Taken by the Cyborg (Galactic Pirate Brides Book 4) by Tamsin Ley (best ereader under 100 TXT) 📕

be heard from the alcove where Claudia slept. The woman had gleefully downed Attie’s dose of sleeping pills before burrowing under a mound of blankets. “She’s sleeping. Who is this? Are you the one who brought me here?”

“Yes. My name is Doug. I apologize for the inconvenience—”

“Inconvenience?” Attie scowled. “I was nearly raped!” Her voice was too loud, but she couldn’t control it.

“It will not happen again,” the voice replied, just as monotone as before.

Of course there wouldn’t be any emotion—she was dealing with cyborgs. “You tricked me into coming here. What the hell is this place, anyway? I demand you release me immediately.”

“I need you to bring me your sister’s AI.”

Attie frowned, remembering he’d asked about Twerp in the hallway. But she still didn’t believe she could trust him. Taking a deep breath, she lowered her voice. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

The voice didn’t answer for a beat, then said, “I have been monitoring you at your sister’s request. I know you left the AI in your room.”

Crossing her arms, she thought about all the times she’d felt as if she was being watched. So she’d been right, but hadn’t been Syndicorp security—it had been Doug. Was he part of a hidden rebel faction on board the ship? That would explain why Marlis had tried to sneak on board. “Are you the person my sister was trying to rescue?”

“I do not need to be rescued.”

Attie recognized when someone was dodging a question and wished she could see his face. She’d always been good at reading people’s expressions. Right now, it felt like she was groping in the dark to get answers from him. “Are you a prisoner here?”

Another beat of silence. “I cannot leave.”

Another non-answer. He has to be a rebel spy. “Marlis left Twerp behind on purpose, didn’t she? I should turn you both in.”

“If you do that, I cannot protect you or your sister,” the monotone voice replied.

Attie pointed the spoon at the doorway angrily. “You’re the reason she’s in trouble in the first place!”

“I am not the reason she joined the rebels.”

Attie’s stomach soured with guilt. If she hadn’t pushed her sister to become more self-sufficient, Marlis wouldn’t be in this mess. Did he somehow know she was the reason Marlis had ended up on the wrong side of the law? “Why do you care what happens to us, anyway?”

Static hissed a moment like a sigh, then the voice said, “I have a sister with the rebels, too.”

It seemed highly unlikely they both had sisters with the rebels. But why would he lie about something like that? Again, she wished she could see his face. “Why do you need me to bring the AI here? Can’t you go get it yourself?”

The glowing screen dimmed, the sparks flowing across its surface barely visible as he replied, “I am part of a top-secret Syndicorp experiment. I am not free to roam this ship.”

Marlis had said something about a secret lab, but had she used the word ‘rescue’ when she mentioned Doug? Attie couldn’t remember. Then she gasped. Was it possible the pirates hadn’t been trying to rescue him, but to kidnap him?

She puzzled through what she knew so far. He’d just admitted he was part of a top-secret experiment, which meant he had to be working for Syndicorp. Yet he’d been keeping an eye on her for Marlis and had a sister with the rebels, himself. Whose side was he on? Did he even have the ability to choose sides? He was a cyborg, after all—the rebels could be controlling him or vice versa. This entire conversation was leaving her with more questions than she had before.

She let out an exasperated breath. “I want to talk about this face-to-face.”

The edges of the screen flashed green. “No.”

“You’re nothing but a computerized voice right now. How do I even know you are who you say you are? I’m not agreeing to do anything until we meet in person.”

Instead of an answer, ripples of light swam across the door shield. Attie stepped back, suddenly worried a cyborg might materialize out of thin air in front of her. Enough weird things had already happened. She waited a breathless moment. Two.

Then the door panel slid closed, leaving Attie in darkness.

Chapter 10

Doug was yanked back to his physical surroundings as a voice echoed outside his door. “Hey, who let you—”

The tech’s words cut off, replaced by Rust’s snarl. “How’s this for science, asshole?”

Holy fuck, Rust’s loose. Doug launched for his doorway, hacking into the lab’s cameras while he moved. Hopefully the security officer out front hadn’t been watching his screen at that particular moment. How had Rust overridden Doug’s lock-down? There wasn’t time to hack the other cyborg’s programming and find out. If security reported the cyborgs had escaped their cells, Dollard would shut them all down. Permanently.

The shield barring his doorway barely stopped glowing before Doug rushed through it. The other cyborgs had emerged from their cells as well, confused looks on their faces. Across the dimly lit lab, Rust pinned the tech to the floor with one booted foot against his throat.

Doug charged forward, but Brix reached them first. He slammed against Rust with a crack of metal against metal.

Rust rocked back a step but didn’t fall. The tech clambered under a nearby desk, clutching his throat and gasping. Rust clamped Brix into a headlock and started pummeling the other cyborg’s skull like a jackhammer.

Doug grabbed Rust’s arm to stop his relentless attack against Brix’s head. “Fucking idiot!”

Twobit grabbed Rust’s other arm, prying it loose from Brix’s neck as Esben vaulted over one of the stainless steel tables to reach them. A rack of test tubes crashed to the floor. Thankfully, the lab’s walls were soundproof, or the guards outside would’ve been alerted by now.

Free of Rust’s death-grip, Brix sagged to his knees, wiping blood from one eye.

Rust bared his teeth at the technician. “That’s the fucker who turned my voice module into a joke.”

A