0103

by Jessie Rose Case

  They could be friendly, floated across his optic. It was a 42% probability.

  His logic was right. There was a close even chance they were friendly. Expecting friendly got you killed. Prepared for battle didn’t. And they’d made no effort to contact him.

  ***

  Donna raced onto the Bridge. “We need to hurry. I can’t explain it,” she told Sord coming to a stop by his chair.

  “We have one more fault to check before the planet destination. We are going as fast as we can.”

  Donna shook her head. “No, forget the last fault marker. We need to get to that planet now. I think there’s a survivor. On his own and trouble is coming.” She wrung her hands.

  Brok came to stand next to her. “How do you know that?”

  Donna shook her head. “I don’t know, I just do. It makes sense of the dreams I’ve been having.”

  Sord leant forward. “What dreams?” She explained what she could without describing the heat in some of them. She gave his description, what it felt like that last time and what she’d said to him. “Why did you tell him trouble was coming and that he needed to wake?”

  “I….don’t know. But it was real or felt real. I can’t explain it, but he looked injured. I couldn’t find him for a while, but I could feel he was sleeping but too deep for me to reach. And that last one felt……… tainted somehow. Then he turned up and had four large gashes across his chest. I think he was in a healing sleep it’s the only explanation I can think of as to why I couldn’t reach him at first, and I just knew he had to wake. Trouble was coming for him and it wasn’t what had made those claw marks. Everything in me says we need to get there now, or it will be too late.”

  Sord did that glazed over thing they all did, then looked back at her and gave a nod. “New co-ordinates. Target the planet destination.”

  “We have a Cyborg comns message coming from the direction of the planet.” Ops informed them.

  She turned to Brok. “That has to be him. We still might not make it,” she told him.

  “Play message,” Sord called out.

  Brok touched her shoulder. “He’s Cyborg right?” she nodded. “Then he has a chance.”

  ***

  “Three landing craft are on an intercept course.”

  They’d taken their time, but it had given him the time he needed to finish his preparations. Had he the option, he would have preferred to lay in wait for the crafts to arrive and observe his guests at close quarters. That wasn’t really a physical option. If he got caught in open ground, he’d be in trouble. 0103 Headed back inside. He’d have to use more resources and do remote recon. It was the only option.

  The ships sensors picked up his guests beyond the trees. All 212 of them. Those were challenging odds for anyone. Including a Cyborg. As they moved towards him, ships cameras picked them up. Human. They looked a mix of people. No uniforms. Colonists? No…… he didn’t think so. There were no females. That wasn’t to say they weren’t on the ship in orbit they could be but, in any colony, females took as much of a lead as males did. They would be there amongst the men coming at him and weren’t. Then there was the men’s bearing. Wary. Taking orders from one leader. And how they held their weapons. Tight, afraid. The body language, tentative, excited. Predatory. Many carrying evidence of being in battle before.

  Logic told him this was an army of some kind. Had humans come to space looking to make war on others? He didn’t have the answer to that. When he’d left, they were some of the first to leave Old Earth. But he knew humanities history was littered with examples of people striving for might and treading on the rest to get it.

  “Computer, can we hear what they are saying?”

  “They are coming into range now.”

  “Let’s hear it.”

  Words and conversation slowly came into focus. It didn’t take long for him to realise that these were not colonist. They were predators. Scroungers, smugglers, thief’s and he expected murderers and rapists from the conversation. “Fire a warning shot before they come into range.”

  “Affirmative.”

  Two minutes later the ship gave a volley over their heads. He watched them fall back a bit, looking for their enemy. Right here mates….. “Relay comms to the perimeter posts and put them on speaker.”

  “Ready.”

  “This is sovereign territory. Leave before we open fire.”

  There appeared to be some confusion amongst them, then they regrouped. Had they expected to find no one here?

  “There is no record of a colony this far out or of this world being registered.” Shouted the leader.

  “Clearly your records are wrong.” He told them simply. “What is your purpose here?”

  “We have no purpose other than exploration. Who are you?” the leader asked.

  The leader’s face told him he wasn’t being completely honest. “That is irrelevant,” 0103 told him. “We hold sovereignty here.”

  He watched as several conversations took place between what he guessed were the three leaders of each of the landing craft. After a while the same male took a step forward. “Stop,” 0103 roared out. “Take another step and you risk being fired upon.” The man stopped and looked more closely at his defenses.

  “Thank you for the warning friend. We will consult with our leader. If this is sovereign territory, we will obey by it.” 0103 Continued to watch the male’s facial expressions. He was lying. They were going to re-group and test his defences. Looking for any weaknesses. It was the logical response. It was what he would have done in their position. He didn’t bother answering and the men slowly withdrew back into the trees.

  “Continue to monitor their behaviour. They will be coming again.”

  “Affirmative.”

  Ships sensors told him they camped with their landing craft. Whatever conferring had to be done, wasn’t done in person if at all. It was more likely that they ran their own show, the leader of the ship was probably with them. The one doing all the talking.

  Night drew in. 0103 Checked on the animals. Water and feed were on automatic. They’d not been worse off due to his absence. Robots helped with the cleaning and bedding. Nothing seemed amiss. He talked to each of them. It wasn’t logical but over the years he’d found he enjoyed it and he thought maybe they did too. He found it peaceful being with them. They made no real demands and expected very little. But they had been company generation after generation during his long time alone. His logic told him that without their simple company, the length of time would have been damaging to him.

  Maybe they had saved his sanity. It was possible.

  Leaving the animals behind, he made his way to the kitchen and seared steaks, replicating a number of dishes to go with them. He ate and drank while watching the screens. Not sure when the next time might be that he would get a chance to eat again. His system could go for days without eating if needed, but to remain in optimum condition he needed high protein nourishment. His system reminded him he was still recovering from the injury. He was far from 100% and had to accept that. His nano’s would need the protein to feed on while they healed him. Even so, the odds were still stacked against him.

  If the men in camp weren’t completely stupid, they’d know he had sensors that would kick off if they came too close and would try to avoid that. He tracked small groups leaving the camp area and circling out around his ship. It had started then…. They’d be looking for weaknesses. They weren’t going to find any. His confident rating was justly high. He done his job well. His preparations in facing predators on this world had helped him. The ship was well guarded. That didn’t mean they wouldn’t try. He knew they would. They were here for a reason and he didn’t believe they were walking away any time soon.

  He watched as several small groups split off headed further out. Checking the terrain, he guessed. Looking for anything of value probably. They were heading into beast and hog territory. Had they asked he could have told them, that way only lay in death, but they hadn’t. It was li
kely he could strike those off his list. He doubted they’d make it back. That was 30 down.

  Others then went to the West and North. There wasn’t much there to find either. Mainly groups the smaller predators. They could do a lot of damage too. He might be able to write off some of those too. Over half the men had been sent out. That left around 100 at the camp. His survival odds had just got a lot better.

  His stomach full, his system registered as tiredness was seeped in. The nano’s were making their needs known. The injury… He could feel it pulling on him. The nano’s needed him to shut down to finish their work. If he didn’t while he could, he risked further injury, or his recovery further compromised. Damage limited his abilities and that could be fatal. Logic told him he needed to deal with it before there was a battle.

  He didn’t like it but accepted the logic of it. “Computer monitor all action within sensor range. Anything that compromises our systems wake me.”

  Walking back to the medical bay he engaged the lock. Going to the bed laying down, he switched to sleep cycle. His system slowed, his sleep diagnostic ran telling him he would be out for 8.7.2 hours. 0103 Connected impulses to his temples, if he needed to wake before his sleep cycle was up, the ships computer would pulse him. 0103 Went into standby.

  He was dreaming again. He’d given up thinking it was impossible. His emotional sensors showed he was glad of the chance to see the female once more.

  He was back in that meadow where he’d seen her last. The sun and breeze exactly the same. 0103 Drew in the cool breeze and turned his face towards the sun. The rays beating down warming him. He listened for the female singing but couldn’t pick up the notes as he had before and was saddened that she wasn’t waiting for him. Just the birds singing the morning chorus. He walked slowly around marvelling at the complexity of the dream. Had she created all this? Logic held no answers as to how that was possible. She couldn’t have seen it….

  “Hello.” 0103 Turned quickly and found the female standing where she hadn’t only moments ago.

  “How is it that you know this place?” he asked.

  The female looked around, taking in the sun and air too. “I do not know it. Its beautiful but it’s not my creation or imagination. I don’t know this world. I think it’s yours,” she told him turning towards him and smiling.

  0103 Walked towards her and drew her into his embrace. “Thank you for the warning you were right to wake me. Had you not done so, I would likely be dead. I was far to injured form the beast attack to set the computer to wake me.”

  “You are well now?”

  “Well enough female.” Donna sighed. It was comforting to be in such large safe arms knowing he was safe. “This is a beautiful world,” he told her, “but it is not early spring here. Are you coming here?”

  Donna nodded. “Yes, we are on our way.”

  “Will you be that long, will it be spring before you arrive?”

  She shook her head. “No, we’re near. And this has always been your creation, so I guess the timeframe means something to you and I’m joining you somehow.”

  0103 Frowned. “Are you with the aggressors that arrived.”

  She shook her head. “No. We believe them to be Pirates. We’re coming to aid you. I am part of a Cyborg crew. I was told to give you this.” She held her hand up and on it was a Cyborg code. One he recognised.

  He took her hand and kissed it gently holding it to his heart. “That could be replicated easy enough,” he told her honestly.

  She gazed up at him. “It could but this couldn’t.” She repeated the coding Brok had given her.

  He nodded. “I understand. You are not Cyborg. Do they have humans in their crew?”

  She gazed at him and nodded. “They do.”

  “I have waited a long time for you to arrive.”

  Donna frowned. “I’m sorry it took us so long to find you. We didn’t know if the intel was real or not. It was buried as with most things that are Earth Corp. We came on spec to see if anything about the intel was real and followed the predicted fault lines. We found debris from your ship in a lot of them. Recovered some of your missing men. It’s a miracle any of you made it at all.” She couldn’t keep the anger from her voice.

  “That makes you angry. Why?”

  “They sent you out in a ship that was going to fail one way or another. It was a death mission and they did it anyway. It was bloody stupid and reckless with other people’s lives.

  ”We’re not people.”

  Donna frowned. “You’re wrong, you are your own people.”

  He gave the slightest of movements in his shoulders. “We nearly didn’t make it.”

  She nodded. “We know. The people that have arrived, they could be dangerous you need to know that.”

  “How did you know they were coming close to our orbit, that you needed to wake me?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know how my gift works sometimes. This is way out of my comfort zone. I’m glad my warning worked.”

  “Are you real then? Cyborgs are not female. You’re human. Do you own them?”

  The female smiled and took a step back from his arms. He reluctantly let her go. “No. They are free men. I work with them in the real world.”

  “Then how are you here at all?”

  She shrugged. “I do not know. I’m empathic. My gift evolves like everything else. This is or was to be, colony Alfa Gamma 3, correct?” The female looked excited as she said it. Her scent lingered on the breeze as he instinctively breathed in. Every time he did, it rolled over his tongue and down into him. It was beyond beautiful and…. delicious. He didn’t need a diagnostic to tell him his system was jumping all over the place. He loved the way she scented and the response of his body. His balls became heavy with seed, his cock thickened and grew. His heart speeding up. That was all the explanation he needed. They’d been used on females by the Designers. Given orders to fuck and penetrate, to impregnate them. Not that that had worked outside of DNA mixing in a lab. Physical conception by the time he’d left, still wasn’t possible. The sperm died.

  “Do you know why the colonists didn’t make it?” she asked distracting him.

  He had no knowledge passed leaving Old Earth. He’d not been awake until they’d landed here. The ships computers had knowledge of the faults and journey though. He’d spent many nights reading what had happened. He didn’t disagree with her assessment of the ship.

  “There is only information on our journey in the ships databanks. No colonists ever arrived.”

  He could read the female’ face, she was sad hearing it but not surprised. Then she looked up at him straight into his eyes. Hers were clear and green. As beautiful as she was. “You’re Cyborg right?” He gave a nod. “How long? How long have you been here?”

  “122.4.1 Years.”

  The female didn’t hide her shock. “Fuck. Sorry I mean wow. How many of you?”

  0103 Cracked a smile. “Do you expect me to give away my position and strength female?” His system told him she would not betray his trust. He didn’t know how he knew that, but he believed it to be true. “Not as many as started,” he said with distain. “Everyone who survived to get here, are still here. They are back in stasis. Some damaged, others, too many faults to fix and I don’t have the equipment. There is a high possibility, that I too will die here. I am outnumbered and not at full capacity. The attack by one of the beasts on this world, induced poison into my system, I was in a healing sleep when you found me the last time. Now 212 men have arrived. They look and act like an army but, not uniformed or military. From their conversation, they take what they want with little regard for anyone or anything else. However, nearly half maybe dead by now.”

  “They’re pirates. Renegades. Dead how?”

  “Predators. There are a number on this world. Be careful when you arrive. Stay away from West, North and East of my encampment when you get here. If I’m gone and my ship is intact, you will find live stock and frozen produce and seed.”
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br />   She nodded. “Have they made contact, the Pirates?”

  He gave her a slow nod back. “They came in three ships not far from my landing. They’re looking for weaknesses.”

  She cocked her head. “They going to find any?”

  He laughed she looked so cute……. Challenging him. He liked it. He recognised her for what she was. A temptation. “You know it is not good to challenge a Cyborg?” Was she so naive?

  To his surprise she chuckled. “Honey, I’m on a ship with over 400 of them and my man is the cockiest jock Cyborg I’ve ever met!”

  0103 Found himself taking those few steps back towards her. He didn’t want to scare her but had a driving need to touch something so precious again, to feel if she was real here, in his dream. Reaching out he touched her hair blowing in the breeze. She had a man…. But had been with him in this dream world. Disappointment registered in his emotions. “He’s a lucky man….”

  Looking down at his hand running the silk threads of her hair through his fingers, she looked confused and blinked. Then something must have registered as she looked back up at him. “He is not my mate, he’s my friend and bodyguard.”

  “Cyborgs do not have …. Mate’s.” He told her while his systems riled against the knowledge.

  She pulled her hair free and took a step back. “You’ve been gone a long time Cyborg. We have an Empire. A Cyborg Empire and Cyborgs have mates, families and children.”