Runt

By Linda Mooney

Waking up disoriented, she doesn't know where she is, or who these men are who are talking over her…about her…about her being their creation. Apparently they ran out of parts, but she turned out okay, if not a little on the small side. Being dubbed Runt, she soon learns these men are not friendly, and she's about to be sold to the highest bidder. From what she overhears, she fears the new owners will be crueler than her creators.

Runt doesn't speak much, not wanting to give anything away, but she soaks in everything around her, memorizing everything she witnesses. Planning her next move for freedom. She's alive, a special creation, and she will live the life she was created to have. She just has to bide her time until the opportunity presents itself.

When her escape attempt goes awry, she's rescued by Axel and his crew of salvagers, but it's hard for her to trust anyone. He tries to earn her trust and claims he cares for her, but how? She's mechanical, a cybie. But Axel proves that she's human enough where it counts—her brain and her heart. He makes her feel emotions foreign to her, like happiness. Of all the things she's learned, learning to love is the most important.

Still, something plagues her. Who was she before she was Runt? Memories and flashbacks tell of another life, and she needs to find out what happened to her.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Linda Mooney
• Release date: Aug 30, 2022
• ISBN: 9781953797193

Linda Mooney

Linda loves to write sensuously erotic romance with a fantasy, paranormal, or science fiction flair. Her technique is often described as being as visual as a motion picture or graphic novel. A wife, mother, grandmother, and retired Kindergarten and music teacher, she lives in a small south Texas town near the Gulf coast where she delves into other worlds filled with daring exploits, adventure, and intense love. She has numerous best sellers, including 10 consecutive #1s. In 2009, she was named Whiskey Creek Press Torrid's Author of the Year, and her book My Strength, My Power, My Love was named the 2009 WCPT Book of the Year. In 2011, her book Lord of Thunder was named the Epic Ebook "Eppie" Award Winner for Best Erotic Sci-Fi Romance. In addition, she write naughty erotic romances under the name of Carolyn Gregg, and horror under the pseudonym of Gail Smith. For more information about Linda Mooney books and titles, and to sign up for her newsletter, please visit her website. http://www.LindaMooney.com

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

AWAKENING

She slowly became aware—of herself, of her surroundings, of being.

Opening her eyes, she stared at the shiny surface not six inches above her face. A visage she didn’t know or recognize stared back at her. She noticed the black hair, the blue eyes…

No. Eye. She had one real blue eye. The other one was also blue, but in an unnatural way. Same for the contrast between creamy colored skin that covered a little over half of her face, and the dull gray metallic skin that covered the rest.

The surface popped, then slowly lifted until she saw another face peering down at her. It was joined by a second face. Both men. Both of them wearing satisfied smiles.

So far, she looks prime, the one with black hair stated.

Prime but somewhat distorted, a voice behind them remarked.

Black-haired man looked over his shoulder. How so?

The other man, the one with brown hair, pushed aside his partner and reached out to her. Let’s get her out of there.

He reached under her arms to grab her by the shoulders and lifted her until she could sit up on her own. She continued to stare at them, waiting, not yet comprehending what was going on.

The black-haired man made a face. She’s so fucking tiny! Are you sure she cooked long enough?

Be happy she was that size to begin with. Even then, we still didn’t have enough material left to cover everything, the other man replied. He looked at her, taking a long glance at her body.

Curious to know what he was looking at, she also stared at herself. One arm was partially gray and white, like her face. Both legs were the same—a combination of two colors and two textures. Reaching up, she touched her face. The white portion felt smooth. Soft. The gray part was hard. She scratched it with a fingernail and felt the vibration tickle her muscular structure underneath.

Can you speak?

She turned her attention back to the brown-haired man. Yes, she understood what he was saying. What he was asking. But she didn’t feel like answering.

How’s her mental comprehension? the other man asked. Please tell me you didn’t skimp on the brain.

The brown-haired man frowned. No. We’d never skimp on anything that important. No, we just gave her a smaller stature, which in turn gave her a tighter muscle mass. She may be small in stature, but she’s compact. That makes her stronger and more agile. She’ll also be faster once her coordination develops.

I don’t care about all that shit. What are we going to do with her? We can’t sell her. Nobody’s going to want a female who looks like that! He waved an arm at her. Her skin doesn’t even cover all of her face!

Brown-haired man nodded. I figured something like that would happen when she cooked.

Ain’t you got a way to cover it up? At least she can hide that arm and those legs when she gets some clothes on.

Brown-haired man studied her, a smile creasing his face. Aww, who’d want to cover up this gorgeous body? He reached up and grasped one breast, squeezing it to the point where it hurt. She slapped it away to stop the pain. It was an awkward movement, as she wasn’t attuned to her body as yet, but it worked until he retaliated by pounding a fist into her chin. Pain much greater than what he’d forced on her a moment ago bloomed in her head. She cried out as her neck snapped sideways. Her teeth ground against each other, catching her tongue in them, and blood spurted into her mouth.

It was strange, these feelings. She automatically knew every part of her body. Their names, their function. She also knew she didn’t like the way the brown-haired man had touched her.

He glared at her, his own teeth bared. Don’t pull that stunt with me again, you stupid little runt. You hear me? We created you, and we can do what we damn well want with you. You got that? He grabbed her breast again, twisting the nipple until she whimpered. Her agony only made him chuckle. Well, one thing’s for certain. Her nervous system is fully developed.

What are we going to do with her, since she’s subpar? the black-haired man asked.

Her abuser eyed her. For now, let’s put her in a carrier until she learns who her master is. He leaned in, getting almost nose to nose with her. You’re going to obey every command we give you, and you’re going to do your best with whatever job you’re told to do. If you don’t, you’ll be punished. If you understand me, nod.

Unable to do anything else, she nodded as she swallowed the clotted blood in her mouth.

Brown-haired man moved back and smiled. Good. Tilting his head to the side, he remarked, You know, she’s pretty well stacked for a short shit. Maybe we can get a few million cred if we sell her to one of the brothels out on Pretarkis Four.

That mining moon? Those guys will eat her alive, black-haired man argued.

Her tormentor laughed. She’s half-cyborg anyway. She’s built to take the abuse. Hell, she probably could do a hell of a lot better at crawling through those dinky ass tunnels and digging out the ore herself. His smile widened. Yeah! That’s what I’ll do. I’ll contact the foreman out there and propose he buy her. Send her out there as a digger. She’s got the strength. And in this instance, her size is an advantage.

You’d sell her to the mines?

Why not? She’s no good to us for anything else. If she was only five or six inches taller, she’d make a perfect concubine. Raising a hand, he threaded his fingers through her hair.

She winced but forced herself not to move away from his touch, fearing another retaliation. The longer she was with him, the more she wanted to be away from him. Her chin continued to pain her, although not as much as when he’d initially struck her.

You ended up more beautiful than I expected, he continued. Such a crying shame we ran short of components and materials, but I made do the best I could with what I had. And to be honest, other than your stature, you came out perfectly.

When are you contacting the mines?

As soon as we get her confined.

How much do you think we can get for her?

Oh, I dunno. Six million creds?

The black-haired man appeared flabbergasted. Six million? Do you really believe we can get that much for her?

Won’t hurt to try. In fact, I think I’ll propose nine hundred to begin with, so they can wheedle me down to six before I cave in. Make ‘em believe they’re getting a bargain. Whaddaya think, Dabbot?

The man named Dabbot crossed his arms over his chest. Sounds like a plan. Are you going to sample her before she leaves?

The brown-haired man got a strange expression on his face. He stared at her again, but this time she didn’t like the way he eyed her.

I got a better idea. Let’s ask for nine million cred because she’s a virgin. They’ll go nuts over that!

Marco! No way! Dabbot exclaimed in disbelief.

Now that she knew the names of both men, she branded them in her mind.

Hey! She’s got all the right plumbing. I’m sure she has a hymen. He shoved his hand between her thighs. The feel of his fingers digging into her flesh revolted her, and it took every ounce of inner strength for her not to slam her own fist into his face, the way he’d done to her.

But it was coming. She swore to herself she’d give him back double for what he did to her.

Yep! It’s there! Good. Marco grabbed her upper arm. Let’s find some clothes that’ll fit her, then get her locked up. But before we do, I want to take some photos of her. Let the guys know what she looks like au natural. He chuckled, and she instantly hated the sound of it.

What are we going to name her? Dabbot asked. We can’t call her Six Four Five Five Four R.

That’s her serial number, isn’t it?

Yeah, but she needs a human name. She’s half human anyway, right?

She stared directly into her creator’s eyes, waiting.

We’ll call her Runt, the man declared. Of all the cyborgs I’ve created, she’s definitely the runt of the litter.

Runt, eh? Dabbot repeated, then nodded. It suits her. Okay. Runt it is.

CHAPTER 2

DETERMINING

Dabbot taught her to walk once she was placed on her feet and learned how to balance herself. A little at a time, she put one leg in front of the other liked he showed her, taking her out of the room with the silver canister she’d been born in and down several long hallways until they reached a door. He opened the door and made her go inside by herself. It was a tiny room not much bigger than the box she’d been inside. Dabbot came back after a while to give her some clothing. He watched as she struggled to put them on, but didn’t offer to help her. She guessed he just needed to make sure she didn’t try to put her arms through her pants legs or something like that.

You definitely aren’t the talkative type, the man commented.

She gave him a side eye but otherwise ignored him. When she was done, she held out her arms to get his approval. He merely grunted and left. Stumbling over to the small window inset in the door, she tried to see which way he’d gone. Other than the direction, she had no clue as to where he was now. They’d come from the left.

She checked the sheet of glass. It wasn’t very big. About a foot square, yet large enough to where she could slip out of it with no trouble. The pane was thick. Probably unbreakable, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t try to shatter it. Even if she could, her biggest problem was that she didn’t have the faintest clue about the layout of this place. If she tried to escape, she wouldn’t know which way to go, or what to do if she did manage to get away. In addition, she still wasn’t that quick on her feet. That would take a while, and lots of practice.

Plus there was the possibility that the place could be rigged with traps. There could also be alarms on the doors and windows.

Sighing, she sat on the thin blanket lying on the floor and waited. If they planned to sell her to a mining planet, she might have an opportunity to escape then. All she had to do was wait, watch, and remain prepared. And listen to the voices in her head.

"You have been endowed with great strength, especially through your superior arm and legs. Your eyesight with your ocular implant is stronger than most telescopes, and is also equipped with infrared, ultraviolet, as well as a few other enhancements.

Once you awaken, you won’t be able to use your special powers. Not until you’ve had some training on how to incorporate them. You’ll be a babe in all aspects until you learn to function. That includes being able to write, how to feed yourself, and how to wield weapons if it’s determined that’s to be your course in life.

Funny how those lessons fed to her while she was incubating randomly rose to the surface. But stranger still were the visions that randomly popped up while she slept. Visions that had nothing to do with what she was, or where she was now.

Visions that were as clear as if she’d personally experienced them.

A little door underneath the window opened up, and a tray slid inside, resting on the small shelf there. Dabbot stared at her through the window. Here’s something for you to eat. You’ll have to use your fingers, since you don’t know how to hold or use a spoon or fork. Don’t worry about burning your fingers. I made sure the stuff is lukewarm and not too hot. There’s a carton of water for you to drink, too. You’ve had enough knowledge transferred into your brain during your gestation to be able to handle it. Try to get some rest. We’re leaving in the morning to take you to the helipad. He grinned. We got some customers interested in getting to know you.

He vanished again, going off to her right like he had before. She wondered if there were any others like her here, then decided it wasn’t her problem if there were. At this moment, she wanted to get away from Dabbot and Marco. She needed to, before their treatment of her grew worse. She didn’t know if they could do anything more painful to her than what Marco had shown, but she didn’t want to take the chance.

She touched her jaw, wincing from the twinges that continued to plague her. Getting up, she went over to fetch the tray and take it back to the blanket. It took some doing to keep it balanced between her hands, but she was able to set it on the floor before sitting back down. Sitting with her legs straight out in front of her, she picked up the bowl with both hands and noted the warmth coming off of it. She tried to pick out some of what was floating around in it, but her fingers weren’t that good at grasping. So she placed the bowl against her lips and tilted it the way the instructions that had been fed into her brain instructed her.

It was liquidy and warm, and not too hot as promised. It smelled interesting. Lumps of brown, orange, and white stuff bumped against her finger when she poked them. Scooping one of the brown lumps up to her lips, she nibbled it. It wasn’t bad. Chewy. The white lumps fell apart after one bite. The orange ones were a tad crunchy. Regardless, it was her first ever meal, and she ate every bite, knowing that it would help her body maintain its strength. The range of flavors made no difference to her. For all she cared, she’d eat dirt if she knew it was nutritious. The water, on the other hand, tasted odd.

Her clothing kept her warm enough, considering it was much too large for her. The blanket shielded her from the cold floor, but the hard surface was irritating. She finally managed to get comfortable enough by lying on her side and using her arm as a pillow. Shutting down her eye and other mechanical functions, she lay