. It would be impossible to restore civilization there without an army to make it safe.”

  “We were finally going to leave the city when we got jumped by some thugs,” Danya said. “They would have killed Dad if Vyken hadn’t come along when he did.”

  “But there are still good people living there that need help to get out,” James added. “Now that I’ve seen what you have started here, I will help Vyken’s team rescue them.”

  “We would certainly appreciate it. So many of the core worlds of the Federation have been devastated by the war, they just don’t have the resources to give us the help that we need.”

  “They don’t even know when they can begin rebuilding the Eastern starport or any starport on this world,” Jacob said.

  “Earth seems to have gotten the worst of it,” Vyken said.

  “Where are you going to get the materials to build homes on the surface?” James asked.

  “We are going to scaven
ge them from what’s left of the buildings in the surrounding countryside for a start, then trees, and rocks. Even though there are no mass communications restored yet, our computers have the information we need to plan and build our community.”

  “I think I’ve heard and seen enough,” James said. “I was also hoping to go back to our home to get our things while we were out looking for people to join the Enclave.”

  “We can do that,” Vyken said. “Jacob, I want to speak to you privately before we go.”

  “We can go to my office,” Jacob said. “James, Danya, you can take a seat in the waiting room by my office.

  “Do you know what’s on level three?” Vyken demanded.

  “Remnants of the cyborg breeding facility,” Jacob said carefully.

  “Not just remnants,” Vyken said. “There are three hundred cyborgs in stasis and a tank full of frozen embryos down there! Just what are you going to do with them?”

  “I haven’t brought it up with the council, yet, but I thought we could turn them over to the Federation,” Jacob said.

  “No! I am authorized by Cyborg Command to handle them. They are self-aware sentient beings, and they have rights,” Vyken replied adamantly. “That is Federation Law and your council has no say over it.”

  “When did this happen?” Jacob asked. “We haven’t had news from the Federation in a while.”

  “It was a condition the Wholaskan’s requested for negotiating peace with the Mesaarkans. Cyborgs and not slaves nor are they machines.”

  “But they’re bred for fighting and killing, you can’t just put them out in society.”

  “My brothers and I will take them to our ship and finish their training. They can help us with our mission here,” Vyken said.

  “Then what?”

  “It will be their choice to stay or go,” Vyken said.

  “But three hundred?”

  “We’ll take them all,” Vyken said. “They are alive, and they are going to have a chance to live.”

  “Who is going to control them?” Jacob asked.

  “I am ranking officer of this unit,” Vyken said. “They will be under my command.”

  Jacob eyed the cyborg. He didn’t like the thought of turning three hundred cyborgs loose. The planet had already been ravaged to the brink. Cyborgs were the most dangerous beings on the earth. Vyken could almost read Jacob’s thoughts by the look on his face.

  Vyken had spent the better part of a century working with humans, and he had learned to read them. Jacob Black seemed to be a bit of a purist. Many in the beginning thought cyborgs were the property of the entity that created them. Vyken himself had been treated as such in the beginning. Some humans even considered them machines.

  There were also many humans who knew their treatment was wrong. They petitioned the Federation Council to reclassify the cyborgs as sentient humanoids because they were bred from human embryos.

  “Even though we are bred to be warriors we have protocols for law enforcement and peacetime behaviors,” Vyken said calmly. “I’ve had decades of experience supervising newly activated cyborgs. My brothers and I will take care of them.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Three hundred cyborgs in stasis? They just left them there? Kydel exclaimed.

  That was my conclusion. Vyken said through their private link. Black is going to let us take care of them, but I think we should bring them all onto the ship. Do we want to take them out of stasis or bring them aboard in their stasis modules?

  I think we should get them out of those modules as soon as possible. Then they can move to the ship under their own power. Kydel said.

  All at once or in groups?

  If we bring out a group of thirty, we can orient them to help us orient and finish training the rest. Kydel said.

  Star can upgrade their databanks.

  The other three cyborgs agreed.

  We will do our recon in the city, then come back and get the first group of cyborgs out of the lab. Vyken said.

  Have you claimed your female yet? Jolt asked.

  I have not. Vyken admitted. She is still considering it.

  How do you stand it? She is your female.

  It is her right to choose to mate or not. But she is mine, and she feels it. She wishes more time to bond non-sexually before breeding.

  Do you think we will find our mates here, too? Matix asked. Females will be scarce on Phantom.

  We’re going to be here awhile. There is always a chance you will all find more mates as we work our way through old Chicago and the suburbs, even with the other cyborgs. Vyken said. I will go get Danya and James and meet you in the cargo bay.

  The whole conversation took only seconds through their internal network. It was almost like telepathy. It had been an extreme advantage on the battlefield. Vyken wished he could share such a connection with Danya. Then she would know what she meant to him. She was his heart; she had always been. Vyken just didn’t know who she was until he found her. If it took a while to get her to see that, he would wait.

  As they left the first level conference room, Vyken walked to the lift to the second level to get Danya. When her door opened, she stepped aside and gestured for him to enter. He stepped inside and picked her up in his arms, holding her chest to chest, and took her mouth in a deep, passionate kiss. Danya wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his narrow hips, moaning softly in her throat at the sensations surging through her with his erection pressing against her core.

  Her nipples tightened into hard sensitive peaks as she pressed them against his hard chest. She wanted nothing more than to get naked with him and fuck him until they both screamed their pleasure. It was just as clear that Vyken wanted the same thing.

  “Vyken,” she whispered when their lips parted. Danya stared into his eyes and caressed his face with her fingers. He was so handsome, but it was his heart in his eyes when he looked back at her that told her all she needed to know.

  Vyken, we’re waiting. Matix said.

  He groaned as he looked into Danya’s sparkling green eyes. “We have to go, they’re waiting. I’d much rather finish what we started.”

  Danya sighed and kissed him lightly on the mouth. Mine! “Okay, there’s lots to do, that’s for sure.” Reluctantly, she unfolded her legs from around him, and he lowered her until her feet were on the floor. She felt just a little shaky, fighting down her arousal. She gave Vyken a weak smile as he was apparently having the same problem.

  “I better use the lav,” she said and hurried to take care of business. She needed a quick clean up because she didn’t want to get in the transport with three other cyborgs scenting her desire. They were not Vyken even though they would know it was for him.

  Vyken gave her a knowing look when she came back out but didn’t say anything. While he was waiting, he had signaled James who was waiting in the hallway when they emerged from Danya’s cabin. He also gave his daughter a look but didn’t say anything. It wasn’t hard to figure out what they had been doing with one look at her kiss-swollen lips.

  Actually, she thought her father seemed content with Vyken wooing her. He was powerful and capable of protecting her and enamored. Danya smiled. She was smitten too. They walked to the lift together with Vyken resting his hand on Danya’s back.

  On their way to the landing bay, they stopped at the storeroom, and Vyken went inside and brought out two side arms with belts and holsters for Danya and James. He handed one to each of them.

  “We’ll just go outside for a few minutes, and I will show you how to used them,” Vyken said. “Jolt and Brekar set up a target for you to practice.” James and Danya put on the belts and went out into the grassy field beside the ship. Vyken showed Danya the settings and how to sight it while Brekar showed James. It didn’t take long for then both to get the hang of shooting the beam weapon. Neither was a crack shot, but a broad beam setting could be used if necessary.

  It made Vyken feel better for them to be armed in case they got separated and he c
ouldn’t protect Danya or her father. He and his brothers would protect them with their lives, but they all knew how things could go wrong in a battle situation.

  Half an hour later, they were headed back to Chicago. James directed them to a section where he knew of people who would jump at the chance for a better life with food and shelter for their children.

  Matix set the transport down in an open lot near where Danya and her father had lived for the last three months. Three other families lived in the same building that was just a hovel. It didn’t look safe to enter with only two stories, and the basement left. The windows were gone.

  There was no heat, electricity or running water almost anywhere in the city, but they were near the river. The quality of the water for drinking was questionable. Rainwater was safer depending how it was collected. Food was scarce, but there were still fish in the river and the lake, sewer rats, and small animals. Grown over lots and greenways provided certain edible plants for those who knew what to look for.

  Occasional gunfire could be heard in the distance, and small groups of gang members patrolled the streets of their territory. No place was truly safe.

  The cyborgs waited outside the building while James and Danya went inside to talk to the people about moving to the Enclave. They also stopped to pick up a what few possessions that they valued. Though he hated to leave any of them, James didn’t take the entire pile of tattered books he had collected.

  It didn’t take James and Danya long to convince their friends that they would have a better life in the enclave. Food, water, and a safe place for their children were more than they could hope for in the ruins of a once renowned city. Seeing their two friends in fresh, clean clothing and well rested was enough to convince them.

  While those people collected their meager possessions, the cyborgs accompanied the father and daughter to two more tattered buildings. One woman didn’t want to leave because her mate was out looking for food, but with everyone else going, she was afraid to stay alone.