Page 28 of A Mate For Matrix (Cyborg Protection Unit #1)

The Triterian straightened, kittens still cradled against his armored chest. His eyes softened, and he gave a low, graceful bow.

“You honor me, gentle female. I am Bulldog Ti’Death. At your service.”

Matrix groaned under his breath. Ti’Death! Of course, that’s why his name sounded so damn familiar. Kantor the Vicious’s name was Kantor Ti’Death.

Jana beamed. “It’s so nice to meet you! I’m Jana. I made a cake. Would you like some?”

“That sounds delightful,” Bulldog replied with a pleased grin and rubbed his stomach. “And a pleasant change from the replicator. I never did care for dehydrated meals.”

Jana reached for Honeybun. “I’m so sorry about the kittens!

They can be a handful. K-Nine is trying to teach them some manners, but they love meeting new people.

I have coffee and tea. We bought them on Earth.

I wasn’t sure if you’d have coffee here in outer space.

The woman checking me out thought I was nuts for buying so much, but I didn’t know when we'd find another grocery store. It’s not like they have one on every moon.

Get it? No? That’s okay. It wasn’t a very good joke. ”

Bulldog gently set the other two kittens down with a low chuckle. They immediately scampered to K-Nine and began rubbing against his legs.

K-Nine looked down at them with mild reproach. “This is betrayal,” he admonished to the oblivious kittens. “This is treasonous pack disobedience.”

Matrix stepped protectively closer to Jana. His instincts screamed at him to separate her from the aliens, from the unknown—especially the one still eyeing him with amused wariness.

But Jana was already shaking hands with Seal—who looked surprised but pleased—and then with Bulldog, who looked ready to wrap her in a big hug as Jana went off on a breathless recount of everything that had happened from the moment he and K-Nine met her until now.

“And there goes the debriefing and interrogation protocols,” K-Nine muttered. “At the rate Jana’s going, they'll know everything about our mission before she serves them refreshments.”

Matrix’s eye twitched.

“Oh, I probably shouldn’t have mentioned the dressing room, but that has never happened to me before. Just forget that part. Anyway, after the dressing room….” Jana continued.

Seal walked up next to Matrix, a knowing grin on his face, as Matrix was about to interrupt.

“Is she always like this?” Seal asked.

Matrix nodded while K-Nine snorted.

“Only when she’s excited,” K-Nine replied with a sly look at Matrix.

Matrix couldn’t help preening a little at the implication that Jana is always excited around him .

“I’m really glad we met you. Matrix was worried, especially after that creepy gray lady—no offense,” she added with a quick glance at Seal.

“None taken,” Seal responded.

Matrix ran a hand down his face. So much for security, not revealing much information, and learning where and when they were. He needed to have a talk with his mate once they were alone about… well, everything.

Seal nodded toward Jana. “Please tell me your mate doesn’t know a strange Earth dance called a Māori haka war dance?”

Matrix blinked. “A what?”

“A Māori haka war dance,” Seal repeated with a grimace. “Ti’Death’s daughter used it on me. Your mate reminds me a lot of her. If she does, I’ll be on Ti’Death’s ship, hiding. It would be safer.”

Matrix caught the neural link visual the other man shared with him of what he was talking about.

Seal grimaced again in remembered pain and cupped the front of his trousers.

Matrix winced when he saw the pole in the red-haired woman’s hands connecting with Seal’s crotch in a move that sent the man to his knees.

K-Nine, connected with him, released a loud, uncontrollable bark of laughter.

“She’s wicked with a body brush. I know from first-hand experience, unfortunately,” he replied, relaxing a little at their shared experience with two women who, for the sake of the galaxy, should probably never meet.

The galley aboard The Nebulosity had never been so full. Or so alive.

Matrix sat at the head of the narrow table, his posture deceptively relaxed, though every muscle in his body hummed with restraint. Jana sat beside him, pressed close, her arm tucked lightly against his.

Across from them, the towering Triterian, Bulldog Ti’Death, lounged like a mountain wearing armor.

Biscuit was curled up on his thigh, batting lazily at the thick leather straps on his gauntlet.

Honeybun and Butter had taken a liking to Seal—more specifically, to the buckles of his boots, which they were attempting to undo with single-minded determination.

Seal bore it well. Matrix had to give him credit; the man hadn’t moved a muscle, even when Butter tried to eat his pant leg.

Matrix’s gaze drifted toward the corridor where K-Nine was monitoring the bridge from a split-feed interface while attempting to hack into Seal and Bulldog’s ship logs.

Discreetly, of course.

Matrix’s focus snapped back as Jana leaned forward, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.

“So,” she asked brightly, “what cool things have been invented in the last eight hundred and fifty years? Are there more people? More planets? What’s the music like now? Are flying scooters a thing? Oh! Do we have intergalactic shopping networks?”

Matrix found himself cautiously appreciating her disarming nature. Her enthusiasm was contagious if he went by Bulldog’s chuckles. They were also wildly dangerous and he could not afford to relax.

Bulldog chuckled, his thick fingers scratching behind Biscuit’s ears. The kitten purred so loud he could hear it across the table.

Seal gave a half-smile. “Some of those answers are classified.”

Jana huffed. “You can’t tease a girl with the future and not share.”

Matrix tuned them out for a moment. He couldn’t help it—his nerves were on high alert. The presence of an unknown entity aboard The Nebulosity who resembled the Hive species from his neural encounter… it twisted his gut into knots.

I’m not going to harm them. I promise. Ti’Death would gut me if I tried.

The voice rang suddenly in his mind.

Matrix stilled. His eyes snapped to Seal.

The man’s mouth didn’t move. His body remained relaxed.

But he met Matrix’s gaze evenly. Calm. Controlled.

Bulldog likes the little furballs and your charming mate. I’ve been shot enough by the Triterian to know better than to mess with something he cares about. Your mate reminds him of his daughter. He loves Skeeter very much. Not to mention, Krac wouldn’t be happy, and I have no desire to upset him.

Matrix narrowed his eyes, replying cautiously through their mental link. Explain.

Seal answered by sharing a memory—clear, visceral, as if Matrix was there. He saw Bulldog standing with another man—one who looked like him.

Who is he?

He is like me. He is Section K Replication Alluthan Clone, also known as Krac. He was created using Alluthan technology and rescued by a direct descendant of the original Freedom Five, a human warrior called Anastasia Miller.

“Where is he?” Matrix asked aloud, unable to hide the tension in his voice.

Seal’s eyes darkened. “He helps protect a human woman named Gracie Jones. She is mated to Kordon Jefe. Jefe is the former Grand Admiral of the Confederation and is now a lead council member for it.”

Jana frowned before her eyes lit up in recognition when Seal mentioned Gracie Jones’s name.

“I met a little girl back on Earth called Gracie Jones. Wouldn’t it be weird if she and your Gracie were the same person?” she joked.

“She is,” K-Nine stated, his voice coming over the comlink from the bridge before he continued using the neural link between him and Matrix.

“ I’ve accessed their database. A facial comparison based on the file on Gracie Jones in the ship’s database is a 99.

9% match. She was a resistance fighter against the creatures who tried to override my system and whom you connected with. ”

Matrix frowned at Jana. “You met her?”

Seal stiffened and asked in unison, “You know Gracie?”

The tension in the room shifted. Bulldog stopped playing with Biscuit. Jana’s smile faded as she looked between them.

“I met her,” Jana said, her expression softening with memory. “Briefly. She was traveling with her family from a conference. She was bright, curious. She said she was seven, almost eight.”

Seal inhaled. “That little girl… grew up to save not only Earth but the Confederation.”

The silence was instantaneous.

“She learned the Alluthan language and uploaded a virus to the mothership after the waves of attacks nearly wiped out Earth. If it hadn’t been for her and the Freedom Five, there wouldn’t be a Confederation,” Bulldog said.

Jana’s lips trembled. “Earth was attacked? But I thought killing the Crawler meant the alien threat was over!”

“So did we,” Matrix replied in a grim tone, looking back at Seal.

“I have no records of Crawlers, just the Alluthans. They decimated the Earth. Billions of your species were lost. Gracie fought back. She cracked their systems, their defenses. The planet owes her everything. She is called the Mother of Freedom—just don’t say that in front of her.

Krac says she doesn’t like it,” Seal said.

Bulldog leaned forward, his tone grim. “Let me give you a little context. A very long time ago, I was part of an elite scouting team. Our job was to go where no others could or wanted to go. During my tenth year, we were at war with the Octoply. They had attacked several of the outer colonies, hoping to take over some of the most profitable mining operations we were running. While on patrol, I watched a squadron of them come out of nowhere, but they weren’t alone.

There was a brief battle between the Octoply and the alien ships that had followed them.

The unknown alien ships’ coordination was unbelievable.

It was as if they acted as one. After the battle, they turned and disappeared as if they had never existed. ”

“What did you do?” Matrix asked.

Bulldog huffed out a breath. “I followed them. I discovered an anomaly, almost like a rip in space. When my fighter went through, it was as if time and space had folded in on itself. The next thing I knew, I was here. None of my instrument readings made sense, so I began recording everything I could. On my second day, an unusual signal lit up my sensors. Something told me I needed to go silent. My scout fighter was designed with a special metal that helped hide our presence. That is probably the only thing that saved my hide,” Bulldog said, looking at Matrix.

“Your ship has something similar, I noticed.”

“The CPU ships all have a prototype shielding that makes the ships virtually invisible,” he acknowledged.

“CPU?” Seal asked.

Matrix hesitated, glancing at Jana who was listening in silence. She squeezed his thigh in encouragement. His gaze moved from his arm to Seal. It wasn’t like the other man wouldn’t know.

“Cyborg Protection Unit,” he explained, lifting his arm and flexing his fingers. “It appears it was the early version of cloning.”

Seal nodded in understanding.

“What did you discover?” Matrix asked.

Bulldog fingered his cup of tea with one of his hands and frowned with concentration.

“I saw a planet built of metal and warships similar to what you described. A long time later, after I got out of the military, I visited that area again and caught one of the little bastard’s ships alone.

They aren’t good fighters when they're alone, but it was still a challenge. I brought his fighter home, reverse-engineered the technology, and became a very rich man for my efforts. I was hoping I’d never see those damn creatures again.

I discovered not only are they still around, but it looks like scientists have been messing with their DNA a lot longer than even the Confederation will admit,” Bulldog said in a gruff tone, looking pointedly at Matrix.

Matrix stared down at the metal tabletop, his heart pounding.

He couldn’t stay silent anymore.

He lifted his gaze. “I need to tell you something.”

Seal’s eyes sharpened. Bulldog tilted his head, alert.

Matrix hesitated. Then spoke.

“I encountered something… someone… a few hours ago, during the energy disruption.”

He didn’t mention Elaine Brim. Or the Queen’s words. Or the bone-deep dread that still lived under his skin.

Instead, he gave them the surface details—the Hive-like species, the shared consciousness, the Queen’s psychic reach.

Seal swore. Out loud this time.

Jana jumped. Bulldog growled low.

“You’ve been touched by the Hive,” Seal said slowly. “It’s how they infect.”

Matrix shook his head. “No. She said I connected, but she couldn’t control me. I broke that connection, to me and to K-Nine. I had to shut him down so she couldn’t access his systems. She knows who I am and that I’m not alone, but she isn’t sure where I am.”

Seal’s jaw tightened. His gaze flicked to Jana—still pressed close to Matrix, petting Butter with trembling fingers.

Matrix didn’t hesitate. He sent a sharp, clear warning along the mental link:

Do not threaten her. Do not scare her. If you upset her, you’ll have more than the Hive to deal with.

Seal’s expression remained unreadable, but Matrix saw the message land.

“As long as you don’t jeopardize this mission,” Seal replied coolly, “there won’t be a problem.”

Bulldog rose to his full, terrifying height.

“It’s time to go home,” he said. “The Confederation must be warned. At least we know how the damn creatures are entering the star system for sure now. Rorrak, Kordon Jefe, Krac—they all need to hear this.”

Matrix looked down at Jana. Her face was pale, her eyes searching his. She leaned into him, and he wrapped his arm around her.

For the first time in hours, she looked afraid.

He took her hand, threading their fingers together.

He might not know this new galaxy. This time.

But one thing hadn’t changed.

He would protect her. With everything he had.