Abel

by Jessie Rose Case

  As the men started to approach, noise, voices started to infiltrate her mind. Too many. Orders and responses mixed, over riding each other. Coco couldn’t think, the flow continued in the back of her mind. “Voices, I hear voices,” she mumbled.

  “Those are voices of our brethren. Cyborgs.”

  Coco ran a hand across her head so much noise and looked up at Chas. “How do you cope with it?”

  “We are able to filter what we do not need. My men close off much from you, these new Cyborgs do not know to do that yet.”

  “I need to learn to do that, my head hurts, too many voices.” Chas glaze over in his eyes and some of the noise stopped.

  Coco breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s better. Thank you.” He gave her a nod and turned back to the men approaching.

  They stopped some 10 meters out. No one said anything. Coco looked them over. They looked similar to her men. She could hear the running commentary her Cyborgs were running. They certainly didn’t do ugly, she decided. She sensed Chas turn to look at her. She turned to him and shrugged, he cracked a half smile at her. Ok. That really was becoming annoying. They could hear all her thoughts. What else would she call them? She asked him a little pithy.

  He grinned and turned back to the men facing them. Coco rolled her eyes and did the same. Still no one moved. She gave it a moment then decided she’d had enough of the posturing. She stepped forward, Chas went with her. She waved at the men facing her.

  “Hello, can I help you?”

  Chapter Two

  “Hello, can I help you.” The female had said. Abel stared at the female who’d stepped forward. She had been speaking over her neuro net with the Cyborgs with her. There was no doubt the men with her were Cyborgs. They could all hear the cybernetics. She now had 67 Cyborgs with her. Some were clearly not on line, when they’d encountered the first signals, or their impulses no longer worked. She was such a small thing compared to his brothers. Vulnerable, breakable. The Cyborg beside her suddenly moved in front of her and the men behind him moved into defensive positions. So, the human was important to them.

  Abel stepped forward as the female walked around the Cyborg who’d stepped in front of her, she was looking up at the male. Abel didn’t like that. He opened his neuro net looking to pick up the Cyborg facing off. To his shock, a feminine voice permeated his mind. Please don’t do that again Chas its rude. Abel turned his attention to the female. She had cybernetic implants? Abel narrowed in on her. Then he heard the male. The Cyborg leader made his assessment of you and found you vulnerable. I moved to protect you. Abel saw the female look over at him and turn back to her man.

  This time her voice was loud and clear. Every neuro net within their range would have heard it. He doesn’t look that stupid. Abel grinned. She was right, he wasn’t.

  He stepped forward and raised both hands. “I am General Abel. The wars are long gone brothers. You have been missing for a long time. We have been searching for you. You are no longer indentured to the humans. You are free men and we offer you the right to join us. Be part of the Cyborg Empire. We have an uplink that will provide you with all you need to know.”

  Do you believe him? The female asked her lead man. Abel had heard her and looked on with curiosity.

  Cyborgs do not lie. Her lead Cyborg, Chas told her.

  Then maybe you should give him the chance to prove what he says. The female told the male.

  Abel watched the Cyborg glaze over and another step forward. “Send the update to this cyborg designation C218.” Abel gave the signal to his man. He tuned in to the upload. It was received intact. Abel waited for the Cyborg to filter the information and agree its content. C218 gave a nod to his leader. The information was being circulated.

  Immediately the female cried out holding her head and collapsed to the floor. Her man went with her catching her, before she hit the ground. “Too much, too much,” she cried out.

  “Stop.” Chas ordered. Abel stepped forward, wanting to help. It was irrational, but he felt at fault. That he had damaged the female. Her lead Cyborg picked her up and carried her. He turned to Abel. “The upload is damaging her. She does not have full cybernetics. I am Chas, named by my Captain, Coco. She needs medical attention. You and your men should join us inside.” He turned and walked back into the craft, all but those on guard duty went with him. Abel gave the order and his men followed him in. He had a desperate need to check on the female.

  ***

  Coco’s head was splitting. The pain piercing the base of her skull was unbearable. She was vaguely aware of Chas carring her back to the medical bay and putting her in the med bed. It was then she noticed the leader of the other group with him. “What is wrong with the female?” he asked.

  Coco bit back a grown. Her head pounded. Chas did something to the programme on the bed, then answered the other cyborg. “The ship was damaged in a crash. We were in stasis. Our pilot was missing. Captain Coco did not know about us and fixed the ship, then the hardware. When the ship came back on line, the AI kicked in. It registered Coco’s request to fly the ship. A scan told the AI she did not have the cybernetic implant to allow that, so it gave it to her. This ship was designed to have a cyborg pilot to interface with it. The AI protocols were compromised. It failed to register that the emergency protocols would harm a human.”

  “Stop.” The other cyborg told him stepping forward. “It will need manual override. I can have the med bed put her to sleep. We have extensive medical support back at the Space Station, our director of medicine who is human, will know what programme is best suited to fix this.” Chas looked down at her. Coco nodded moaning. The lead guy glazed off, then touched the controls. Chas closed the lid and she drifted, the pain finally fading.

  ***

  Abel had connected via his ship to the Space Station. He’d had to wait nearly an hour for the connection. As time went by he found himself gazing into the lid of the med bed, something about the female called to him.

  Mac, the medial director came on line and he explained what had happened to Coco. She recommended what settings were needed and Abel had inputted the information replicated the nutrients and loaded them into the bed. It was the first time a female had been given cybernetic implants, as much as their records showed. They all knew, there was a possibility that Earth Corp had experimented with this on women before, but they had no records of that. Mac had given it her best guess. Abel hoped it was enough.

  The Cyborg Chas, never left his side throughout the process. Abel reasoned he had information he wanted. Explain how you and your men are here and what your connection to this female is?

  The information passed over his neuro net. Abel let it flow over his sensors. His brothers had been missing for a long time and much had changed for Cyborgs. The information on their waking and interaction with Coco filed in. She had treated them honourably, then had freed them from any further obligation without knowing if they were a danger to her. That was incredible, thought Abel, didn’t she realise, that things could have gone very wrong, very quickly? The female was too trusting.

  That worried him. Humans took advantage of those too trusting. Abel wondered how she was here, on the ship. How she was working on this ship on her own? Where were all the other people? This had to be the colony. They’d scanned the world from space. It had a strange foot print. It was clear people were on this world but only a deeper scan identified where they were. They were underground. There were a number of small out posts on the surface, mainly working mineral deposits, but no one was actually living on the surface. Abel looked over at the med bed, he realised she’d been living in this ship alone. No guards, no protection, no help of any kind. It was wrong, and he didn’t like it.

  Abel doubted this was a situation that Earth Corp had intended when seeding this world. That meant something had gone wrong when the people arrived. He could guess that the atmosphere was less than welcoming, resulting in them having to go underground to survive and stay there. Earth Corp provided each o
f their seeded worlds with ground boring equipment. It was used for digging out safety tunnels that the colonists used when first arriving. It was a safety measure until they built their colony, cannibalising their craft to give them vital parts, until they built something substantial on the surface. From the ruins they’d found, Abel guessed that hadn’t worked out too well. The surface had been abandoned and they’d stayed underground. Not much of a life, thought Abel and understood it was probably a far cry from what Earth Corp had promised to those first settlers. Abel shook his head. They’d been lied to, were probably told, that this world was the ‘promised land’.

  It was another thing Earth Corp would have to answer for. Abel knew how desperate some people were to have a better life, to accept that and travel millions of miles and spend decades, in stasis just for the chance. So much could go wrong and did. Many didn’t make it and those early crafts, were barely space worthy. So much unknown. The risks were not logical and yet, humans had done it anyway.

  The med bed started to bleep. Abel got up and walked over to it, turning the programme off. She will wake soon, he told the Cyborg Chas, as he opened the lid, then retook his seat. He would make sure she was uninjured and well, before going back to work.

  ***

  Coco woke knowing instantly the pain was gone. She felt different. Better, more settled in herself. She couldn’t remember dreaming or waking up while she’d been out of it, but she knew she’d been sleeping. She couldn’t remember going to sleep or what had happened after that. Opening her eyes she recognised the ceiling and the bed she was in. This time the lid was already up. Back in the med bed, she mused. Getting up slowly she looked around her. The room looked the same except for the reception committee. Chas and The General Abel.

  “What happened?” She croaked out. Chas came forward with some water. Coco took it and drank.

  Can you hear me without pain? The General asked her. Coco gave a nod. Good. Our medical director gave us some information to input into the med bed, that should fix the problem you were experiencing. Basically, we gave you an updated brain scan of a Cyborg for comparison for your treatment. The bed was able to register that you do not have the full cybernetic implants and to make adjustments to the amount of feed you can receive. Information will be slower, but I do not think that is a problem for you. I did ask if we should take the implants out, but Mac would want to see that for herself. It shouldn’t harm you further. We can teach you to block out the background hum of information uploading.

  So I’m ok now? she asked passing back the water.

  As far as we can tell, yes. The General told her. Coco moved to the edge of the bed and put her feet down. She stood, no dizziness came to her and the noise in her head, apart from the Generals voice, was in the background. Coco realised, it would still become annoying if she couldn’t find a way of dealing with it.

  She looked over at Chas, everyone else ok?

  We are Cyborg. He told her like that answered everything. She’d take that as a yes.

  Ok then, she thought, back to work.

  What exactly is your work here? The General asked.

  I have a knack of fixing things. I was … told to get this ship fixed and get it ready to fly. She told him.

  You do not seem to happy about that.

  I’m not. She told him dryly. I was given no option on the job and let’s just say, failure was not an option.

  You were made to do this? Chas asked.

  Let me explain. Coco told them. There’s a guy here called Hodges, he and his men kind of run things here. If you get noticed and they can use you, they make it so you do what they say. I got noticed, they knew I could fix things, so they sent me here. We have a mineral on this world that he thinks can be used to fuel this ship. He wants to go back to Old Earth or off this world and somewhere else. I’m not sure that’s possible but he thinks I can make it happen, so here I am.

  And if you can’t? The General asked.

  Coco shrugged. I guess I’ll have to make a run for it.

  The ships alarm sounded. Coco looked at the General, he glazed over for a moment, then looked at her. We have company, he told her.

  I’m guessing that’s not more of your men? She asked.

  No, they come from the colony.

  Coco nodded. Guess Hodges has come for an update.

  Then we should go meet him, the General told her.

  You need to be careful of Hodges. He can be ruthless, he’s not trustworthy, she told them honestly.

  Then you should stay back until I call you forward. He looked over to Chas and they both glazed over.

  Agreed. Chas told him. We should go. The General will deal with this. I and my men will stay with you, he told her, then the General walked out. Time to go, Chas told her. Coco nodded and followed him out. Wondering how this was going to play out.

  ***

  Abel looked out over the landscape from the ramp of the ship. He’s men were positioned in various places to ensure there was no ambush possible. His optic allowed him to zero in on the men coming towards him. He counted ten. It was clear who was the lead man of the group. He strode out ahead of the others, one other with him. He would be expecting to see one person and until he was close enough, he’d think Abel was Coco, then his perception kicked in and he realise, Abel was too big to be Coco. Then, they would see what they were up against.

  As the group got closer, Abel saw the minute the lead male realised the ship looked different. He became less confident in his stride, wary now. Abel watched as the male told his men to fan out. It was then his pace slowed, he’d noticed Abel wasn’t Coco. Abel’s excellent hearing allowed him to hear every word passing between the men. The male stopped five metres out.

  “Who the hell are you and what are you doing with my ship?” The male called out.

  Abel stared at him. “This is not your ship. You are not its Captain. This vessel belongs to the Cyborg Empire. We are here to collect it.”

  The male sputtered for a bit, then got his second wind. “That ship was empty, I checked it myself,” he pointed a finger at Abel, “and my worker is on it. We salvaged it and fixed it. It belongs to us.”

  “This ship belongs and will only work, for its Captain. It’s how it’s made. You did not fix anything. You did not salvage it. It will never work for you and the fact remains, it is a Cyborg ship.” Abel told him.

  “Where’s my worker?” The male demanded.

  “The Captain is here with her crew.” Abel told him.

  “I don’t care about this Captain, I want to see my worker.” The male told him angrily.

  Coco, please come out with your men.

  He could sense her as she descended down the ramp towards him. She stopped next to him. Her men spilled out around them.

  “This,” he turned to Coco, “is the new Captain of this ship and these Cyborgs, are her crew. She is cybernetically linked to both the ship and her men.”

  Abel could see the wheels turning in the male’s head. “Coco, what he says is true? You’re the Captain of this ship and men?”

  “Hello Hodges, so it seems, yes.” She told him. The male jacked up his pants, looking smug.

  He waved his hand about, clearly full of himself, “then all this belongs to me.” He told them.

  Coco started laughing, she couldn’t help it. Hodges was an idiot. He frowned, yep, that confirmed it.

  Coco shook her head, “people don’t belong to you Hodges. I don’t belong to you. You don’t own me, I’m NOT your worker. I do what I have to to stay alive on this planet, just like most of us, but you don’t own me and you definitely don’t own this ship or its people.”

  “You wouldn’t be on this ship if it hadn’t been for me.” He shouted.

  Coco nodded. “Your right. I wouldn’t but it doesn’t change a thing.”

  “You’re not getting off this rock without me.” He told her bitterly. “We’ll fight if we have to. This planet is dying and I’m not dying with it.”

  �
�Really, say I get it going, how many people you taking with you?” She asked pretending interest.

  “Me and the boys here, plus our people, maybe 40 or 50 and you of course.” He told her, like he had all the answers.

  Coco was sure she’d punch him in the face. “There are over a thousand of us and over 100 in your group. What about the rest?”

  He shrugged, “that’s their problem.”

  General, how many can this ship hold? She asked over her neuro net.

  More than two thousand if we had to.

  Coco nodded, “everyone goes, if you don’t like that, you can stay,” she told him then turned and walked up the ramp. Her men closed ranks behind her. She could hear Hodges blustering. “O and, your control ends now.” She called out over her shoulder. “If you don’t like it, take it up with my second. Chas will be happy to sort it out with you. Hang around for a bit. Community meeting tonight, I’ll have something to say.” She told him and saw the Generals men close in on them. Chas stepped forward and grinned. She caught Hodges glancing at him. He didn’t look so confident now, mused Coco.

  Did that feel good? The General asked invading her thoughts.

  O yeah. She told him and could hear his laughter in her mind, as she went back to the Bridge. Coco realised, she kinda liked it.

  ***

  She amused him. She’d surprised him again. Abel watched her leave. Her confidence in him and the Cyborgs around him, surprising him again. She was still, far too trusting. She assumed that because they had not harmed her, they wouldn’t and would back her play. She took a lot from granted, her experience of working with the likes of Hodges, not changing that. Abel realised she saw the good in people, no matter who they were. That was unique in his experience, humans didn’t always act like that, or mean it.