The Dark Marauder’s Mate
Sci-fi Series
Captured by the Cyborg
By
Angela Bennet
Copyright 2016 Angela Bennet
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced or transmitted, including photocopying, recording, and electronically sharing, without permission of the author. Thank you for respecting this.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, either living or dead, is coincidental.
Image courtesy of imagerymajestic, Victor Habbick, twobee, vectorolie at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Table of Contents
About Dark Marauders
Captured by the Cyborg
Sneak Peek of Unlawful Attachment
Other books by Angela Bennet
Dark Marauders
Dark Marauders are a special task force serving the Planetary Confederation. When rebellious factions rise up, the Marauders are sent in to keep the peace, using whatever means deemed necessary. The Marauders are comprised of men from different worlds and species - all ruthless, intimidating, and undeniably powerful. These stories are about those men, and the women who changed their lives forever.
Captured by the Cyborg
Destiny Kagar is being hunted by the Confederation for her secrets. She has the ability to touch any technological device and interact with it – and that includes the man she helped heal and rebuild after an explosion nearly killed him. She hadn’t counted on falling in love with him. She didn’t expect to be hunted by him when she tried to disappear. But now she has to escape the only person she trusted with both her heart and body.
Commander Jevlen Sonju is part man, part machine, and one of the deadliest soldiers in the Dark Marauders. He was assigned to apprehend Lieutenant Destiny Kagar. But when he finally meets her, he can’t fight the unexpected attachment he feels for her; it goes against his design to be dominated by his fleshly side. To make matters worse, he keeps having passionate visions of Destiny that heat his blood, and he doesn’t know if they’re fantasies or real memories. Is she truly the criminal he’s been led to believe? And why can’t he remember her?
Captured by the Cyborg
PROLOGUE
“You’ve made remarkable gains with the Commander. You should feel a large sense of pride and accomplishment. This project restored his vitality and made him better than we could have ever expected. All this is do to you,” Rooka murmured as she typed the final commands into the control console.
Destiny Kagar nodded though she couldn’t speak. How could she? She was letting go of the most important person in her life – her mate. Jevlen Sonju had come to the science lab a broken man three years ago. There had been an explosion on the bridge of his ship, killing most of the small crew. He had nearly died. She’d helped rebuild him, fitting together man and machine to create an enhanced mechanical, yet still organic, being. He was powerful and precise as a machine, yet kind and passionate as a man. And in the process of healing him, she’d fallen in love.
Yet it hadn’t been all happy moments during his journey to recovery. While she worked with Jevlen, she’d been harassed, manipulated, and stalked by her commanding officer, Colonel Bronsten. He had an eye for all the pretty young lieutenants under his command but he had a special interest in Destiny. Number one, because she rebuffed all his romantic overtures and he enjoyed a challenge. Number two, because she had abilities with technological devices that he couldn’t begin to understand and she peeked his curiosity. And number three, because her heart belonged to another man that he deemed inferior and he couldn’t stand having her admire someone other than him! Colonel Bronsten was young for a colonel and dashing. But Destiny saw beyond his outward charisma to the dangerous manipulator beneath the surface. At first she’d been flattered by his attention. But she’d never taken him seriously, not when she was more interested in her patient. Jevlen had the same concerns about the Colonel and warned her to watch him. That’s when she began to see how evil Colonel Bronsten really was. He used others to secure promotions. He blackmailed, lied, and cheated. Destiny shouldn’t have been surprised when she caught him sending her reports to an unknown source outside the Confederation. Normally her reports were archived because the project was so secret. But she noticed multiple transmissions to someone on the outside – which meant this person was a threat. She tried to track Bronsten’s transmissions but he’d covered his trail well. The mechanical enhancement program was supposed to be confidential and known to a limited number of people, but Colonel Bronsten was informing the enemy of every step of the project. The problem was, she had no tangible proof to use against him because he was so clever.
And now he was dealing her the cruelest blow.
“It’s time, Destiny. We must complete the process,” Rooka, her friend and fellow technician, insisted softly.
Destiny pressed her hands against the glass partition that separated her from her mate. Jevlen’s powerful body was strapped to the conforming table that supported his body in perfect comfort. He was unconscious and unaware of what was about to happen. If he knew, he would have already broken free. His processors had been put in temporary stasis for the mind wipe. “Why is this necessary?” she demanded. “He will remember nothing. He won’t remember me!” she cried. “He can function just as well with his memory intact. Please, Rooka, don’t do this!”
“I have my orders and I will not risk a court martial,” her friend answered with a frown of concern. “It’s something you should think about, Destiny. There are rumors. The Colonel isn’t happy with you. You’ve always been his favorite on the project and he tolerated your many – ah, indiscretions, when it came to the test subject.”
“Indiscretions? Test subject? Rooka, we’re talking about my mate! You know Jevlen and I have been bonded. And yet I’m being forced to let him go. This is wrong!”
Her friend nodded solemnly. “You knew of this risk. It’s why we’re warned not to get involved with the patients. It’s classic Florence Nightingale Syndrome. You should have seen the signs and taken proper precautions.”
Destiny gave her friend a strange look. “Now you sound just like the Colonel. What’s going on? You always supported Jevlen and me. You said we could make it work no matter the odds fighting against us.”
Rooka shook her head. “I was wrong. You should have kept your distance. You should have followed the Colonel’s orders.”
Destiny frowned at her closest friend. Something was very wrong. “What’s going on, Rooka? Why are you saying this?”
Rooka shook her head again and refused to meet her gaze. “I’m sorry, Destiny. I must do this.” She squared her shoulders and turned to the console.
“No, wait! Don’t do it! Please!” Destiny reached out to stop her friend from pressing the button that would completely erase all of Jevlen’s memories of the past three years. Before she could stop Rooka, the button was quickly compressed.
Destiny felt like her world had suddenly crashed and all the oxygen was sucked from her lungs. “No! What have you done?” she cried. She swung around to view Jevlen through the glass. He looked unchanged from the moment before. He remained immobile on the conforming table. But Destiny knew much was happening inside his brain. His upgraded processor was being erased of personal memory from the last three years. All their moments together. Their love. Their passion. All their hopes and dreams. He wouldn’t know her! No! She frantically re
ached for the console to reverse the memory wipe. She might be able to stop it or change it – something! Tears streamed silently down her cheeks as she typed in various commands but none of her codes worked.
“Why am I locked out of the system?” she demanded in frustration. She tried again and again to punch in her codes but the system rejected her each time. “What is happening?” she yelled at Rooka, making her friend wince.
“I shouldn’t tell you this.” Rooka pulled Destiny away from the console and turned to face her. She moved Destiny out of sight of the rotating security monitors. They were always under surveillance. She glanced around to make sure they weren’t observed by any passing technicians. There were eyes everywhere on the base. Rooka leaned in close to whisper, “You have to leave, Destiny! Go! The Colonel ordered me to hold you here until he comes. I think he plans to wipe your memory as well! Jevlen asked me to help you if something like this happened. I think he learned something and he was worried about your safety. Hurry, Destiny! Get far far away from here. I don’t know why the Colonel is after you now but I’m afraid he’s going to hurt you!”
“I can’t just leave the base, or my command. I made an oath to the Confederation –“
“The Colonel doesn’t follow those rules. Look at Jevlen, Destiny! He’s gone. And you will be next if you don’t go now!”
ONE
Jevlen?
Two long hard years had passed, but Destiny would recognize him anywhere. Her heart stuttered in her chest, and for a moment she was transported back in time to a place where love bound her to this gentle honorable man. But that time was gone and it felt like a distant dream.
She stood frozen, soaking in the unexpected sight of Commander Jevlen Sonju, the man who had captured her heart five years ago when he was brought into the lab broken and without hope. He was still ruggedly handsome with his green eyes, and short ash-blond hair. He looked a little harder now, more battle honed than she remembered. As she stood transfixed, his gaze sharpened on her and he began to move toward her. A trill of anticipation ran through her, but then she remembered something vitally important. He didn’t know he was her mate. He was a powerful warrior, seeking his adversary; he was stalking her. There was no doubt in his mind that he would capture her.
That’s when Destiny realized she had to move! Pausing to stare was a big mistake. In a panic, she dropped her tools and began backing out of the narrow aisle between plantings. She should have followed her instincts and ran at the first sight of a stranger in her hydro-field. No one ever visited her in the field at this time of night. Everyone was tucked in their home and enjoying the evening meal. That's why she chose to work the night shift as a hydro-farmer. Ressing Four inhabitants were terrible gossips and she didn’t want to give them more info to repeat over and over. All her secrets and lies were a heavy burden and it was nice to shed the façade during these quiet hours.
Unfortunately, there was no one around to help her – not that they would be a match for the half man-half machine. He would annihilate anything that stepped between him and his quarry.
It had been eighteen months since the last bounty hunter tracked her down. She thought she was free. She'd changed her appearance and removed the Confederation chip in her wrist. Since coming to Ressing Four, she'd begun to let down her guard. Her hair was growing longer again and in its natural light brown color. She no longer disguised her eyes with special color drops to make them appear brown. To everyone on Ressing Four, they believed she was human, descended from Old Earth. They didn't know she had a special ability to lay her hands on any piece of technology and know exactly what it was processing and how to control it. It was a special enhancement that had been genetically engineered and bred into a small segment of her people on Dalandrake in the outer quadrant. Both her parents were fitted with the enhancement. She had been the first to be naturally born with it. The scientists had been overjoyed. Unfortunately, the Confederation got word of the enhancements and that's why the Colonel had latched onto her when she entered the Science Academy.
Apparently the Colonel was still after her. She knew he pursued her for personal reasons but this was more than being an undeterred suitor. She knew too much and he wanted to make sure she never shared her secrets. And now he'd sent her greatest threat and weakness to apprehend her. How could she resist Jevlen? She must. She had no choice.
Destiny ran as if her life depended on it – and it did. Jevlen didn’t know her anymore so he wouldn’t treat her gently. To him, she was just a criminal avoiding capture. Even though she ran and knew the terrain well, he was faster and smarter. He could process and predict her actions more quickly than she could react, but she had to find a way to get away from him. She wouldn’t return to the Colonel! She was nearly out of the hydro-field. A narrow channel ran between the hydro-field and her home in the caves. It was unwise to take the narrow channel at this time of day because of the nightly electrical storm. The channel became electrified because of the mineral deposits charging the ions in the atmosphere as the storm passed through. Destiny had learned ways to traverse the channel safely using an ion-muter she designed. Hopefully Jevlen hadn't received any new enhancements that would make him immune to the electrical field.
She could hear him pounding after her and quickened her pace. Her lungs burned and her legs wanted to fail but she couldn't stop. She couldn’t falter because of sentiment. He would never enfold her in those big arms again. He was the enemy.
“Stop, Destiny Kagar! You are under arrest by the Planetary Confederation. Cease now or you will force me to apprehend you through painful means.”
His words confirmed that this wasn't a loving reunion. His voice lacked the warmth she remembered. It hurt her to see him like this and her reaction was slowing her down. She tapped the ion-muter in her pocket and stepped into the electrified channel. Storm clouds had already gathered over the channel and rapid shafts of lightning shot into the canyon. There was no rhyme or reason to the strikes. Burst of light shot out with each strike. It was fascinating and beautiful. Normally, Destiny enjoyed the sight from a distance but tonight she had no time to linger. Jevlen was almost close enough to tackle her! If they’d added the launching enhancers to his boots like she recommended, he would have already caught her.
The canyon walls were steep and the path was narrow, only wide enough for a single pack nullo to plod through. Farmers herded the cattle through the channel during the day. And Jevlen was as big as one of those animals. Destiny risked a look over her shoulder. He was too close. He had to stop or he’d get electrocuted! What was he doing?
“Don’t. Follow. Me,” she gasped. She could hardly breathe from running so fast. But she had to warn him.
“You must be apprehended, Destiny Kagar. Do not resist arrest.” He wasn’t out of breath at all. This was just a light jog in a park simulator for him. He reached out for her but she was still out of his grasp. She cried out when his fingertips brushed her shoulder blade. “I order you to stop. You will be hurt if you continue to resist arrest.”
Lightning sparked all around her but thankfully didn’t come near because of the ion-muter. “Don't follow me in, Jevlen. It will hurt you.” She wasn't in the habit of warning the men who hunted her but this was Jevlen. The blast of energy would kill him.
Of course he didn't listen. He immediately charged after her into the narrow channel. Beams of lightning danced with brilliant color. Destiny saw him falter. His eyes widened in surprise. But then he saw she'd stopped as well and charged forward. Big mistake. Several bolts of lightning zapped from different directions, all targeted on him. The bolts struck with crippling force. He dropped to his knees, unable to break free of the current coursing through his body. He then fell face forward, immobile. She knew his processors would be fried beyond repair if she allowed the electrical shock to continue. She couldn't allow him to die like this!
Cautiously she retraced her steps. The brightly colored currents of light dissipated as she moved closer to Jevlen then
disappeared altogether because of the ion-muter. She dropped to her knees next to him. He didn’t move. She hoped she wasn’t too late. Her heart lurched painfully at the thought of him dying. Not like this! She laid her hand against the side of his face to determine the damage. The processor embedded in his brain barely functioned but it wasn't completely fried. Destiny breathed a sigh of relief. He wouldn't die.
Knowing she was taking the biggest risk of her life, she grabbed his hands and dragged him slowly through the electrical field. She tried to ignore all the processes functioning within his body. The slight tingle beneath her hands used to give her an erotic buzz thanks to her ability to interact with devices. She had to concentrate on not interacting directly with any of those processes now and speeding his healing. If she did, he would immediately regain consciousness and apprehend her. She also couldn't allow the familiar feel of him to stir any old memories and feelings. Jevlen Sonju, the man she knew and fell in love with, was gone. He was now Commander Sonju, cyborg leader of the Dark Marauders. She couldn't allow herself to forget what he'd become. He would show her no mercy if she made a mistake and allowed him to capture her.
The channel was less than a quarter of a mile long but it felt like forever. Jevlen was a large man, made heavier by all the metal and mechanics inside his body.
She finally got him back to her small apartment within the cave. It was one small room in a unit of twenty dwellings within the cave system. Her closest neighbor, an elderly retired hydro-farmer, stood in his doorway as Destiny struggled to get Jevlen into her apartment.
“I've never known you to bring home a man,” her neighbor teased. He was nearly two hundred years old and the ridges above his brow were thick with age. Yet his dark eyes still twinkled with amusement. Destiny had learned much from him. Thankfully he never asked personal questions. She hoped he wouldn't start now!
Captured by the Cyborg: The Dark Marauder's Mate (The Dark Marauder's Mate Scifi Series Book 5) Page 1