The Cyborg Recruitment Project Read online

  THE CYBORG RECRUITMENT PROJECT

  Sara Rustan

  ®

  www.loose-id.com

  Warning

  This e-book contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language and may be considered offensive to some readers. Loose Id® e-books are for sale to adults ONLY, as defined by the laws of the country in which you made your purchase. Please store your files wisely, where they cannot be accessed by under-aged readers.

  * * * * *

  This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable.

  The Cyborg Recruitment Project

  Sara Rustan

  This e-book is a work of fiction. While reference might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Published by

  Loose Id LLC

  1802 N Carson Street, Suite 212-2924

  Carson City NV 89701-1215

  www.loose-id.com

  Copyright © May 2007 by Sara Rustan

  All rights reserved. This copy is intended for the purchaser of this e-book ONLY. No part of this e-book may be reproduced or shared in any form, including, but not limited to printing, photocopying, faxing, or emailing without prior written permission from Loose Id LLC.

  ISBN 978-1-59632-470-1

  Available in Adobe PDF, HTML, MobiPocket, and MS Reader

  Printed in the United States of America

  Editor: Sherri Lynne

  Cover Artist: April Martinez

  Chapter One

  “So what makes you think I’m impotent?” Thorgan asked, his voice tightly controlled.

  Jolie looked everywhere in the lounge of the small space station except at him. She just couldn’t meet his eyes right now. If she did, she just knew she’d break out in a horribly unprofessional blush, a blush that would make her feel even more young and incompetent.

  Even though she was used to dealing with cyborgs – humans enhanced with improved mechanical and computer functions – Thorgan was a particularly intimidating example. He was huge and muscular, with craggy, masculine features that made her think about professional wrestlers and mercenary soldiers. The information in his file said that he had most of the strength and speed enhancements required by soldiers, so that made sense. You needed a strong body to support the stresses of those mods. And that imposing wall of muscle and testosterone and duplinium bones and computerized reflexes was glaring at her like she’d just attacked his masculinity.

  Oh, wait a minute. She had attacked his masculinity. This wasn’t good.

  She chewed on her bottom lip. “Um, we have intelligence information that leads us to believe…” She took a deep breath and tried again. “Other Union cyborgs tell us that one of the standard techniques that the Union uses to control their cyborgs is to install hardware that makes an erection impossible, and then promise to fix it if the cyborgs work for decades with no pay.”

  She flicked a glance at Thorgan’s face. His face still looked like a storm cloud – a very big storm cloud, since the top of Jolie’s head probably wouldn’t even reach to his chin. He made the small, shabby lounge seem even smaller. But she couldn’t tell how he felt about hearing her claim.

  “We’ll fix what they did for free, if you join the Federation,” she said in a rush.

  Dead silence.

  “But if you’re not one of the cyborgs with this problem, I’ll just be on my way.” She stood up and started edging toward the door, panic flooding through her mind. If he really wasn’t impotent, she had nothing to offer him. She was several parsecs away from the Union-Federation border, deep into enemy territory. He could turn her into the Union. Goddess, she might end up doing hard labor in some asteroid belt work camp.

  He gestured sharply, and she stopped dead. “Sit down,” he barked. “I’m not done talking to you.”

  She slumped back into the hard chair, and put her trembling hands into her lap.

  He leaned back and put his hands behind his head, his long legs stretched out in front of him, his intense gaze taking in every last twitch of her face, she was sure. She had never been very good at acting, or even normal social interactions. What had made her think she could do this job? She must have been crazy.

  “So, who are you, anyway?” he drawled. “Besides a scared little rabbit who shouldn’t have come into this space station by herself without backup.” A slight, wicked grin twitched one corner of his mouth. “Very large, strong backup.”

  Okay, she could handle this question. She cleared her throat. “I’m a cyborg doctor. I install and maintain cyborg systems and monitor the health of the cyborgs in my care. I have a degree from Altima University and did a residence –”

  “Stop,” he said. “I don’t want to hear about all your degrees and training.” His eyebrows rose. “So why did they send a cyborg doctor all the way out here? If it was to act as an expert witness, I don’t know why I’d believe you any more than some vanilla Federation agent.”

  Now was the time for her sales pitch. They’d gone over how she was supposed to introduce this to the patient – uh, Thorgan – but she’d blown the whole first part of the routine. She tried to adopt a cheery, friendly look, and chirped, “I have my medical equipment with me. If you’re prepared to sign up with us, I can offer you the reversal in a state-of-the art, portable medical facility, certified by the top medical board of the Federation Cyborg Medical Council. We’re prepared to do tune-ups and…”

  Thorgan stood up and stepped toward her, a definite threat in the tension of his massive, muscular body, his dark blue eyes narrowed on her face.

  Her voice trailed away, as her throat tightened and her eyes widened in terror.

  “You’re saying you have the equipment to fix me here? Now?” he snapped.

  “Yes.” Her voice was a breathy croak. “Yes, I can even do the procedure today. It takes less than an hour.”

  Strong emotions passed over his face, but Jolie couldn’t decipher them. She could guess, though. If she were a horny cyborg who had been rendered incapable of sex by his bosses, and just offered a fix, she thought she knew how she would feel. Anger, betrayal, anticipation…

  “Why did you decide to offer me this deal?”

  “You’re by yourself on this space station with no other Union personnel around. It was a lot simpler than trying to contact a cyborg surrounded by people, or trying to extract a cyborg from an inhabited world.”

  He nodded. “How will I know that you’ve really fixed me?”

  Jolie could feel her eyes widen even farther, and her gaze darted from side to side, but she saw only ancient cerastic benches and an outmoded entertainment console – no rescue. And that blush, the one she’d been trying to avoid through this whole interview, that blush made her face feel like it was on fire. “Uh, I think you should be able to tell in the…the usual way.”

  He looked her up and down slowly. She was sure he was imagining her naked. A wicked, teasing smile spread over his craggy features, giving his face a sort of boyish charm. “My usual way is by having sex. With a woman.” He turned around and sat back down on his chair, made a steeple out of his fingers and looked at her over them. “At least that’s what I did before the Union put me out of commission six years ago. And it looks like you qualify. As a woman, I mean.”

  Oh, no. He wasn’t suggesting… He wasn’t thinking… He couldn’t be. Not her. She wasn’t that kind of woman. Men didn’t just demand to fuck her. This wasn’t, of course, t
he typical situation. She looked wildly around the room, as though some other female would pop out of the air, when she knew perfectly well that they were alone on this space station, without another woman within millions of miles.

  His voice was smooth as butter now. “I’ll accept your offer – if you put yourself totally in my hands sexually.” He nodded, his lips twisted in thought. “Yes, you agree to be my sex toy and I’ll sign up.” There was more wicked amusement on his face.

  Jolie’s stomach dropped. She had to sign him. If she went back without him on the first mission of the Cyborg Recruitment Project, the Federation Intelligence Agency would cancel the whole project. She’d lose her job, and her friend Welther would be devastated at losing the chance to rescue his fellow cyborgs.

  There was no other option here. She knew that sex with her was bound to be disappointing, mediocre at best. Ranall had made it clear that she had no skill in bed. But she was up against the wall – so to speak. On the other hand, it was only sex. Surely she could lie there and think of the Federation. Or something.

  She looked at that impressive body, and her own body parts started tingling. There were undoubtedly women who would pay to be his sex toy. She took a deep breath and said, “Agreed. But you have to sign first.”

  He tilted his head and looked at her curiously. “With a contingency that if the procedure fails, I’m not bound by the agreement.”

  If it failed. She was pretty sure that meant if he failed to get an erection. It shouldn’t have anything to do with her failure to actually come. She could live with that. It looked like she would have to. “It’s a deal.”

  She hoped the news of this deal never got out. She would never live it down.

  * * * * *

  Thorgan let the water of the shower sluice over his skin, and fisted his flaccid cock. As usual, nothing happened. No erection, no arousal, nothing but sensitive skin slightly irritated by the friction. As usual, he gave up the attempt.

  Six years ago he had gone to great lengths to try to get it up. Now that he knew that it was those Union assholes who had installed his mods who had deliberately robbed him of his ability to have sex… Well, they were lucky they were several systems away, otherwise the temptation to make them pay might have been irresistible. He swung a heavy fist at the side of the shower, imagining it was meeting their smirking, falsely sympathetic, lying, ugly faces.

  There was an ominous cracking sound, and pieces of the wall covering flaked off on his skin. Shit. Now he’d have to fix – He stopped dead.

  Hey, he was leaving. He was defecting and working for the other side. He didn’t have to fix anything on this godforsaken space station ever again. Hell, he could trash the whole place if he wanted to. Now there was something to think about. Did he want to?

  He sighed and turned off the water. Despite the fact that they had lied, cheated, and stolen from him, he took pride in his work. Even though he was going to be working for the Federation now, he wouldn’t trash the place. Besides, anything major would be reported directly back to headquarters, and if he didn’t respond, someone would be here in two shakes of a prosti’s ass.

  Now that fate or luck or sheer chance had given him this opportunity, he didn’t want to blow it by doing something stupid. He had six years without sex to make up for, starting with the little cyborg doctor. When he got to wherever they were taking him in the Federation, he was going to have sex with a different woman every night, and act out all those fantasies that he had spent so long polishing.

  Meanwhile, there were a lot of loose ends to take care of in the next day. He pulled a fresh jumpsuit off the shelf and stepped into it, then opened a carry case on the bed. He didn’t have very many personal belongings – a collection of his favorite music and vid recordings, a few sets of clothes, his holo-shaping tools. It wasn’t much to show for thirty years of life.

  Thorgan had never been very political. He had always assumed that the Federation was just like the Union, except with a different set of suits at the top. It’s not like he got to hear unbiased reporting in the Union, anyway. The only news that was reported was news that was favorable to the Union. Watching the news vids, you’d think the Federation had never won anything. But he noticed that over the last ten years the Union territory had shrunk along the boundary with the Federation, so he suspected they weren’t hearing the whole story.

  He picked up his latest holo sculpture from the shelf near his narrow bed. It was supposed to be an abstract, but looking at it now, the shapes reminded him of a woman, the deep rose, the opening petals, the soft curves of a female body. It was a good thing a psych-adjuster had never seen it.

  A wide grin spread across his face as he placed the sculpture in his carry case. Soon, very soon – tomorrow at 14:00 – he would have a chance to experience a real woman. His eyes half closed as he imagined that cyborg doctor – what did she say her name was? Julie? No, Jolie. He imagined what her body looked like under that prim uniform. She wasn’t the voluptuous sort that he used to be attracted to, but she wasn’t a dried up stick either. If his guess was right – and his enhanced cyborg senses made him pretty good at guessing – her breasts would make comfortable handfuls, and even that uniform couldn’t hide a sweet, rounded ass.

  And she was definitely going to be a lot of fun to tease. When he remembered how big her hazel eyes had gotten when he told her he wanted her to be his sex toy, he almost laughed out loud.

  He had seen her checking him out surreptitiously. She might be shy, but she was attracted to him. Although it had been six long years since he last had the chance to indulge, he could still recognize the signs of sexual attraction – the wide irises, the faint flush, the heat. Hell, he wouldn’t be surprised if he was more aware of her physical attraction than she was. He definitely had the impression that she wasn’t in touch with her sexual side. Yet. That was something that would surely be different after tomorrow.

  Enough anticipation for now. He could indulge in that tonight before going to sleep. Right now he had to arrange to send anonymous notes to old friends and the remaining members of his family to let them know that he was leaving, and set all the station systems up for unattended operation.

  And after that, he could tease Jolie over dinner in the galley. It was going to be fun to find out what else would make her blush.

  Chapter Two

  Jolie carefully went down the checklist of systems on her portable medical unit, a rectangular box almost like a coffin, but filled with electronics and software interfaces, and nanotech medical devices. These units were cleverly and carefully laid out, but they were certainly more difficult to work with than full-size units, even though this was the largest portable model. There weren’t nearly as many options for tools, of course, and some of the procedures weren’t fully automated. But at least when she was dealing with the equipment, she didn’t have to look at the very large, very male cyborg sitting in the chair a foot away.

  In a minute she was going to have to ask him to undress and get into the unit. He was going to be naked. Completely naked. And she just knew she was going to blush beet red. Which was just silly, because in a few hours she was going to be having sex with him. They were going to be as up close and personal as it was possible to be. So blushing now would be foolish.

  She could feel the heat sneaking up her face, and took a sidelong glance at Thorgan. He was looking right at her, and winked. She hastily turned back to the medical unit.

  Of course, it’s not as if he didn’t know that she blushed. A lot. She had been red pretty much the whole hour they had spent together last night, before she had finally fled to her bedroom compartment. He must think she was completely inexperienced and naïve. He had made remarks with double meanings and asked questions about her sexual preferences until her face felt like it was burning up.

  She could imagine what her parents would think if they could see her now. They hadn’t wanted her to specialize in cyborg medicine, saying that she would have to associate with…undes
irable types. Large, muscular, naked cyborgs were probably just the sort of type they were afraid of for their protected little girl. But Jolie had a mind of her own, and had made her own decisions about her work. Decisions that had conspired together to get her to this point – having sex with a stranger, a cyborg. A smile flickered over her face, as one part of her thought that might be the best benefit of her career so far.

  She clicked on the last item on her checklist, and carefully took a deep breath, hoping he wouldn’t hear. She flipped open the partial cover for the unit, which helped to maintain a carefully controlled atmosphere, and said, “Please remove your clothes and lie down inside.” She kept her gaze glued straight ahead, but she could see him pull his shirt off with her peripheral vision. He leaned over to pull down his pants, and then straightened up. She had to look at him now.

  Jolie turned toward him. She didn’t look below his face, but she couldn’t avoid taking in the image of his whole figure. And he was big all over. Really big. It took all of her self-control not to look lower and gape. But she did indeed blush. It felt like a hot flush covered her entire body. So nice to get that over with. Not.

  He grinned at her and raised his eyebrows. “Like what you see?”

  She scowled at him, but didn’t answer the question. There was no point in encouraging him. He seemed to have a high enough opinion of himself without her adding to it. “Would you climb inside, please?”

  The problem with this part of the process was that his powerful thighs and muscled ass were mere inches from her as he climbed into the med-unit. Now a lot more than her skin was hot. She felt like she was melting inside, between her thighs, and her nipples were rubbing against her uniform in a highly unprofessional way.

  She tapped the switch to interface him with the unit. “Close your eyes.”