I stated, that is not the kind of family unit I want.”

“You’re a cyborg . It’s your duty to breed.”

A muscle in Flint’s jaw jumped. He was obviously angry again. “I’m aware of that and fully intend to comply.”

A look of horror hit Arrion’s face. Her eyes flew to Mira. “With her? With a human? She’s short and fragile. You can’t possibly breed a child with that.”

Flint reached down to lift his bag again. “That’s the plan.”

Arrionmoved quickly to launch her body at Flint. She gripped his arm, moving closer, to go almost nose to nose with him. Only a few inches in height separated them. “Reconsider. I’m ready to breed. I’m going to prepare my body for ovulation. I will give you the first opportunity with me. You can prepare your body when I do. We’d have a strong child together.”

Flint clenched his jaw as he jerked his arm out of her hold. “My decision is made. I will see you when my downtime is over and I’m ready to report back to duty.”

Mira was pushed out of the office by Flint’s strong hand gripping her elbow. He led her away. Behind them a door slammed shut. The sound of glass breaking was distinctive. It seemed Arrion was having a fit of temper. Zare was standing in Flint’s path blocking his way, alarm clearly written on his face.

“I heard. You’re brave to deny her.” He spoke softly.

“I don’t want that type of family unit.”

Zarenodded. “Nor do I, but what options do we have?”

“Her.” Flint gestured to Mira.

Zarelooked down at Mira and frowned. “Humans hate us.”

Flint tilted his head slightly. He was staring at Zare and didn’t look away. “Do you hate me, Mira?”

“No,” she said softly. “You know I don’t.”

Zarefrowned at Mira. “Humans hate us. They want every one of us destroyed.”

Mira looked up at the tall cyborg . “I don’t. A lot of my generation doesn’t. We are horrified at what was done to cyborgs on Earth. To try to kill and abuse someone for being different is wrong and just evil.”

Shifting his attention to Flint, Zare sighed. “What about breeding compatibility? Arrion had a point. Your female is small boned and fragile.”

“I spoke to the Star ’s medic. You’ve met Doc. He did a little research for me. The Star was a human vessel and the ship was fully banked with Earth information and medical files. We were created to have dominant genes. Any children we share will inherit my genes. Doc believes there will be fewer genetic defects with our children because a union with a human will bring healthier results than a set of cyborgs breeding.”

“Damn. I bet no one on Garden wants that information known. Otherwise we’d be inflowing human females into our society. She’s still property status though, even if you get permission to form a family unit with her. Humans will probably always remain property.”

Flint shrugged. “It matters not. She’s protected either way. As a citizen or as my property no one can harm her or remove her from me. It actually has advantages. Cyborg females must be shared because of their limitedness. As my property, Mira is mine alone. If another male were to try to touch her it would be in my right to kill him for trying to take what I own.”

Zarehad a thoughtful expression on his face. “You should leave before Arrion stops sulking. She had her mind set on you being the third and final of her family unit and you know she holds grudges.”

Flint nodded, turning his attention on Mira. “Let’s go. Now we are going home.”

Mira followed him back to the lift while her mind worked. Flint’s world was messed up. Flint was a possessive man, she’d learned that, and property or not she’d seen it in the way he’d protected her from the other men on the Star . The idea of having to share a woman with two other men had probably not been his ideal plan.

They left the building to walk two blocks over to another blue building. She saw curving text etched on each one. The markings looked like the tattoos on her and on Flint, obviously their written cyborg language. She wondered if she’d have to learn it now that she lived on Garden, instantly hoping she wouldn’t have to because she wasn’t good with other languages. She was just really happy that cyborgs still spoke English instead of adopting or creating some other language when they’d done the written