Sons of Amber by Bianca D'Arc Read Free Book Online Page A

complaining. He liked what he did, but it was just a little disconcerting to realize that his choices had been sorely limited by the Jits and their despicable virus.
    Still, many of the Sons of Amber were involved in the military, both because it was in their natures and because of the necessity that they travel quite frequently to the other human planets. Some served in combat posts, some in planning, reconnaissance and strategy, each according to his own specific talents. None were given special treatment, 24

    but most of them excelled because it was simply the way they'd been designed. None of the Sons of Amber were mediocre, and all had a drive to succeed in their chosen fields.
    Zeke's brother Michael, for example, was the commander of Atlantia Base, not because he'd been given the job, but because he'd earned it. He commanded all the ships in the sector and did a damned fine job of it. He had a quick, decisive mind, and as a Dominant it was in his nature to command any given situation.
    "Tell me about your mother, Ezekiel." Mother Rachel startled him with her phrasing, but Zeke smiled.
    "Dr. Amber isn't really my mother in the biological sense, ma'am, but she created the program the produced myself and the other Sons. She oversaw our development at every stage and contributed greatly to our make-up."
    "She may not be your biological mother, Ezekiel," Rachel favored him with a serene smile, "but yet you love her as a son."
    Zeke felt only a little uncomfortable talking about such intimate feelings with this foreign woman. It was surprising, actually, since he'd never discussed his innermost emotions with anyone before. He shrugged off the odd feeling that Mother Rachel's wise eyes held far more knowledge than she should rightly have.
    "I guess all the Sons love her in one way or another. She's…" he hesitated slightly, trying to put his feelings into words. "She's a very special woman. She encourages us.
    She taught us from when we were just born. She gives us pep talks when we need them and hope to go on. She has a real, potent vision of the future."
    Rachel's eyes glistened with approval. "Then she is your mother in all the ways that matter most. And Ezekiel," she placed one small hand on his arm, squeezing slightly to emphasize her words, "her vision will succeed. Never doubt that."
    Mother Rachel went on to ask about the other people who were coming, but asked nothing of what might happen next. After her telling comments of moments before, he suspected she knew more about what might occur after his people arrived than even he did. He spent a few minutes showing the sentries as well as some of the youngsters—a mixed group of young boys and girls—how to operate the small shield generator he'd brought out of his ship and set up at the entrance to the underground compound. With this small, portable shield spanning the entrance, the guards would be able to relax a bit and wouldn't have to face the daily skirmishes with packs of gaks and worse that tried constantly to get into the human dwelling areas.
    The children were bright, and Zeke enjoyed their questions. He had never been around young humans much at all, and found himself enchanted by the little ones with such open, growing minds. The male sentries were hardened, fighting men, and they reminded him of the camaraderie he had only known to this point with his brothers. The only males he had ever really been exposed to were his fellow Sons. The opportunity to talk with unenhanced male humans was a rarity.
    Eventually he made his way to the chamber Angela had shown him earlier, when they'd come in from his ship. It was her personal chamber. He had seen to all the tasks that needed doing, now he needed another taste of his angel's lips before he went crazy.
    He knocked on the door and his insides lit when she answered with an intimate smile. She stepped back, allowing him into the small room, and he wasted no time pulling her into his arms.
    "I've missed you so