by Bianca D’Arc
Roxy had only been on the station a few weeks, but it had been quiet until today. No fighting that she’d been aware of, but according to the longer-term station residents she worked with, the jit’suku were growing bolder each time they came out of the jump point. Every few weeks, they’d been sending through increasingly larger forces and everyone expected that a full-out assault was in the works.
Which was why so many cyborgs had been stationed here. If the station itself was attacked, it was the cyborgs who would be the first line of defense for the human population. Roxy hadn’t really been aware of it, but her co-workers had claimed most of the families who had lived on the inner rings had already left and more were departing each time a transport ship arrived that was heading back toward Earth.
That was probably why the prices for passage had been too high for Roxy to afford every time she’d checked the departures board. The station was nice enough, but she had come to realize she wasn’t going to find the kind of work she wanted way out here on the rim. She had decided to save up as many credits as she could. She had to get off this station and she had to be able to afford the astronomical prices even the smallest tramp freighters were charging for transport back toward Earth.
The double shift today had earned her twice the amount she could’ve normally earned in one day, so that was one step closer to passage home. She had to look at it like that or she’d get horribly depressed. As it was, her head was down as she walked the hall toward her cabin and she didn’t register that she wasn’t alone in the hallway until she ran straight into a very hard, very unyielding body.
Her head snapped up immediately, her gaze meeting that of her cyborg neighbor. Her eyes widened as his blue eyes sparkled at her.
“Oh, I’m sorry!” she said reflexively, though she wondered if apologizing to a machine was truly necessary. Still, bad manners were never acceptable the way she’d been brought up.
“Are you all right, miss?” His voice was warm and deep. Not at all mechanical. But his words had a dry inflection that could have come from the computer-controlled part of his mind. Merely a good Artificial Intelligence—or AI, for short—interacting with a biological entity.
“I’m fine. I wasn’t looking where I was going. My apologies.”
“No need to apologize to me, miss,” he said, his tone holding something intangible.
She squinted up at him. He had been a devastatingly handsome man in life and they hadn’t completely destroyed that during the cyborginazation process. There was something so compelling about him. She’d noticed it the few times they’d run into each other in the tight halls that were peculiar to this part of the station. If he’d still been human, she would have gone for him in a major way.
As it was, she still found herself unaccountably attracted to the man-machine. The fact that he was more robot than man now made her feel…sort of…wistful. If only she’d met him before whatever tragic circumstance had happened that had turned him into what he was now.
“My mother taught me to be polite to all beings,” she answered back, still gazing deeply into those sparkling blue eyes. She wondered if they’d been enhanced as well as the rest of him.
Probably. She knew they made replacement parts that looked almost exactly like the real thing. They enhanced original eyes for people all the time. Things like super-magnification, infrared detection, spectrographic analysis, and more were available—for those whose jobs required it, or the rich folk who could afford to modify themselves just for fun.
“You see me as a being?” His head tilted toward her in inquiry. Was it merely the curiosity of an AI or was there more behind his query?
“You were born human, just like me,” she hedged. “I’m not exactly sure what happened to bring you to this pass, but I respect that you were once human, even if they changed you and you’re now an AI.”
“You don’t sound so sure,” he replied, surprising her again. Were his eyes twinkling with hidden laughter?
“I may be a first-rate drives mechanic, but I don’t really know what goes into making a cyborg,” she told him, though she had her suspicions. She’d read a lot on the subject, but of course, the true secrets weren’t readily available from the library. Even the library of a space station like this one. “I mean, I know the CSS is supposed to erase your original personality. That’s what made the government classify you as an AI, right?”
He nodded slowly. “It’s true the CSS overwrote large portions of my biological brain when it was installed.”
Huh. She would have liked to ask him more about the wording he’d chosen there, but just as she was about to open her mouth, his com chimed.
“Please excuse me. I am late for my shift,” he told her and she thought she saw real regret in his eyes before he turned to leave.
“If you get in trouble, please let them know I was the one who made you late. I meant no harm.”
He paused on his way down the hall and turned back to her. His eyes met hers and she thought again that she saw something much more human than machine in his gaze.
“Stay inside with your hatch locked tight. There has been an increase in enemy activity in this sector, and if my calculations are correct, they may strike tonight. Make what preparations you can, in case you have to evacuate.”
Roxy’s eyes widened. “They haven’t made an announcement, have they?” she asked, wondering how she’d missed such an alert, if it had gone out over the station warning systems.
“I’m telling you, Roxy,” he said, sounding way more human than ever as he shook his head. “Be careful, all right?”
“You too,” she said impulsively as he continued to gaze into her eyes. After a moment that could have been just a second or might’ve been a lifetime, he nodded and then turned and walked away.
Had that really just happened?
Roxy let herself into her small compartment and locked the hatch behind herself, leaning back against it as she collected her scattered thoughts. Had her hunky cyborg neighbor just intimated that an attack was imminent? Had he warned her, of all people, when nobody else—at least no other humans—on the station seemed to know?
And most concerning of all…how did he know her nickname?
To read more, get your copy of The Cyborg Next Door by Bianca D’Arc.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bianca D’Arc has run a laboratory, climbed the corporate ladder in the shark-infested streets of lower Manhattan, studied and taught martial arts, and earned the right to put a whole bunch of letters after her name, but she’s always enjoyed writing more than any of her other pursuits. She grew up and still lives on Long Island, where she keeps busy with an extensive garden, several aquariums full of very demanding fish, and writing her favorite genres of paranormal, fantasy and sci-fi romance.
Bianca loves to hear from readers and can be reached through Twitter (@BiancaDArc), Facebook (BiancaDArcAuthor).
OTHER BOOKS BY BIANCA D’ARC
Paranormal Romance
Brotherhood of Blood
One & Only
Rare Vintage
Phantom Desires
Sweeter Than Wine
Forever Valentine
Wolf Hills*
Wolf Quest
Tales of the Were
Lords of the Were
Inferno
Tales of the Were ~ The Others
Rocky
Slade
Tales of the Were ~ Redstone Clan
The Purrfect Stranger
Grif
Red
Magnus
Bobcat
Matt
Tales of the Were ~ String of Fate
Cat’s Cradle
King’s Throne
Jacob’s Ladder
Her Warriors
Tales of the Were ~ Grizzly Cove
All About the Bear
Mating Dance
Night Shift
Alpha Bear
Saving Grace
Bearliest Catch
&n
bsp; The Bear’s Healing Touch
The Luck of the Shifters
Badass Bear
Crossroads: Bounty Hunter Bear
Crossroads: Storm Bear
Tales of the Were ~ Were-Fey Trilogy
Lone Wolf
Snow Magic
Midnight Kiss
Tales of the Were ~ Lick of Fire Trilogy
Phoenix Rising
Phoenix and the Wolf
Phoenix and the Dragon
Tales of the Were ~ Jaguar Island (Howls Romance)
The Jaguar Tycoon
The Jaguar Bodyguard
The Jaguar’s Secret Baby
Gemini Project
Tag Team
Doubling Down
Guardians of the Dark
Simon Says
Once Bitten
Smoke on the Water
Night Shade
Shadow Play
Gifts of the Ancients
Warrior’s Heart
Epic Fantasy Erotic Romance
Dragon Knights ~ Daughters of the Dragon
Maiden Flight*
Border Lair
The Ice Dragon**
Prince of Spies***
Dragon Knights ~ The Novellas
The Dragon Healer
Master at Arms
Wings of Change
Dragon Knights ~ Sons of Draconia
FireDrake
Dragon Storm
Keeper of the Flame
Hidden Dragons
The Sea Captain’s Daughter Trilogy
Sea Dragon
Dragon Fire
Dragon Mates
Science Fiction Romance
StarLords
Hidden Talent
Talent For Trouble
Shy Talent
Jit’Suku Chronicles ~ In the Stars
The Cyborg Next Door
Jit’Suku Chronicles ~ Arcana
King of Swords
King of Cups
King of Clubs
King of Stars
End of the Line
Diva
Jit’Suku Chronicles ~ Sons of Amber
Angel in the Badlands
Master of Her Heart
Futuristic Erotic Romance
Resonance Mates
Hara’s Legacy**
Davin’s Quest
Jaci’s Experiment
Grady’s Awakening
Harry’s Sacrifice
Contemporary Romance
Irish Lullaby
Bells Will Be Ringing
Wild Irish Rose
* RT Book Reviews Awards Nominee
** EPPIE Award Winner
*** CAPA Award Winner
