***
The Prime Minister had decided to grant Krug’s request to guard the prisoner. Krug was very pleased. He had arrived at the prison house in ample time and was waiting for his orders when he spotted her. Another guard had brought her in, hands cuffed behind her. Her hair hung sleek down her back, complementing the Zethron bodysuit that hugged her body and showed off every one of her curves.
“Officer Krug? Officer Krug?” a young female cyborg was trying to get his attention.
“Hmm, yes?” he answered distractedly.
“I’m Officer Qua. We will be working together to guard the prisoner. She is just being processed as we speak. Are you ready?”
Krug nodded in consent.
“Great. Follow me.”
*****
Exonyie massaged his wrists after the guard took the handcuffs off of him.
“The Prime Minister has dropped all charges of treason against you. You may go,” the guard said as he walked away and left Exonyie alone. He walked out of the prison house and into the Zethron air.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the address to Deborah’s office and hailed a cab. Avi had explained that Deborah was her only hope. As a human activist, Deborah had been conducting research on hundreds of cyborgs for over thirty years. Avi had told Exonyie stories that her brother had shared with her from his years of working for Authority Figure 718. Her brother had knowledge that Authority Figure 718 was stealing imported gold to finance some of his personal business interests. Through exposing Authority Figure 718’s disloyalty to the empire, Avi could prove that she didn’t murder anyone, but had instead saved the empire from financial constraints. It was a much better defense than any other involved party could come up with, and it was her only chance at survival.
The cab pulled up to the office on the human colony and Exonyie stepped out. He had never been in the human colony before, and it was desolate. All of the beauty and color of Zethron ceased to exist on this side of the planet. It was like the government only cared about the areas where the cyborgs lived and left the humans to fend for themselves. The only thing the empire recognized the human race as good for was manual labor. Exonyie walked up to the steps to Deborah’s office and was greeted by a cheery blond receptionist.
“I’ll page Deborah and let her know that you’re here. Please have a seat,” she said.
The receptionist picked up an archaic phone and announced Exonyie’s arrival. A few minutes later a woman in a tailored gray suit walked out of an office and approached him.
“Commander, I’m Deborah,” she introduced herself as she extended her hand towards him. Handshaking was not a customary cyborg tradition, but Deborah must have felt that he was worthy of this human ritual because of his relationship with Avi. He took her hand and shook it firmly. A smile appeared on her face. “Please follow me to my office,” Deborah requested.
The office was decorated with family photos and pictures of special places on Earth. Exonyie realized that humans wanted to show off the things that they loved, as opposed to cyborgs who just wanted to make everything pretty. What mattered more? he thought to himself.
“Please, have a seat Commander. How can I help you?” Deborah inquired.
“Thank you for seeing me today, Deborah. As you know, Avi’s situation is very dangerous. There is not much we can do to save her life, but that is my main goal,” Exonyie began.
“Yes, Avi told me much about you, Commander, and your goal to protect her at all costs. I just have to ask—what do you gain from this endeavor?” Deborah asked earnestly.
Exonyie didn’t have to think about his response before he blurted it out. “Her, Deborah. I would gain her.”
Another smiled appeared on her lips.
“Avi was right about you, darlin’. You are one of a kind,” she said as she giggled. “Let me get those files for you and we’ll discuss the case,” she said. She rummaged through her desk and pulled out an over-flowing manilla file. She opened up to the first page and then she leaned in towards Exonyie.
“Okay, we know how detrimental it is for you to stand up for Avi, especially on the witness stand, but to stand up against your own is going to cause a huge stir, so we need you to do it. As her defence lawyer, I told Avi that this is a longshot, but I believe that if we play our cards right, we can exonerate her of all charges.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes,” said Exonyie.
***
Avi’s chest was heaving as she tried to calm down. Blood was dripping down her face, but she knew that nothing was broken, at least on her. She couldn’t say the same for the cyborg who had tried to assault her. Krug was lying on the bottom of her cell, nose gushing blood. His partner Qua had run to get first aid. Qua was aware of the attack, and Avi hoped that she would stick up for her, but it didn’t matter. Her trial was in less than an hour anyway. Avi had to prepare herself for the worst, so she sat down and meditated, something her mother had taught her. She hadn’t meditated in a very long time.
“Avi Mitchell,” an unfamiliar guard said as he walked up to her cell, eyeing the bleeding cyborg shouting profanities.
“Yes?” Avi responded curtly as she stood up.
“I’m going to escort you to the courtroom. Please put your hands behind your back,” he said as he walked up and cuffed her. The man was gentle as he escorted her down the long white hall, towards the courtroom door.
“Please do not turn around or show any emotion on your face. I have a message from Exonyie. He said that he met with Deborah and he will take the stand if he needs to, but he feels that when the Prime Minister receives the information that they have compiled, he won’t need to. So, just stay calm during the trial, everything will be okay soon.” Avi listened to the cyborg and finally recognized the voice as Zen from Exonyie’s ship.
“Thank you,” she whispered gratefully.
“Any person, cyborg or human, that the Commander would risk his life for, is someone worth saving. No thanks are needed,” he replied sincerely. Tears welled up in Avi’s eyes and she sucked them back in remembering his order from a second ago. She composed herself as he opened the door to the courtroom.
Avi was led into the room, and came face to face with a crowd of angry cyborgs, ready to watch her plead guilty to a murder of one of their own and make sure that she received the harshest of punishments—death. Deborah was not there, for some reason. Avi took a calming breath as the guard led her to the bench where she would be sitting for the duration of the trial.
“Stay strong and remember what I said,” he whispered as he left her side. The courtroom guard walked up and called the courtroom to order as four imperial judges filtered in and sat at the bench overlooking Avi.
“We call to order this case of Zethron versus Avi Mitchell in the murder of Authority Figure 718,” the head judge proclaimed. Avi gulped as she heard the charges against her called out.
“How does the defendant plead?” the head judge asked as he glared down at her.
“Not guilty, your honor,” Deborah said as the door of the courtroom burst open with Exonyie and the Prime Minister trailing behind her.
“Your excellency,” the judge stammered as the whole courtroom stood and bowed.
“To what do we owe the pleasure?” the head imperial judge asked as the Prime Minister walked up to the bench and handed him a file. After carefully viewing its contents, the judge faced Avi.
“Avi Mitchell?”
“Yes?” she replied, daring to hope.
“According to the power of the Prime Minister and of this court, due to the current findings that have come to light, you have been exonerated of the death of the murder of Authority Figure 718. We actually should be thanking you for saving us from fiscal depletion. You are free to go,” he announced as Zen walked up and released her from the handcuffs.
Exonyie ran up to Avi and threw his arms around her. “I am so glad you’re safe,” he exclaimed, as he leaned down and kissed her openly for all to see.
> “You really came back for me,” she said with awe. There had been a part of her that didn’t dare to believe that he cared so much.
“I told you I would, and I always keep my word,” he promised as he held her close. The Prime Minister walked up to the couple.
“I want to give my apologies for what happened. This cyborg has really sacrificed himself for you and for the good of Zethron. He has been esteemed a hero and I am personally in his debt. I will grant you two anything that you would like,” the Prime Minister offered graciously.
Avi and Exonyie looked at the Prime Minister. “We would like a ship to travel the galaxy so that we may find a planet to settle on,” Exonyie requested.
“Very well, I will see to that right away. However, Zethron will always be your home. Remember that you will always have our protection, no matter what part of the universe you are in,” the Prime Minister said as she walked away from the couple.
“Now, we can start our life together,” Avi said as she kissed Exonyie, pulling him close and vowing to never let him go.
THE END
Bonus Story 39 of 40
Mated with the Cyborgs
Shimmering and beautiful, space was unveiled around all sides of Juniper as the observation deck folded back its most protective layers. Thick glass allowed Juniper to observe the worlds that stretched and webbed in the galaxies ahead of her.
The observation deck was a large lounge with long couches and tables, an abandoned bar sat against a wall. The floor was a dark and wood-like, created from plastics and manmade fiber when wood became a rarity. Between it and the curtain of space, the white furniture and pale Juniper seemed to float like stars. She collapsed into one of the oversized chairs, its shape was angular but the fabric and cushion of it felt divine against her body.
The Marianne Zoendy, named after the designer’s late wife, was built to house a crew of one hundred. Fewer and fewer people were agreeing to continue on missions that would risk their lives after the first few habitable planets were found, they decided that they were lucky enough to survive and didn’t want to risk more than necessary. Slowly the crew dwindled down to only three, and Juniper was the only one of the remaining three that had joined by their own choice.
Her peach and gold nail polish was tracing small temporary lines into the arm of the chair as she trailed her fingertips across it thoughtfully.
She joined the first mission when she was only 18, ready to explore- to be out there and show that she could be anything and do anything. She wanted everyone to know who she was and what she was capable of. She quickly rose through the ranks into a position that let her be a surface explorer, able to have hands on experience with new lifeforms and worlds no human being had ever seen before.
It had been fifteen years though, and it seemed that she was really the only person with any passion for it left. People were frightened off by the danger of it, or were just ready to settle and evolve a new planet into something habitable, but she had fire in her blood and wasn’t finished yet.
“You don’t have to sit in here alone, you know,” a kind, deep voice said, pulling her out of her thoughts and back onto the ship. She glanced up at him briefly, her gaze pausing on his mint green eyes before looking back out into the spread of space ahead of them. She had tried her best to not let affections for other people interrupt her work. It wasn't a far fetch to say that she had been having difficulties with the two crew members on board about that.
“I just thought it would be nice to unwind a bit before we reach FE302,” she responded. She slid her mahogany colored hair away from her face with her left hand in a thoughtless motion.
“I made lunch if you’ll have it,” he motioned to the door with his left hand: it was pale save for blue and silver wires that let patterns unwind under what might have been his skin, she wasn’t sure what material it was now. A brief pause in her thoughts and she could smell what might have been a tomato based soup, or maybe pasta sauce. He was wearing well-fitting pants that were snug in just the right places, a black stain was on the left leg may have either been from oil or a kitchen incident. His shirt was plain black open just to his clavicles, the sleeves folded up to his elbows to expose his forearms and their shimmering technology.
“I’ll eat after you get me the system’s report on our landing gear, you need to be doing your actual job, not just hobbies,” she responded, sounding exasperated. Juniper had to still herself to keep her eyes from wandering up to his handsome face, the starlight from the galaxies around them played games in his black hair and she needed to focus. He was very distracting.
“Fair enough,” he responded, shrugging slightly. “It’ll take me a couple minutes to get it together, don’t go anywhere,” his voice was playful as he headed out through a different door than the one he had slipped in through.
Bren had been hired for the same reason as their third shipmate, they were both cyborgs, people who had seen tragedy and through science and training had become so much more. They literally owed their lives to HSOC (The Humanity Survival Outreach Corps) who funded their recoveries: which is actually how they ended up on the good old Marianne Zoendy, covering 90% of the jobs that used to be handled by 100 people.
Their job was to ensure Juniper could carry out her mission of exploration to find new planets to colonize without getting in the way or impeding her. Bren had been a water farmer, his father owned a treatment plant. He didn’t know a single thing about space or landing gear before his accident. HSOC made sure that along with a new vascular system, and improved anatomy over all, that his brain was pumped with all that he needed to know about exploration. Two months in a lab and he had as much knowledge about this role as ‘the normal human’ Juniper had, and she’d been doing this for fifteen years- the only thing either of the boys was missing was the fire and passion she had.
You couldn’t replicate or spark that in a laboratory.
Juniper straightened the collar of her jacket, smoothing her hair and clothing as she heard movement in the next room, she didn’t want to be caught off guard again. He couldn't know that she viewed him as anything more than a coworker.
“I thought I’d cover both bases,” Bren said, smiling from ear to ear. In his left hand was a file screen that she could read the reports on, in his right hand was a bowl of soup and crackers on a plate, the spoon clinked as he bumped the door open with his hip.
Juniper stood to take the file screen, and let him set the dish down on a small table beside her. Her index finger’s nail clicked slightly as she slid it over the sleek surface, scrolling through the information to ensure that their landing would be safe. They’d never had an issue, but she wasn’t going to stake her life on the chance that they’d never have problems in the future.
The calculations looked good and she set the file screen down on the table, the numbers clearing out into a blank surface once the device didn’t detect any eyes on it.
Bren came back into the room, bringing out a bowl and dish of his own, Juniper looked up at him expectantly, her heart beat out her surprise that he’d do this. She needed to be more careful.
“As I said, you don’t have to sit alone,” he said genuinely.
*****
Pov was fully immersed into his work when Juniper returned to the control center. Literally. His wiring was extremely compatible with the ship, to the point that there were times Juniper would swear that he could pilot it with his thoughts. Wiring of the ship was hooked into his arms at the elbow so he could monitor everything that was going on with the ship in its current status while working on other projects as well. He was younger than her and Bren by a couple years, his skin smoother and warm with the glow of being in his late twenties. His hair was a dark natural red, curling slightly and brushed back away from sleek features and crisp cheekbones. His eyes were an incredible dark brown, almost as black as the vastness of space, as they scanned over the information on his screen.
“How much longer do we have?” Juniper asked
, not bothering to sit.
“Just about an hour, you should go ahead and start suiting up,” he responded, glancing up at her with those endless eyes. “You could always change in here if you wanted,” he flirted, a short smile on his lips.
“Ha-ha, very funny,” Juniper said dryly, smiling only once his eyes were off her. She could feel her cheeks warm at the thought of it. He wasn’t terribly younger than her, and he was incredibly attractive, she couldn’t imagine what it would be like to-
She needed to get suited up, and she had an hour, she didn’t have time to dawdle.
“Make an announcement when we’re ten minutes out,” she commanded.
“Aye Cap’n,” he teased again, typing something into the screen and not bothering to look back to her.
***
Her suit was skin tight to allow for mobility. Pouches on the hips, and a pack she carried on her back, were used to carry whatever supplies she needed or samples she found on the trip out onto the surface. The planet looked like a giant copper marble that was starting to patina in streaks and streams across its surface. Pov’s voice came in through her earpiece as she finished ensuring her suit and helmet were air-tight and sealed properly. She wasn’t going to start her oxygen converter until she was stepping out onto the surface.
As she came out into the hall from her quarters, she was greeted by an almost fully suited Bren. His face was perfectly framed by the collar of his suit, and through his open door she could see his helmet was still on its hook in his room.
“You should really wear that some time,” she said shortly as he followed her through the ship to the control room. “You may not need to breathe, but you can never be sure if there’s something else going on down there on the surface.” She had said this dozens of times, but he never listened to her. His lungs and a large part of his chest, stomach, and legs had been replaced after what he told her was a fire. He basically had the oxygen converter that was in her suit built into his lungs. That wouldn’t help him if debris came flying at him, or if the atmosphere was corrosive, but at least he was wearing gloves this time.
In Time to Love Page 135
