Chapter One

Galactic Cyborg Heat SeriesFURY

She knew 0504 was trying to help her. Emotionally she was a mess. But who wouldn't be after what she'd been through? Not that he showed any emotion but 04 was desperate to try and make things right for her.

They all were.

She just didn't really want to hear it. But he was right, she was alone now with her little sister to care for with only two of her father's old retainers still here.And in all honesty they were getting on a bit to not much cop. If anyone had come looking there's no way that she could say that the two older men and her had pulled in this crop. But results were better than explanations in this world.

Don't rock the boat or make it too obvious something was amiss and people tended to leave you alone.

It had been a shitty three months.

Her father dying in a freak storm had shocked them all and sent her mother into early labour. Not surviving it, her mother leaving her with a newborn three months ago. She'd gone from being so happy to being inconsolable and so much less.

But she had her ‘friends' who kept her busy and her baby sister. Emily.

The days after her mother was gone had been a steep learning curve. She'd no idea how to look after a baby and her mother with a menopause pregnancy it had not been easy on her. They'd joked that it should have been her pregnant not her near 50-year-old mother. They'd laughed and cried together. After trying for so long to give her a brother or sister her parents had given up and concentrated on living.

It was quite the shock to both her parents to find she was expecting after all that time. Over 20 years later from her own.

She'd admit it was a little embarrassing to think of her parents having sex but it was life.

They'd all been so full of joy that none of that mattered. A child was a child and a gift.

Until it did matter….

Her mother's body no longer young and strong, worn down by all the work over the years and the shock of losing her husband, so full of grief, she'd had no fight left when the baby got into trouble. Their ‘friends' medics, aiding where they could but in the end, they'd had to cut her sister out, her mother unable to push any more the light in her eyes dimming.

Thinking on it, tears hit her eyes and she wiped at the. Her mother had never recovered.

Her grief hit her again as it always did when she thought on it.

Feeding Emily she cooed at her carrying her in her arms. It seemed she forever either feeding her, changing her, rocking her to sleep or carrying her around. Hardly leaving her for a moment. Well, when she got a look in.

It had been stupid to sell so much grain in one place.

0504 told her as much but she didn't listen and knew better than that. With Emily to deal with, she couldn't afford to leave her behind in case someone came looking for her parents and found no one but two old men and a child on its own.

That wasn't the case of course.

Her ‘friends' would care for Emily better than she could, but they couldn't expose themselves. Taking her was the only option but doing that a dozen times couldn't happen. So she'd taken a risk and taken a lot more.

And that hadn't ended up well either.

Cory had followed them back…..

She knew him to look at. He'd once been a friend to her father or so her father had said but that had been a long time ago, before he'd been caught stealing, drinking to excess putting the animals at risk and himself with the machinery. Her father had had to let him go. But she saw the interest in his eyes when he saw her alone with the baby and the amount of grain they had.

He knew their capacity only too well.

He'd been a young man when working the farm. As was her father, old school mates that didn't make it past those youthful days. And a decade before her father discovered the broken space ship and the men in it while looking for some of their lost herd.

And on seeing them, her father knew why he couldn't find them.

A large group of men were trying to fix a damaged craft and eating the protein to stay alive and heal their injuries. Telling him their story, it was stark and horrifying. Slaves to a company called Earth Corp. Her father knew they had created the colony program way back when. And those he'd found had been sent out generations before to secure a world lightyear's away never making it. The craft damaged by poor workmanship and an asteroid field no one expected, they'd limped along for decades trying to fix one error after another, some sacrificing themselves for others to go on. Eventually, as things started to go from bad to worse, they'd found her planet and crash-landed.

They'd never had Cyborgs on her world before that and seeing as they were prized, likely hunted, her father agreed to keep their presence quiet.

Offering an exchange, meat and protein-rich goods for men helping him, they worked out a deal. And they moved in to one of the barns on rotation still trying to fix their ship. Some 30 years later they were still here.

Parts limited; they had trouble getting the 4D printers to work that would provide the parts for themselves. A problem with the computer programming they couldn't fix for all their smarts. Her father had had to get imaginative in ordering those. Explaining why he needed them became a a bit of a game. But he did it. Only too happy to help. But those parts were never quite right and they still couldn't make it work but kept trying.

That burgening friendship soon provided rewards for all of them.

No one knew then just how important that relationship would become.

Slaves to this Earth Corp, it was logical that they would come looking for their property. Her father had dismissed that by saying they'd left them to space and they were free now. But she knew the Cyborgs struggled with that.

Her own ancestors had been part of that colonisation program from Old Earth creating new worlds and stories had been handed down. Her people had been lucky to make it too. Their ship had also had problems and people had died in stasis.

Ironically for Cyborgs who lived a human life many times over, it took them nearly four times as long to make it to safety than her ancestors, but their world was not their destination.

That was still out there somewhere.

None of them knowing what happened to it. Or the humans on it. If they made it at all.

It wasn't logical but she knew the Cyborgs carried some guilt over not getting there. Not fulfilling their objective in their programming. The question had been raised time and time again, particularly with each failure to fix the craft.

They felt responsible and yet it wasn't their fault at all.

Although her world had no air surveillance, described to her as the ability to view the land from the sky, it seemed magical but even so, she knew her father had taken all the horses and oxen to help move the craft into their large, covered canyons. The Cyborgs having great strength and equipment to help in moving it to safety it had been easy to do. And there it had remained.

For all their technology, they were not spaceship engineers and decades of looking at every schematic they could access, their work limited to systems that they could still use, had not provided the answers to fix the problem once and for all. It seemed the computer that ran it all, had fundamental flaws. Rerouting wiring and connections only got them so far until they too became corrupted. And there was no option of a reboot.

Whatever that was….

They could fix the skin manually, the tares in it, the parts replaced that they had that were damaged or doing a jungle fix making it work (whatever that was) but what made it all function they couldn't make work at all.

She was torn by that. Grateful that they were still with her, but knowing they wished to be doing their duty. Looking at them work, she knew there was no way she could do all this without them.

Not now.

Feeding Emily, she didn't hear him arrive but then she never did. They all walked silently. A lesson they learned early. Make noise and it got you killed or your brother. Their creators taking no chances. Any who didn't learn that quickly enough were soon terminated.

Holding in her shudder, she couldn't bear to think of it. Turning to him he was doing that kinda smiling thing.

And grinned at seeing it, he was so bad at it. They tried hard to fit in but sometimes, but often it just didn't work. Like now. "Would you stop, that's terrible!" She sniggered.

"How are we to learn if we do not try?" 0504 asked her dead pan.

"Yes, I get it. You need to try. It is better. Kind of." She smiled at him as he saw right through her.

"We have been here a long time Betty. We know it is unlikely we can repair the computer damage. If we are to stay here, help you, we need to blend in. And you are alone now apart from Bud and Chan. You need a man, a family for this to go on."

Bud and Chan were what was left of old family retainers. Loyal men her father had known for years.Shrugging she smiled. "I have a family, Emily and you all." She waved her hand at him as he did that staring thing. "I know, I know." And worried her lip. "It's not easy for me either. We can't expose you. You know others would be coming. Try to take you maybe. I might go to prison if they find out here, Dad never declared you as he should have, and like you say you've been here all this time and we never said."

"We will never allow that."

She nodded looking around. "I know but a war is not a good idea." She sighed. "I think our time is running out."

"Our people will come." He told her reassuringly in that confident way of his and not for the first time. She wasn't sure if he was trying to comfort her or himself. He said those words in time of stress like now. His logic telling him so. Looking up at him, he showed so little emotion, but she knew they had it. That was why they were trying to learn.

She really hoped so…. Before people found out….

The drunk, Beale, her father's old friend would be talking. He'd want drinks. Want to pay for it with information. What he had now could be the start of a firestorm to end it all.

She should have listened to 0504.

"I'm sorry, I know better than not to listen to you." The baby finished drinking her milk she handed her to 0504 who naturally put her on his shoulder and started to rub her back to burp her.

It was such a human thing to do.

Such a caring and loving thing to do. Something Cyborgs were not known for and yet here he and the others were, all helping her with the baby.

A man caring lovingly for a child.

But he was no man. Although she personally would have argued that. And had many times. But he would just stare at her in his way or the other's way. And tell her they were not men.

They were all so very similar. Built bigger than any man she'd seen in public. All of them looking the same, so tall and broad. They were also beautiful, full of muscle and amazing.

"Would you please take a name now?" she asked for the umpteenth time, it annoying her that they continued with numbers.

"I do not feel the need you know this."

"What about the others? Some of them must want a name by now."

He kissed the top of Emily's head after she burped and handed her back to her. "We are happy how we are."

"I know." She sighed. "Just seems wrong, a name is how we identify, you know this." He nodded accepting her words. "You kissed her again."

"I did," his gaze on Emily. "It comes naturally to me. I do not know why. The programming has long stopped working and that action was never programmed anyway."

"You continue to evolve 4." The shortened version of his ID she'd been using since she started talking. She smiled at him. They were all such good men. No matter the label they placed on themselves.

"We do but not fast enough."

Emily falling asleep as she held her. "Who is to say what is fast enough."

"You're worried about your father's old friend." She nodded. She was. Finding him hiding, drunk in the trees was a surprise. One she should have expected. It was likely that sooner or later they would have drawn attention. She'd recognised him in town. He'd been to see her father more than once over the years, looking for work that they both knew he wouldn't do and getting a handout instead. But she'd not seen him in some time since his drinking stopped him coming so far. He looked older now, less together. The drink taking its toll on him.

Feeling sad for him wasn't going to help her. Her father had done that all his older life for his old friend. It hadn't earned him any respect in return and although paying him off in one way or another, when he'd seen an opportunity, he'd always taken it. Holding no loyalty to her family.

Sighing she knew she shouldn't have ignored him when she'd seen him in town.

He knew her father and mother were gone and probably took offense that she'd not done as her father always had and on seeing the abundance of goods, she could see how he'd wonder how she'd done it alone. It was poorly done.

She should have done what her father always had done.

Bought him some food, a few rounds of drinks and left him with enough to keep him going for a few weeks.

But seeing her father do that time and time again, she didn't want to encourage it anymore and that had backfired big time.

"He'll cause trouble and all because I didn't listen to you." She sighed again kissing Emily's head and rubbing her face with her own.

"We could have killed him. Ended it once and for all."

She glanced up at him. He was so serious. The logic sound but she knew he was trying humour again and smiled. "So true. If only I had a troop of killer Cyborgs I could use?"

"I will make sure to look for some." He gave her that awkward smile. "Come now, there is nothing more we can do about what has already happened. Some food and we will think of a plan."

"I need to leave tomorrow to take the next load to Newton. They'll be expecting it."

"I will go with you." Turning back to the house 04 with her.

"And how are you going to disguise the mountain that you are?"

He smirked. "It's true I'm a lot of Cyborg!"

Grimacing she looked up at him. "Just Awww." And rolled her eyes. He wasn't wrong.

04 laughed. He did that more and more now, the others too. His face beautiful like all the others but he didn't attract her. She'd known him all her life, here before she was born, they were here first. He was like an older uncle that looked her age now.

How strange that was…

Once she'd cottoned on at about 5 years old, she'd asked him how come he didn't look older every year like she did. And he'd told her. Nanos. Little almost invisible machines that were in their blood that kept them in peek condition and in doing so, didn't allow them to age, to degenerate like a human body did.

Explaining that to a 5-year-old wasn't easy but he'd given it to her straight.

None of them would age. Ever most likely. None of his people had once they'd reached the age the Designers had predicted in their DNA makeup. Left in their late teens or 20s, 30s, some into their 40s. They remained at that age.

Forever going on it seemed.

"Okay come with but you need to shrink all that juiciness. It will attract attention. I don't want females sniffing around looking for a quickie."

04 Sniggered. "I can't promise they won't come to check out the goods. But I'll keep the goods under wraps and out of the way." She nodded. "I'll stay on the cart with Emily, throw a blanket or two over myself and stay hunched over, keeping an eye on things."

Raising an eyebrow, she wasn't sure how that was going to work. Not with a face like his and the size of his neck and shoulders. And shrugged. "I guess we can try it."

Reaching over he took Emily from her as they stepped on to the porch. Holding her he tucked her inside his waistcoat, so Emily was on his skin. He'd told her that first time that it was better for the baby to feel his heart beat, plus he could make his skin warmer for her, his heartbeat louder so she was comforted by it.

She had no idea how he knew all that but was grateful that he did and could. The moment Emily touched his skin she nestled in and started a deeper sleep. It was a wonder to her every time she did that. Having lost so much already. She couldn't think of her losing more.

"My data tells me I like that she scents of me."

Stepping into the house the aroma of food hit her, several Cyborgs were cooking up a storm. The dividing wall between their kitchen and dining area were long gone to make one large kitchen where they could all sit together other than those on ‘duty' around the place.

Over 40 large, very large men took over half the ground floor.

The other half out there somewhere doing what 04 needed them to do.

Taking her seat, 04 with her the food was served. Reaching out she took 16's hand to her left and 04s to her right, everyone else doing the same until the table was rounded with hands from one person to another. Looking around she smiled at them all.

These were her family now. "We thank the universe for bringing us safely through another day and for the food we are about to eat."

Breaking up the circle more food came over everyone tucking in. The Cyborgs not acknowledging the need for the prayer not believing in it really, but it was tradition in her family and she carried it on. And they, humored her by joining in. The silence only broken by the noise of food being consumed. Emily content sleeping on 04 as he took his meal one-handed.

The evidence of how much protein they needed stared her in the face every single day. It was one of the reasons her father had lisened to their need and with the credits they'd paid him, switched to more expensive higher grade protein wheat for the humans and animals, helping to make better quality crops and meat. Harder to grow, it gave more, offered more and they used it in everything. Meat and produce better for it. It gave a quality much sort after.

To accommodate nearly 70 hungry mouths who ate four times what a human would, they'd had to diversify and increase their herds. With the extra hands it hadn't been difficult. But the credits to buy them was, their ‘new' friends coming to the rescue.

They had credits on board their ship and handed over all her father needed. Having savings already, over time he gradually increased planting and animal stock. To the point where now they produced far more than they needed. They'd always sold their surplus to the local towns and had agreements with the Stores in those towns to take it. After the arrival of the Cyborgs that next harvest tripled. Keeping what they needed they still had a surplus of goods to sell and it covered the extra credits her father suddenly had.

But that only made his ex-school friend envious of his good fortune. Not that he knew where it came from along with a lot of hard work.

Maybe her father felt some guilt for letting him go?

She didn't know. He never spoke of it. But it was clear to her that the man couldn't be trusted, and it was just as well he wasn't on the land when her father had come across the Cyborgs keeping a low profile trying to survive in the mountainous area of their land while he'd gone looking for those lost sheep.

Her father had told her how shocked he'd been confronted by a large group of warrior men. The sheep not lost but eaten. Then thanking him they then paid him. He'd never been so surprised in his life.

She smiled remembering the story looking around the table.

The best men she knew.

"04 tell her she needs to marry. Find a man to fuck her and give her her own babies." She choked on her sausage. 16 smacking her on the back as she gave 38 the evil eye her own watering. He winked at her.

Bastard. He knew that would happen.

"One baby is enough!" She told the room getting her breath back. "Besides I've got 70 large babies I'm trying to toilet train….. learn to blend in…." There were several sniggers around the table. 16 going from slapping her back to rubbing it. Like she was the child.

Yeah. In their company she was.

But it was a quandary.

Not one of them showed any sign of wanting to date. None wanted to go to a town and meet any women. She knew they were not gay. She'd heard the stories often enough when something triggered the memory for them. Slavery, in all its forms. Horrifying to her. Bought and sold, programmed to service. No choice in the matter.

To them, just a part of their way of life until they came here.

"Those eggs of yours will start to shrivel in another 5 years." 38 again.

She turned to 65 sitting next to him. "Any chance you can put your fist in his mouth?"

There was laughter and sniggers all around the table now. 38 held his hands up. "Thinking of you sweetheart. You know that. Need more babies around here."

"I do know that and thank you but, I don't know. I don't feel it."

"She's becoming Cyborg. We're rubbing off on her." 22 told the room wiggling his eyebrows to more laughter as he stuffed his face.

"OMG. You are worse than teenagers. No rubbing off, no fucking."

"He's right, you need a man." 04 told her.

She knocked back her coda. "Not you too. I'll get right on that." She told them dryly. Then eyed the table. "The first one to mention ‘forcing it' again, will be on short rations." There were more smirks.

"I'd take one for the team." 41 told her. "You're pretty enough to fuck." He told her matter factually and kept on eating.

"Take one for the team?" 41 Shrugged and kept eating. "Really?" She shook her head. They were trying to help but the thought of anyone having to force themselves to be with her made her feel a little sick. "Could we leave this topic? None of you are interested in being with a woman willingly and although I appreciate the offer, it would get us nowhere.

04 glazed over and they all stilled for a moment before carrying on. He'd told them to back off. It was a conversation that was happening more and more particularly since her parents were gone. But right now, they had bigger fish to fry.

"We need options on dealing with Beale." She put her hand up. "Killing him isn't one of them. Damage limitation is."

Throwing several options around the table, she let them have their way with the strategy. They knew him better than she did, they'd been watching Beale for decades and this was their game not hers. Finishing up, Emily still sleeping on 04, she helped clear away and wash up. Going to 04 and taking her from him. "I'll do the 10pm feed. Put her down and go to bed." He told her.

"You sure?"

"Of course. Need to look after both our girls."

She snorted hearing that but knew he meant it.

"I'll do 2am." 16 offered.

"6am." 42 joined in smiling.

"You know if I let you all do it all I'd never get a look in."

"Told you need more babies!" 38 told her proudly. Like he'd been right all along.

Glaring at him he winked again. "Help is help and besides it gives us a chance to be what we will never be. Fathers and uncles." Reaching out she squeezed 04's arm.

"You know I hate that that was taken from you." He gave a nod. "We'll go up now. Thank you for being here. All of you."

Leaving them she headed up the stairs and to her room. Emily in the connecting room next door. Washing and changing her, putting her in her sleep clothes she put her down. Not stirring once. Going back to her own room she stripped and showered then slipped into the sheets.

Dead on her feet, she had no doubt they could probably see it.

They saw everything….