Seth: Futuristic Spy Romance (Cyborgs: More Than Machines) by Eve Langlais Read Free Book Online

or instructions to the contrary. As far as the world is concerned, cyborgs are to be destroyed on sight.”
    “ What the world is told and what is actually happening are two vastly different things. I might also note that what Joe went through was nothing compared to what some others are being subjected to.”
    “We can’t allow it to continue. We need to free the cyber units.” How gallant he sounded. Yet, in this case, his chivalry was woefully misguided.
    “ Unfortunate as it is, they are not our primary objective.”
    “They might not be yours, but I won’t stand by idly while one of my brothers is tortured.”
    “There’s nothing you can do.”
    “Like bloody fucking hell!” The bellow from the usually sedate Seth took her by surprise. “These are people we’re talking about, Anastasia. Our people. Worse than that, these poor soldiers didn’t volunteer like you and I to become cyborgs.”
    “And their current dilemma is sad, but we need to look at the bigger picture.”
    “There is no bigger picture. They need our help. That should be our primary objective.”
    “Saving them will probably blow my cover and yours. I can’t allow that. Not when I’m so close.”
    “And I’m telling you right now that, unless we do something to help them, you can count me out.”
    “You can’t mean that.”
    “I can and do. If you’ve changed so much that you would rather sacrifice a few just for the sake of a mission, then I don’t want to work with you. Or be with you. What happened to the girl I used to know? Despite the fact you were always climbing the next ladder, the woman I fell in love with wouldn’t have let any job come between her and the right thing.”
    For some reason, his words stung. “That’s not fair. I’ve helped plenty of cyborgs in the last few years. Hell, the mission I’m sending your friends on should save the lives of a couple if they’re careful.”
    “And what of where you’re taking me? How many cyborgs on board?”
    “There are at least two in stasis.”
    He prodded. “And?”
    She sighed. “One being used as a test subject.”
    “Testing what?”
    “Ways to sedate us and get us back under control.”
    “Why do I get the feeling there’s more?”
    How well he knew her. She sighed. “They’re also looking for a way to shut our nanos off.”
    His shocked expression said it all. Without the nanos coursing through their bod ies, their metal parts and BCIs, even their reinforced skeletons, meant nothing. The nanos were what kept everything working. It was what healed them. What spoke to their various robotic components so that they worked as a natural extension of themselves. Without them … they were no better than humans.

Chapter Six
    Back in a tunnel, with no light and a horny recruit staring at her ass …
     
    “Would you mind not following so close?” she grumbled. She could practically feel the heat of his grin even if she couldn’t see it.
    “What’s wrong, gorgeous? Feeling hot ? Turned on by our intimate setting?”
    “No, but that sandwich you gave me is making my tummy rumble and not in a good way. If I were you, I’d give myself some breathing room.”
    The excuse shocked him into laughing. “I can’t believe you said that.”
    “Me either,” she grudgingly admitted. “But seriously. Keep a little space in case I run into something, like a pit. I might need you to haul me out.”
    She was only half kidding. It was pitch-black inside the narrow tunnel, and she could only feel ahead of her, which hampered their speed as she groped the floor of the duct before allowing herself to crawl forward. It seemed like an eternity before gray light filtered in through some kind of vent.
    “I see something,” she murmured.
    “Is this where I tell you to go toward the light? Or should we bypass it in case it’s a trick?”
    “Tell you what. I’ll go where it’s not pitch-black, and you keep going. Scream if you find something. Say like rats or a dark