Captain Lucas Jarcor

by T. J. Quinn

  All men agreed and after giving them some security instructions, Jarcor went for his walk. He enjoyed walking around the camp alone, lost in his thoughts before going to bed.

  He had grown used to reliving his days with Sabrina. He was hoping to feel at least, some of the warmth that he had experienced next to her.

  The perfect opportunity to escape arrived just a few days after their conversation. When they realized the Taucets had been all killed, they cheered and turned to look at Jarcor for confirmation.

  He nodded and ordering the rest of the group to stay behind, he headed to the vehicle where the human soldier was waiting for them, accompanied by Jayport and Tobbil. The remaining cyborg team had to stay away, to avoid the soldier’s orders to compel them to act against their friends and that was the last thing they needed.

  The soldier jumped out of the vehicle and headed towards them. He was so sure of his dominance over the heavily armed cyborgs walking towards him that he didn’t even bother to take out his gun.

  “What are you doing here? Your shift isn’t over yet,” the man grumbled.

  “We’ve decided we’ve had enough,” Jarcor said in a scornful tone.

  “Get back out there. You can’t decide anything here,” the man ordered, arrogantly.

  Jarcor had foreseen the soldier’s reaction so he had covered Tobbil’s ears to prevent him from hearing the orders. It wasn’t an ideal situation, but it was better than have the young cyborg heading back into the battlefield.

  “That was your last order to us, dirtbag,” Jayport said, in an ice cold tone pointing the gun at the man.

  “Lower your gun. I said lower your gun,” the human soldier yelled, clearly scared.

  Jayport’s hands trembled but his aim never left the soldier’s head. “Not today. Cut open my friend’s main control system before my nervous finger decides to take a shot at you,”

  “I will not─” the man started saying, just to be interrupted by a bullet skimming past his left ear.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “You were saying?” Jarcor sneered at the soldier, handing him a scalpel. “Do as he told you and be careful with that, any foul play and you’ll wish that bullet had killed you,” he threatened him.

  “You can’t do this. Go back to the battlefield,” he insisted, shaking, obviously nervous.

  “I believe we’ve established we can. Get to it, now.” Jayport yelled at him and the man finally approached Tobbil scalpel in hand. Jarcor followed close behind, ignoring the pain caused by the disobedience as much as he could.

  The soldier cut through and lowered the patch of Tobbil’s skin, uncovering the panel below. With his part done, Jayport dropped the gun and quickly subdued the human, gagging and tying him up.

  With the soldier out of the way, it was easier to work on Tobbil and soon Jarcor had entered the access codes required to free him.

  Quickly, Tobbil grabbed the scalpel Jarcor had previously given him and cut open his control system. Jarcor instructed him as to the codes needed to deactivate the controls and soon they were running towards the rest of the group, swiftly repeating the operation.

  They were able to finish releasing the whole group before the Taucets returned, giving them enough time to escape the area. They would have preferred to use the vehicle, but they knew it had a tracking device and it would be insane taking it with them.

  “Where should we go?” Tobbil asked.

  “We’re not far from the Rocky Mountains. There are a lot of places there where we can hide for a while, as we regroup and decide what our next step should be,” Jarcor said.

  “Let’s go then, we’re wasting time here chatting. The relay team must be nearly due to get here,” Jayport pointed out.

  The others nodded and Jarcor led them out of there. For a few hours, the only sounds breaking the silence were their footsteps across the woods, and up the mountains. They didn’t stop that night. They kept going, putting as much distance as possible between them and the camp. It would be very hard for the guards to find them, but a group of twenty men dressed in army uniforms would be too noticeable, so they stayed away from roads and villages as much as possible.

  They finally made a stop the following morning, at the top of a hill. They could see clearly if someone approached them, so they established a roster for lookout while others went looking for food.

  Jarcor tested their communication system and though it didn’t have that wide a range, it suited their purposes.

  “Were you able to send all cyborgs the information with the codes?” Jayport asked, taking a seat next to Jarcor.

  “I set a program for the information to go out in a few days. With this massive escape, humans will be looking for accomplices and someone to blame on this, so I added extra firewalls and protections to all the information I’ve sent them,” he explained as he looked around.

  He was still having trouble believing they had finally escaped. Ever since he had woken up from his surgery he had felt as if he had been living in a damn nightmare. The only time he had felt human again had been in the arms of Sabrina. But he knew that wasn’t happening again.

  He was certain she would had moved on with her life and she’d forget he even existed, and he knew it was for the best for her.

  The hunters returned, and they roasted the deer they had hunted and killed. After feasting on the meat, they cleared the area, erasing all signs of their presence, before they continued on their way.

  Like the night before, they didn’t stop to rest. They were all eager to put as much distance between themselves and the human soldiers as they could. They were positive there would be a massive search for them.

  After seven days running up the mountains, they finally found a small abandoned village they decided to use a shelter. They assumed it to be empty because it had been raided by the Taucets. They usually cleaned up the areas, taking the inhabitants as their prisoners, though most rumors said humans were turned into slaves.

  “Spread around the locale, look for food. We need something other than meat,” Jarcor ordered.

  “Yes, please, I’m starting to miss the camp’s food,” one of the men complained, making the rest laugh out loud. Not even the dogs would miss that camp’s dreadful food.

  They were able to find some canned food and after cleaning up one of the abandoned buildings they established their quarters there. Though they were still excited with their freedom, Jarcor knew they had to find a more permanent solution for them.

  “What are your plans?” Jayport asked him that night, as if reading the thoughts that rushed through his mind.

  “We need to find a place where we can be safe,” he said, frowning.

  “Do you think there is such a place on this planet?”

  “Yes, in South America there are impenetrable jungles where a man could hide forever, but it wouldn’t be an ideal solution. We need a place of our own.”

  “You mean, like a planet?” Tobbil asked, excited.

  “There are several planets not far from this solar system where we could live,” Jarcor nodded. “Humans wouldn’t have any jurisdiction there and we would truly be free.”

  “How would we get there? Humans don’t have that kind of technology,” one of the other men stated.

  “But the Taucets do. We need to find a Taucets’ colony and steal one of their vessels,” Jarcor explained.

  “Who would fly it?” Jayport asked.

  “I’m sure I could fly it. I was an air force pilot and it can’t be that different. We just need to get our hands on one of those and then we’ll figure out the rest.”

  “True, after all our intelligence is a lot higher than average. There isn’t much we can’t learn,” Jayport added.

  Jarcor nodded.

  They chatted a few more minutes before they started to look for a place to sleep. Jarcor had established sentry teams that would be relieved after four hours, so he too, closed his eyes and tried to get some rest.

  They had quite a challe
nge in front of them, but he was sure they would be able to do it. Whoever had made the decision of turning him into a cyborg, removing all his human rights had made a huge mistake. They had made him aware of the inhumane way people were treating cyborgs, just because they were mechanically enhanced.

  The Government was blatantly ignoring the cyborg’s hearts and their souls and that was unfair, to say the least.

  With the establishment of the Cyborg base in the abandoned village, they would make several incursions to the nearest towns to get some food and supplies, trying to go as unnoticed as possible.

  They had to steal the things they needed, since the cyborgs had never been paid for their job as soldiers and Jarcor had been stripped of all his possessions he had owned prior to his life altering surgery. They were careful to only take what they strictly needed.

  Like they said, it was only fair they got some restitution for all they had done, risking their lives for humanity.

  In one of their trips around the area, they stumbled upon a Taucet colony. They cheered at the discovery, finally feeling they were closer to getting what they needed: a way off the planet.

  “Maybe we should try to talk to them, you know, your enemy’s enemy is your friend,” Jayport suggested, with a frown.

  “We can’t risk getting killed. Not when we’re free and so close to getting out of here,” Jarcor dismissed his friend’s idea. “We just need to get one of their bigger ships and use it to get out of here.”

  “We would need fuel and enough supplies for a long trip through space, since we don’t have any idea where we’re going.” Jonbran, one of the men, pointed out.

  “I’m sure we can get all that from the Taucets. We have to move closer to where they are and study their movements, before we decide how to act further,” Jarcor replied.

  “That makes sense,” Jayport agreed.

  “We can leave in the morning. It will only take us a few days to get there.” Jetfra, one of the men from the group that had found the colony, explained. “We can hide in the woods outside the colony and scan it thoroughly.”

  “Perfect. We’ll all go. If we get the opportunity to get the vessel we need, we’ll be able to leave this place immediately.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  They left the following day, with all the food they could carry and with all the weapons they had escaped with. They had no idea what they would find on this new adventure and they wanted to be as prepared as possible.

  The Taucet colony wasn’t very big. There were only half a dozen igloo style structures connected to each other through hallways. They also had what looked like greenhouses and their vessels were parked on a huge field next to it.

  They had all kinds of vessels, from the small ones for short trips and air attacks the cyborgs had experienced at their base, to the huge one, that clearly had brought them here.

  The bigger one was hovering over the colony, so if they wanted to get onboard, they would have to commandeer a smaller one and fly in to it.

  With luck, they wouldn’t have more than a couple of guards watching the vessel and they would be able to overpower them easily.

  “The ship must have enough fuel to take them back to their home planet,” Jayport pointed out. “That should be enough to take us where we want to go.”

  “Yes. That’s a possibility, I must confess the ship is a bit bigger than I expected. It will take us too long to learn how to fly a thing like that,” Jarcor said, in a stern tone.

  “Then, we’ll have to force the guards on the ship to fly it for us,” Jetfra said, scowling.

  Jarcor nodded. That was another possibility they would have to consider, if they really wanted to get out of here.

  They evaluated their chances and watched the colony for a few days to get some notion of their routine allowing them to plan the best way to get to onboard the ship unnoticed.

  During their watches, Jarcor realized what Sabrina had told him was true. The Taucets were abducting humans and enslaving them.

  The workforce on the colony was human, mostly females of all ages. Apparently, they used different colored clothing to identify their jobs in the colony and though the cyborgs were horrified with the women’s situation, they knew there wasn’t much they could do to help them.

  Once more, Jarcor prayed Sabrina had been able to go back home safe and sound. Though he had tried, he hadn't been able to forget her, and he was starting to think he would never forget her.

  The other thing they were able to establish with their reconnaissance, was that every two days, a couple of guards would fly up to the ship with food and supplies and change places with the ones stationed on the ship.

  That allowed them to plan their attack.

  “We have to find a way to get inside the vessel before they get there and hide from them. Once we’re on the ship, we’ll surprise them and take control. I’m sure it won’t be that hard to convince them to take us out of here,” Jarcor explained.

  “They lower their guard at night. We must use that time to get inside the craft and wait for the guards. The vessels look big enough to hide us all inside,” Jayport added.

  “Yes, I’m sure of it too. They don’t seem to check the vessel before they leave, so we should be safe until they land inside the mothership,” Jarcor continued. “Once there, we’ll hopefully outnumber the guards so subduing them shouldn’t be that hard.”

  His men nodded, looking excited. They all wanted to leave Earth and find a place they could call home.

  They put their plan into action the following night, thankful that everything went as planned.

  The minute the craft landed on the main ship, the cyborgs exited their hiding place and as they had predicted, it wasn’t hard to subdue the four aliens’ onboard the vessel.

  Once they had them restrained, Jarcor sent four of his men to check the rest of the vessel. The last thing he wanted was unpleasant surprises.

  “What are you doing here?” snarled a Taucet, struggling to free himself. “Getting this ship won’t help you win this war,” he warned them with a sarcastic tone.

  “We’re not interested in fighting in this war anymore. We need this ship to leave the Earth and you’ll help us,” Jarcor explained.

  They didn’t have much time before the Taucets on the colony noticed something was wrong.

  “Why should we help you? You’re our enemies.” The same alien asked, with scorn.

  “You’ll help us because I’m sure you value your life a lot more than we do,” he replied, with a disdainful scowl.

  Meanwhile, Jayport had been scanning the ship and comparing it with all the information Jarcor had transmitted to him about flying aircrafts.

  “This is easier than we expected, Jarcor. Its voice activated, and it has no security measures, so anyone can activate it,” Jayport explained, with a wide smile.

  “So, we don’t need them?” Jarcor asked, sounding pleased.

  “No, no, of course you need us. We’ll help,” another one of the Taucets said, eager to preserve his life.

  “Are you insane? You can’t help them,” the first Taucet protested.

  “They’ll kill us if we don’t. I haven’t yet lived enough,” the second one replied.

  The four aliens started talking in their own language but after a few moments they had agreed to cooperate with the cyborgs. Apparently, their lives were too short to waste on lost battles.

  Before they departed, Ronjay, one of the men Jarcor had sent to check the rest of the ship, returned and used their private channel to warn him of a possible threat. Jarcor turned to look at one of aliens. “Are there other people on board?” he asked with a stern tone.

  “Just some of our slaves. We keep them here for our entertainment,” the alien explained. “And they also serve us,” he explained.

  “How many of them are here?”

  “Ten, last time I checked. You’re free to use them any way you wish,” the alien quickly offered.

  Jarcor nodded and ordered
Ronjay to go get the women. They hadn't been able to scan the ship, like they usually did with wherever they were, and that could only mean the metal used by the Taucets was a lot different than the ones they had on Earth.

  His men returned with the frightened women, all humans, but there was no time to send them back to the planet. They would have to come along with them.

  It was only fair if they used some of the humans as slaves, considering the way they treated cyborgs.

  “Keep them locked up until we decide what to do with them,” he ordered, as he turned to look at the Taucets. “Get us out of here and be careful with what you do. We know enough to detect foul play.”

  It only took them a few minutes to get out of the planet’s atmosphere. By the time the Taucets on land realized the main ship had left, it was too late to stop them. The small vessels didn’t have enough power to follow them.

  “Do you have any idea where you want to go?” Exion, one of the aliens asked. His blueish skin wasn’t that different from the cyborgs’ skin, though they had dark blue spots, framing their faces and down their naked shoulders. Like all Taucets, he also had huge dark eyes with oblong pupils and long, thick, dark blue crests where humans and cyborgs had hair.

  “We want to get out of this solar system and find a place where we can live,” Jarcor explained.

  “There are millions of planets where you could live,” the Taucet explained. “You’ll have to be a bit more specific than that.

  “Why did you invade us then?” Jetfra asked, puzzled.

  “Most of those planets are deserted. But your planet has something we need urgently.” It was obvious he wasn’t going to tell them what it was, so they didn’t insist.

  “Can you take us to one of those planets? Preferably one with no other people living on it,” Jarcor asked.

  He knew they were risking a lot trusting the blue creatures, but the universe was too vast for them to wander aimlessly. Out here, they were sailing unchartered waters, and they would need all the help they could use. Humans’ knowledge on the universe was insufficient.