Chapter One

The message flashed on Declyn’s hand-held device. He read it more than once but had yet to acknowledge that he received it. Once again the controllers, the beings in charge of his battalion were screwing them over. How much longer could he allow this to happen? A hard laugh escaped his lips as if he had a choice. His only option was to fight and die.

That thought should have eased his mind brought his preconditioned training back to flood him with feelings of justification, but it didn’t. Instead, he was on edge as the ropes that bound him as surely as if he were tied up began to loosen and slip away. He was a created being; his mind had been programmed to understand that nothing was more important than following orders, all of this occurred before he was allowed to take his first breath. Nothing mattered except doing what the controllers demanded.

That conditioning was failing and what was becoming most important to him was his battalion, his crew, the beings that he had spent hundreds of planet rotations with. He cut off these new feelings that threatened to take him over and eased back into the programming that was familiar and comfortable. The controllers looked for brain waves that did not match the rhythm they had constructed. For the sake of his crew, he buried all thoughts except one.

The thought of throwing the device across the room teased him before he shut it down. Destroying the device wouldn’t save the situation. Leaning back into his chair he stared at the view screen to where the planet they were now orbiting, Kur’ik Minor, could be seen. The planet looked yellow from this vantage point, but not the hot yellow of the sun that it orbited around.

The door to the command deck opened but he didn’t turn his head. He knew who was coming to destroy his solitude, one of the few he would allow entrance to without them having to ask his permission.

“It’s going that well?”

Enzo was his beta; they were created one after the other, linked to work together as alpha and beta to handle the battalion they were given.

He held up the device for him to look at.

“Shit.”

“You can say that again. How many planet orbits since we were last allowed to take a break from the fighting?”

“Five planet orbits where we have fought day and night.”

Every orbit consisted of 400 rotations around the sun, and they had been at war constantly without a break for all five of them.

Declyn straightened up. “Now they want to give half my battalion three days off while the other half sits on this ship with nothing to do.”

His fist clenched in anger as he fought the need to swap forms and allow his beast to talk for him.

Enzo nodded feeling the same anger his alpha felt. “What do we do?”

“I want all the females to go planet side. They are always the ones impacted by a situation like this.”

“What about the males?”

“I want fifteen hundred to go planet side.” He looked at Enzo waiting for him to speak.

“They’ll call it insubordination if they realize you have given almost seventy-five percent of the crew leave.”

“Who will count them? Will the born Kur’iks dare to sully themselves by touching a manufactured being? The horror, the shame.”

He bit his lip to keep from laughing at Declyn’s words. Unfortunately, he was too close to the truth. The controllers created them because they needed fighters, but they abhorred those same fighters.

“Are you going planet side?”

“No, and neither are you. I want all the principles kept on board.”

“Is there something I should know?”

“I have that feeling again the one that says something isn’t right, but I can’t put my finger on it. I want the ship gone over, check every circuit down to the emergency lights. If the ship needs repairs, I want it done before we find ourselves back on the outer rim. I also want the ship on priority entrance. No one gets on without me knowing about it.”

Enzo took a seat at one of the command centers and integrated with the ship putting into effect Declyn’s orders.

“I’ll go inform our people who can visit the planet.”

He gave a slow dip to his head. “Enzo, keep Ven close.”

“I’m going to collect him first.” He left the command deck leaving Declyn to wonder what was about to happen.

*~*~*~*

“We’re going planet side.” Kelsaire was bouncing on her heels like she was a little girl instead of a trained warrior.

Amira was holding back her laughter and her smiles. She kept reminding herself that this would be Kels first planetside leave. The whole room was buzzing with her anticipation. Their barracks held twenty females all getting ready to make the transfer from the ship to the planet.

They had fought for so many orbits that none of them could remember the last time they had leave and there was never a time that they could remember when they all had leave at the same time. She could almost kiss her alpha in her happiness if the eyes of another didn’t keep flashing in her mind.

“Are you thinking of him?” Kels jump on her bunk crowding her out.

“Hey, you have your own bunk. Why must you commandeer mine too?” Her laughter was high and light, it always made Amira feel good.

Kelsaire had been the only created Kur’ik from her batch to survive. The controllers placed her on their ship and waited for her to die, but Amira wouldn’t have that. She adopted her and treated her like a younger sister. She knew the powers that be would never understand that they were beings not humanoid fodder to be thrown into the meatgrinder they called a war.

“Aww, you love me.”

She did but did she have to admit it out loud? They didn’t do love it was forbidden along with pairing up and having children. As far as the controllers were concerned, they were the emotionless husk of what you got when you took Kur’ik enzymes and enhanced them to form a fighter.

“Well? Are you thinking of him?”

Him, the male she caught a glimpse of not so long ago. Although the ship contained both males and females, they very rarely interacted because their roles as warriors were different. The males fought the overt war confronting the enemy head on. The females were used to infiltrate and obtain any knowledge about the enemies next move.

She had been infiltrating when she saw him fighting his way through a band of Thalian’s. Her heart beat faster as she watched him because there was no way he would make it, there were just too many of them. The relief she felt when backup arrived surprised her. She had lived too long, fought too hard to believe anything other than death was coming for them all. Her heart thumped in her chest almost revealing itself when she realized today death wouldn’t claim the warrior.

That was when he looked up catching her by surprise when his eyes met hers. The world stopped for a minute, the battlefield was quiet, and it was only the two of them. It was her alpha’s voice that broke the strange spell between them. Turning she ran to her destination knowing their lives depended on what she found.

That should have been the end of it, but she couldn’t help but see those eyes, that face when she closed her own for the briefest of moments. It was the first time in her long life that she wanted to be a born Kur’ik instead of a created one.

“I’m not thinking of him it was a dream brought on by the lack of food and Thalian stink.”

The rest of the females laughed and got back to packing. They knew what she knew, the only thing that could come from wanting more than a night to scratch an itch was death. They did not fall in love, they did not mate, and they never had children. They did not dream of their own pavilion because it was all against the law.

“I’m getting a male before all of you. I can see him now a big strong infertile who can pick me up.” One of the females boosted.

“No, she didn’t. Did you hear that Amira?”

“I heard, Kels.”

“Well, I think I should get the first male and Amira’s going to help me.”

Amira looked at her friend. “You’re going down, Kels gets the first one.”

“Oh, it’s on.” Another called out as they finished packing their bags and jostled to see who would be the first to the transfer chamber.

Kur’ik Minor was beautiful. If this were her planet, she would never give it up. They were transferred down in groups of fifty. They reformed in a beautiful field covered with flowers none of them had ever seen before with the warmth of the sun shining down on them.

If they had been born Kur’iks they would have been transferred to a greeting station, but they weren’t, and it would offend the senses of born Kur’iks to have to mingle with them in such large numbers.

“I’m happy they transferred us here. This is so much better than some stuffy station where we have to be respectful to peers who don’t respect us.”

Amira reached over and hugged her. “Never change Kels. Listen up, the female who snags the best wrap gets the first drink when we’re back on the ship.”

A cheer went up as they made their way through the field. Yes, they would have to walk to town, but since they walked everywhere, this wouldn’t deter them.

For three days, they could blend in with other Kur’iks pretending they belonged.