1 CHAPTER ONE

They'd caught him. Lock, stock and fucking barrel.

Lyon seethed in silence as the security officers buzzed around his maximum-

security cell like flies around a honeypot. He was furious, more with himself than

anyone else. He should have known General Ryland, über-marine legend, wasn't going

to be that easy to catch.

For heaven's sake, he'd read the goddamn file on the woman. The one clearly

marked "Do not fuck with". He might as well have just looked at the pictures. He'd

been too arrogant and assured of his own abilities.

As soon as he'd seen her among the Arcadia marines, he'd recognized her. She was

dangerous, inventive and unpredictable. He'd known that. What he hadn't known, and

was now kicking himself for, was that she'd have an Empath virtually joined at the hip.

"To the back of the cell," the guard ordered. The hard look in his eyes warned Lyon

not to try anything. His team had killed some of this man's crewmates and, from the

looks of it, the guy was itching for payback. Lyon would prefer to avoid being the

mechanism for that payback. Cyborg he might be, but even he could feel pain.

Rolling to his feet, he stood, and smothered a smile as the female guard at the back

gasped. Yeah, he was big. Over six foot and broad across the shoulders, just the same as

any other Leo class out there. It wasn't fate. It wasn't hours spent in the gym honing his

physique. He'd been designed to be big. He was the biological equivalent of a tank.

A right lot of good that had done him when he'd tracked Ryland. He'd been so

focused on getting the general in his clutches and finally getting a shot at persuading

someone high up in the Fleet that he and his kind weren't the monsters they were made

out to be that he'd all but ignored the guy with her.

Big mistake.

All it had taken was for Ryland to distract him by flitting almost close enough to

catch. While his attention was on her, the Empath had sneaked up behind him. Lyon

couldn't figure out how he'd done it. Anyone else he'd have detected. Something would

have tipped him off. The slight scuffle of a boot in the undergrowth or a caught breath

would have caught his hypersensitive senses. Not this time.

He replayed that chronology of his capture over and over in his memory to try to

figure it out. There was nothing. It was as though the guy hadn't even been there until

he'd placed his hand on the back of Lyon's neck and tumbled him into darkness.

Note to self, avoid Empaths in future. That, or break their fucking necks before they get

close.

He moved to the back of the cell. He'd been through the drill before, so he moved

before they gave the order, standing facing the wall with his hands behind his back.

"Being a good little machine today, are we?" the guard behind him sneered as he

clipped the heavy manacles over Lyon's wrist. He activated the magnetic locks.

Instantly, Lyon felt the energy drain.

The Fleet had created him and his kind. They knew how to contain them. At least,

they thought they did. What they didn't know was how extensively Lyon's base

systems had been hacked and modified. Something he intended to stop them

discovering at all costs, even if he had to set the tri-sappherium crystals that powered

his cybernetics and combat chassis to overload. The resulting blast would take out not

only him, but also the ship and possibly most of the system as well.

Gritting his teeth, he ignored the pain as they hauled him backward out of the cell.

"That won't do you any good. Once they get you on the Valkyrie, they'll slice and

dice you. See what makes you tick."

"The Valkyrie?"

He couldn't help the query. It slipped from between his lips before he could stop

himself. Even as he spoke, he ran a query through his onboard computer. What portion of his memory banks he could access at the moment. As soon as he'd realized there was an Empath near, he'd locked his memory banks down.