“You’re still recovering from your injuries,” Taun offered. “You’ll get back to one-hundred percent soon enough.”
“If this doesn’t go as planned, they’ll most likely kill the girl.” Vril was sure to meet everyone’s eyes. “Are we prepared for that?”
“No,” Zema said. “I hate to be so blunt, but I got attached to her. She’s a smart and funny child. As crazy as it sounds, I like arguing with her about the jumper and the repairs she’s been making to it.”
“Which is why this has to work,” Taun said. He didn’t want to think about them killing Tayan. And also, why he would do everything in his power to bring her back safely. In order to do that, they would need to work as a team. A real team. “And brings me to my next topic…”
“We need to give access and connect via our closed network,” Zema said.
Taun nodded. Cyborgs operated off two different networks; open and closed. The open network, also called the Mainframe, connected every cyborg together and was where communication was shared over a vast network of internal and external databases. It’s also where cyborgs are able to download the specific training and educational programs needed for missions. The downloads were used for immediate processing and learning of new skills such as weaponry, craft usage, medical, and tactical needs.
While every cyborg and select non-cyborg military personnel had access to the Mainframe, the closed network was more intimate. The closed network enabled cyborgs to share thoughts, feelings, memories and personal details with each other. It was considered invasive and was only shared among close teammates for tactical purposes, because it gave other cyborgs the ability to access anything within the cyborg’s memories, as well as current thoughts and feelings. Cyborgs are very selective of who they allowed to access their closed network, and granting access wasn’t done lightly.
“I know this is a major step for us,” Taun said. “We don’t know each other well, and we’ve been forced into proximity because of our circumstances. But in order to rescue Tayan, we’ll need to communicate with each other without having to use these cumbersome comlinks which everyone can hear us talking on.”
Raint held up his comlink and studied it. “I don’t mind using these.”
Vril shook his head. “They’re loud and antiquated. The kid would certainly get killed if we relied on them for communication. Her abductors would hear us coming.”
Taun tried to hide his surprise at Vril being open to the idea. He had thought Vril would be the one who wouldn’t approve of this part of the plan. “My thoughts exactly.”
“I don’t know,” Raint said. “I have shit in my head that I don’t want you all judging me for or knowing about.”
“If you mean that time you fucked a hybrid humanoid hooker, I already know about it,” Zema said.
“Or that you long to kill a person by strangling them with your bare hands. I know about that, too,” Vril said.
“Or that you cry while watching romantic comedy holo-vids,” Taun said.
“Wait. How do you all know about those things?” Raint asked.
“You talk in your sleep,” Zema replied.
Raint shifted to sit up and pressed his shoulders back. “Well, Ancients, you guys already know everything there is to know about me. I’m in.”
* * *
Suni sat quietly next to Saph as Vril presented his plan to them. Although she didn’t say anything, panic rose within her chest and made her nerves raw and exposed. Though Vril took the blame, saying his team was ultimately responsible for Suni and Tayan’s safety on the planet, Suni knew better.
It was her fault. They had only just recently met Taun and the others. Suni and Saph had been responsible for Tayan since her birth. Watching over Tayan wasn’t a new thing and she definitely shouldn’t have dropped her guard because a hot male was in close proximity.
“Absolutely not,” Saph said after the plan was presented. “If you mess this up, my sister dies.”
“We’re aware of that,” Vril countered. “Which is why we won’t.”
“I don’t like this,” Yovit said. He maneuvered his chair to hover on the other side of Saph. “We thought having them would deter Kenzi from targeting us, but we were wrong. Kenzi was able to see these guys are lacking, took a chance to take Tayan and they were right.”
Yovit grunted, then continued, “They bungled protecting her. We can’t afford to have them bungle the rescue mission. No. We sign whatever contract Kanzi wants us to sign, pick up Tayan and leave this sector. I’ll think of another way to pay back my debt. There’s an invention I’ve been working on with X-9. Give me another two months and I’ll have it ready. We can sell it, make a lot of credits and everything will go back to normal.”
“It will not go back to normal,” Saph said through clenched teeth. “X-9 is the only thing keeping this ship running. Stop taking him away from his real duties to chase your dreams.”
Yovit snapped his mouth shut.
“Let me handle this.” Suni held up her hands to Saph and Yovit. “We’ll get Tayan back and leave this sector. I’ve already been in contact with Dhohet.”
“Those outlaws!” Yovit erupted. “I will not work for them.”
Saph put up her hand, silencing Yovit. “We’ll discuss this later when we’re alone.”
Yovit grumbled under his breath and steered his chair from the room. Saph took a deep breath and closed her eyes briefly.
“I know our track record since meeting you hasn’t been a good one, but we can rescue your sister.”
Saph settled her eyes on Vril and motioned her hand in his direction. “That fault isn’t yours alone to bear. We assumed you would be able to handle the task. I shouldn’t have let Tayan go, not without sending X-9 to watch over her or…by not letting her go at all.”
“I wouldn’t have proposed this plan if I thought we couldn’t do it. We’ve already done reconnaissance. Zema is more than qualified to disrupt their security and defense systems. We can do this,” Vril said.
“I’m sure you think that you can,” Suni interjected. “But our sister’s life is on the line.” She shook her head, not wanting to think of what would happen to Tayan if their plan failed. “As much as I hate that we’ll have to drop out of the game and find another…less than legal way to pay our debt off, I’d rather go that route than risk Tayan’s life.”
Taun stepped up. “Not only is your alternate way of making credits illegal, but it’s also dangerous. It wouldn’t sit right with me if you were out here risking your lives because of something we failed to do.”
“We aren’t your responsibility, Taun. We were fine before you came, we’ll be fine after you leave.” Suni didn’t want to think about Taun leaving, but it looked like their paths would be parting soon.
Saph slapped her hands on her thighs. Something she did when she was done talking and considered the topic closed. “Thank you for your offer to help, but no thank you. Do you all want to get off here?”
“You are a stubborn female,” Vril snarled. “We can get your sister back and you can stay in the game. Why won’t you let us help you?”
“Why won’t I let complete strangers play rescue with my little sister’s life on the line?” Saph tilted her head to the side. “Hm. Let me think on that. Oh! Maybe it has something to do with we don’t know you, we don’t trust you and we can get ourselves out of this mess.”
Saph stood and Suni did the same as a show of solidarity. “Thank you for your offer, though. We’ll handle it from here.”
“Your previous assumption was correct. We are military personnel,” Zema stated.
It was said with so little emotion, Suni wasn’t sure if it had come from Zema. “What?” she asked.
“Zema,” Vril said in a low, warning voice.
Zema turned to address Vril. “They don’t trust us because they don’t know anything about us.” Then she turned back to Saph and Suni. “More specifically, we’re an Elite Cyborg unit.”
“Elite. Cyborg. U
nit,” Saph repeated slowly.
Suni frowned, trying to let the words sink into her brain. She understood what elite meant. She understood what unit meant in this context as far as military division, but cyborg? “Is this a half machine, half man deal?”
Taun shook his head. “Not exactly. It’s deeper than that.”
Chapter Thirteen
“We’re from a planet called Kirs,” Zema said.
“Great Ancients.” Raint turned to Taun and waved a hand. “Are we really going to tell these people everything?”
“These people saved our lives, and we owe them this,” Taun said. “Having them know will alleviate their fears so that we can rescue Tayan.”
Raint leaned against the wall and folded bulky arms over an equally bulky chest. “I don’t want to hear anything once they decide to turn us in to collect the bounty Shui undoubtedly has out on us.”
Suni raised her hand, drawing attention to her. Taun was torn between awe and possessiveness. In short, Suni was gorgeous, which was why he didn’t like that all eyes were now on her.
“I have so many questions,” Suni said. “But my first one is obviously the cyborg part. What exactly does that mean? You’re an artificial intelligence like X-9?” Taun hated the way Suni now studied him. As if he wasn’t real and as if she was afraid of him. “I heard of A.I.s that resemble organic lifeforms. I just didn’t have any idea that it, er, you would look so lifelike.”
“We’re not A.I.s,” Taun replied. “We’re organic, just like you, but unlike you, we’ve been augmented with cybernetic systems.”
“Why would you do that to yourselves?” Saph asked, her face set in a frown. “Or were you forced to undergo the procedure?”
“We volunteered for this. Can you believe it?” Raint said with a laugh.
Saph pointed at Raint. “I don’t know you well, but I get the feeling you’re crazy enough to volunteer to have your insides screwed with, but you,” she pointed at Vril, “I don’t see you letting someone mess with your body.”
“It’s an honor,” Vril said. “One of the highest on Kirs to be selected to participate in the rigorous training. There’s a very high failure rate and only one out of every two hundred who apply complete the selection process. Those of us that make it…” Vril glanced at Taun, Raint and Zema. “It’s considered one of the greatest accomplishments of our lives.”
Taun nodded. The training had been humbling. He had gone into it knowing that it would be hard, but he hadn’t planned for it to be as mentally and physically challenging as it had been. Some of the recruits who’d gone into it with him had quit.
Quitting hadn’t been an option for him. Most had failed due to mental breakdowns, or their body couldn’t handle the stress and strain any longer. In the end, it had been worth it. Even after the painful procedure of having his body augmented, he hadn’t regretted his decision.
“So, on the outside you’re normal, but on the inside?” Suni sent glances his way. Her eyes settling on different parts of his body. He didn’t waver under her scrutiny. This is who he was, there was no hiding or running from it. He was proud of his life and his tenure as an elite.
Vril shook his head. “It’s a bit more complicated than that. Our skin is tougher than yours. We can be cut and sustain damage but the nanobots in our system will make any needed repairs.”
Zema raised her arm and studied it. “Our skeletal structure was improved. Instead of regular bones, a hyper alloy compound was injected directly into our skeletal system. Because of the upgrade to our skeletal system, our tendons were replaced with specialized wires. Normal tendons wouldn’t withstand the added weight, tension and pressure from our increased muscle mass.”
Raint stabbed his finger at his temple. “And our brains are part computer and part organic. We’re smart. So, all that talk about us being dumb idiots really pissed me off.”
Saph cringed. “You heard us talking about you?”
Suni turned red and elbowed her sister. “See? I told you I thought they heard us whispering about them.” She lowered her head and sunk low in her seat. “I’m so embarrassed. I said so much.”
Saph squeezed her sister’s hand. “What’s this about a bounty and what or who is Shui?”
That possessiveness from earlier came roaring back. Suni was embarrassed and her sister was trying to change the subject for her. Though he was the cause of her embarrassment, he wanted to help her. “Emperor Shui is the ruler of Kirs.”
“Your home planet,” Saph said.
Vril nodded. “It’s a small planet in the Eridani Sector, specifically located in the Leonis Star System.”
“That’s so far away. How did you get to this sector?”
“The jumper,” Zema said.
Suni blew out a breath. “No wonder that thing was in such terrible shape. I don’t think it was meant to travel as far as it had.”
“So, you’re running and hiding from your emperor.” Saph narrowed her eyes, glaring at them Vril. “What kind of trouble are you in?”
Raint chuckled. “A lot.”
Zema rolled her eyes at Raint and Suni inhaled a sharp breath.
“I can’t have your trouble brought to my family,” Saph said. “I probably shouldn’t be asking or care about this, but what did you do? I mean, it doesn’t really matter because we aren’t going through with your plan and we’re about to part ways anyway, but curiosity has the better of me.”
“Our only crime was not following orders,” Vril said.
“Oh, is that it?” Saph rolled her eyes. “Well, I think in most militaries that’s a criminal offense.”
“Shui wanted us to help him conquer a neighboring planet,” Taun said.
Saph cringed. “Oh, well…that…is bad.”
Taun had joined the military soon after Shui had inherited the rule over Kirs. Initially, Shui had seemed like a fair and just ruler, like his father before him, but soon his ideas and exploits became grander, with seemingly no end in sight.
When he had made clear his intentions of wanting to conquer Bionus, the small planet with a plethora of natural resources of minerals and gases, Taun had known immediately this wasn’t a part of history he wanted to be attached to. He hadn’t been the only one who’d felt that way. Some of the Prime Ministers had tried to speak with Shui to get him to reconsider his advancements. Shui had rejected their council.
“Most of us were stationed off-planet in various parts of our sectors, seeing to Kirs’ interests when we received the call to return home,” Taun said.
He and his pod had been stationed on the moon base of one of Kirs allies when they were called back to Kirs. They had already been there for two years, and they had one more left on their contract before their reassignment. Taun had been ready to return home. He didn’t know how long he would be back on Kirs. At the time there hadn’t been too much information about what Shui’s plans were and Taun had wanted to visit with his parents and sleep in a comfortable bed instead of the portable cot the military had provided him. He had returned home to complete disarray and to an Emperor who’d seemingly lost his mind.
Taun nodded. “We came home to chaos.”
Zema let out a breath. “Shui was on a power grab, and he wanted the Cyborg Elite Military to help him. Some of us were behind him one hundred percent and others complained that conquering planets wasn’t something they had signed up for.”
“For the first time in our history there was division and mistrust among the cyborgs,” Taun said.
“A rebel faction was born,” Vril added. “We have what is called a closed network. Not everyone can access these connections and access is only granted between pod mates. That’s about four to five team members. No one knew outside of the pods who were part of the rebel faction and who wasn’t. It was a failsafe so that if one person was found out, the involvement couldn’t be traced far. Information was exchanged using an elaborate network of codes and drop points.”
“Shui launched an attack on a civilian resis
tance meeting,” Taun said. “The meeting was attended by innocent Bionus men, women and children. Their only crime was that they didn’t want Shui to rule them. The pod in charge of that mission refused to follow orders. Shui jailed them and hacked into their hardware. That’s how he found out about the rebellion. Death was their punishment.”
Vril’s hand grazed over the ‘CR’ on his cheek. “The rest of us were branded Cyborg Rebels and shipped off to a prison colony.”
“That’s what the CR stands for?” Suni asked. “And Ised and Aesh just have ‘R’s.”
“They aren’t augmented,” Taun replied. “Theirs are for “Rebel’.”
“You were shipped off to prison, but you escaped,” Saph stated. “That’s why we found you all in such bad shape.”
Taun nodded. There was no reason to get into the specifics about Shui actually tried to kill them.
“And there’s a bounty to get you back,” Saph pointed out.
“That’s our guess,” Vril said.
There was a brief pause. “We can check for you,” Saph said, turning to input information into the console.
“Not because we would turn you in,” Suni was quick to add.
Raint snorted. “Of course not. It’s not like you could use the credits for supplies or to fix your ship.”
“Raint,” Vril warned in a low voice.
“What about the nanobots in your body?” Suni asked, ignoring Raint. “How were you able to get branded? I would think you would immediately heal.”
“Normally, yes,” Taun said, touching the scar on his own cheek. “But they found a way to work around that.”
“I’m assuming you were against the invasion on Bionus,” Saph said, indicating to her face.
Taun shook his head. “The branding isn’t an indication of that. Shui couldn’t discern which of us were secretly helping the people of Bionus and undermining his attempts to overtake their planet. Because of that, he eventually didn’t trust any of us.”
“So, he labeled everyone as a rebel,” Raint sneered.
Saving The Cyborg (Cyborg Redemption) Page 11
