Page 1 of A Mate For Matrix (Cyborg Protection Unit #1)
Chapter One
“ M atrix,” a deep, familiar voice called, snapping his attention away from the blood-splattered walls of the freighter.
The freighter’s corridors were eerily silent, lit only by flickering emergency strips that cast jagged shadows across smeared handprints and streaks of drying blood. The acrid scent of scorched metal mingled with something worse—an organic rot that clung to the air like a warning.
Matrix rose and turned, his face grim. “General Roma,” he greeted politely, waiting when several warriors turned the corner and paused when they noticed the General, saluted, and waited for permission to pass.
Terrex Roma nodded to the warriors and motioned for them to continue before returning his attention to Matrix. Drawing in a deep breath, Matrix was about to speak when he saw another familiar figure walking down the bloodstained corridor.
“Mother!” Matrix hissed, glaring at his father. “She shouldn’t see this.”
His father released a long sigh. “You try stopping her. I gave up years ago,” he retorted in a dry tone. “Sennara, what have you discovered?”
His mother was pale beneath her poise. She wore a dark gray protective suit and long gloves. A warm smile curved her lips, but the frailty in her gaze worried Matrix.
“Some very disturbing information, I’m afraid. I’ll explain what I’ve found in the briefing. Matrix, I would hug you, but I think it best to refrain at the moment,” Sennara greeted. “I heard about your new promotion. Congratulations.”
Matrix glanced at his father who gave a brief nod and a small, genuine smile. Matrix returned his mother’s smile with a slight bowing of his head.
“Thank you,” he responded, leaning forward and brushing a kiss against her cheek. “You don’t have any blood there.”
Sennara released a strained laugh before the humor faded from her eyes to be replaced by concern. Matrix could feel her wavering between seeing him as her son and as a Zion officer. Eventually, she drew in a deep breath.
“There is a briefing in a few minutes in the lower storage bay. It is the only room not… covered in blood,” she explained.
“Matrix, I can tell you that this is like no other species we have ever encountered. I don’t know where the Triterian found the genetic markers for the Crawlers, but they aren’t from any star system controlled by the Zion forces. ”
“General, the other teams have arrived,” another officer informed him, halting several feet away.
“We’ll be there shortly,” Terrex responded.
The officer nodded, saluted, and left for the lower storage bay.
Terrex returned his attention to his son as they moved at a slower pace back through the freighter to the lift.
“The Triterians have agreed to assist us on this mission, despite the recent decimation of their numbers. Volunteering to work with others is a very unusual overture on their part, and the Confederation Council has asked that we try to maintain a diplomatic peace with them,” Terrex said in a clipped tone.
“What do you plan to do?” Matrix asked, glancing at his father.
“Pacify them, then send them in the opposite direction,” Terrex retorted.
“The last thing we want is for them to decide one of these creatures needs to be studied. You’ll learn more at the briefing.
I’ve given specific orders that no information on these creatures is to be withheld from the CPU teams. My briefing with the head of the Triterian will be slightly less. .. informative.”
Matrix couldn’t help grinning when his mother released a soft, delicate snort. ‘Less informative’ meant that the Triterian would only receive the information the Triterian already knew, nothing else.
Within minutes, they stepped into a large area filled with metal containers. In the far corner, Matrix could see the other five CPU teams. Each team comprised both a warrior and their cyborg animal partner.
Each CPU team stood out in distinctive armor—customized for their species and animal partner—while beside them, their cyborg companions waited with coiled intensity: sleek, metallic hybrids of predator and machine, eyes glowing with linked intelligence.
Matrix stepped closer to where his own partner sat waiting.
Cyborg Protection Unit K, Production Unit Nine, or K-Nine as Matrix called him, glanced at Matrix with a look of inquiry before turning his head back toward several senior officers standing in front of a large, empty tube.
The group parted as Matrix’s father and mother stepped forward and began their opening statements.
“Where have you been?” K-Nine asked Matrix in a low undertone.
“I heard my father was on board,” Matrix replied with a shrug.
K-Nine nodded almost imperceptibly. “I’ve downloaded the vidcoms from the lab on the asteroid.”
“How did you download them? I thought the asteroid had been destroyed,” Matrix muttered, ignoring a raised eyebrow from another team member.
K-Nine shrugged and scratched at his side.
“There was a transmission from the asteroid to the freighter that was left open. It was meant to be a warning of the outbreak on the asteroid, but the creatures on the freighter broke free shortly after the transmission began. The scientists ran to find their own escape, and the transmission recorded both attacks and the Triterion onslaught afterward. I’ve notified our superiors and the other team members of my findings. ”
“This is a top-secret mission,” Terrex informed the assembled CPU teams. “The creatures you are hunting are very dangerous. They are also unlike anything you have ever encountered before. We have just received additional information. First Officer Manacore will brief you on what we now know.”
The Chief Science Officer nodded and stepped forward.
“There were six emergency pods on board the freighter. The vidcom footage shows these were no ordinary escape pods. The data is still being reviewed, but we know these emergency pods were specifically designed for long-range voyages. Each contains a unique power and environmental system and can travel at speeds equivalent to those of the CPU Starfighters,” Manacore explained in a grim voice.
Matrix wasn’t the only one to emit a soft curse. Their starships were among the most advanced. If the pods were designed with the same capabilities, it could only mean one thing… they had been manufactured at the same space facility. This would have very serious repercussions.
“We discovered that two of the scientists from the lab previously worked at the Zion Command Laboratory and Research Center. Investigators have been dispatched to ZCLR to look for additional evidence of espionage. This is the least of our concerns for the moment, however. Our primary mission is to eliminate the creatures that were created,” he continued.
“What are they?” one team member asked.
Matrix’s gaze locked on his mother’s face as she stepped forward when the CSO turned to her. She still looked unusually pale. A worried frown creased his brow.
“Their designers called them Crawlers,” Sennara Roma began.
"Their genetic origin is unknown. What we do know is that these creatures are not natural, they were created in the lab. A group of scientists, led by Elaine Brim, used the remote location and the Triterian government’s funding to enable their own covert experimentation. ”
“I’ve heard that name before,” one man muttered under his breath.
“She was a member of the Zion Science Council until she was removed because some of her experiments violated ethical guidelines,” Sennara replied in a soft voice.
“She was the one who started the Cyborg Protection Unit, long before it was called that,” one female member stated. “It was her research that led to the enhancement of the animals in our program.”
“Which is yet another reason this needs to remain classified,” Terrex interrupted. “Please continue.”
The CSO stepped forward again and touched a portable projection device to the side of the metal container.
Matrix watched the vidcom of the Triterian attacks and the freighter crew’s death.
The creatures were huge. Each had a dozen limbs and six eyes.
Matrix grimaced when he saw one creature spew what appeared to be acid on a crew member. The flesh of the male melted away.
“The crew was killed in a variety of ways. The creatures can travel underground if given the chance. They used the maintenance shafts on the freighter to access the different levels. This will make it difficult for you to follow them. As you saw, a Crawler can eject an acidic substance that is deadly. Fortunately, it needs time to regenerate that substance. A hard, outer shell protects most of its body. The limbs are vulnerable, but if they are removed, they will regrow if given enough time to do so. It detects movement through a sensor in its frontal lobe, and it is programmed to detect and destroy a distress signal,” the CSO continued.
“They are very intelligent,” Sennara stated, stepping forward when the CSO turned to her again. “The creatures killed six Triterian military units before the order was given by their government to cleanse the asteroid and freighter. The creatures are programmed to observe, learn, and adapt.”