by Aline Riva
“Stay calm, okay?” he said as Jekel dried his face, “Nothing will happen yet – its going to take me a couple of days to formulate the meds to the right dosage. Then you can come in and we can get the treatment started. And its nothing to be scared of – I'll look after you.”
Jekel handed back the towel and looked at Riley intently.
“How long do I have before that line in my head burns out?”
“I don't know,” he replied honestly, “But you stand a much better chance of minimising the potential damage on the medication.”
Jekel was still shaken but his tears had stopped flowing now.
“Then I'd better just get on with it. We always knew the line wasn't permanent...I just didn't expect it to happen so soon.”
“And you really should talk to Joy,” he reminded him.
“Not yet,” Jekel replied, “We're happy. I want us to stay that way as long as we can.”
Then he walked out of the room and down the corridor, heading for the surface as Riley's eyes stung with the tears he had held back until his closest friend had left the room.
Many miles away in Freedom City, Josh was sat at the head of the table as the rest of the ruling city circle took their places. His thoughts during these meetings were usually with Steph and how much he hated Kade Silk, the Ash Jekel wannabe who now resided in Cyborg Valley and worked as a stand in for Ash – not that he had ever been needed so far– and the Valley was a place his wife, as Culture Minster, often visited...and how she looked forward to those visits! She didn't even hide her happiness from him each time she packed, singing and laughing... and he was sure it was all part of a huge payback scheme orchestrated by the woman who sat beside him – Vice Premier Sylvia Payton, who was very happy with the popularity of the Valley and its increasing ties to Freedom, despite the efforts of the anti cyborg movement...
As the meeting begun, Harvey Spear spoke up first as he shuffled his legal papers.
“I think we all know this situation can't be avoided any longer,” he said.
“At last,”Sylvia replied, “And let me tell you now – this isn't going to be a clean fight if you're thinking of making those poor people in Valley suffer any more oppression!”
“And I'm sure my wife would agree,” Josh replied, “Unfortunately she's unavailable for this meeting.”
Sylvia looked to the Premier and smiled as her gaze turned to pure ice.
“She's no doubt packing early for her much deserved holiday in the Valley. Perfect place for a Culture Minister to be at Festival time, Premier.”
Josh looked away, inwardly seething as he thought of his wife in the arms of Kade Silk, knowing there was nothing he could do about it...
“The situation in the Valley is growing worse,” Spear added, “We have half the population of this city in favour of the Valley and keen to visit and the other half detesting the thought of home grown cyborgs...and of course there's also the fact that Blake Riley – who they call their King Steel – has androids manufactured by his own hand and disturbingly he has assembly line androids programmed to build more machines and machine parts!”
Sylvia glared at him.
“Blake Riley is a cybernetic surgeon! His androids are medics! Many of them saved the wounded after the battle for Sanctuary. He's even offered to roll some off the production line to assist with our new human based clinics here in the city!”
Then General Temple spoke up.
“It's clear the people of the Valley resent the presence of our city guard on their streets.”
“Prove it,” said Sylvia, “Name one guard who has been attacked?”
Temple shifted uncomfortably in his seat and looked to Josh.
“None,” Josh said quietly.
“But the fact remains our troops are not wanted in their territory,” Temple replied, “It's been put to a vote by the people and Riley himself has said so. It's only a matter of time before we have civil unrest.”
“And who started that?” Sylvia said accusingly, “The combined efforts of half this circle have created division between two cultures who should be united!”
“And what of the terrorist threat...End Cyborg Life?” said Temple, “If we take the troops out that could leave them free to start their own war on Cyborg Valley.”
“Empty threats,” Josh replied, “They've been making threats for years...”
“And possibly growing in their numbers,” Sylvia added, “And while we are on that subject let's remember the ECL threat comes from within this city – not the Valley!”
For a moment the circle fell silent, knowing the Vice Premier was right.
“So,” said Spear as he looked to the others, “What do we do? This situation has dragged on for years...its going to lead to more protests here in the city if we didn't make some kind of compromise.”
Josh paused for thought.
“If we do anything to favour the Valley, End Cyborg Life would -”
“Would start on us? Are you a coward, Josh?” Sylvia said, then she fixed him with her icy stare, “Don't answer that question, Premier...no need...”
Josh felt this temper rising as he thought of his loss of grip on his formerly powerful position,with Sylvia knowing far too much about his past mistakes and using it to her every advantage.
“We could keep the ban on cyborgs entering the city,” he replied, “A total ban. But...we could draw out our troops and relax border controls to favour those who wish to visit.”
Sylvia stared at him in surprise, as did some of the others, who looked on in stunned silence.
“You're suggesting a relaxation of the controls?”said Temple in surprise, “You want every city guard member back here and out of the Valley?”
“We have trade with the valley,” Josh replied, “This would strengthen relations.”
Sylvia was still staring at him.
“Are you finally showing some backbone, Premier?”
Josh looked around at the circle, pulling back his power as he recalled he was still Premier even if it didn't feel that way when Sylvia got the better of him. Not this time.... This time, it was his turn to pull up an ace card...
“I propose we offer them a deal,” he stated, “As you know they are still harbouring a wanted man – General Felix Lynch. He's wanted on terrorism charges and we have proof of his guilt. The deal is this: We pull out our troops and relax border controls their end but the cyborg ban stays in place here in Freedom. They get their Valley back under their control in exchange for Lynch, who is wanted here on charges of terrorism and has been found guilty in his absence. On his return he should be imprisoned and await eventual execution. That will send a message out to the valley that we won't tolerate our rules broken and it should also scare the ECL into disbanding too. All forms of terrorism in this city carries the penalty of death. We get Lynch, we have our deterrent and the Valley gets their liberty.”
A murmur went around the group and Josh smiled as he recognised the tone as one of approval.
“You bastard!” Sylvia said furiously as she stood up and glared at Josh, “General Lynch was seriously wounded in the battle to liberate this city! He lost his lower body in combat fighting for us! And he has a partner and a nine year old daughter in the Valley! You'd do well to remember he stole that cybernetic fluid because he would have died without it – he's heavily modified! And no one was killed during the theft, he was saving his own life because the law had failed him – the law of this city!”
“He's a terrorist,” Josh replied, “And while we don't have extradition with the Valley I'm sure even Lynch would consider giving himself up if it meant a better future for the whole of his community – especially for his daughter's future in a free land.”
Sylvia's eyes glittered with rage as Josh called a vote and all hands raised on the motion.
“You'll still lose her,” she said loudly, as Josh looked back at her in horror as he realised his personal life was about to have its guts spilled to the ruling circle,
“Steph has found a real man...he may not be perfect but he's SO much more of a man than you'll ever be! How long has the affair been going on now, on and off for something like nine years?”
Joshes face turned scarlet as the others looked at him, looked away and the finance minister stifled a giggle. General Temple smirked and turned his head away. Josh felt his cheeks burning.
“This meeting is ended!” he said angrily under his breath, looking down at the table as his face continued to flush.
“A bit like your marriage,” quipped Sylvia, then she turned away from the meeting, leaving the room swiftly with her head held high.
As Jekel reached the steps and ran up on to the stage, he saw his son standing across the other side of it, and he beckoned to him. Travis Storm Jekel was nine years old with dark hair and eyes and when he smiled those eyes sparkled with a sense of fun. He turned to the girl with chestnut hair and blue eyes like Felix Lynch and gestured to his jeans and t shirt.
“On the opening day of the festival,” he told her, “I'll have a suit like my Dad! Riley's tailor is making it for me!”
Fi laughed.
“I know so many girls who like you, Travis!” she said, “Your Dad's ladies stand one side of the stage and your girls stand by the steps with their parents... my Mum said they're called fan girls.”
Jekel smiled warmly as he looked to his son who was talking with Fiona Lynch.
“Fan girls?” he exclaimed in mock alarm, “Oh no, not more of them... we'll both have to run!”
And Travis laughed along with his Dad. Then Jekel led him to the centre of the stage where the microphone was set up and put his arm around his shoulder.
“Do you remember the first time I brought you out on this stage?”
Travis looked up at him.
“Yes I do, I was six.”
“It's good up here, isn't it?” said Jekel enthusiastically, and his son smiled and nodded.
“Right,” Jekel added, “I'd better get on – Travis, can you tell your mum I'm running a bit late because I had to see Blake about my scan and I need to rehearse before I come home?”
“Okay Dad,” he said, then he called to Fi, and the two kids went down the steps and away from the stage and ran off across the field together.
Then Jekel paused for a moment, leaving his rehearsal aside as he clutched the switched off microphone and cast his sights across the field, thinking back to the many years he had spent hosting the festival. Then he thought of the wire inside his head that was going to burn out and wondered how much pain he would have to face, and if it would mean the end was near...
Jekel blinked away tears, thinking of how Joy and his son would react when they eventually learned the truth...But for now, as Riley had said, nothing would happen. He drew in a deep breath, imagined the crowd standing before him, and began to run through his opening lines as he focussed on the performance and that focus for now at least, dashed aside his deepest fears for the future.
Blake Riley was down in his office in the medical centre when a signal came through on a grainy screen set into his desk. He had just started to formulate the brutal cocktail he would have to watch his best friend take into his bloodstream at the thought of it was breaking his heart, so as he answered the incoming call he was in no mood to speak to anyone. He turned the dial, smacked the top of the box, let fly with a few curses for good measure, and finally a picture appeared, and he saw the caller was the Premier of Freedom City.
“I should have expected a VIP,” he remarked as static cracked on the sound, “No one else has these one to one links... Yes, Premier? What can I do for you, bearing in mind the subject of extradition treaties are off the table?”
Lines ran through the poor connection as Josh looked into the camera.
“The circle has voted on a proposal to relax border controls and withdraw our troops from your valley. All are in favour on the condition you hand over General Felix Lynch, who is wanted in Freedom on charges of terrorism.”
Riley leant back in his chair and then ran his fingers over his blonde, spiked hair as he looked back at the screen.
“Going by your gobby attitude I'd say you're making this statement alone, am I right? No one else present?”
“The circle voted and I'm now in my office to put the proposal to you.”
Riley shook his head.
“You can stick it up your arse, Premier. You get Lynch on terrorism for stealing cybernetic fluid he needed to survive and where does that leave half of my valley? On the same charges?”
“Lynch,” he stated again, “In exchange for liberty for Cyborg Valley. The whole of the Valley for one man. All other individuals guilty of similar acts will be immediately pardoned. That's quite a deal, Riley.”
Riley's jaw went tight as anger flashed in his eyes.
“There will never be extradition. He's innocent! He's no terrorist!”
“Okay,” Josh replied, “I took the friendly approach. It didn't work so tomorrow morning, it's going out on all channels and in the newspaper. This proposal will be known country wide. Then I guess it's down to Lynch. Freedom for Cyborg Valley in return for him handing himself over? I think he'd be selfish not to.”
“You can't do this!” Riley said angrily as he slammed his fist on the desk and the vibration made the screen roll.
“Rumour has it that most residents of Freedom consider you to be harbouring a fugitive,” Josh added.
“And rumour has it around here that you're a fucking bell end!” Riley snapped, “You won't get Lynch – we will never give up one of our own!”
“I was hoping he might give himself up when he knows the deal,” Josh replied, then the call ended and the screen hissed and turned to static snow, as Riley stared in dismay at the screen.
Jekel returned to the white mansion house owned by Blake to see Fi and his son were out in the garden, sitting at a patio table eating dinner.
“Don't forget you have to go home after dinner,” he called, and Fi looked up and nodded as Melissa sat down with them and gave him a wave. He waved back to Joy's daughter and as he turned away, his forced smile faded.
Then Jekel went up the stairs, his heart heavy as he started to think up the possible scenarios and what he would have to cover up, because as much as he wanted to break and sob in Joy's arms, he wanted to hold it back for as long as he could. He had come a long way from the day the old world had ended and taken his pregnant fiancée with it, now he was married to the woman who had helped to save him as he stumbled about traumatised in a burned out town, and they had found each other again and he had come through so much, he had even found stardom in this new world...but suddenly the mansion and the fame meant nothing at all as he thought of Joy and Travis and he fought against the urge to weep. Then he went into the palatial bedroom he shared with his wife, and found Joy standing at her open wardrobe as she arranged some clothing. He said nothing for a moment, just stood there looking at her:
Joy had not changed in the sense that she was still the woman he had met in that ruined town on the day Murdock had saved his life – but these days, she wore a touch of cosmetics about her eyes, her hair was a little longer, falling in a spiky sweep with shaved close sides, she wore tiny diamond stud earrings and today, as he took in the sight of her figure wrapped in an elegant black trouser suit with a studded belt, he guessed she looked every inch the wife of the worlds first celebrity cyborg. And she was happy, and he wanted her to stay that way for as long as possible...
Jekel's eyes reflected pain as he looked to their majestic bed, that place where he had spent so many nights locked in her arms. Suddenly every precious moment they had ever shared in their years of marriage seemed in danger of slipping away, as he thought how the truth would break her heart and when she looked back later, she would only recall heartache... Jekel was frightened, but he didn't let it show as he spoke up.
“Joy,” he said quietly, and she turned from the wardrobe and smiled.
“Yes, Ash?”
/> Suddenly he felt stuck for words. He gathered his thoughts and swallowed down his nerves as he looked her in the eye and handed her an excuse he hoped would sound believable.
“I went for my scan today... it was okay, as usual. But... Blake said he wants to start taking blood samples from me, just to make sure all my blood and cybernetic fluid levels are up to scratch.”
She looked at him in confusion.
“So... I'm going to have a few needle marks soon,” he added, “But its nothing to worry about.”
Joy went over to him and they stood together on the deep, soft rug in the middle of the bedroom. As she met his gaze she shook her head.
“No, no...you must have got it wrong! He wouldn't do that to you – he knows how anxious you get about the smallest procedures! Anyway, why would he need to take blood? You're a cyborg, he only has to scan you...”
Jekel's eyes widened as he suddenly realised he stood little chance of passing off this lie to Joy, a trained cybernetic medical nurse...
“What's going on?” she demanded, “I don't get any of this...”
In a heartbeat he knew his plan to keep a secret was doomed to failure as sure as he could not stop the tears that filled his eyes.
“Sorry love,” he said tearfully, “I just didn't want to tell you...not yet...I don't want you to stop being happy...” and then as fear reflected in her eyes and he suddenly looked like that frightened man she and Murdock had found in the ruined town so many years before, Jekel gave a sob.
“The power boosting line in my head is burning out... I found out today!”
He gave another sob and Joy wrapped her arms around him as his body felt weak in her arms as he clung to her, his head against her shoulder as more tears ran from his eyes.
“It's okay,” Joy said softly as she reached up and stroked his hair, “We knew it could happen one day...Blake can help...He'll find a way.”
Jekel raised his head from her shoulder, keeping his arms around her as he looked at her and blinked away more tears.