by Marie Dry
“Thank you for your time,” he said, like he did every day after she’d read to him.
His lips were now fully formed, and the completed skull on the skeleton body looked gruesome to her, no matter how much time she spent with him. She couldn’t get used to seeing his gruesome skeleton.
Aurora tried not to let him see her reaction. He suffered enough without her showing him her horror at the way he looked. “It’s my pleasure, Amelagar. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She left the infirmary and went to their cabin, the symbols on the wall that seemed to monitor her keeping pace with her. She needed to make contact with the president. She hadn’t been able to talk to him for several days. After she’d told him about her attempt to use the picos, he’d said he would send the team to rescue Ter. But ever since he’d been cagey on the subject. This elusiveness lately was probably because he hadn’t found Ter yet. If he’d lied to her about knowing where they kept her, she’d shoot him herself with one of Balthazar’s ray guns.
Half expecting him to ignore her call again, Aurora pressed the symbols on the wall that would dial the president’s direct line. No answer. With tight lips, she went to disconnect. Then the president appeared on the wall, life sized. “Aurora, so good to hear from you.”
“I thought I’d--what’s wrong?”
His smile had disappeared. He looked gray and suddenly sick. “Can you access a news channel?”
“Yes.”
She brought up the channel, and bile spewed up from her stomach into her mouth and onto the floor. When she’d finished throwing up, she came back and leaned, trembling, against a chair. Not again. “How could they do this again? They’ve seen what he’s capable of.”
“They’re not the type to think things through,” the president said. He was paper white, deep grooves carved into his cheeks. “Or they did this precisely because they knew what he’d do.”
Several groups had spoken out against any attempt to make peace with the cyborgs, had vowed to kill any aliens that dared to land on Earth.
“He’s going to kill us all.” She wanted to scream it out, but all that emerged was a hoarse whisper. “You don’t know the kind of technology they have up here.”
She forced herself to look at the awful image on the screen. The traditionalists had made a wind chime out of one of the cyborgs and hung it on the porch of one of their homes. How did they get their hands on a cyborg?
On the news channel, the sound of metallic bones clanking together made obscene music. The skull that was eerily human clanked against equally eerie human like bones. There was no mistaking that three fingered hand, the solid rib cage.
She leaned forward, the horror of what was about to happen gripping her by the throat, like the skeletal fingers of a generating cyborg. “You have to get it back to him with as much apology as you can manage.” Please let him be able to regenerate.
“I have dispatched a team to retrieve it.”
“Tell them to hurry.”
He clutched the back of his neck. “Believe me, they’re hurrying.”
She wouldn’t be able to talk Balthazar down from bombing Earth after this. He’d be merciless. Had been clear on what he’d do if another cyborg was killed. Please let that cyborg be able to regenerate, she prayed again.
“Tell them they have to treat that skeleton as if it’s alive. If the cyborgs are monitoring, and they always monitor, they need to see him moved as if he’s still capable of knowing what’s happening to him.” She didn’t dare tell them that the cyborg could regenerate from almost any surviving limb. Best not give Balthazar more to be mad about. She prayed with every fiber of her being that the cyborg could be regenerated. Because if he couldn’t, she feared Balthazar might use his planet destroying weapon this time.
The president turned away briefly. She heard him give the order to someone off screen. He returned almost immediately.
“Mr. President, I need to get to Balthazar. He would’ve seen this.”
“Step carefully, Aurora.”
“Yes, sir.” Not wasting time to press the button to cut off the conversation, she ran. The doors opened for her. Mostly, Balthazar accompanied her everywhere, but she’d been allowed to go alone to the infirmary every now and then. With the ship monitoring her, she couldn’t deviate from the path.
She found Balthazar in his office, watching the same image on the wall. His hands were balled, and his whole body shook. In all her life and the terror she lived through on the streets, she’d never seen anything as fierce as Balthazar’s body shaking with rage.
On the screen, the sound of a helicopter could be heard. When, it landed, several soldiers jumped out and surrounded the house with their weapons drawn. Two, carrying a stretcher, ran to the skeleton and carefully, with utmost respect in every motion, brought him down and laid him out on the stretcher. They covered him with a survival blanket and ran to the helicopter. Before they could board, several cyborgs stepped out of a dimensional door and took the stretcher from them.
“They’re treating him with respect, Balthazar. Please don’t blame all humans for the actions of a few.”
He hissed at her, and she flinched, half expecting him to spit venom at her.
“They made him into an ornament. How is that showing respect?”
“Please, Balthazar, don’t do anything out of anger. Wait until you can make a rational decision.”
His lips pulled back in a sneer. “You said acting rationally was wrong, that I always have to act with emotion.”
“You’re twisting my words.”
“I will kill each and every human walking Earth.”
She ran forward and threw her arms around him. “Please Balthazar, I know you’re angry, but please don’t do anything hasty.”
“I will kill them all,” he said again through clenched teeth.
“That was the actions of a few humans wanting to incite war. Please, Balthazar, don’t give them what they want.”
He stared down at her, his eyes alive with anger and pain. “Why should I allow any humans to live?”
CHAPTER 20
“Please, Balthazar, you have to calm down. Let’s talk about this. You cannot blame all humans for the acts of a few. The president sent someone to rescue your cyborg the moment he became aware of what was happening.”
“After you told him to. He only did it to stop me from killing every human on Earth.”
She clasped her hands together. “Think, Balthazar, about me and Marysol and little Tansyn. Surely, you don’t hate us. There are many more like us down there.”
“You and Marysol and little Tansyn are on the ship and will not be harmed when I destroy Earth.” His lips pulled into a macabre grimace she guessed was supposed to be a sarcastic smile. “You have a saying, bombing to extinction. I’m going to bomb the human race into extinction.”
She’d rather have him scary angry and punching the hull, than be this calm and bent on vengeance against the human race.
“You might have technology to make your body more efficient, but you’re a person, Balthazar.” She could see he wouldn’t be dissuaded. The off switch. He’d told her Bunrika gave them an off switch. She had to get the code and shut him down. It would kill her to do that to him, to betray him, but she had no choice. If there was any justice on this Earth, she should be able to switch of the traditionalists instead of this noble man. Except she didn’t know how to find that code.
“Is that true, you see a man when you look at me. When I touch you, you believe you are making sex with a man and not a machine.” Instead of a question, it was a taunt.
Aurora tightened her arms around him. It took every bit of courage she had to stay close to him when he was this angry. “If I had any doubt that you were a person, I wouldn’t have slept with you.”
“They made an object of him,” he said through gritted teeth.
She winced at the sound. “I know. I’m so sorry.”
He said something in his own language.
&n
bsp; “I don’t understand.”
“Bunrika is god,” he said in English.
“What does that mean? I thought you didn’t believe in any god.”
“That’s the off switch, as you called it. The code Bunrika embedded into our programming to ensure he can switch us off like machines.”
She frowned up at him. “Why aren’t you shutting down? You just said the code.” Aurora regulated her breathing, used every trick she’d learned during years of meditation to stop her body from betraying her intention. She had to protect her people from his wrath, but she didn’t want to betray this man. And he was a man--a person with a soul. He might be part machine, but to her, he had been a man. A loyal, strangely endearing, warrior soldier man. She’d come to think of him as hers. After she betrayed him, this time, he’d never be hers again. Ever.
“We can’t use it on ourselves.”
“Can you get rid of the code? It’s a vulnerability you cannot afford.”
Her heart hammered in her chest. If she could shut him down for a while, she might come up with a way to stop him from bombing Earth.
Maybe he’d calm down after some down time. And the tooth fairy will make an appearance any time now.
He cupped her face, stared down at her as if he memorized her features. Did he know what she planned to do? He was so straightforward, it made him vulnerable to people like her. It scared her to think of him at the mercy of a wily politician. At her mercy.
“I thought humans were the ugliest beings I’ve ever seen when we first came to Earth.”
“Then why did you demand the president hand me over to you? Did you think me ugly too?”
He hesitated. “Yes. You were only another ugly human with deformed hands and a flat face. But then I saw you move.”
She abandoned her attempt at smiling, sure that it looked as odd as it felt. “What is it with you and the way I move?”
He touched her cheek with a tender finger. “On Tunria, there was a big conservatory. Cyborgs were not allowed to go there. I found a place in the roof where I could not be seen, but I was able to listen to the music.” He cupped her chin. “The way you move is like that music. I could watch you do it for many hours.”
She reached up and stroked his coarse black hair. She could feel tears burning in her eyes, sad for the man who wasn’t even allowed to appreciate music on his own world. “That’s the most beautiful thing anyone has ever said to me, Balthazar.”
“No. You are beautiful to me. Even more beautiful than Persepola who is considered the most beautiful Tunrian on the planet.”
“As beautiful as that, huh?” She reached up and cupped his face. It was a strange moment, each of them holding the others cheek in a gentle hand. Both of them knowing they were lovers who had loyalties that would force them apart.
“I will destroy Earth,” he said. He took her arm and moved down the corridor.
A chill went down her spine at that flat emotionless declaration. It came as a shock after his tender compliment.
“Please, Balthazar, they’re a small group and don’t represent the beliefs of all humans.” She had to almost run to keep up with him. They were on their way to the bridge.
Normally, she’d complain, but she was too anxious about what he was going to do when they reached the bridge. What she had to do to stop him. If she used the code, would it freeze all the cyborgs or just Balthazar? She had no choice, she had to use it and pray she could find a way to stop him using that weapon before he unfroze. If she couldn’t, when he came out of it, it wouldn’t be a war, it would be a slaughter.
“This is the third time they tried to kill a cyborg. No human will be allowed to live.”
She tried to pull him back. “Please, please, Balthazar, stop and think. You need the resources from Earth as well.”
“I will destroy the planet, and we will find another one.” He was so cold, so without emotion, his words scraped over her nerves.
“That’s barbaric.”
“That is cyborg.”
“Why are you so stubborn about this? Yes, it was terrible of them to kill your soldier, but to kill all humans is not the solution. You’re acting exactly like the Tunrians you despise.”
“I promised all surviving cyborgs that never again would we be slaves, that they would be the slave masters and that they’d be safe.”
How could she explain to him that becoming what you despised was not the answer? He still had so much to learn about emotion. She had access to emotions her whole life, and still she’d shut herself away to keep safe. How could she expect him to change overnight?
They entered the bridge, and Aurora tried to think of something to say or do to stop him. To stop this terrible thing he wanted to do.
He made a call, and a man she didn’t recognize answered with a surprised look on his face. “How did you get this number, tinner?”
“We have access to anything we want on Earth. Prepare to die.”
“Fuck you, tinner.”
Balthazar cut the connection.
She couldn’t wait anymore. If he gave the command, humans would be extinct. She was so afraid. If she used the code, and he came out of it, he might never calm down. If she didn’t use the code, he was going to destroy Earth before he had a chance to calm down.
“Bunrika is god,” she said in Tunrian.
It emerged as a hoarse whisper, and she cleared her throat to say it again. She clutched her throat. All the cyborgs stood frozen, unmoving. She turned to Balthazar. She hadn’t been able to look at him in the moment she performed the worse betrayal ever. He stood unmoving, his eyes staring unblinking in front of him.
“Oh, God, what have I done?” She looked around at the instruments. The monitors showed Earth unharmed. She ran to the wall where two cyborgs stood frozen. “How do I disable the bombing system? They must do it from here,” she muttered.
The door wouldn’t open. She tried pressing some buttons, giving verbal commands with the little Tunrian she’d picked up. Nothing worked. How long would Balthazar and the others stay like this? Would they be able to move again if she said the code again? Did she dare say it again?
She should’ve thought of another way to stop him. When he came out of this, he’d kill her and anyone on Earth. She moaned, half hysterical with fear. Her hair was plastered against her skull and her breathing short and choppy. He was going to kill all humans anyway, this just delayed the inevitable. If he destroyed Earth--and in the process, Ter--she didn’t want to live in the aftermath. And yet a purely animal part of her urged her to survive.
“What am I supposed to do now? I should’ve paid more attention that time he allowed me in here,” she muttered and passed her hands over the symbols on the walls. Nothing. “Maybe the doctor will be able to help him, if I haven’t frozen everybody on board,” she muttered while she pressed more buttons. She kept her eyes on the wall, couldn’t bear to see Balthazar standing like a statue, his eyes open but empty. She turned to look at the door. There had to be a way to force it to open.
Her blood literally froze in her veins. She could feel it thicken and stop while white noise stole her hearing. Balthazar’s eyes followed her. Slightly narrowed, he stared at her. His eyes blazed with pure hatred.
“It didn’t work,” she whispered.
One of his fingers twitched. All the while his gaze promised death. He was throwing off the code bit by bit.
Giving him a wide berth, she ran to the door and frantically slapped her hands everywhere she thought a sensor might be. “Open, dammit. Oh, please open before he starts to move and kills me,” she wailed at the door.
Before he made her watch as he destroyed Earth.
“Too late,” he said behind her. Right behind her.
CHAPTER 21
Aurora stilled and closed her eyes. Taking a deep, deep breath she opened her eyes and turned to face the man she loved. The alien she’d betrayed. The cyborg that was going to kill her without mercy. “Please don’t punish my people for what
I did.”
“You used your code on all the cyborgs here. Why shouldn’t I retaliate and punish your people?”
“I didn’t want to harm you. I just wanted to gain time. To stop you from doing something you’d regret the rest of your life.”
“You do not have the ordering of me woman.”
“Please Balthazar. I...care for you. I swear I’ll never do it again.”
“Prove it.”
She lifted her hand and touched the pins in her hair. Nervously adjusting it. “How can I prove something like that?”
His mile was ugly and cruel, the hand he placed around her arm firm, almost hurting. “I will show you.”
The other cyborgs twitched, and the doors opened. He dragged her down corridors to a lower level she’d never been to before. The symbols on the wall flashed faster, as if echoing his mood.
“Where are you taking me? What are you going to do?”
He didn’t answer, just continued to drag her until they came to a dead end facing a wall.
“Please, Balthazar, you’re a person. Don’t do this, don’t act like a machine,” she screamed.
They stood in front of the wall, and she knew something terrible waited beyond. Was he going to show her the weapon that would destroy Earth? Make her push the button.
He said something in Tunrian and the wall changed, became clear glass.
At first, she couldn’t make sense of what she saw. She blinked, and still she saw a tall human woman sitting on a chair. Aurora had been so convinced she’d see some kind of massive rocket that, for a moment, she didn’t believe her eyes.
The woman sat hunched over, staring down at something in her hands. Aurora could only see her profile, but there was something familiar about her. “Who is that?” Realization hit her like a physical punch and she staggered back. “Ter, it is Ter.” She stared at the beautiful woman behind the glass. The last time she’d seen her, she’d been twelve years old, but Aurora knew this was her sister. She looked like their father. She’d prayed for this moment for so long. Now that she saw her sister in front of her she didn’t believe the evidence of her eyes. She threw off the paralyses and slammed her hands against the glass. “Ter, Terra, it’s me, Aurora,” she screamed.
