Page 39 of Max
The other personnel were strategically placed to force the captives into various holding cells. They were armed only with shock sticks which didn’t work on armored cyborgs. Most of them were not human but various species from the Mesaarkan Conglomerate worlds.
These alien humanoids knew they were no match for armed cyborgs, plus they knew their rights. The Federation-Mesaarkan peace agreement specified that citizens of the Conglomerate who broke Federation law could only be deported back to the Conglomerate. They chose to save themselves by surrendering.
No one on Max’s team was surprised. They quickly secured all of the aliens into the cells meant for the human slaves. Next, they went after the pilots, who were unarmed and human. Max convinced them they would be killed if they didn’t fly the shuttle back up to the main ship.
However, to avoid suspicion, they had to wait two hours to launch because it would have taken that long to process seventy slaves for transport. Max used that time to interrogate them about the freighter’s layout, defenses, and personnel. They already had a hundred humans abducted from backwater colonies, plus various humanoids from planets allied with the Federation.
Seizing the slave ship was almost anticlimactic after all of fighting with the overlords and gangers in the cyborgs’ quest to end human trafficking in the ruined metropolitan areas around North America. The abductions were not, however, limited to North America. Three ships were picking up abductees all over the world. They had only made the initial breakthrough in North America with the cyborg rangers.
They had not been caught because the slave ships had new Mesaarkan cloaking technology unavailable during the war. To further avoid detection, they would come to Earth by approaching orbit keeping Earth between their ship and the FederationStarfire Nemesis.
None of Gergis’s crew were willing to fight the armed and armored cyborgs, not even Gergis. The crew was put into the slaves’ cells, and the prospective slaves were freed and taken to Max’s base of operations. The former prison was big enough to house thousands more than were currently housed there.
Capturing the slave ship was quite a prestigious accomplishment for the cyborg ranger. Before finding Falyn, Max would have been thrilled with his team’s achievement. Now, he was relieved that he could retire from the rangers, go back to the mountains, and continue building a life with Falyn.
Max thought it ironic that he’d never wanted the post in Northern California. He had only accepted it to fulfill his duty as a cyborg ranger. What he’d initially thought was a sacrifice brought him to the life he had only dreamed of.
Star Force pilots arrived to take over the slave ship and shuttles a few hours after Max’s team seized the ship. They transported the cyborgs and the captives back to Earth in shuttles. Having been alerted to the situation, the Enclave sent aid workers to Max’s base to sort out the rescues and arrange for them to return to their home planets if they so desired. Those who wanted to remain on Earth would be assimilated into the various communities.
As soon as that was organized, Max was heading back to Falyn in the mountains on his sky cycle. He resigned before he left Rexas Strong in charge, recommending that the former newbie cyborg be put in charge of the northern California territory.
Rexas had only been awakened for about five years. Unlike Max, he didn’t have almost a brutal hundred years of war experience behind him. (91.72 years to be exact.) He wanted the life he was promised for putting in those years of combat. His team stopped the human trafficking by the slavers. Star Force could track down the rest.
It had been three days since he’d seen Falyn other than on his com-tablet.
She must have been listening for him because she was waiting for him on the back porch. Wearing nothing but that flimsy little robe that gaped open the front with nothing under it, she ran down the steps and jumped into his arms.
Falyn pressed her lips to his without a word, but no words were necessary. Her hair was damp, and she smelled like lavender mingled with the scent of her arousal. Max mounted the steps, still kissing her. He pressed her against the wall beside the kitchen door and opened the closure on his pants with its usual ripping sound.
“Is this what you want?” he whispered close to her lips.”
“Yes, my love,” she whispered back.
She groaned in satisfied bliss as he slid his cock into her wet tunnel.
Falyn murmured a series of pleasure sounds as he started thrusting hard and deep, pausing to rub his flesh against her clit. He gradually moved a little faster, bringing her to her first climax and nursing her through it to draw out her enjoyment.
“Ah, Max. I’m so glad your home.”
“Me, too, Baby. Are you ready to go again?” he asked, still inside her.
“Oh, yeah!”
For whatever reason, it turned her on when he took her on the back porch in front of nature. Max was more than happy to oblige.
Later, when she finished welcoming him home, he would tell her the news.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Colton Price blinked his eyes open, startled at the unfamiliar surroundings, until he remembered where he was. He was in a medical bed, awakening from neuro-psychotherapy. He’d decided he needed it as much as Tessa after the nightmare his last two years had been, that simply compounded his time in the war and being transformed into a cyborg.
They used a combination of nanotechnology and biologics to dull memories that elicited a painful emotional response. There was always the risk other memories could be damaged or erased. All he cared about was that he would remember Tessa and love her. Nothing else mattered to him.
A medic wearing a badge that said ‘Dr. Rand Jeffreys’ came into the treatment room as he slowly sat on the bed. He confirmed that Colton remembered who he was and why he was there.
“Now, can I see Tessa?”
“Yes, she just woke up and is asking for you,” the young male medic said. “Go ahead and get dressed, and I will come to get you.”
