Star Navigator

by Naomi Lucas

  Atlas had the drone shoot past him and stab the man with the barrels of its many guns, the clawed metallic hands gripping his neck. He wished he could feel the stretch of the Yesne’s skin as he was lifted off the ground.

  “Say that again and you’re dead,” he hissed. “She doesn’t even know she’s classified as a Neoborg.”

  “You must have emotion, otherwise this outburst lacks reason,” the doctor rasped.

  He dropped the man and conversation ended after that. Atlas watched the man collect his equipment and start to set-up and prep for fabrication. Every movement was slow and calculated, the man’s hands were steady and even, and, for the first time in years, Atlas felt hope.

  Hope that the half-life he had been subjected to would soon come to an end. That he would get to experience the brush of a breeze across his skin, the solid feel of a gun in his hand, and the sweet and salty taste of food in his mouth.

  He drifted into himself for a moment, bringing the memories of the heavy muscles that outlined his frame, the weight of its gravity that would pull him to the ground, where for an endless time, he had to keep his conscience from floating away.

  Atlas imagined what Reina’s hair would feel like between his fingers. His tongue on her skin.

  And his cock slipping into her. He knew she had thought about him that way in the shower.

  If she’ll have me.

  He turned to Yesne, who was counting out syringes and fluid bags. “You can wander the ship at your discretion but you will not seek out Captain Reina without my permission. There are empty crew quarters down the hall to the left, as well as a lounge. When you are ready to wake me up,” he hesitated, meaning his body. “Just call my name.” Atlas motioned to the drone that still had its gunnery pointed at the scientist. “This will be watching you when I’m not.”

  He left the doctor to his task but retained control of the local cameras to watch the man begin to prep. A keen sense of dread and excitement fueled him.

  Chapter Nine:

  The chime of an incoming transmission was the first thing to greet her that morning. After a heart-bending rest cycle of unfulfilling sleep, Reina was happy to have something to focus on other than her own embarrassment. She debated for some time whether or not to hide in her room forever. In fact, she had almost convinced herself of it but it wasn’t until she got an out-of-body perspective of the situation that she convinced herself that courage existed, and she had some of it.

  Atlas caught her–what did she expect? If anything, he should feel flattered.

  Slowly, courage came flooding back through her system, she then debated walking into the bridge naked. Not only confronting him outright but confronting her insanity.

  The fantasy did have some hilarious outcomes in her mind, and even if Atlas did shut her down in every way (because the entire situation would be ludicrous), they would at least have a great conversation and an even better memory to accompany them until death.

  But they had a guest on their ship, and although it wasn’t what ultimately convinced her, the idea did come with its own set of embarrassing outcomes if the stodgy Dr. Yesne found her instead.

  Reina chose neither route.

  She woke up, worked out, showered, and then dressed in her uniform. Willing her heart rate to be normal, if not a little slower, she made her way to the bridge and found the beam of Atlas’s auditory communications and projection unit strangely powered off.

  It doesn’t mean he isn’t here, or does it? She pulled her hair loose and re-tied it.

  Her fantasy from before came back but had changed. She would be naked and he would discover her. A surprise, perhaps?

  Reina was, after all, a red-blooded woman. And Atlas, well, he was a gorgeous specimen of a man. She was going stir-crazy and she knew it. Why else would she find herself lured by an intelligence if it wasn’t because of the several weeks of quiet boredom? When the last twelve years of service had been crazy, time-consuming, and exhausting? She didn’t think she was handling the quiet peace she had found on this mission as well as she could have.

  Especially since her mind was fractured into a triad: the mission, her arm, and Atlas.

  She looked back at her arm, and feeling alone, she pulled off her jacket and rolled up the sleeve of her thick cotton blouse.

  The chime of the transmission pinged again but she ignored it; her focus was on her skin.

  The incision had all but healed now and the persistent, insanity-inducing itching had gone away. She trailed her fingertips over the perfect white streak until it ended under her clothes.

  Atlas said he could train me, that there is power here. Reina frowned. How could one cybernetic implant change her overall being, her human self?

  When she focused hard on it, she could almost feel the obscure nanocells flowing throughout her body, far beyond her mechanical arm. She even imagined she could feel the mutation in the tips of her toes and all the way up to the roots of her hair or taste the metallic metamorphosis on her tongue. Every day, it became easier as her body adjusted.

  Every day she began to feel more like herself again, or rather a better, more efficient version of herself. Invigorated, digitalized, and heated. Things came to her with an ease now that once, even just several days prior, came to her with stress and possibly a slice of confusion.

  Reina wondered what training could be had. Could she control the flow of her cells? Could she enter the network like Atlas does? Her eyes widened. Could I have a special Cyborg superpower as well? I wish I could fly! But she already knew that was not something she was capable of.

  She felt around for hidden wings just in case.

  Each Cyborg had their own special power. Many had similar abilities but each was unique in some way or another. Reina knew of some of the famous ones: there was one Cyborg during the war that had control of gravitational fields, and he had created a gravity bomb so intense that a black hole formed and destroyed an entire Trentian battalion. That Cyborg and everyone within the immediate perimeter was never seen again.

  Some Cyborgs were living firewalls. Some were viruses. Some had normal but mundane powers, like super speed, super strength, precision, sniper sight, the list was endless. The Cyborgs were not.

  She was a key. At least she knew that.

  The insistent communication chime rang again, bringing her out of her excited reverie. Reina looked around, wondering where Atlas could be, and then mulled over the notion of whether or not he slept.

  She sat down, instantly feeling the charged rush of electricity tingle up her arm, and answered the communication.

  “This is Captain Reina, who is calling in?”

  “Reina put your video feed up. It’s Chris.” Chris? She frowned.

  “Commander Anders.” She switched it on and smiled. “You sound different over the comm.”

  The image of a ruggedly built, boyishly charming man appeared on the screen before her. His light brown hair had grown out slightly into an unkempt wave. He was wearing his usual loose cargo jacket, frayed and worn from years of overuse. He leaned toward the feed.

  “Why didn’t you answer my communications?”

  Reina felt her cheeks heat; the demand from her once commander was said in frustration. It made her feel like a lackey again, and it wasn’t a good feeling. Any remaining fantasies about traipsing around naked for a sentient intelligence slipped away from her like the wind.

  “I’ve just arrived in the bridge, Commander Anders.”

  “Come on, Reina, you don’t need to be formal with me.” He ran his hand over his head. “I’ve been worried about you. We received intel that your mission had a slight detour for medical issues.”

  She willed herself not to look down at her arm but that unconscious tic forced her eyes to her body. “I’m fine if that’s what you’re asking. My body stopped mutating for a time but it has gone back to normal.” She sat back in her chair. “We picked up a cybernetic surgeon who is accompanying Atlas and me to Port Antix to monitor my reco
very.”

  “I know, I heard. We just haven’t heard any updates from Dr. Yesne yet with regard to your status. The cybernetics unit is growing impatient.”

  That’s odd. “I haven’t seen him since yesterday morning. I believe he is spending his time familiarizing himself with the cybernetics lab onboard. Chris,” she paused, “How do you know all of this?”

  “I make it my business to keep track of those for whom I’m responsible.” The glare he gave her was harsh. “I’ll always be responsible for you, Reina. I care for you deeply and I know your life hasn’t been easy. Especially on my ship, and that damned Trentian warrior who wanted to whisk you away.”

  She laughed but couldn’t suppress the shiver. “They more than wanted to take me away.”

  “Over my dead body.”

  Her laughter died. “Chris, I–”

  “–I care for you like a little sister, Reina, one whom I’m not willing to let out of my sight for very long. I’m still furious that you took on this mission.” He took a heavy breath. “If I had known what you were going through...it would have been different, I would have fixed things.”

  “The only way my situation could have been fixed was to remove myself from the situation,” She laughed again softly, trying to lighten the mood, and felt a tiny spike of hurt for confirming what she had always known. “Or if I terminated my contract.”

  “Or if you took on a dangerous mission to the far reaches of space, looking for god-knows-what. If no one has ever returned from the dead space, why do you think you’ll be any different?”

  Reina noticed the subtle wash of blue light filter throughout the space, the beam directly behind her shooting up with a zip and brightening the dim glow of the consoles.

  “It’s different because of Atlas,” she whispered, wholeheartedly feeling the truth of that statement.

  “That doesn’t make me feel better. If I could turn back time I would...” Anders trailed off.

  “You would what?”

  “I would have approached you.”

  A keen taste of resentment and embarrassment filled her veins. She wouldn’t be weighed down by social perspectives. She couldn’t imagine a worse predicament: being a woman who a man had to settle for, or a woman who was only wanted for the sheath between her legs. She could barely breathe from the outrage and she could feel the zip of a sizzling burst travel through her body.

  The ship went into lockdown just as the cannons began to descend from below. Reina could feel the charging of plasma blasters and sonic grade rockets readying to be fired.

  At nothing but empty innocent space before her.

  She heard a wispy robotic laugh. “That’s my girl. Now just focus on that anger, focus on a spot in front of you and destroy it.”

  Anders guffawed, “Who's that man beside you? What’s happening?” He sat forward. “Atlas?” Anders asked in disbelief.

  “Ignore him and focus, Reina.” But she couldn’t, distracted by the ship, and his voice. Always his voice. When she began to feel her shame swallow her whole, Reina heard his quiet whisper in her ear, “Your commander would have settled for you.”

  Reina shook her head. Then she sensed Atlas kneel beside her and place his transparent arm over hers. As their connection was made, an explosion of energy cascaded through her and her eyes narrowed, her gaze locked.

  The guns of the ship targeted a distant dot of a star billions of miles away, but it was enough of a target to focus her power, along with the soft caress of Atlas’s electrical coaxing.

  “Perfect target. Now fire.”

  With every speck of emotion she had within her, she released a cacophony of crazy vibrations into the ship as her inhuman nanocells shuddered with release. The ship thundered as an explosion filled the abyss with a chaotic blaze of supercharged destruction. Every blistering ballistic shot forth with exact precision and rocketed like a comet toward the innocent white dot.

  Power ripped through her and she was vaguely aware that her hair had flown up in static around her head.

  Atlas’s presence was rushing up and down her arm, sometimes swirling into her head; all she could feel was a comforting caress from him. He was pleased.

  They watched in unison as the wasted shots faded into space to forever float in the nothingness until they eventually hit something or came to a stop. They would never reach their target. The ship flew onward, away from the powerful plume of imaginary battle and closer toward their destination.

  Reina relaxed into her chair with a sated sigh. Unleashing my rage was better than an orgasm.

  She could still feel Atlas in her head and thought she may have imagined a chuckle. His hand was still hidden within her buzzing arm. She looked up into Atlas’s strangely serene face and smiled as whatever link they had formed between them began to sizzle and grow. Their eyes remained locked.

  He’s in my head.

  “Reina, are you okay?” Anders’s concern broke the moment. With tired satisfaction, she turned to her former commander.

  “I’m great, Anders.” She grinned. Atlas’s presence vanished and reappeared in front of her, catching her eye, outside the frame of the view screen. He leaned against the glass paneling and all she could see was him, smirking, his arms crossed, and the speeding stars transparent through him.

  He dramatically pretended to fall through the wall, the glass, and into space. Reina bit back her laughter.

  Anders shoved his hands into his jacket pockets with frustration. “I didn’t mean to upset you. When I said approach you, it wasn’t out of pity: it was out of love.”

  Reina looked back at her commander on the screen. Love? She glanced at Atlas but his face was unreadable, the smirk he sported was gone.

  “What do you mean, ‘love?’” The power continued to fade from her. Atlas ghosted out of her circuits and she missed him immediately.

  “I love you, Reina. Even though you were my subordinate, I grew to love you against my best judgment. I should have never let you leave, I should have never let you take this mission. I’m sick about it.”

  “Love is a strong word, Commander.”

  “For fuck’s sake, stop using my title! We’re beyond that, aren’t we?”

  “You called me your sister, Anders. That’s a different kind of love.” Her eyes narrowed and wavered to Atlas. He continued to watch her with a stony look, revealing nothing but possible boredom and irritation, maybe a hint of curiosity. Anger?

  Was she reading him correctly? Could she read him at all?

  “Is the love grown in friendship any less than that of a life partner’s love?” Anders shifted in his seat and gesticulated as he made his appeal to the comm screen. “I could intercept you, I can still make you disappear.” It was then that she noticed he hadn’t shaved. Neither had her friend cut his hair–he looked haggard.

  Her guilt grew. Here was a man who she thought was unattainable, who she thought was asking her for a life of convenience, but when she looked up, she saw an accessible man who asked for nothing but her time. Time to prove himself, or something else? She wasn’t sure.

  There was only one thing she wanted at that moment, and it was the crazy, ridiculous, utterly improbable companionship of her sentient intelligence, her Atlas.

  Her map of the stars. Reina smiled.

  She stared at him, the airy, nearly transparent man in front of her. She stared at him hard. There was a connection between them, even if it was just a mental, digital connection.

  Maybe that was all she would ever need to make herself happy?

  She addressed Anders. “You deserve a better type of love, Chris. You deserve the quicksilver, shocking, passionate type of love that only one person in the entire universe can give you.” She looked back at her friend. “I’m not that woman. You know it, I know it, so we should do ourselves a favor and not settle for each other.” She caught her breath, “And I don’t want to stand between you and that woman.”

  Her friend sat back in his chair with an audible sigh. “Yo
u talk about love as if it’s a norm these days. And you’re right, I think we’re both above settling. But that doesn’t change the fact that I care for you and want you safe. We orphans have to stick together.”

  “We do.”

  “So what do you suppose I should do? I still have half a mind to intercept you, abduct you, lock you in a cell until I know you’re safe beyond all reason...”

  Reina tensed, the thought of the Trentian Spacelords came to mind.

  She hid it and looked back at Atlas, who was still leaning against the glass panel, obstructing her view of space, forcing his presence into her mind. His face had not changed; not even the smirk from several minutes ago had resumed.

  “I don’t think Atlas would let you within a galaxy of my ship, Chris.” Reina looked away and back at her friend. “Not after saying that. I think you need to put your feet on the soil for a few weeks, go somewhere quiet, alone, where you can depressurize. I think you’ll find your answers there.”

  “Is there something between you and him? Come on, Reina, really?”

  She frowned, “He’s standing right here, you know.” Atlas appeared at her shoulder.

  “Well? That doesn’t answer my question, and I don’t care about what he thinks. Nor care about embarrassing you. You’re too cold.” She saw her friend lift a harmonica out of his pocket. Oh god no.

  Atlas intervened.

  “Commander Anders, to answer your question, there is everything between Captain Reina and me.” His voice was grave, harsh, and direct. “I have half a mind to tunnel into your ship and destroy you. Do not contact us again to try to convince Reina to jeopardize her mission and health. You think you know everything, but you don’t. If I even think you’re going to try something, I will make sure the Earthian Council has a recording of your treasonous conversation.” There was an ominous pause, “What they would do to you is nothing compared to what I would do to you.”

  Reina could feel the flutter of her heart stop, stunted and stilled as she registered Atlas’s declaration and threat. Like a ship about to lift off, she was in the perilous state where the moment could take flight or falter and explode.