Cyborg's Captive Read online

  My hands are working the controls, slamming the necessary buttons, hitting the switches.

  The console flashes to life, the holograph display of the surroundings jumping up, and my eyes sink into it. The earth’s orbit appears on the holograph, up and around us, high above. Closer to the ground, I can see the guards advancing, represented as shimmering green 3D graphics. They’re close.

  I glance over, checking on her. Her beauty makes me pause, admiring her.

  My cock starts to grow hard just looking at her, despite the situation.

  Something hits the ship, sending vibrations through it.

  She stirs in her seat, opening her eyes briefly, before closing them again.

  I can’t worry about her now, though.

  Another blast hits the ship.

  My hands are flying across the console, dialing us in for take off.

  Read! Just in time.

  My foot slams onto the accelerator pedal, and my hands take the yoke.

  With a tremendous roar, the ship blasts off the ground, lifting straight up. Dirt and rock falls off the nose of the craft.

  I bump into another tree on the way up, and a pang of regret hits me.

  The guards are below me. I can see them as I make a sharp turn, repositioning the craft. They’re all below, firing their blasters up at us. From this distance, it’s tough; with the shields now powered on, they’re not going to do anything to the ship.

  Four of them are setting up a turrent gun, but I’ll be long gone in another second.

  The engine is fully powered on now. The noise is tremendous. The ship shakes and vibrates. It’s not exactly meant for atmospheric travel, especially at these speeds, but it can do it, with some minor stress on the chassis.

  I fly straight up, the thrust pushing me back in my cockpit chair.

  The holograph display starts blinking at me, indicating that a missile from the Earth Defensive System is incoming, approaching us even faster than this ship travels.

  Diverting power from the thrust, I power up the shields. There’s nothing to do but wait for the impact.

  It hits, throwing us off course for a moment. The entire ship rattles. It sounds like the ship will break apart, but I know it won’t.

  The impact wakes up her up.

  “Where am I? What’s going on?” she says, looking around wildly.

  I don’t answer. There’s no time.

  The ship shakes again. The holograph display is flashing warning signs at me. The satellite must be activated, firing its heavy duty long range blaster cannon at maximum potential.

  Chapter 3

  Felia

  “Who the hell are you?” I say, practically screaming.

  I’m panicked. I’ve never been kidnapped before, and not only that, we’re going to die!

  He doesn’t answer. He just stares straight ahead, a steely gaze on his handsome, chiseled face.

  He’s hot as fuck, and even in this crazy situation, I can still appreciate that fact.

  But there’s something odd about him. The way he moves, the expression on his face… there’s something familiar about it, but it’s very odd indeed.

  “Who the fuck are you?” I scream at him. My voice can barely be heard above the sound of the ship’s engines, which are whining and whirring. Not to mention the entire ship is shaking as if it’s about to break apart. And every few seconds, something else hits the ship, causing me to shake violently in my chair, despite the straps.

  “I can explain it to you all later,” he says, his voice calm, cool, and steady. His hands are working crazily at the controls. His eyes are scanning the holo display rapidly.

  “Don’t you realize we’re both going to die?” I scream. “You’ll never get past the satellites.”

  He doesn’t answer.

  Like most people on Earth, I’ve never actually been on a space ship, even though at this point in our history, the technology is quite old. But it’s still expensive, and there isn’t much reason to leave the planet, unless you’re working for one of the mining companies, or for the government. Earth is focused mostly on its internal problems, as well as the imminent threat of extraterrestrial life. There isn’t time or the inclination to go flying around space just for pleasure.

  I’m freaking out. My pulse is as fast as it’s ever been. I feel like I’m hyperventilating.

  But I start focusing on my breathing, the way one of my teachers taught me. Being a senator’s daughter does have certain advantages, and I’ve always had the best teachers. Gradually, I calm down a little.

  Shouting at him seems to have no effect. I’ve been warned about this risk: being kidnapped. But I can’t figure out what faction he’s from.

  Gradually my thoughts fall away as I watch in amazement as he starts really piloting the craft. This is some kind of freighter ship, but it seems to have been modified.

  I’ve seen plenty of footage of military craft. It’s something that everyone on Earth studies, especially when you’re a senator’s daughter. But I’ve never seen someone pilot a craft like this.

  He seems to be learning how to avoid the missiles and the blaster cannon fire.

  I watch the missiles approach on the holo screen, and gasp in amazement as he somehow outmaneuvers them. His hands are just so fast, and his reflexes even faster. I’ve never heard of anyone outmaneuvering a missile like that, let alone a blaster cannon fired from a satellite.

  Through the reinforced glass panel in front of us, I can see the sky appearing to rush towards us as we shoot straight out of space.

  The craft rumbles and shakes even more violently as we pass through Earth’s magnetic belt.

  My captor still doesn’t speak.

  The anger is rising through me.

  Fuck breathing. Fuck relaxation techniques.

  Fuck staying silent.

  “I don’t know who the fuck you think you are,” I say. “But don’t think for a second you’re going to get away with this just because you can avoid some blaster fire and some missiles. You may be good at piloting this craft, but they’ll intercept you and they’ll transport a commando team onto this ship. What are you going to do about that? Huh? What the fuck are you going to do about that?”

  “You’ve got some mouth for a senator’s daughter,” he says, his words coming across impossibly and annoyingly calm.

  “You’re not wired?” I say, my body shaking with anger, with indignation at the situation. What fucking gall! He thinks he can just kidnap a senator’s daughter and not die a horrible death in the process?

  I’m much more angry than worried. Transport technology is restricted to military use only. There’s no doubt in my mind that they’ll transport the best commando team there is. There’s no way he can defeat them.

  “Looks like they’re coming for you now,” he says. The first hint of emotion touches his voice. And it’s… humor? He sounds like he’s mocking me.

  The holo screen is flashing, showing a ship approaching.

  “That’s a command military ship,” I say. “Tell me, what are you going to do when they transport the crack team onboard?”

  “I’ll manage,” he says calmly.

  The military ship opens fire. They’re right in front of us, facing us. I can see the blasts burst across our shield fields, right in front of the glass panel.

  “They wouldn’t dare destroy a ship carrying a senator’s daughter,” says my captor. “They haven’t been trying too hard to destroy us. They just wanted to damage our propulsion.”

  “Don’t you think I know that?”

  He shrugs.

  “They’re coming for you,” I say. “And they’ll be here soon. They just need to get in range, and their ship is just as fast as this hunk of trash that you’re piloting.”

  I really want him to know that he’s not going to get away with this.

  “They’re going to kill you,” I say. “If you’re lucky. And if not, they’ll stun you and lock you in Dunzgord.”

  Dunzgord was, in its day, the most high tech prison ever constructed. It’s a thousand meters below the Earth’s crust, built to hold the worst criminals and most evil minds of the Bio Wars. Now, it holds the worst of the worst. Some of the evil genius scientists behind the wars are still there, having modified their own metabolism to outlive all of us.

  “They’ll try their best,” says my captor, his face still expressionless, his hands moving over the controls rapidly.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Engaging the autopilot,” he says.

  A second later, the autopilot now engaged, he unbuckles himself from his chair, gets up, and turns around, pulling out his blaster and pointing it at the empty space behind us.

  “Oh,” I say, including as much biting sarcasm as I can. “You think you’re going to be able to take them all out, just because you’ve already got your gun out? They can materialize anywhere they want. And they’re too fast for you, and there are too many of them.”

  He doesn’t respond. His gaze is steely, cold, and calm.

  Suddenly, a strange sound like tin foil being ripped comes softly through the cabin. Behind us, where my captor is pointing his blaster, ten shapes start to shimmer. I’ve never seen anyone transported before and for a moment my fear and annoyance gives way to amazement.

  Their bodies materialize before my eyes, turning from shimmering light and floating particles into human bodies.

  My captor lets loose a blast and rushes forward, right into the bodies, moving faster than I’ve ever seen a human move.

  Chapter 4

  98XF5

  I move between them as they materialize. Unlike a human, my reflexes are fast enough that I can attack each one right at the point of materialization, going from one to the other.

  I st
rike with my hand, hard, against his neck. I fire my blaster on stun point blank into the next one.

  One by one they all go down. They don’t manage to fire a single shot.

  “So much for your crack commando team,” I say.

  She’s looking at me, and now behind me. Her eyes betray her. I spin around to see three of them behind me. They must have materialized in the cargo hold and just made it up to the cockpit.

  I can see the blast coming towards me almost as if in slow motion. My body speeds up when necessary, the mechanical pieces of me shooting rapid fire electrons into my brain, sending me into overdrive.

  Leaning to the left, I dodge the blast easily. I rush forward before he can even pull the trigger again.

  I move between them, seizing two of them, one with each hand, and throw them against opposite metal walls. They slide down, crumpled bodies on the floor.

  The third one puts up a fight. He manages to hit me in the stomach with the butt of his blaster rifle. But I don’t give him enough time to shoot me with it.

  I duck down, executing a sweeping kick, knocking him off his feet.

  I lean down onto him, pressing the nozzle of my blast rifle right into his chest.

  But I don’t pull the trigger. Something stops me.

  A flashback. A memory.

  I’ve done this before?

  “You’re scum,” hisses the commando, his face red with anger. “You’ll never take her. They’ll dispatch the whole fleet.”

  “Let them try,” I say, pulling the trigger.

  The hint of the memory fades… gone, never to return.

  “You’ve killed them all!” shrieks the senator’s daughter, her eyes welling up with tears.

  I ignore her for now. There are more pressing things to deal with.

  Returning to the pilot’s chair, I strap myself back in.

  But she has other plans.

  “Don’t move your hands, or I’ll blast you,” she says, her voice full of sorrow. I can hear her crying.

  “A little senator’s girl is going to pull the trigger?” I say.

  “I’ve got it set to kill,” she says. “And I’ll do it if I have to.”

  “I don’t have time for this,” I say, reaching out and removing the ship from autopilot. “You won’t do it.”

  We need to get out of range of military ships fast, or we’ll never make it back to Mina Dos in time.

  The radio crackles. “This is General Jazch. Power down your engines immediately, or prepare to be destroyed.”

  “You’d never destroy a ship with a senator’s daughter on board, would you, General?” I say.

  “We’ll send three dozen commandos if we have to,” he says, his voice crackling. The distance between us is increasing. We’re almost out of range of the transporters and the radio. “You may have fought off the ones we sent, but you’ll never make it against dozens.”

  “I don’t think you’ll have the time, General,” I say. “I stunned your men. They’re not dead, although some I had to knock out the old fashioned way. There’s a window of about thirty seconds left. I know how your transporters work. You can either choose to send another batch onto my ship, or you can transport back the ones already here. If you choose to take the hard road, I’ll be forced to jettison them into space. Either save their lives now, or do it the hard way.”

  There’s a long pause.

  “I won’t let you do this,” says the senator's daughter.

  I look over at her right as she pulls the trigger.

  The blast hits me right in my side. A searing pain runs through me instantly.

  Another flash of a memory… being in a battle… being hit by something… pain, and more pain, the worst pain I’d ever felt… and then blackness…

  But that’s just a memory. I’m still here.

  It may hurt like hell, but I’m still functioning. My circuitry is taking care of it, already starting to control the damage, keeping my hormones in control, keeping my system from going into shock.

  “You’re… still alive…” she says, her voice trembling.

  I grab the gun from her.

  “Sit back down,” I say. “You’re going to want to be buckled up for this one.”

  “You… didn’t die.”

  “Nope,” I say.

  “What’s going on there?” barks the general’s voice from the radio.

  “General,” I say. “You have ten seconds to decide the fate of your men.”

  “He’ll never give up,” whispers my captive.

  “Fine,” says the general. “We’ll transport them back.”

  I turn my head back to see the crumpled commando bodies disappearing, becoming little twinkles of energy on the way back to their ship, where they’ll receive medical attention and a severe debriefing.

  The engine turbines are at full blast now. The ship’s finally ready for light speed travel.

  I hit the accelerator.

  Three…

  Two…

  One…

  With a shake and then a swoosh, the ship blasts off past light speed, leaving the general and his flotilla far, far behind. There’s no way they can trace us or track us.

  And we’re out of their range.

  “Sorry, sweetheart,” I say. “Looks like you’re mine now.”

  Where is this side of me coming from? I never talked like this with the other cyborgs on Mina Dos. I was calm and collected, talking like a machine…

  There’s something in my mind… some distant memory of a similar situation. I was on a space ship, blasting towards a distant planet that zoomed towards me…

  Like all the other memories, it’s gone again in an instant.

  But I’m acting different. I’m saying sarcastic things that I’d never say. Is this the old me coming through? That’s impossible, or so they say.

  “What do you want from me?” she says.

  “Well… that’s going to require a lot of explanation. Fortunately, we’ve got a long, long journey ahead of us.”

  Switching the ship once again to autopilot, I settle back in my seat.

  I wince for a moment in pain. The blaster burned a hole right through my adapted mining uniform, shooting through a gap in the rudimentary armor that I constructed back on Mina Dos. I didn’t really think the armor would work anyway.

  “How are you still alive?” she says.

  I laugh. “Let’s get one thing straight. Don’t shoot me again.”

  “Why shouldn’t I?”

  “Because I don’t want to have to strap you in against your will and force feed you. It’s going to be easier for me if you can move around freely. Plus, it’s not going to work.”

  “And why not? I had that set to kill.”

  “I appreciate your concern,” I say. “Trust me, it’s not like it doesn’t hurt.”

  “Good,” she says. “I hope it burns you right to hell.”

  “Good one,” I say, putting my feet up on the console.

  I have a memory of talking like this with humans once… Could it be that I’m again becoming who I was once long ago?

  “Who are you?” she says.

  “Fuck if I know,” I say.

  Chapter 5

  Felia

  There’s a hole burned into his torso from the blaster, but he seems to feel only minimal pain. Something’s different about him.

  No human could survive that blast.

  Then it hits me. I realize what he is.

  “You’re a cyborg?” I say, my mouth dropping open.

  “That’s right, sweetheart,” he says. “How do you think I managed to take out those commandos?”

  “I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

  “That’s because you’ve probably never seen a cyborg before.”

  “No,” I say. “I haven't.” I’m starting to calm down, which is good. After all, I need to assess my situation and try to make the most logical move. There's got to be a way out of this, I’m sure of it. “Now tell me what you’re doing with me.”

  “What you probably don’t know is that there’s something happening with us cyborgs,” he says, a cocky grin on his face. When I first woke up, he was cold and steely. Now he’s acting like an arrogant prize fighter or something. It’s such a big transformation, I can’t not notice it.