Cyborg's Captive Read online

  “Yeah,” I say. “I gathered that. You happened to me.”

  “There’s much more to it,” he says. “And while you may know a little of politics…”

  “I know more than a little,” I say, annoyed.

  He just chuckles at me. “What you definitely don’t know is that your father is the head of a secret committee dedicated to the destruction of us. He wants to wipe us all out with a single nuke.”

  “Nukes are prohibited.”

  “Yes, but you don’t think they kept a few around, for special occasions?”

  “Hmmm,” I say. After all, it is possible, but I don’t want to admit it. “Well, if my father wants to destroy all of you, I’m sure there’s a good reason. After all, you’re obviously a threat. Look at you, you just kidnapped me from Earth, and God only knows where you’re taking me.”

  “I’m taking you to Mina Dos.”

  “The mining colony?”

  “The only remaining home of the cyborgs.”

  “And what are you going to do with me?”

  “You’re an important piece of our strategy. I don’t think the senator would like to nuke a moon when his daughter’s on it. He wants to destroy us, annihilate us, wipe us out completely. And do you want to know the reason?”

  “You’re obviously a menace.”

  “Do you want to know the real reason?”

  I bite my lip. Curiosity gets the best of me, as it always does. “Fine,” I say. “Tell me your big secret.”

  “He does want to wipe us out because he thinks we’re a threat, but not for the reasons you think. Recently, a comet passed by Mina Dos.”

  “So what?”

  “It wasn’t on any of the charts. It wasn’t supposed to come so close. And there was something strange about this comet.” There’s a far off look in his eyes as he says this, as if he’s remembering something that was both wonderful and terrible at the same time. “It had an orange glow to it…”

  “Comets don’t look like that,” I interject.

  “This wasn’t any ordinary comet. Once it passed, and we could all see it, we all started to… change.”

  “Change?”

  “We started remembering things… just little fragments… But some of us believe they were pieces of our old lives.”

  Cyborgs were once humans. Dead humans, who were reanimated with special technology built into them. They’re not supposed to be their old selves. Their old personality is completely erased.

  “Impossible,” I say. “Cyborgs don’t remember anything from their past. You’re basically just a machine with a program running on you.”

  “That’s what I said at first,” he says. “But something definitely changed… Unfortunately, it caused a lot of chaos on Mina Dos. The next human to come for the cargo shipment was murdered, unfortunately, and that’s how I got this ship.”

  “You must have murdered him,” I say.

  He shakes his head sadly. “No,” he says. “It wasn’t me, and the cyborg who did it was punished. But the comet changed our colony forever… We’re different now. And your father wants to destroy us completely because he’s terrified of us… Not just us, but what we might learn about ourselves.”

  “Bullshit,” I say.

  “Believe what you want,” he says. “Doesn’t matter to me.”

  There’s a long silence. We both gaze out of the glass at the stars that shoot past in the blackness of space, the immensity that swallows us up whole.

  “What’s your name anyway?” I say.

  “Why? What does it matter?”

  “Shouldn’t I at least know my captor’s name?”

  He shrugs. “It’s 98XF5.”

  “That’s not a name.”

  “It is. It’s my name.”

  “No it’s not,” I say. “It’s not a name.”

  “I used to have a real name,” he says, speaking slowly and gravely, as if he’s thinking of something far, far off. “But I don’t know it anymore. I’m different now.”

  “You know,” I say. “They’re going to come after me.”

  “They can’t track us.”

  “But they know where you’re headed. They’ll know you’re a cyborg. The commandos will report. They have bio signal reading equipment anyway, that’ll report back everything. They’re going to beat us to Mina Dos, and they’ll be waiting for you. What are you going to do then? Even a cyborg can’t fight off a whole flotilla, and don’t think my father’s going to send anything less for me.”

  “I’m taking a special route,” he says. “There’s no way they can beat us there, and they’ll never guess the route we’re going to take.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “Because it’s far, far too dangerous for any human to navigate.”

  “What’s that?”

  “The asteroid belt of X-Gamma 88.”

  “Are you crazy?” I say. I’m terrified just thinking about the idea. The asteroid belt of X-Gamma 88 is something I learned about in school. No ship has ever passed through it, but many have crashed trying.

  “Maybe,” he says.

  “What makes you think you can navigate it?”

  “I’m not human, am I?”

  “You’re human enough to be an asshole,” I say.

  He chuckles. “Maybe you’re right,” he says. “Maybe I am human. But I’m going to try it anyway.”

  He may be an asshole, but he’s a hot and gorgeous asshole. He may be a cyborg, and not entirely human, but he’s the kind of guy who I’d love to have fuck me powerfully and relentlessly.

  Then again, he’s my captor. And that’s not the sort of thing one does with their captor.

  Then again, it’s been a long time since I had sex. A very long time.

  And he’s not just hot. He’s the hottest guy I’ve ever seen, cyborg or not.

  Chapter 6

  98XF5

  She dozed off about half an hour ago. I don’t need much sleep, just an hour or two here or there every few days. Benefits of not being a real human, I guess.

  The blackness of space stretches out before me, and I just watch it. The memories haven’t been coming at all, and I don’t know why. But I do know that, disturbing as they are, I miss them.

  Gradually, we approach the asteroid belt, and I watch the huge spinning rocks move through space, spiraling like they’re completely out of control. No ship has ever passed successfully through it. Except for me. I did it on the way here, to avoid detection upon approaching Earth.

  I turn to look at her.

  She’s completely beautiful. She has long dark hair and skin that’s completely smooth. Her shirt is torn a little from the events of today. Her breasts rise and fall as she sleeps, the sound of her breathing soft and comforting.

  It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a human female that wasn’t a cyborg. Years ago, one of the human cargo pilots was a woman, but she wasn’t anything like the senator’s daughter. I suddenly realize I don’t know her name.

  My cock is rock hard in my pants, just from looking at her.

  The ship shakes. My cockpit chair rattles violently.

  “What’s going on?” she cries out, waking up.

  I don’t answer.

  The ship shakes again.

  I kick the controls out of auto-pilot, my eyes scanning the holo display.

  “There’s a ship behind us,” I say. “And they’re firing at us.”

  Actually, make that twelve ships. A quarter of the entire fleet. They must have divided up the fleet and sent ships to different areas that I might be headed to, all the possible routes leading to Mina Dos.

  “They wouldn’t dare destroy us.”

  I divert some power to the shields.

  We’re only about a minute from entering the asteroid belt.

  Another blast hits us.

  The holo deck flashes a warning.

  Fuck.

  One of the thrusters is severely damaged. This limits my ability to steer effectively. Just one thruster left.

  The radio crackles.

  “Didn’t think we could trace you, 98XF5?” comes the general’s voice.

  “You’ve got ten seconds before I disappear into the asteroid belt,” I say. “And somehow I don’t think you’re going to follow me.”

  The general cackles. “You’ll never make it with just one thruster.”

  “General,” cries the senator’s daughter. “Help me! He’s got me kidnapped! Do something.”

  “He doesn’t give a shit,” I say.

  The general ignores her cries for help. “98XF5, if you enter that asteroid field, we will destroy your ship completely. We have superior fire power. Power down your engines, or prepare to be destroyed.”

  Yanking the yoke, I pull the ship into a defensive maneuver, trying to get the main part out of the way of the blast. It’s difficult with only one thruster.

  The ship moves wildly.

  “Watch out! We’re headed right for that asteroid.”

  That is what it looks like. The asteroid is zooming right towards us.

  The general’s ships all open fire at once. He doesn’t even give us a final warning. He’s terrified we’re going to disappear into the asteroid belt and they won’t be able to follow us.

  The ship shakes with the impact, but at the last moment, I divert some power to the deflectors.

  Something’s on fire in the back. Smoke fills the cabin.

  “He shot us!” she cries out. “I can’t believe he shot us! And he knows I’m on board.”

  “Grab the yoke,” I say roughly. “Steer us away from that asteroid if you want us to live.”

  “I can’t pilot this! Where are you going?” She’s completely frantic, her voice turning into a shriek.

  “I have to put out th
ese fires if we want to live.”

  I rush into the back, grabbing the fire extinguisher.

  The flames are consuming the mid section of the ship. There’s a wall of flame blocking my path to the engines. If the engines catch on fire, we’re done for. It’ll cause an explosion that will destroy us.

  Closing my mouth, I rush headfirst into the flames. They hurt, singeing my skin, making my armor ragingly hot.

  But I make it. I can withstand more pain than an un-augmented human after all.

  The ship swerves wildly and I hear a cry from the cockpit. But by the sound of it, we don’t hit the asteroid. Looks like the senator’s daughter can fly a ship after all. At least for a little while.

  It doesn’t take me long to put out the flames. I check the engine gauges, hoping for better news than what I get.

  The engines are on the fritz. The flames got too close. Everything got overheated. It won’t last much longer now. And the energy shock from the general’s blasts fried the engine’s circuitry, destroying its auto repair mechanisms.

  Back in the cockpit, she’s holding onto the yoke as if her life depends on it. And, frankly, it does.

  “I did it!” she says, joy overtaking her face. But she’s still terrified. Her body is hunched over the yoke and she’s shaking in fear. Somehow, she still manages to look gorgeous. Her long hair is hanging wildly around her face. Her beautiful eyes simply shine.

  “I’m glad,” I say. “But we’re not going to last long in the air. The engines are dying.”

  “They’re what?”

  “You heard me. Your favorite general didn’t pulverize us, but he might as well have. We’re going to have to make an emergency landing. Watch out!”

  She’s not paying attention to what she’s doing. I grab the yoke from her, my body pushing against hers, as I maneuver us skillfully around the asteroid that zooms towards us.

  The next ten minutes are tense. I’m back at the yoke, steering us through the asteroid belt with just one thruster and an engine that’s about to overheat. There are more than a few close calls, the ship coming within inches of huge spinning rocks that could blast us to pieces.

  “How much longer can we fly?” she says.

  “About ten minutes,” I say, checking the holo screen for reference. “If we’re caught in space without a functioning engine, we’ll just continue to move on our initial trajectory, traveling deep into space until we hit something or until we run out of life support, which won’t be long without an engine.”

  “I know that,” she says. “Everyone knows that.”

  I shrug.

  I yank the yoke, pulling us through yet another narrow miss with a smaller asteroid.

  “See that planet there? Right past the asteroid belt? We’re going to crash land on it.”

  “What? Crash land? Are you crazy? We’ll die!”

  “It’s our only option. We’re not going to make it to Mina Dos.”

  “But we’ll die on impact!”

  “Not if I can help it.”

  “But we don’t even know what’s on the planet!”

  “Nope,” I say. The planet has been registered on the star maps as Delta Opi, but it’s never been officially explored. There aren’t any readings on what life could be on the planet. But, judging from the read outs, the atmosphere will at least tolerate human life.

  “What if there’s nothing but desert, or a jungle of vicious beasts, or… aliens?” She says the last word in a way that implies she’s as scared of alien life as the rest of the humans.

  I shrug. “It’s the best we can do.”

  “We’re going to die!”

  “I don’t want to have to restrain you,” I say. “So shut up while I pilot us through this very difficult situation.”

  Chapter 7

  Felia

  I stay silent as 98XF5 pilots us expertly through the asteroid field. He’s doing what no one can do. No human, at least…

  But he is a human. He looks like a human, and he’s starting to sound more and more like one.

  I feel a surge of… something strange. I guess it’s pride. Pride at watching him pilot us through the most dangerous navigation situation yet known in the galaxy.

  But I’m also struck practically dead with fear.

  I’ve never so much as been on a space craft before, let alone crashed landed on one.

  Finally, we’re out of the asteroid belt. We’re headed right for the planet. It’s looming large in front of us. It looks like a marble, not unlike Earth. There are huge oceans and large swathes of green.

  “Try to aim away from the oceans,” I say.

  “I’m glad you’re starting to see the humor in the situation.”

  “Oh? I suppose you’re doing the same?”

  He doesn’t answer.

  “Engine’s really starting to heat up,” he says.

  Warning lights are flashing all over the ship.

  “Warning,” says the ship’s computer, speaking for the first time. “Severe engine failure… approximately 20 seconds. Warning, planetary impact… approximately one minute.”

  The ship is making a cacophony of horrible noises of all types.

  And the computer is competing, raising the volume of its warnings.

  I can barely think, and I’m more terrified then I’ve ever been.

  We hit the atmosphere, the ship starting to shake we leave the airless space.

  “I’m going to have to cut the engine,” shouts 98XF5 above the noise.

  “How are we going to land?”

  “We can’t,” he shouts. “But if I don’t cut it, the engine will overheat and we’ll explode.”

  “Fuck,” is all I can say.

  His hands are working furiously over the controls.

  I hear the engine powering down, the massive turbines slowly coming to a stop.

  The power cuts in and out in the cockpit until finally fading away completely. The holo deck display disappears, and all that’s left is the terrifying view through the glass panel of the new planet rushing up towards us as we barrel towards it at an incredible speed.

  “I’m taking us to the ocean!” he shouts, his hands gripping the yoke, which is now devoid of its power assist. “It’s the only way.”

  What happens next is simply too fast for me to protest.

  Surprisingly, I don’t black out.

  But my memory goes in and out.

  The water is rushing towards us. There are huge waves that crash into each other.

  We’re less than a hundred meters from the water. We’re headed into the ocean, nose down.

  “Brace yourself,” shouts 98XF5.

  I look around wildly, but there’s not much to brace myself on.

  We hit the water with a tremendous swishing noise.

  And we don’t stop moving.

  I’m thrown back in my seat.

  Our ship is plunging deep down into the ocean. All I can see is water, getting darker and darker, the further down we go.

  “I’ve got to power on the engines now,” shouts 98XF5 over the sound of the water rushing around the ship.

  “But we’ll overheat and explode!”

  “It’s a risk we’re going to have to take. Hopefully the water is cold. If it is, it’ll keep the engines from overheating for a minute or so, giving us enough time to get to the surface. Otherwise we’ll keep plummeting down. And there’s no telling how deep this ocean is.”

  “What if the ocean’s hot?”

  “There’s no way to tell,” he shouts back, fiddling with the controls, getting ready to turn the engines back on for one final run. “Not without the holo deck. If it’s warm, we’ll explode.”

  The turbines start to crank. They seem to be moving impossibly slowly.

  “Come on,” mutters 98XF5, as he smashes his fist into one of the buttons.

  The engines roar to life.

  Is it just my imagination, or is there a grin on his face, a grin of triumph?

  “Here goes nothing.”

  With the one remaining thruster, 98XF5 manages to pilot us through the water up to the surface.

  We resurface with a huge sucking noise. 98XF5 cuts the engines again. Now we’re left bobbing on the ocean, like some antique boat.

  “Quick,” shouts 98XF5. “Go aft and grab the emergency supplies. Go!”

  He’s working the controls, trying to keep the engine from exploding for as long as he can, using manual subroutines to divert power throughout the ship.