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  “Of course. Subject to my timeline, of course,” Terex/Ur emphasized. “The Kindred of the Mother Ship must already be at war with the denizens of Earth before they will accept ‘help’ from another faction to subdue the humans. After the war is won, of course, you will have access to all the Earth’s riches. Both organic and inanimate.”

  One nodded thoughtfully. “It seems a generous proposal though quite risky for Six. If the Claiming Period he spends with this female causes his emotion damper to fail entirely, I will be forced to purge him. I would…regret that.”

  “What value is the life of one compared to the gains of so many?” Terex/Ur argued.

  “True. And Six has a very strong character. I do not believe he would allow himself to be corrupted. Perhaps it is an acceptable risk.”

  “Your reasoning seems sound. Surely the Collective would approve of such logic,” Terex/Ur said gravely.

  “True…true.” One nodded again. “A moment while I consult with them.” The black lenses of his ocular implants flickered briefly shut and there was a faint humming sound. The electrodes implanted in his brain, visible beneath his clear skull cap, lit up in a complicated series of patterns.

  Terex/Ur waited impatiently. If One did not agree to his deal…

  Just then the black lenses cycled opened and the Mouthpiece of the Collective nodded.

  “All right, the Collective agrees to your proposal. I will send Six to claim the Earth female he is dream sharing with and we will join the war against Earth when it breaks out. In return, I will expect full access to the natural wealth of the world as well as DNA samples of all the inhabitants.”

  “Done.” Terex/Ur nodded smoothly. “But see that Six claims her quickly.”

  “At once,” One promised. “And now I must go. I have other matters to attend to.”

  “Of course.” Terex/Ur nodded. “I will speak with you later as events unfold.”

  “Agreed.” One nodded once more and then his image dissolved into the blue screen.

  Terex/Ur sat back in his chair, an evil grin spreading across his face. Now he had just one more call to make. His fingers tapped over the controls, bringing up the image of the person he wished to speak to.

  “Yes, Chancellor Terex?”

  “Commander Sylvan,” he said, putting on his most earnest face as he stared into the viewscreen. “It is possible that I was too hasty in my decision earlier. On further reflection, I believe that you were right. We should start calling brides from Earth again. Please make it so.”

  On the viewscreen, Sylvan nodded.

  “I am grateful you reconsidered, Chancellor. The Unmated Males will be overjoyed to hear it.”

  “Of course they will.” Until they heard that Earth had declared war on them and refused them any more females. And then they would have no choice but to join the war in order to claim their brides. But Ur would allow that to unfold on its own.

  After all, the first bride to be called would be Mei-Li Hastings, Senator Hastings’ daughter…

  Read on for the first chapter of Brides of the Kindred 12, Enhanced coming this summer 2014…

  Enhanced

  Chapter One

  “Who are you?” she whispered. “Why am I here?”

  “I…do not know.” Six’s voice sounded rough and uncertain in his own ears. The slender, tiny shape of the girl who haunted his dreams stood before him, her dark eyes wide with fright.

  “I don’t know why I can’t stop having these dreams.” She looked around her at his service room which was where she always seemed to find him, when he was resting in his docking station.

  Her hair fell in a long, straight waterfall of black down her back and her big eyes were partially obscured by strange glass and wire oculars. Six wondered what they were for. They didn’t seem to have the range of his own ocular scanner, the one he’d had implanted over his left eye. Could they be to correct her vision? But if that was the case, why did she simply not have some enhancements done?

  “What is your designation?” he asked, since she continued to stand there. Usually she faded almost immediately. It was disturbing to note that this time she wasn’t leaving.

  “My…designation?”

  “I am Six.” He thumped the breastplate of his exoskeleton impatiently with a metallic clang. “What do you call yourself?”

  “Oh. Mei-Li. My name is Mei-Li.”

  “May-Lee?” Six frowned at the strange mixture of syllables.

  “It means ‘beautiful flower’ or something like that, I think. My mother picked it out when my parents adopted me from China because it sounded exotic without being too hard to pronounce. I…” She took a step back. “I’m sorry, I’m babbling. And I’m still here. These dreams never last this long.” She looked around. “Why am I still here?”

  “I do not know why you remain or why you come at all,” Six said. “You certainly do not belong—you have no enhancements and clearly you are consumed by emotion.”

  “Enhancements?” For some reason she looked down at her small, barely rounded breasts.

  Through the sheer white garment she wore, Six could see that they were tiny but perfectly shaped. For a strange moment, he wondered what they would feel like in his palms. Would the pink points of her nipples, pressing innocently against the thin white fabric, feel good against his fingertips? And what would her reaction be to his touch? Would she moan—illicit emotion overcoming her as he stroked those delicate buds? Would she—?

  He shook his head, trying to clear the strange thoughts away. Where had they come from? And what had he been talking about with the little female? Oh, right—enhancements.

  “Enhancements like my own.” He motioned to his enhanced left hand and the ocular scanner in is left eye. “You have no enhancements. You are not authorized to be here.”

  “That’s what you always say—that I’m not authorized to be here… That you’ll hunt me down and make me pay…” She began to back away from him, fear growing in her eyes.

  “Because you are not.” Six reached up to disengage himself from his docking station and took a step toward her. His exoskeleton made a mechanical hiss and his boots thudded heavily against the metallic floor panels.

  “No—please!” She backed away from him, almost stumbling in her haste. “Please don’t!” She looked around. “Oh God, I just want to wake up! Just let me wake up…”

  Suddenly Six’s eyes opened and the dream—if that was what it had been—was over. He looked around, searching the room with his scanner but it was empty—it was always empty. The girl in his dream was nothing but a figment—an insubstantial wisp who disappeared the moment he opened his eyes.

  But he could no longer dismiss her as nothing but a figment and the dream as nothing but a slight aberration during his recharging period. It was coming more frequently for one thing—the girl was disturbing his sleep on an almost nightly basis now. And for another, the dream seemed to be lasting longer. He had been able to have an actual exchange with her this time—not a good sign.

  Reflexively, he reached behind his head and felt the small metal button of his emotion damper, embedded in the flesh of his neck, just below the base of his skull. Still in working order, he assured himself. I feel nothing. But then why did the dreams keep recurring? And what could he do about it?

  Suddenly the speaker at the door of his service room buzzed to life and the voice of Ter, his domicile’s informations system, spoke.

  “Six, you are requested in One’s domicile at once.”

  For some reason, Six’s heart began pumping harder.

  “Why?” he demanded. “It is not my day to communicate with One. Please clarify.”

  “No clarification possible,” Ter’s mechanical voice said. “One has requested your immediate presence. He has given no reason for this request.”

  Nor did he have to. As the Mouthpiece of the Collective—the group of mechanoids which ruled Zeaga Four with an iron hand—One was entitled to make any request he desired and