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Horror hit Mira. “You mean some poor woman would be forced to sleep with him
and then just hand over her baby to us? Just like that? She’d have to give it away?”
Cal frowned. “That news didn’t comfort her. I thought it would.”
Flint shot the man a glare. “Shut up and stay out of this. You’re not helping. Mira,
come down and we’ll talk about this.”
The redhead looked confused. “You’re not a cyborg. You are not in a breeding pact.
No one will take your child away from you or force you to carry another male’s cyborg
child that you have to give away. No sane cyborg would want to breed a child with
someone as small as you. Flint is just being irrational.”
“Who the hell is this jerk?” Mira glared at the man as she addressed Flint.
Flint clenched his teeth. “The jerk is a friend of mine but he’s also who you would
call my boss. Can you refrain from calling him names while he’s within earshot? I at
least wait until he leaves the room when I want to insult him when he pisses me off.”
Flint glared at the man. “Leave. I’m off duty.”
The man sighed. “I actually wanted to talk to you before the Star left. A situation
has come up.”
“Yes, one has. Do you see right now isn’t a good time to talk? I’m a little involved in
my own situation. Get out, Cal.” Flint glanced at Mira. “Please, come down from there.
At least sit on the balcony floor. I swear to you on my honor that I will not come after
you by stepping foot on the balcony. Just get off the railing before you accidentally fall.”
“If I fall it won’t be an accident.”
Fury hit Flint’s features. “What would you have me do, Mira? Disregard the pact? I
could be arrested for it. There are laws to follow and they were made for my race’s
survival. I’m not happy with them myself. You know this. I took you from the shuttle
because I don’t want a family unit with two other males sharing my woman. I told you
that I have no wish to touch other females and that wasn’t a lie. I wouldn’t be happy if I
got a call to breed with a female in a pact’s family unit. I especially wouldn’t want to do
it knowing that you were hurting because of it. The last thing I want to do is make you
unhappy and hurt you. I like it a hell of a lot when you’re happy and want me touching
you. I have told you that you mean more to me than anything else and I didn’t lie about
that either. If I was harsh with my attitude about this it is because I am frustrated. You
were happy and now you are sitting on my railing threatening to end your life. Don’t
you think I wish it wasn’t this way? I wish I didn’t belong to a breeding pact but I can’t
get out of it.”
Cal cleared his throat. “Actually, I can get you out of it.”
115
Laurann Dohner
Both Mira and Flint stared in shock at the cyborg. Cal smiled. “As I was saying, a
situation came up. We got a message from the Vontage.”
Flint frowned. “We lost contact with her months ago. Is Steel alive? His crew?”
“Apparently. The codes were correct so we verified the messages were from him
when transmissions were very bad at first. He said they were attacked by pirates and
suffered extreme damage to the ship. They just now have made enough repairs to get a
signal to us. That’s the other reason I came here. I want you to command the Star and go
meet the Vontage. They reported finding a planet with other cyborg survivors from
Earth who have colonized there. Remember the Moonslip that disappeared twenty-five
years ago? It crashed near that planet and, according to the report from Steel, there were
survivors who made it to the planet surface. I’d like you to lead the rescue mission to
bring them back to Garden.”
“I am off duty. Iron is in command of the Star.”
“I want you to lead the rescue and retrieval.” Cal hesitated. “Steel requested you
and he was adamant about you being there. The ship Moonslip carried mostly female
cyborgs. Steel thinks that between the Star and the Vontage that you could repair and
tow the Moonslip back here. There are hundreds of cyborg female survivors and they’ve
bred more females, Flint. Do you know what this means?”
Flint nodded. “Yes.”
“Can someone clue me in?” Mira called out.
Flint turned his attention to her. “I will if you at least straddle the railing.”
She lifted a leg and threw it over the railing. “Happy? Now what does it mean?”
Cal answered. “Males outnumber the females on Garden five to one. With
hundreds more cyborg females back in our population that number is greatly changed.”
Flint nodded. “Our council said the laws would change according to need and
population.”
“We could change our breeding laws so that females would only have to enter into
a family unit with two males instead of three. With my authorization I can not only
clear you to join in a family unit with your human but I can remove you from the
breeding pact you are in. I will exchange your name for one of the rescued males. You
would be without a pact.” The cyborg eyed Mira. “He wouldn’t be required to touch
another female ever again as his payment for agreeing to leave Garden after a lengthy
shift and returning to another one consecutively. I have the authority to do it.”
Mira bit her lip. “So let me get this straight. He won’t have to touch another
woman? Ever? No stupid law, contract, obligation, or hidden clause somewhere in
there? He could be totally loyal to me in a monogamous relationship?”
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