Saving the Cyborg
A.M. Griffin
Copyright © 2021 A.M. Griffin
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Dedication
This book is dedicated to Roman, Jori, Abrean, Myles and Mia. My family. My loves. My rocks. My everything.
Acknowledgments
Thank you C.S. You’ve been a great friend through the most difficult times. I couldn’t ask for a better author sister. Love you, girl.
Saving the Cyborg
Debts. Scavenger hunt. Goals.
As a participant in an intergalactic scavenger hunt with a large prize, Suni knew she needed all her focus to be on winning the purse that would set her family free of their lifelong debts. What she didn't expect was the tall, dangerous stranger and his friends who requested an emergency landing on her spaceship. Agreeing changed the course of her heart…and she liked it. Suni knows what’s at stake if she deviates from her plan but how can she resist when Taun is all she thinks about?
Rebellion. Treason. Escape
After a tumultuous escape and one risky space jump, Taun finds himself the unexpected guest of three quirky sisters and their father in desperate need of help. Recently branded as a traitor from the Cyborg Military Elite, helping Suni will provide the perfect cover while he searches for his missing brethren. Finding love was the last thing he'd imagined happening...but he’d fight any who sought to take it.
Taun and his crew strike an uneasy alliance with the trio. The Cyborgs provide protection against a former space pirate who has also joined the scavenger hunt, and in return, the Cyborgs can take refuge on The Renegade and look for other cyborgs who had escaped while also staying off Emperor Shui’s radar. Nothing seems to go as planned. Taun can’t focus on his duty with Suni in his presence and on his mind.
Can a feisty female he craves shake him from his mission to return home and free his family?
Prologue
Emperor Shui of Kirs glanced around the large multi-leveled auditorium located on the palace grounds. It was the only space large enough to house those in attendance for the rebel hearings. The faces in the crowd ranged from shocked and awed, to fearful and worried. He took note of which sections held people of the latter, knowing they could be rebels he had failed to catch. No matter. He would see to them later.
The smell of overpowering cologne announced his top aide. “Emperor Shui, we’re ready when you are.”
Shui stood at the large dais that’d been set up for him to preside over the hearing.
Hearing.
Shui chuckled to himself at that thought. In his mind the rebels—cyborgs and civilians alike—were already convicted and condemned. A lesson needed to be learned and not only would he teach it to all who’d conspired against him, but those who thought about conspiring against him too.
“Let’s start. Send them in,” Shui instructed with a negligible flick of his hand.
Outwardly Shui retained a façade of calm, but inside his glee had him almost wanting to release a victorious cheer. Finally. Finally, he would be rid of the bulk of those who sought to betray him. By the end of the day, this lesson of retribution would resonate throughout the planet of Kirs and deter others from thinking to do to him what the Cyborg Military Elite and their helpers had almost managed.
To think of how close to success they had come caused his blood to boil. If that traitorous Cyborg pod hadn’t refused their orders, the medical techs scanning for malfunctions wouldn’t have discovered that a large number of Cyborgs were part of a rebellion to thwart his attempts to conquer Bionus, a neighboring planet. The evidence of secret meetings, gatherings to exchange information, had all been there on their closed network.
Shui seethed at the thought of not being able to hack into other pods closed networks. By the time he had rounded up the Cyborgs with intentions to do just that, they had scrubbed everything clean and had been smart enough to not leave anything on the mainframe everyone had access to.
A hush fell over the room as the door to the right of him opened. A long procession of rebels, mostly Cyborgs in their prestigious uniforms, entered. Once, their uniforms signified something great. It differentiated them from other military personnel and established their roles as defenders of Kirs.
Shui narrowed his eyes as he watched them enter. Cyborgs were considered the protectors of Kirs. Each one of them had gone through a rigorous selection and training process to earn their spot in the Cyborg Military Elite. No other military bodies from neighboring planets could measure up to them.
Because of that, Kirs was envied near and far. Shui had once been proud of those he commanded. Now, he was probably the laughingstock of every leader in his sector. Shui’s precious Cyborg Elite were nothing more than conspiring rebels.
Shui humphed. The Cyborgs weren’t defenders of Kirs. Instead, they had betrayed their home planet and him with their actions.
Once all the Cyborgs entered, the citizens of Kirs followed in their plain clothes. The crowd of those about to receive judgment grew until rows and rows of rebels were gathered. Shui cast a glance over everyone. Some stared at him with hateful glares in their eyes, others murmured desperate pleas, and few had the audacity to look indifferent.
Shui dismissed the civilians and focused on the Cyborgs. Hundreds of them made up the rank of the rebels. Shui wasn’t sure which Cyborgs had remained loyal to him and which had taken part in growing the rebellion. Even after he had had their families tortured and friends arrested, he still hadn’t been able to determine the full scale of their plans, so he had had them all rounded up.
None of that—which Cyborgs had or hadn’t taken part in the rebellion—mattered anymore. He could start over with new recruits. This time he would make sure there was a system override built into their hardware that would give him the ability to bypass the security within their closed system. No more secrets. No more conspiring and, most importantly, no more rebellion.
Shui allowed himself a few minutes to revel in this moment. This day had been a long time coming. He had spent countless nights worrying about the growing rebellion. He had done his best to ignore the talk behind his back about how he couldn’t control his military and how he wasn’t the leader his father had been. He had something to show all the naysayers.
The voices in the crowd began to settle. The attendees focused on him, waiting to see what would happen next. An air of anxiety filled the room, making it seem small and closed in. Shui found that he wasn’t bothered by that. Everyone should feel anxious about facing his wrath. Shui had tried to be a benevolent leader like his father, but clearly the people of Kirs didn’t appreciate that leadership style. He was happier with the new authoritarian style that he had recently adopted. It felt right to him.
Once the crowd settled, Shui stepped in
front of the podium and activated his mic. “Today is a somber day for the world of Kirs. Rebels plotted against us. The men and women that you see before you have been found guilty—”
The crowd erupted.
There were shouts of, “When were they given a trial?”
“Is this legal?”
“This isn’t fair!”
All caught his attention. With a pointed look at his aide, Shui signaled that he wanted those who’d openly posed those questions and remarks detained. One thing this ordeal had taught him was that rebels were everywhere. He would catch each and every one of them.
Shui put up both hands to silence the crowd. “As I was saying, these rebels have been found guilty of conspiring against the Emperor and Kirs. They are hereby sentenced to prison, for life.”
Shui ignored another round of disruption from the onlookers and the shocked shouts thrown his way. The Prime Ministers, representing each country on Kirs, sat off to one side, separated from the civilian onlookers. The Prime Ministers eyed him with dismay. They had been against his plans to take over Bionus and extend his reign as Emperor over the small world from the beginning. They had expected him to lead as his father had before him and settle for only ruling Kirs. But why would he do that when there was a vast number of planets he could take over?
And he would. This was just a small bump in the road. If the Cyborg Military Elite soldiers had done what they were supposed to, this would all be behind him and instead of this “hearing” he would officially be announcing his rule over Bionus.
Once more Shui focused on the rebels he had managed to catch. His ire peaked all over again. He wanted every one of them to understand that he was judge, jury, and executioner. Their treachery had consequences.
The Cyborgs didn’t look so defiant anymore and the civilians appeared downright scared. The civilians understood this was a death sentence for many of them. While the Cyborgs could withstand hard labor, those without cybernetic enhancements wouldn’t last long on Tyurma, Kirs’ moon used to house prisoners.
With a nod of his head, the prison officers from Tyurma, who’d come to collect the rebels, activated the remote-controlled hand and ankle cuffs. The ground shook as the rebels turned toward the exit in unison, then one-by-one, the rebels—Cyborgs and citizens alike, lined up and were guided toward the side door where they would receive their branding and board the prison transport.
The brand would be burned on their faces. It was a last-minute touch he had decided on. He had personally made sure the specifications of the brand wouldn’t allow the Cyborgs’ nanobots to heal their skin. He hoped the “CR”, Cyborg Rebel, and “R”, for human rebels, brands would be clear on the holo-vids. He wanted to make sure that image was burned into the minds of everyone who watched the event.
The thought of the Cyborgs screaming and begging for mercy for all to see made him downright giddy.
Shui caught himself smiling and quickly adjusted his expression to portray what he thought was a mournful look. This event was broadcasted to everyone on Kirs after all. He wanted to appear saddened by having to sentence so many of his people to life in prison.
The smile slid back into place at the thought of what really was about to happen and, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t remove it from his face.
* * *
Mayner huddled with a few of his fellow guards on the prison transport bound for Tyurma. They were successfully in space and far enough away from Kirs. “How soon before we need to take our leave?”
Kazan glanced fearfully over his shoulder. No one else was present in the corridor besides the three of them. “According to the instructions we received, evacuation of the transport should begin in another fifteen. The Emperor made it clear that there is no way to stop the explosions set onboard.”
Mayner and Goran exchanged a look. They were cousins by marriage, and both had vowed they would not hesitate when it came time to get off this doomed transport. They had sympathy for the Cyborgs and other Kirsians because the Emperor’s actions were wrong, but only a fool would say that aloud.
“It’s hard to imagine Emperor Shui had no intention of sending them to the prison colony,” Kazan continued with a remorseful look.
“Let’s get back to our stations,” Goran said, the fear on his face very real. “I want to be ready when the time comes. The explosions will destroy the transport and all those onboard. I have no intentions of being left behind to die with the rebels.”
As the three rushed off, none were aware of the Cyborgs being escorted to their cell several corridors away. Their enhanced hearing enabled them to hear the guards’ words clearly. While not in the same pod group, the five Cyborgs all wore grim expressions from what they had learned.
They were not going to have a chance to escape Tyurma as they had thought. Neither would they have a chance to return to Kirs and see their families.
The Emperor had consigned them to death if what they had heard was true. When they reached their designated cell, the guard shoved them into the enclosed space. There were a few jeers and taunts from the criminals already there, waiting to go to the prison moon for various other reasons. The Cyborgs didn’t respond.
Once alone, the tallest of the Cyborg group faced the others. “We’ve been set up. It’s obvious the Emperor had no intentions of giving us a fair trial and now he dooms us to death with the lie that we were bound for Tyurma the prison colony.”
Another spoke, “He has condemned everyone onboard. Our friends, our fellow Cyborgs.”
The other three gazed forward, brows creased as if in deep thought. They were eerily similar in appearance, with their dark hair and narrow set eyes. The one in the middle shifted his gaze to encompass all of them and said, “We must put aside whatever differences or trust issues we have in this moment and save our brethren. I have family bound to Tyurma on this vessel.”
A moment of silence. Then they all replied at the same time, “Agreed.”
The tallest Cyborg volunteered to open his mainframe and broadcast the warning. They now were down to seven minutes before the alleged explosions would detonate. Messages were sent within pod groupings until the vast majority were aware.
The revolt needed to start now. They were out of time.
Six.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
Chapter One
System override.
The message that displayed across Taun’s ocular implants within his vision field caused him to inhale a sharp breath. He shouldn’t be able to receive a message at all. Not since his Neural Net Processor, or NNP, had been disengaged. After Emperor Shui had tried to hack into the cyborg’s NNP to find how deep the resistance went and which cyborgs were a part of it, the resisters had shut down their closed networks.
That someone had brought the mainframe back online could mean only one thing. Trouble.
Taun, his pod mates and every cyborg were on a transport, bound to the prison colony where they would spend the rest of their lives. What he didn’t need was even more trouble coming his way.
Emergency transmission: Bomb onboard. No survivors anticipated. Detonation imminent.
The transmission ended and the NNP was offline again. Taun swore. A quick glance toward the other three cyborgs housed in the cell with him and he knew they had received the same message. He hadn’t bothered getting the names of two of them, but he knew Raint from a brief stint when their paths had crossed before either of them had been selected for the Cyborg Program.
Raint growled and in one fluid movement, lifted from his seated position on the floor and stood. The three non-cyborgs that were also crammed into the cell with them took a healthy step away and huddled together in a corner.
Taun didn’t like that the civilians were obviously scared of the cyborgs. The whole reason most joined the elite military unit was to protect the citizens of Kirs, but he understood their reaction. The cyborgs reputation had suff
ered over these past months. While trying to remain loyal to their planet, they had done irreputable harm to their reputations. It didn’t matter which side any of them had taken; obey Shui or common morality. Both sides were seen as traitorous in someone’s eyes.
“The plan?” one of the cyborgs asked. Taun eyed the energy shield holding them captive.
Without waiting for a reply, Raint jumped and slammed a fist into the ceiling, denting the structure.
Upon first arriving to the cell, they’d each tried to break through the shield on the door. It wouldn’t give. Shui had accounted for the cyborgs’ strength and had it reinforced to prevent that. None of the cyborgs had thought about the ceiling. Taun chalked it up to a mere oversight on their part. They did have a lot of things on their mind—mainly, living the rest of their extended lives on a prison colony.
Raint punched again and again while they watched him creating a large hole. Raint launched himself halfway through the hole and pulled himself up and over. He peeked his head through the opening to look at everyone he’d left behind. “What is everyone waiting for? Let’s get off this transport.”
Well, that was one way to get around being locked in. Not dying today sounded like a wonderful plan to Taun.
* * *
Chaos ensued as everyone scrambled to leave the prison transport by any means necessary. “Go! Go! Go!” Taun struggled to hold the hatch on the escape pod open and shouted out the command.
Someone rushed past him to take the last remaining seat inside. A non-cyborg male fumbled with the safety harness, not bothering to look up at Taun. Taun’s first impulse was to grab the male by the scruff of his collar and toss him back into the hallway, but Taun pushed down the aggression and rising panic of not being able to leave the transport in time.
Saving The Cyborg (Cyborg Redemption) Page 1
