Artificial Intelligence Read online

  “You don’t have to respond. I’m just making sure you can hear me, and I can hear what’s going on there. We’re going to start following.”

  She didn’t respond, instead listening to the Plean chatter grow louder as they realized they were headed toward their own village.

  “Find a place to turn left. The ladies will grow familiar with the area and should start leading the way from there.”

  A few more minutes of walking, and then Orion sounded more alarmed. “Okay, easy, Arian. You’re getting close to where the males are guarding from the trees.”

  As soon as he said it, there was rustling in the branches above her head. There was loud screeching from above, and then the women began making similar sounds. They surrounded Arian, their backs toward her. Out of everywhere, male Pleans approached. The women closed tighter around her, chattering wildly.

  “I don’t like it,” Jax said in her ear. “Let’s move in.”

  Things went still as the male Pleans looked behind her.

  “It’s okay, Arian,” Jax called out. “Come back here to us.”

  She slipped from between the shoulders of the tiny Plean women, stroking each arm as she went. By the time she reached her own people, she looked back over her shoulder to find the entire band of creatures gone.

  “Where’d they go?” she asked, surprised.

  “They’re silent,” Jax whispered, “but I’m sure they’re watching us. Come, let’s get out of here.” In one fell swoop, he dropped to a knee so she could climb onto his back. Then he lifted her, and hurriedly made his way back.

  As soon as they got through their gates, he allowed her to slide down.

  “I can’t believe we pulled that off,” Arian murmured. “Now what?”

  “Now,” Serepto said, scooping Shala into his arms and making her squeal, “we go about our business as usual. Shala’s shift is over. I’ll take her back to the ship to rest. Goodnight.” He nodded at the two of them, and left.

  Arian was aware of her jaw hanging open when Jax tapped her on the chin.

  “She’ll be fine,” he murmured. “Serepto’s good for her. And he’ll never allow anything to hurt her.”

  She nodded. It was time to let go.

  She turned to Jax. “Have any of your people mentioned staying here? I’d love if you joined us.”

  “My people?”

  “Are mine. And you, silly. I love you, Jax. I always have.”

  “I have nowhere else to go. And home is where you are.”

  “Will the rest of the crew want to stay?”

  “Do you doubt it?” Echo approached from behind, a grin on his face. “We’ve been in telepathic contact and everyone agrees this is a good planet. Your people have done well with protecting and cloaking it. We’d like to help you make a go of it.”

  “Everyone agrees?” Arian asked with a smile.

  “Well, I imagine Serepto is agreeable to staying. He’s blocked us out of his head. Not sure what that’s about.” The smile on Echo’s face belied his words. He wasn’t at all wondering why Serepto didn’t answer.

  “Let’s get that arrow wound taken care of,” Jax murmured. He lifted her, and notified Tess to ready sick bay.

  Later, Jax carried her onto the main floor of the ship, where a gathering place for the pampered guests of the cruiser used to be. A swimming pool was in the center of the large room, right now AI and her people gathered round. A group of AI was still at the huts, reinforcing walls and expanding the compound. They worked in shifts to make it more comfortable for all, so when the ship returned to the skies those left behind would have some luxuries also.

  “You do realize my feet haven’t touched the ground yet?” Arian asked.

  “I’m aware of that,” Jax said, unperturbed.

  “Arian!” Malaya called out, holding up a glass of drink to her. “Job well done!”

  “Thank you,” she called back, even as others began to congratulate her. “We worked as a team. I think it’s amazing how we can accomplish so much as a whole.”

  There was a small round of cheering from both sets of peoples.

  * * * * *

  Two months later:

  “Where are you taking me?” Shala asked Serepto. The weather had cleared, and she was outside tending to the newly planted vegetables.

  “To the ship for rest.”

  “Rest?”

  “Yes. After I make love to you, you can take all the rest you need.”

  She felt the rumble of his voice where her ear was pressed to his chest. But she didn’t protest the lovemaking. Truth was, she didn’t mind it so much. Instead she sighed, and snuggled against him. His arms tightened protectively, shielding her from the weather.

  The doors to the ship opened, and she could hear laughter coming from one of the decks below. But Serepto didn’t take her to where the others gathered. Instead, he carried her up to the sleeping level and took her to his room.

  “Kristeeah will wonder where I sleep,” she said.

  “Then we’ll tell her, my love, and all others who wonder, that you sleep with me. Is that acceptable to you?”

  “Oh, yes,” she sighed, as he tenderly laid her out on his bed.

  As eager as he was, he’d have to be a monster not to notice her shiver. “For now, I will just hold you,” he said. “When you are comfortable, you may do what you wish to me. Touch me, look at me. You can take a week or you can take ten years. It is totally your right to do anything you desire to me. I want to make it very clear that the choice is completely yours.”

  How could she possibly not fall in love with him? A man so patient? So gentle?

  Chasing Violet

  Rena Marks & C.L. Scholey

  Violet Knight is tired of men hooking up with her for her money.

  She caught the latest loser pants-down and rump-up one week before the wedding. Now she’s upgraded her honeymoon cruiseship for a pampering space-cruise that caters to females only.

  That’s exactly what her burnt heart needs. A hunky serviceman whose job is to worship the female patronage aboard the month-long trip.

  Little does she know a pampering space-cruise ship looks awful similar to a mail-order bride ship.

  Cadoc of Docadia finds the girl he’s always dreamed about all grown up and looking to be a bride. To his surprise, she asks him to stay the night. But consummating their relationship comes with a small problem. Turns out she’s the tiny female he rescued all those years ago.

  Now, he has to tell her they’ve been mated.

  Excerpt:

  This was fun, being pampered and courted by all the men at the table. She didn’t miss Joshua one bit. Just as she didn’t miss the amounts of money he spent. Her money.

  Most everyone was done eating, and talking amongst themselves at the dinner tables. Speaking of the different planets they came from, and where they’d like to visit. Soft music began to pipe from the speakers.

  “Dance with me?” Cadoc rumbled, his leg again pressing against hers.

  Next to him, Draconis stood, his chair clattering behind him. A bot scurried to pick it up. Draconis opened his mouth, clearly about to argue.

  “I’d love to,” she murmured, slipping her hand in Cadoc’s and shutting that stuff down.

  Then the horned demon next to her opened his mouth to argue, but she simply reached out and patted his head, letting her fingers trail over his horns. They were oddly soft-skinned, though they jutted like steel from the top of his head. They were pointed, but not sharp.

  Strange, now that she thought about it. They had an odd curved shape. Since he didn’t seem to mind, she continued to caress, then patted his head. His breath caught in his throat, and he sunk lower in his chair, as if he’d pass out from her touch. The rest of the table grew perfectly still. There, she’d calmed them all.

  The horned demon moaned, long and low, leaning back in his chair. Odd creature. She happened to glance down, noticing a stain had spread across his lap. The poor man must have spilled his
drink there, in his crotch of all places. But he was happy now, not even noticing his dirty pants. In fact, they all seemed strangely stunned, so it was a good moment to make a getaway with Cadoc. She tugged on his hand, and—while he seemed as bemused as the rest of the men—he led her to the dance floor.

  Abducted

  Book 1 in the Blue Barbarian series.

  Alien abductions are real.

  I was the third female awakened aboard the spacecraft that specialized in kidnapping females. Their mission? To sell us to other galaxies.

  Human female Numbers One and Two didn’t make it, but I was lucky. I was able to comprehend the instruction from Drakar, a caged abductee from the planet Blaedonia. I live only because of his warning to me not to fight the aliens who have me on the table. Together, we formulate a plan for escape for both us and the ten other unawakened Earthlings.

  Lucky for Drakar, the spaceship crash-lands back on his planet. Unlucky for the Earthlings, we’ll never be able to travel back home.

  We’ll have to learn to adapt.

  Niki’s Story:

  Suddenly my shackles tingle, the sensation shooting down my arms like a spark of electricity. But it doesn’t hurt, or feel uncomfortable. It feels kind of…nice.

  In a strange way.

  “I can see you, though, little human. I have night vision that your species does not.”

  I lick my lips. It doesn't seem fair that I've never seen Drakar, but then he blows warm breath on my neck, and suddenly it no longer matters.

  “How do you like to be touched?” His touch skims across my lower abdomen.

  Goosebumps race across my skin and it’s not from cold. It’s instantaneous and it’s weird, but it's sexy. Either he’s a master seducer, or the shackles on my wrists are doing something strange to my libido.

  I writhe. “Drakar.”

  “Niki.”

  “These bracelets are doing something to me.”

  “I know. I feel it, too.” His voice exudes sex. “I want you.”

  “What’s happening?”

  He groans. “Your arousal seduces me.” His breath is heated, and his body temperature feels suddenly warmer.

  Stranded

  Rena Marks

  Book 2 in the Blue Barbarian series.

  Alien abductions are real.

  I was the fourth female awakened aboard the Drurian spacecraft that specialized in kidnapping females. Their mission? To sell us to other galaxies.

  Human female Numbers One and Two didn’t make it, but Niki—also known as Number Three—made it through the experiment of language implantation. I was lucky and she transferred the gift of languages to me. I’m now able to understand the sexy, blue barbarians who have taken us in on the planet Blaedonia.

  Now, Niki has mated to the King of Blaedonia and Drakar has decided to mate me to his best friend Rayhaan. Apparently the barbarians are clueless to the fact that Earthlings choose their own men.

  Lucky for me, I have an opportunity to travel home. Unlucky for Rayhaan, he’s forced to do my bidding to woo me.

  Because now, a girl has options.

  Taken

  Rena Marks

  Book 3 in the Blue Barbarian series.

  As if things weren’t hard enough when I was taken by aliens, ten of us human females are dumped onto a strange new planet to integrate with the natives. But the last thing I remember is I refused to tie myself to anyone.

  Now I awaken from an overdose of medicinal tea with bizarre gaps in my memory, and I’m mated to Aschero, one of the sexy blue barbarians I’d been fooling around with. As my memories return, I try to piece together the puzzle of why my life is so different than what I remember.

  Unfortunately, along with my memories comes a horrible secret I want so desperately to bury.

  Captive

  Rena Marks

  Book 4 in the Blue Barbarian series.

  A Drurian spacecraft specialized in kidnapping females snuck into Earth’s atmosphere. Their mission? To sell a dozen abducted females to other galaxies.

  During that time, I was implanted with the knowledge of how to be a sex slave. My sexual drive was increased and techniques were taught to me on how to please countless other species.

  It was a horrifying secret I didn’t want anyone to know…until we crash-land on Blaedonia, and I meet Jeroc and Tijar.

  When you’re taken captive and left on another planet, who says you have to choose?

  Stargazer Series

  In 1692, a starship carrying volunteers arrived on planet Earth near a small town called Salem, Massachusetts. The long journey across many light years caused the female inhabitants aboard drastic memory loss. It was already known when they would arrive on Earth, they would have no memories of who and what they really were. They would be as helpless as newborn lambs.

  The goal was to breed with Earthlings, to prevent their own race from dying out. If it was successful, years later more Stargazers would be sent to co-exist with the humans on Planet Earth.

  But alas—the females were slaughtered.

  Book 1—The Hunter

  Dante and Kele

  Book 2 —The Enforcer

  Diamond and Felicia

  Book 3 —The Defender

  Hayze and Cassio

  Book 4 —The Protector

  Neo and Jessie

  Book 5 —The Guardian

  Vesta and Bay

  Book 6 —The Destroyer

  Jace and Mia

  The Hunter

  Prologue:

  The atmosphere in the grand council meeting was tense, grim even. In the center of the room, laser lights of green and blue flashed, drawing attention to the enlarged hologram of the speaker. Around the hologram stood dozens of females. They were dressed in odd clothing, obviously not from this world. The fabric looked coarse, and the garments were crudely designed. They consisted of shapeless cumbersome gowns. Some of the women even wore strange head coverings.

  And then the voice boomed.

  “We are gathered here to review the report on the future of our race. I am Nepa, and I am your general speaker.”

  He paused, allowing the audience time to adjust to the beginning of his speech. The pause wasn't necessary, however, as the entire planet was riveted to this life-altering event.

  “As you are all aware, we have spent decades on one ongoing problem. Our females are slowly becoming infertile. At this point, there is a huge imbalance on our planet, with males outnumbering females six to one. With all of our advanced technology, we cannot figure out why. The dilemma of the council consists of reaching out to inhabitable planets to decide if we can co-exist with other species. To interbreed. It is a dilemma because those planets are not as technologically advanced as we are, most are not even aware other space inhabitants exist. Their ignorance may cause fear. What we can offer to those planets is a solution to their own in-breeding, and to share knowledge of future ramifications. As we have discovered, eventually the gene pool narrows so dramatically that every culture faces the same problem we have, the phasing out of a species. We offer this benefit to smaller planets, the knowledge of our experience without having to find out the hard way, as we did.

  “However, we are not making contact with other planets at this point. Instead, our scouts will be sent out to see if conditions are favorable.

  “Naturally, that is a concern. At this point, our females are precious and few. It hurts every one of us to ship them off to a strange new planet to adapt. We are grateful for the brave volunteers.”

  Huge clapping ensued. The hologram vision bowed his head, signaling acknowledgment of the applause. When the clapping ended, he raised his head to speak again.

  “We cannot send males at this time. Radiation from the youth of certain stars have rendered males infertile. The feminine reproductive system is encased within the body, protecting it from radiation. We have tried everything possible to mimic the results with males, to no avail. And we are out of time. If we do not split our pla
net at this time, we face the very grim reality of our population dying out. However, we continue to work on the problem and are confident that males will be able to travel without the threat of sterilization in the next decade. In the meantime, we wish a positive farewell to the cherished females of our planet.

  “You each will arrive in various—but nearby—locations on a planet called Earth. We chose Earth because of their limited communications and technology. It is completely necessary that our scouts do not interfere with the education of their planet, instead allowing them to self-educate naturally. For this, our scouts have each agreed to be placed in stasis.”

  Hushed whispers swept through the audience.

  “I know,” continued the hologram. “Being placed in stasis for an undetermined amount of time will cause permanent brain damage—namely, complete amnesia. You will enter a planet without communication from your own race. You will be 'reborn' in a sense, on planet Earth, dressed in the clothing similar to what other Earthlings wear. You will be ejected from your stasis capsules, and the ship will implode. Your capsules will dissolve, nourishing your bodies, until you awaken. But once you are awake, you will have no knowledge of who or what you are. You will adapt to the planet and learn to live as a human. It will not be easy. Does anyone wish to resign her volunteerism?”

  The room was hushed. Of all the females around the hologram, no one stepped up.

  “All right. You are aware of the dangers. One condition of your new life, which all of you already know, is permission granting us examination of you and of any offspring you may bear. Your memories will be wiped clean of each future abduction. However, I'm sure it will be a terrifying experience as you will be as immature as an actual Earthling, who have not even experienced space travel yet.

  “Ladies, please step into your stasis capsule. Good luck to every one of you.”

  Bubbles floated gently around the hologram, circling around the image. Each oddly dressed female stepped forward and entered the shiny, invisible bubble-like capsule. Once inside, they lay horizontally, seeming to float in air as the capsule expanded around them. Immediately, the inner air collapsed and they fell unconscious.