The Cyborg's Redemption: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Teraz Book 3)

  THE CYBORG’S REDEMPTION

  BY

  MAYA CARNAGE

  Dedication

  This one is for my readers.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  I want to give a special shout out to all the awesome women in my life who have helped me become the woman I am today. I used to think that there was no reason for a support group or a tribe of like-minded folks, but they have helped me get to know myself better, and that has helped me write a heck of a lot better!

  DISCLAIMER

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

  COPYRIGHT by Maya Carnage

  Cover Art by: Kasmit Covers

  Chapter One

  Rosalind

  The Malviks imprisoned them in the basement of an old mansion. Of course, it had been redone to fit their needs. The walls are cement, and where there once were windows, there are now iron bars. Rain spills in, soaking the floor and any unfortunate person close enough to the splash zone. There is always someone there because the large room is pack with the remaining eighth ward rebels. There’s a bathroom next to the stairs, and that’s the only place any of them can get alone time.

  The door’s always shut. One of them or even a few will end up banging their fists on the door for their turn. All while the person on the other side muffles their sobs into their clenched fists. The banging makes the ache in Rosalind’s head unbearable, but it’s the weight on her heart that she can’t stand.

  They are all here because of her.

  Her head falls back against the tub. She closes her eyes, sighing. “Shit.”

  “Hurry the fuck up! Some of us need to take a piss, Rosie.” Mark mutters to the group of people on the other side of the door. He’s probably complaining about her taking too long in here. All right, that’s what he’s definitely doing, but she’s at the point now where she needs to believe her team still have her back and that they haven’t turned into a pack of savage animals ready to tear her throat out.

  It’s a real possibility, now.

  They’ve been stuck down here for over a month. They all should count their blessings that the Malviks haven’t tortured them, but everyone is slowly going mad in these cramp confines. That’s a form of torture. Maybe it’s their plan, too. Let each of them descend into a pit of madness and turn on each other, then broadcast it across the world to let every single person know how unstable and risky the rebels really are.

  And it’s all my fault.

  Rosalind rubs at her eyes, groaning as she stands. It’s time to face the music and step out of her bubble. It’s not a peaceful bubble, but it beats staying out there and watching the people who have been her family for years break.

  “It’s all yours,” she says, holding the door open for Mark.

  His jaw ticks as he shakes his head. He pushes past her, and his shoulder knocks her back. “It took you long enough.”

  She stumbles but doesn’t say anything. Collecting herself, she moves out into the crowd. She keeps her head down, and her arms tucked close to her sides, avoiding brushing against anyone. It’s like being electrocuted each time she comes in contact with them. Their pain seeps into her body, burning in her veins as it races through her.

  When she’s safe and sound in her corner, she takes a full breath and scans the room.

  Everyone’s on edge. She chews at her bottom lip. The raw, angry energy is vibrating in the room. The hairs on her forearms stand up. They are worst today. Her brow furrows. Why?

  The ones sitting have their eyes closed, but their limbs twitch and rock, but those who are standing clench their fists and their eyes dart about the place. They never stay focused more than a few seconds. Something is going on. But what is it?

  Rosalind leaves her safe spot. She takes a deep breath before pushing into the crowd, looking for Isaac.

  He’s around Kayla’s dad’s age and the unofficial counselor of the eighth ward rebels. He’s short and stocky with a terrible temper, so it doesn’t make sense why he’s the person everyone goes to when they’re having a problem.

  She finds him sitting on an upturned bucket, picking at his cuticles. He barely spares her a glance but grunts his acknowledgment. “What do you need?”

  “What’s going on? Everything off in here. People are antsy.” She braces her hands on her hips, trying to appear bigger and stronger. She isn’t either of those things, but she has to try to survive living in this prison.

  He shrugs. “While you were on one of your breaks Todd was taken yesterday for questioning. He hasn’t been back. It ain’t looking good, kid.”

  Damn it. She knew she should have been paying more attention, but it’s hard being out here with everyone. She shakes her head, and her springy brown curls fall in front of her eyes. She groans, pushing them back behind her ears. She’d kill for a headband right about now.

  “Why Todd?” He’s not important in the chain of power among the rebels. He’s just tech support. Why the hell would the Malvik question him?

  Isaac tilts his head up, lifting a bushy eyebrow. “He’s weak. The weak are the first to spill.”

  “Yeah, but he doesn’t know anything.”

  He shrugs. “The Malviks don’t know that, though.”

  Her shoulders drop. “You don’t think they’re torturing him, do you?”

  “Honestly, I don’t know. The Malviks are a bunch of soulless fucks. I wouldn’t put anything past them.”

  Rosalind goes back to biting her lip. She looks around the room, now realizing why everyone is acting funny. They’re waiting their turn upstairs.

  “Todd might be weak, but the Malviks aren’t stupid. They have to know he doesn’t know a thing. You or I would be the best bets.”

  “That’s what I can’t wrap my head around,” Isaac says. “Why bother with computer guy when two high-level rebels are down here wasting away?”

  None of it makes sense. The Malviks should have taken her or Isaac up, but they didn’t. It’s not that they’re oblivious to the fact they are down here, but they are ignoring them. She needs to find out why.

  “When did they take him up?” she asks.

  Isaac pauses, narrowing his eyes. “Early morning. Too caught up in your own problems to realize, Rosie?”

  She takes a step back at the acid in the old man’s voice. “Yes, I was, but I’m not at the moment. We need to focus on what the hell their plan is because that’s what is important.”

  He snorts. “There ain’t much we can do. None of us know what the hell is going on up there.”

  What would be the point of taking Todd? Yes, he’s one of their technical experts, but that is all he does. He’s never even done any fieldwork.

  Rosalind freezes. Her breath stills in her chest.

  The only reason they would want him if they thought he was one of the rebels who leaked the information to the public. They would tear him apart to dig any bit of information out of him on how the rebels got their hands on that stuff. The second ward rebels didn’t know anything about where they got it from, but it wouldn’t take a genius to figure out the cyborgs on Teraz are helping them. Hell, the Malviks already know Rodrick’s involved. They probably have a good hunch that Axe and all the crew on The Pursuer have joined with the rebels.

  The
Malviks will move on to the next name on their list once they finish with Todd. Hopefully, there will be something left of the poor man when that time comes. The Malviks aren’t known for their mercy. It’s likely they will execute him when he gives them nothing to go on.

  “What’s going on inside that head of yours?” Isaac asks.

  “One of us will be next. Soon, too.”

  He grunts.

  The rest of the rebels in the room behind her move about like a group of working bees. Their ever-present energy causes her skin to tingle. The stench of their sweat hangs in the air, making it hard to breathe. The first weeks they were here it made her gag and her eyes water, but now it’s just another unpleasant part of the current environment. She has to deal with it because she can’t have anything else make her unsteady on her feet. The guilt and constant whirl of emotions are already too much to handle.

  The loose floorboard on the other side of the door leading into the basement squeaks and the people stops pacing. Rosalind swallows around the sudden knot in her throat as someone near the windows whimpers. The key rattles inside the lock and the fear pulses around her. Her heart begins to hammer inside her chest as the door swings open and military boots make their way down the stairs.

  He’s tall with pearlescent white skin and pure black eyes. As he descends the stairs, his mouth is flat, and his arms are behind his back. His eyes search the quiet group. When they land on her, his mouth stretches into a grin. The sharp points of his grey teeth cause her blood to run cold, and ice lodges itself in her chest. The taste of fear is a sour one, but it’s all the worse when it’s not just her own.

  The Malvik crooks his finger at her.

  “Ah, you jinxed yourself, Rosie.” Isaac shakes his head as Rosalind forces her feet forward and follows the monster upstairs.

  Chapter Two

  Gregor

  Gregor waits in the idling rover while Pax collects the rest of his gear from the pirate’s ship. He thrums his fingers on the wheel as his agitation grows. He’s worked alongside Pax for more than twenty years, and if he were to claim someone as his best friend, it would be the too soft cyborg with the ridiculous ideas.

  He laughs aloud, remembering the shock he felt when Pax called him and told him his plan to save the rebels and farmers imprisoned by the Malviks.

  And he’s partly responsible for the humans’ current predicament.

  The one thing he depends on most in his life is his loyalty. When Axe, his superior, betrayed the Malviks by helping criminals escape from The Gregory he couldn’t stand by and fall with them. It’s not right.

  The Malviks may be deplorable, but in some cases so are the rebels.

  He’s done field duty on Earth a few times and was an eyewitness to the mayhem those people are capable of creating. They don’t care about the surrounding people they harm when it comes to completing their missions. If they set out to save a bunch of orphans from a camp, and they have to attack the men and women who take care of them, then they will without a blink of an eye.

  The rebels don’t understand what those jobs mean to the humans who take them. It can’t be easy for them to take a job offer willingly from the Malviks, but it beats being out under the harsh sun and roasting to death. Cyborgs and humans alike choose what’s easiest, so do the rebels, but they think they are better and won’t admit they are just as weak as the rest of them.

  Gregor didn’t want to rat out his crew, but at the same time, he didn’t want to lose the little bit of respect he has for himself by going against the Malviks. He owns them everything. He wouldn’t be here if they hadn’t spared his life after the war.

  Fighting was engraved inside their make-up, and the whole race of cyborgs was nothing but warring machines during that time. However, there were a few who had a spark of conscience inside them. He was one of them.

  Five humans were on their knees in front of him, begging for their lives, and in the end, he couldn’t kill them. It went against his training and programming. When the Malviks found out, they put him on trial and were prepared to execute him, but they decided not to, in the hopes that he would learn from his mistake. He did because three of those humans were apart of the twelve that started the rebels. For a hundred and thirty-four years, those fiends have been battling the cyborgs and Malviks, causing trouble around every corner.

  Now, they’re wreaking havoc on Teraz by upsetting the peace between his kind and the Malviks. Most of them are fine with their relationship with the Malviks. As long as they don’t cause any trouble, then the cyborgs are left alone to live their lives however they want.

  Gregor might not like how the Malviks treat the humans, but there isn’t anything he can do for them without going to war because that’s the only way the Malviks will let them go free. Those bastards are used to having slaves, and they won’t give them up without a fight. The rebels aren’t strong enough to beat them no matter how many times the outsmart them. They don’t have the numbers. Plus, the Malviks have a tight group of cyborgs who would lay their lives down for them.

  The Malviks probably brainwashed them as they did all those years ago when the cyborgs got created. They made sure to wipe out any trace of conscience when they were programming them. When an emotion besides anger, hate, or rage popped up, they yanked it out before the cyborg could recognize it for what it was. It was humanity.

  It is the one thing the Malviks despise most of all. They terrorize planets, wiping out civilization in the hopes of ridding the universe of what they consider a parasite. The humans have it in abundance, and it disgusts them.

  Lost in his thoughts, Gregor jumps as the passenger side door opens.

  Pax gets in, setting his duffel bag at his feet.

  “You can put that in the back.”

  Pax shakes his head and puts his seatbelt on. “I’m good.”

  Gregor rolls his eyes. It’s a silly safety precaution, and there’s no reason for them to bother with it since they quickly would heal if they crashed. He shifts the car into drive, heading for the barracks. “They aren’t going to stay there, are they? It’s kind of in plain sight. Any soldier doing a sweep of this area will find them.”

  “Why would a cyborg be out here?”

  “We’re three miles from a farm. Why the hell wouldn’t they be out here?”

  “They used just to do the perimeter.”

  “Yeah, but they’re stepping up security since the rebel attack and the attempted cyber leak.”

  Pax frowns. “Kayla gave coordinates for a rebel outpost with a landing field big enough for the ship. Zekk will be heading there tonight.”

  He nods.

  Pax shifts in his seat. Clearing his throat. He opens his mouth as if to say something, but closes it before anything comes out. He leans over and moves the bag around until it’s in a position where he can comfortably rest his feet on top of it.

  “Just spit it out. You’re getting on my fucking nerves,” Gregor says when he can’t take any more of the man’s fidgeting.

  “Thank you for doing this. I know how hard it must be.”

  “Don’t think me. I’m not willingly doing this, and you are aware of that.”

  Pax glances out the window, frowning. “The one good thing about you is that you’re honorable. That’s why I know that once you realize joining the rebellion is the right thing to do, you will do it.”

  “If you say so, but making me do this because I owe you a huge favor doesn’t sit right with me at all.”

  “I didn’t want you to become collateral damage, Gregor. That’s what would have happened if we did this without you. This is more than just saving the rebels. It’s about freeing everyone from the tyrannical Malviks.”

  He grinds his teeth to keep the words he so badly wants to say from spilling out.

  Pax is right, but if he follows him, then he’s disobeying orders and breaking his vows. That makes his stomach turn.

  Pax sighs.

  “Seesil wants to speak to you first thing in the m
orning,” Gregor says.

  The other cyborg goes stiff at the Malviks’ name. “Since when is he in charge of soldiers?”

  “He isn’t.” Gregor turns onto the road that leads to the barracks. “He’s questioning the eighth and second ward rebels.”

  Pax curses. “Are you sure?”

  He arches a brow. “That’s a stupid question. You should have expected this. You were with Axe when he went rogue, and you didn’t come forward until after the Malviks took care of the attack. They probably think this is all a hoax, and they’re right.”

  “Do you think Seesil’s tortured them?”

  “You need to be worrying about your own ass. Let the rebels take care of their own.” For all they know, Seesil could execute Pax within the first ten minutes of their meeting tomorrow. His kind is ruthless, and if for one second, he believes Pax isn’t sincere about abandoning his traitorous crew and the rebels, then he’ll kill him.

  And that why’s Gregor doesn’t like this stupid, ill-planned idea. Pax is setting himself up for a whole hell of a lot of trouble if he can’t pull off being a soulless bastard like the rest of them. Also, there’s the part where he has to help him break the rebels out since he owned Pax for saving his life during the war. If that hadn’t happened, then he would have told Pax to shove his plan up his ass, but it did, so he’s driving him into the barracks where he’ll stand beside him and vouch for his sincerity in pledging his loyalty to the Malviks and denouncing The Pursuer crew and the rebellion. They’re both asking for trouble, really.

  Gregor slows the rover down and pulls the car into the parking lot. He cuts the car off and takes a deep breath in. “I don’t want to do this, but I am because you’re my friend, and I owe you something I could never repair. I want to make it clear, though, that I’m not joining the rebellion. I made a vow to guard and protect the Malviks, and I knew what they were when I did, but I went ahead and did it anyhow. As you said, I’m honorable. An honorable person keeps their word.”