This chapter is just a teaser for my current project, Whispered Skirmish, which will be a full-length novel.
Prologue
Jewel jerked awake. Adrenaline coursed through her veins. What happened? What’s going on? She tried to stretch. Not enough room. She shivered. What is that noise? What’s that light? She closed her eyes. Still there. Implant. Her ears flicked in irritation. She accessed the implant. “IMMC emergency protocol activated. Combat units, prepare for action. Station attack detected.” She felt the floor shudder beneath her. Shit. That’s a new feature.
She stood up and started stretching as best as she could in the small cell they referred to as a kennel, thankful that she can at least stand upright, unlike other morphs that get put in kennels only one meter long and three-quarters of a meter wide and tall. But, as her implant’s warning reminded her, she was a combat unit. Designed and purchased for some sick bastard to break.
Her tail fluffed out in irritation for just a moment before she got it back under control. She sighed, glad that their monitors and sensors couldn’t distinguish her emotions in the box. Another shudder beneath her, but this time she was prepared for it. She tried to access the station core, but they blocked signals in the kennels. Damn it. She went through the martial arts katas, sticking to just the ones that they programmed her with, doing her best to keep her tail out of the way. It wouldn’t serve to show them she created new ones. Ones designed specifically for morph bodies. Ones that can be customized for the different morph bodies.
They really didn’t need to know that.
She stopped moving as she heard the human coming up the corridor. Quickly, she dropped to her knees and locked her eyes to a point somewhere about an inch beyond her knees, her paws on the soft fur, palms up.
“7429, on your feet.” The human orderly unlocked the door. It was Joe. She recognized his scent before she heard his voice. She stood, wincing and moving shakily, giving her an excuse to glance around. “Jeez, they really did screw you up. Thankfully, you won’t have to suffer much longer. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”
Joe was nice. He may work for the Interstellar Morph Manufacturing Company, but he didn’t agree with their philosophy. From what he told her, thinking she was just mentally gone, he was forced into the company by his family, who were heavy investors. Even after morphs were supposed to be freed.
He clipped a leash on her and lead her down the corridor, meeting with another orderly who had seven morphs of varying types with him. They lead the morphs in silence down the corridor, to the airlock. So, we’re being shipped somewhere. The other orderly, Bill, if the scent she caught was right, roughly shoved the last morph in and slammed the door. She hazarded a glance out the window and her blood turned to ice. No ship. Joe started walking away, his shoulders rocking and head hung low.
“Everyone, exhale! Don’t breath in! Get as much air out of your lungs as you can!” Bill looked shocked as she shouted to the others, some of who did what she said. The outer door opened. The air rushed out of the airlock, flinging the morphs into space. She felt her eyes start to bleed, felt pain like even the bastard that tried to break her couldn’t make. She saw Joe’s face, tear-streaked, before the blackness came.