“Are you sure you can handle this thing?” Exonyie asked, laughing. Avi punched him in the arm playfully.
“Are you kidding me? I flew my own ship for the past twelve months. I think I could handle a little emergency pod.”
“Okay, suit yourself. I could use a little nap,” he said as he switched places with Avi, closing his eyes in the chair and falling asleep within seconds. Avi sighed in relief. She knew that if she had told Exonyie her plan, he would have talked her out of it, and she needed to do this. Not only for him, but for her own sake. Avi steered the emergency pod rimward and made a subspace communication.
Calling Zethron Authority Council! Calling Zethron Authority Council! The screen rang in front of her. The call connected and a woman answered.
“Hello, Avi Mitchell. We have been expecting your call.”
“Hello, Prime Minister. I presume you know the reason for my phone call?”
“You are calling to request a deal from us. Continue,” the Prime Minister urged. Avi took a deep breath before she continued. She needed to remember who she was doing this for.
“As you probably know, the bounty hunter that was hired to retrieve me has helped me escape and is now protecting me. I will turn myself in, if you promise me that he will go free. No punishment. He is adamant that his job is to protect me and that is exactly what he’s doing,” Avi explained.
“Yes, I’ve heard of Commander Exonyie’s actions from his crew member Krug. He has brought it to our attention that the two of you are engaged in a special kind of relationship—not only is that unethical and morally reprehensible, it’s also strictly illegal. You are asking me to not punish him after he has clearly broken the law?”
“Prime Minister, you have been trying to arrest me for almost a year now, to no avail. I am now offering to surrender into your custody and you are worried about a cyborg that was faced with a moral dilemma?!” Avi yelled at the Prime Minister, hoping that she didn’t wake Exonyie up.
The Prime Minister thought about it for a second. “If you plead guilty to murder in the first degree, you have my word.”
“Fine. I will see you in a few days, Prime Minister,” Avi said as she redirected the emergency pod towards Zethron.
Avi ended the communication, and made another call.
“Avi. Avi, is that you?” a woman on the other line sobbed.
“Yes, mom. It’s really me.”
“How are you? Are you okay?” her mother asked desparately.
“Mom, I’m fine. I need you to do something for me... Can you call Deborah?”
“Avi, why do you need to speak to Deborah? You’re not coming home are you?” her mother whispered in agitation.
“I can’t run forever. I need you to call Deborah and have her call me back at this number. I’m going to need a lawyer when I get back to Zethron,” Avi said as she hung up the call.
“Do you want to tell me what you think you’re doing?” Exonyie said as Avi hung up the call. She knew that she was going to have to tell him her plan eventually, but she wasn’t ready to tell him now. At this point, she had no other choice.
“We’re heading back to Zethron,” Avi began.
“What? You’re joking right?” Avi looked at him and shook her head. “Dammit, Avi. I sacrificed everything to get you away from that place, and now you want to go back? I don’t get you!” he yelled.
“Yeah, well you don’t have to live with that guilt. I can’t let you throw everything away for me. I can’t have you running for the rest of your life. That’s no way to live,” she said as she walked up and put her hand on Exonyie’s face.
“Avi, I gave up everything because I know it’s the right thing to do. I can’t protect you from what they are going to do to you. I can’t watch you die,” he anguished, with tears in his eyes.
“You won’t. Trust me. What I need from you, more than simple protection, is your support. I have a plan, which just might work, but I need you to be one hundred percent on my side.”
“Fine,” said Exonyie, sighing. “Tell me what you need from me.”
*****
“Good Morning, Prime Minister,” Krug said as he strolled into the Prime Minister’s office. Prime Minister Tamod looked up from her screen with a scowl.
“What can I do for you Krug?” she asked as Krug sat down in one of her high, lifted chairs reserved for imperial guests. Prime Minister Tamod’s office contained all of the basic amenities, but with a little class. Her desk was of the finest oak, imported from Earth, and her woodworkers had carved the seal of Zethron – a cyborg’s boot using Earth as a footstool—into the top of it. Her floating screen was the latest technology. Since she often worked with security-sensitive information, her computer screen would immediately hide the data should anyone else gaze upon it. There were three regal chairs that airlifted off of the ground when needed. There was no decoration in the room, save for the walls gilt with pure gold—another commodity that was imported from Earth—and the vast waterfall that could be seen through the window behind the Prime Minister. The view of the water, reflected off of the walls of the room, bathed the room in a beautiful luminescence of blue and gold. The national colors of Zethron.
“I heard that the murderer turned herself in and will be back on Zethron in less than a week?” Krug began.
“Yes, that is the case. Why is that of concern to you? We already recieved the information from you that we needed. You should be de-briefing your part of the mission to my staff and explaining why we found you detained in the prison hold in the first place,” the Prime Minister reminded him, none too kindly.
Tiny beads of sweat started to form on Krug’s brow. “I told you that Exonyie had me arrested because he knew that I understood what his motives were with the captive. He didn’t want me to get in the way, so he put me in the hold. It doesn’t matter though; his motives came to light anyway,” Krug hastily explained.
“Yes, they did and we thank you for your loyalty to the empire, but again, I digress, what does Ms. Mitchell’s surrender have to do with you?” the Prime Minister asked, somewhat irate now.
“I want to be assigned to her guard detail. As someone who is well-acquainted with her actions, having following her around for a year, I think that I would be an asset to your team,” Krug said suggested, but this wasn’t his entire motive. He wanted to get that murderer back for everything that she had done to him. A weak human should never have been able to exercise so much control over a cyborg’s life and Avi Mitchell will pay for what she had done to him and all other cyborg’s that she had hurt.
“I will look into your request. Please head back and talk to my staff until I contact you,” the Prime Minister said and went back to her work, indicating that their meeting was over.
***
The emergency pod reached the Zethron atmosphere. The GPS tracking system recognized their pod and pulled it towards the landing area, where Avi and Exonyie would be met by the guards who were to arrest her. Avi released the wheel and let the tracking system guide the craft in. This would give her time to reflect on the plan that Exonyie had drilled into her head over and over again. When they landed on Zethron, they knew that they would be met by guards and would immediately be separated from one another. They anticipated that they both would be arrested, but Exonyie would eventually be released—if the Prime Minister kept her word. Then Exonyie would enact the rest of the plan and Avi would work on staying alive and unharmed for as long as she could before her trial.
“Are you ready?” Exonyie asked her as he sat up and took her hand.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” she whispered as she stared out the window, watching the yellow landing tarmac come into view. Anxiety started to flutter in the pit of her stomach and she began to feel nauseous. She knew that this was her only chance, but she was about to walk into hell, and that would terrify anyone.
Exonyie must have noticed her fear because he stroked her hand. “It’s going to be okay. We will get through this, I promi
se you and then we will go and start our life together on a planet that will not judge us,” Exonyie said.
Avi looked at him with tears in her eyes and nodded. “Okay.” That was the only thing that she could say at the moment, as she felt the pod glide to the ground and the door open. She turned towards Exonyie and kissed him passionately; this was the last time that she would be able to touch him freely for a while, maybe ever. They both sat in their seats as they heard footsteps approaching. Avi remembered the last time she had heard footsteps approaching—how she wished that it was Exonyie and his men who were coming for her again! But the imperial guards were another story all together.
The footsteps stopped right outside the door and an officer yelled to get their attention. “Avi Mitchell and Commander Exonyie, please come out with your hands up,” he ordered. Avi and Exonyie got up and walked out on the tarmac hand in hand. They would continue together as a united front until they were pulled apart by the oppressive Zethron guards.
***
The Prime Minister had decided to grant Krug’s request to guard the prisoner. Krug was very pleased. He had arrived at the prison house in ample time and was waiting for his orders when he spotted her. Another guard had brought her in, hands cuffed behind her. Her hair hung sleek down her back, complementing the Zethron bodysuit that hugged her body and showed off every one of her curves.
“Officer Krug? Officer Krug?” a young female cyborg was trying to get his attention.
“Hmm, yes?” he answered distractedly.
“I’m Officer Qua. We will be working together to guard the prisoner. She is just being processed as we speak. Are you ready?”
Krug nodded in consent.
“Great. Follow me.”
*****
Exonyie massaged his wrists after the guard took the handcuffs off of him.
“The Prime Minister has dropped all charges of treason against you. You may go,” the guard said as he walked away and left Exonyie alone. He walked out of the prison house and into the Zethron air.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the address to Deborah’s office and hailed a cab. Avi had explained that Deborah was her only hope. As a human activist, Deborah had been conducting research on hundreds of cyborgs for over thirty years. Avi had told Exonyie stories that her brother had shared with her from his years of working for Authority Figure 718. Her brother had knowledge that Authority Figure 718 was stealing imported gold to finance some of his personal business interests. Through exposing Authority Figure 718’s disloyalty to the empire, Avi could prove that she didn’t murder anyone, but had instead saved the empire from financial constraints. It was a much better defense than any other involved party could come up with, and it was her only chance at survival.
The cab pulled up to the office on the human colony and Exonyie stepped out. He had never been in the human colony before, and it was desolate. All of the beauty and color of Zethron ceased to exist on this side of the planet. It was like the government only cared about the areas where the cyborgs lived and left the humans to fend for themselves. The only thing the empire recognized the human race as good for was manual labor. Exonyie walked up to the steps to Deborah’s office and was greeted by a cheery blond receptionist.
“I’ll page Deborah and let her know that you’re here. Please have a seat,” she said.
The receptionist picked up an archaic phone and announced Exonyie’s arrival. A few minutes later a woman in a tailored gray suit walked out of an office and approached him.
“Commander, I’m Deborah,” she introduced herself as she extended her hand towards him. Handshaking was not a customary cyborg tradition, but Deborah must have felt that he was worthy of this human ritual because of his relationship with Avi. He took her hand and shook it firmly. A smile appeared on her face. “Please follow me to my office,” Deborah requested.
The office was decorated with family photos and pictures of special places on Earth. Exonyie realized that humans wanted to show off the things that they loved, as opposed to cyborgs who just wanted to make everything pretty. What mattered more? he thought to himself.
“Please, have a seat Commander. How can I help you?” Deborah inquired.
“Thank you for seeing me today, Deborah. As you know, Avi’s situation is very dangerous. There is not much we can do to save her life, but that is my main goal,” Exonyie began.
“Yes, Avi told me much about you, Commander, and your goal to protect her at all costs. I just have to ask—what do you gain from this endeavor?” Deborah asked earnestly.
Exonyie didn’t have to think about his response before he blurted it out. “Her, Deborah. I would gain her.”
Another smiled appeared on her lips.
“Avi was right about you, darlin’. You are one of a kind,” she said as she giggled. “Let me get those files for you and we’ll discuss the case,” she said. She rummaged through her desk and pulled out an over-flowing manilla file. She opened up to the first page and then she leaned in towards Exonyie.
“Okay, we know how detrimental it is for you to stand up for Avi, especially on the witness stand, but to stand up against your own is going to cause a huge stir, so we need you to do it. As her defence lawyer, I told Avi that this is a longshot, but I believe that if we play our cards right, we can exonerate her of all charges.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes,” said Exonyie.
***
Avi’s chest was heaving as she tried to calm down. Blood was dripping down her face, but she knew that nothing was broken, at least on her. She couldn’t say the same for the cyborg who had tried to assault her. Krug was lying on the bottom of her cell, nose gushing blood. His partner Qua had run to get first aid. Qua was aware of the attack, and Avi hoped that she would stick up for her, but it didn’t matter. Her trial was in less than an hour anyway. Avi had to prepare herself for the worst, so she sat down and meditated, something her mother had taught her. She hadn’t meditated in a very long time.
“Avi Mitchell,” an unfamiliar guard said as he walked up to her cell, eyeing the bleeding cyborg shouting profanities.
“Yes?” Avi responded curtly as she stood up.
“I’m going to escort you to the courtroom. Please put your hands behind your back,” he said as he walked up and cuffed her. The man was gentle as he escorted her down the long white hall, towards the courtroom door.
“Please do not turn around or show any emotion on your face. I have a message from Exonyie. He said that he met with Deborah and he will take the stand if he needs to, but he feels that when the Prime Minister receives the information that they have compiled, he won’t need to. So, just stay calm during the trial, everything will be okay soon.” Avi listened to the cyborg and finally recognized the voice as Zen from Exonyie’s ship.
“Thank you,” she whispered gratefully.
“Any person, cyborg or human, that the Commander would risk his life for, is someone worth saving. No thanks are needed,” he replied sincerely. Tears welled up in Avi’s eyes and she sucked them back in remembering his order from a second ago. She composed herself as he opened the door to the courtroom.
Avi was led into the room, and came face to face with a crowd of angry cyborgs, ready to watch her plead guilty to a murder of one of their own and make sure that she received the harshest of punishments—death. Deborah was not there, for some reason. Avi took a calming breath as the guard led her to the bench where she would be sitting for the duration of the trial.
“Stay strong and remember what I said,” he whispered as he left her side. The courtroom guard walked up and called the courtroom to order as four imperial judges filtered in and sat at the bench overlooking Avi.
“We call to order this case of Zethron versus Avi Mitchell in the murder of Authority Figure 718,” the head judge proclaimed. Avi gulped as she heard the charges against her called out.
“How does the defendant plead?” the head judge asked as he glared down at her.
“Not guilty, your
honor,” Deborah said as the door of the courtroom burst open with Exonyie and the Prime Minister trailing behind her.
“Your excellency,” the judge stammered as the whole courtroom stood and bowed.
“To what do we owe the pleasure?” the head imperial judge asked as the Prime Minister walked up to the bench and handed him a file. After carefully viewing its contents, the judge faced Avi.
“Avi Mitchell?”
“Yes?” she replied, daring to hope.
“According to the power of the Prime Minister and of this court, due to the current findings that have come to light, you have been exonerated of the death of the murder of Authority Figure 718. We actually should be thanking you for saving us from fiscal depletion. You are free to go,” he announced as Zen walked up and released her from the handcuffs.
Exonyie ran up to Avi and threw his arms around her. “I am so glad you’re safe,” he exclaimed, as he leaned down and kissed her openly for all to see.
“You really came back for me,” she said with awe. There had been a part of her that didn’t dare to believe that he cared so much.
“I told you I would, and I always keep my word,” he promised as he held her close. The Prime Minister walked up to the couple.
“I want to give my apologies for what happened. This cyborg has really sacrificed himself for you and for the good of Zethron. He has been esteemed a hero and I am personally in his debt. I will grant you two anything that you would like,” the Prime Minister offered graciously.
Avi and Exonyie looked at the Prime Minister. “We would like a ship to travel the galaxy so that we may find a planet to settle on,” Exonyie requested.
“Very well, I will see to that right away. However, Zethron will always be your home. Remember that you will always have our protection, no matter what part of the universe you are in,” the Prime Minister said as she walked away from the couple.
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