Cronus

by K. A. Finn

  'That cannot happen if I don't have him.'

  'I'm well aware of that. You find him. Now! What about Roman? Did you find him?'

  'No.'

  'State of the art cyborg team indeed. You let a defective cyborg and a traitor escape. Find them!' He shuts down the link and leaves Nova staring at a blank screen. Her purple eye reflects off the screen as she imagines all the unpleasant things she'd like to do to One. There would be time enough for that later. First she needs to find the prototype before the Council gets their hands on him again. If that happens all is lost.

  EARTH SECTOR

  Terra wipes her palm on her trousers as she checks the readings from her station. 'Sir, I'm picking up Foundation transmissions. We're here.'

  Desyl leans forward in the command chair and looks at the view outside. Terra thinks he looks almost disappointed. Almost like he thought Foundation space would be different somehow. 'Any mention of a Nomad vessel coming through?'

  She shakes her head. 'The cloak held through the Port. We're not transmitting. So far, they have no idea we're here.'

  Desyl links with Ryder. 'He still with us?'

  'Yes, sir. No fluctuations. Pod is keeping his vitals steady.'

  Desyl breaks the link. 'That's something. Set a course for this mysterious station. No point hanging around out in the open attracting attention.'

  As the ship moves away from the Port, Desyl joins Terra at comms. 'Any way of getting a message to Bray? Wouldn't mind making sure the coast is clear before we knock on their door.'

  Terra shakes her head. 'He gave us rough coordinates, but nothing else. I think we'll have to wait for him to get in touch.'

  'Great. So until then we're sitting ducks. Not sure I like that plan.'

  'There's no Foundation activity in the area. Long range sensors show the majority of the activity in and around Earth itself. Unless we do something to attract attention, and if we move away from the Port, we should be okay.'

  'I want the cloaks monitored every damn second we're out here. If they drop it'll plaster a great big fucking target on us. I've already crashed this ship once. I'd prefer to give it back to the captain in one piece this time.'

  He goes back to the command chair and keeps an eye on the monitors to his left. She feels a little sorry for him. When she found herself stranded on Ares last year, she didn't expect to find a new friend in Gryffin's second in command. While Gryffin was busy distancing himself from her, Desyl had been appointed to look after her.

  Like the other Nomad, he looks the part with his piercings, tattoos, and more weapons than she could count, but under the armour, he's one of the sweetest men she's ever met. She's seen him fight and knows he's more than capable of looking after himself, but he's also kind, thoughtful, and incredibly easy to talk to. She's spent many hours bending his ear about anything and everything. She has no doubts she would have gone more than a little stir crazy on board if not for their friendship.

  Even after surviving Klay taking Ares and crash landing her on Ultar, Desyl still doubts his place as Gryffin's second officer. Even now he may appear relaxed, but he's chewing on his bottom lip and playing with the ring he wears on the index finger of his right hand. He'd rather be anywhere than in the captain's seat.

  She turns back to her station as a message comes in. 'Sir, it's Bray. He wants to talk.'

  'Go for it.'

  Bray appears on the screen in front of Desyl. 'Kind of surprised to see you here.'

  'Long story. We weren't left with much choice.'

  Bray nods. 'I'm guessing he's in a bad way or you wouldn't have made the crossing. We have everything ready. I'll guide you in. See you in a bit.'

  The screen goes blank and Terra sends the first set of coordinates to the helm.

  14

  DIXON SPACE STATION

  Bray crosses his arms and leans against the side of a small transport in the loading dock. A few dozen crew have gathered to see the Nomad vessel arrive. Like the Hunters, everyone has heard of the Nomad, but none have ever seen her flagship.

  Sayber grumbles to Bray as he looks at the gathering crowd. 'You'd swear they've never seen a ship before.'

  Bray smiles to himself. He knows Sayber is put out because Gryffin's ship is getting more attention than his. Seems the rivalry will never die. 'It'll be tight in here with Ares.'

  Sayber grunts. 'He's damn lucky his ship can fit at all.' Sayber shakes his head. 'Screw this. I'll be on Perses if anyone is looking for me.'

  Bray opens his mouth to argue, but Sayber is already climbing the stairs to the upper level where Perses is moored.

  'What's his problem?'

  Bray glances over his shoulder at Rua. 'Sayber? Just some healthy rivalry.'

  She looks up at Sayber, marching across the upper deck to his ship. 'Yeah, that looks healthy to me.'

  The red light over the main bay door flashes and a siren sounds. Heath pushes through the crowd, joining Bray at the front. The ship had been cleared as it closed in on the station, but the head of security is taking no chances.

  Bray hates that he smiles as Ares makes an appearance in the bay. The fierce purple griffin painted on her bow sneers down at everyone, her glowing purple eyes interrogating each bystander as she nears. With a grinding of heavy gears, the immense masts retract, tucking the metal sails in the top deck.

  'Hate to admit but she knows how to make an entrance.'

  Bray nods at Rua. 'Hate to admit it, but I agree.'

  Ares swings around, her bow pointing away as her stern settles into position beside the crowd. The twin of the griffin on the front glares down at the onlookers from above the cargo doors. The damn thing matches his brother's tattoo and, like the tattoo, the artwork is incredibly realistic.

  As the growl from the engines dies away, the cargo hold opens and a wide ramp lowers onto the dock. Desyl steps out of the gloomy interior of the ship and walks down the ramp, stopping in front of Bray. 'Good to see you're not dead, Commander.'

  'You too.' He looks over Desyl's shoulder to the stasis pod being brought down the ramp. 'Not sure about your gift.'

  'You can't say I don't care. We're going to need somewhere secure to put him. We still haven't been able to find a reason for his malfunction when he was chasing after Alpha. He's been staying in a cell just in case he decides to... I don't know, kill us all in our sleep or something like that.'

  Bray nods towards Alpha. 'There's a secure med bay on her. It also has a rejuvenation pod.'

  Desyl nods. 'That'll do for now. Can I have a little help with the stasis pod.'

  'Desyl, where's my mother?'

  Desyl's smile disappears. 'I'm sorry, Commander. I thought you knew?'

  'All I know is that he's in her pod, so where is she?'

  'She was deteriorating rapidly. We didn't know where you were... Roman made the decision to let her go.'

  Bray clenches his jaw and pushes back the emotions that want to be released. He'll deal with Roman's decision when everyone is safely back in the Outer Sector. 'The Dixon's are waiting on Alpha.'

  He glances down at his brother in the pod, but instead of helping to push the unit along the walkway, he walks past. 'C'mon. I'd hate for him to die in there,' Bray mutters as he walks towards the Foundation vessel in the corner.

  OCARRO COLONY

  Milla pulls her coat tighter around her shoulders, but it does nothing to protect her from the rain. She's only been on this planet an hour and she's already done. Every stitch of clothing is soaked through - including her underwear. Her mood is far from cheery and she swears there's something crawling around in the mud under her boots.

  For the third time in as many minutes she loses her footing, grabbing on to Chayse to keep her ass from landing in the mud. 'I am so done with this planet. Are we nearly there?'

  Chayse checks the coordinates again and nods. 'Should be around the corner,' he shouts over the rain.

  A few minutes later Chayse pulls her to a stop and points to the cabin ahead of them,
barely visible through the rain. 'That's it.'

  'You sure?'

  He nods. 'That's where the coordinates lead to.'

  'What the hell is in there that Gryffin sent us half way across the Sector to find?'

  'Only one way to find out.' They slowly approach the cabin and stop when a tall figure steps out from the trees with a heavy rifle in his hands.

  'Hello?' Chayse’s greeting isn’t retuned. Hidden in shadow, Milla can't make out anything except the glowing sight on the gun. Chayse takes a step closer. 'We're looking for the Blacksmith.'

  The man doesn't say anything for a minute. 'That's me. Presume you've got a message for me?'

  Chayse glances over at Milla. They weren't expecting that. 'Yeah.'

  'Throw it over.'

  'How can we be sure you're the person we're looking for?'

  'Throw over the message from Gryffin or I'll shoot you and take it from you.'

  'He makes a convincing argument,' Milla mutters as Chayse pulls the unit from his pocket and throws it at the man's feet.

  'Stay there.'

  Before either of them can reply, he disappears into the trees.

  'He's nearly as chatty as Gryffin. Do you recognise him?'

  Chayse shakes his head and pushes his soggy spikes back from his face. 'Hard to make out any details. Guess we'll have to wait and see what he does.'

  He returns a few minutes later and gestures to the cabin. 'Get inside.' They don't immediately move. 'If I was going to kill you I would have done it when I was pointing the gun at your heads. Get inside and I'll give you answers or stay here and get wet. Your choice.'

  'What do you think, Captain?'

  Chayse looks around then back at the cabin. 'I want answers.'

  'I'm in full agreement. After you, sir.'

  They follow the blacksmith into the cabin. It's surprisingly spacious considering what they could see from the outside. As soon as the door closes, Milla can feel the warmth returning to her body. In the centre of the room, a circular pit houses a blazing fire with a cast iron pot hanging over it. Whatever is cooking inside it smells heavenly and her stomach immediately responds by growling.

  Their host points to a well-worn bench against the far wall. Taking that as an invitation to sit, they both shrug out of their sodden coats and settle in front of the fire.

  The man pulls off his long coat and hangs it on the back of the door. He lowers onto the bench at the far side of the fire and focuses on the flames. Milla openly stares at him. He's an impressive guy. He's got to be a few inches taller than Chayse so possibly six-foot-two. His light brown hair is long and tied up in a messy bun. His thick beard is neatly trimmed and is a shade darker than his hair. She blushes as his light blue eyes suddenly target her.

  Something about this guy screams Nomad to Milla. He's got the build and along with the multiple earrings and the faint outline of tattoos showing through his shirt he's an impressive example of one.

  'You're Nomad, aren't you?'

  He locks those eyes on Milla again. 'How is he?'

  'Gryffin?'

  The man nods.

  'Who are you?' Chayse asks before she can respond. Milla gets the feeling this conversation could easily consist of a series of questions with neither side willing to answer.

  'He's in a bad way.' She ignores Chayse's glare at her admission. 'Now, we've come a hell of a way and would kind of like to know why Gryffin thought you could help.'

  The man laughs and leans back against the wall. 'I like you. Not surprised he let you join the Nomad.'

  'I'm a likeable person. Hang on. How do you know I'm Nomad? Who are you?'

  'It's been a long time since I've answered that last question honestly.'

  'You going to give it a shot today?' Chayse asks.

  'Gryffin's asked me to, so yes.' He pulls his shirt over his head and Milla goes back to openly staring again. His broad chest is covered in tattoos.

  Chayse leans forward and blows out a breath. 'That's impressive. Hold on. That's the mark of a commander? You were second in command of a Nomad ship?'

  The man nods. 'I was.'

  'Which ship?'

  He looks in the fire again. 'Ares.'

  Milla looks sideways at him as Chayse shakes his head and sits back before leaning forward again to really look at the man again. 'How old are you?'

  'Chayse!' Milla scolds. 'You can't just ask him something like that.'

  The man smiles. 'It's not a problem. I'm forty-five.'

  'You couldn't...' Chayse's voice trails away as he examines the man in front of them.

  Their host raises a pierced eyebrow. 'You know exactly who I am. I can see it in your face. It won't make sense, but you know.'

  Chayse shakes his head. 'No way. You can't be. I mean he's dead. Gryffin killed him.'

  The blacksmith smirks and crosses his thick arms. 'From what I hear he killed you too. How's that working out for you?'

  Milla clears her throat and waves her hand in the air. 'Eh, hello! Who exactly are we talking about?'

  'There's only one Nomad who served in that position on Ares that fits his age. He was first officer under Rayde around the time Gryffin was found,' Chayse explains. 'His name was Creed. Thing is, Gryffin killed him when Rayde charged him as a traitor. Record states Gryffin beat him to death then sent him out the airlock.'

  The blacksmith takes a deep breath and looks back at them again. 'That's what the record states because that's what Gryffin wanted the record to state. Creed is still very much alive, and I promise you, I may have been many things in my life but I was no traitor.'

  DIXON SPACE STATION

  Terra turns in a circle, her mouth open as she tries to assimilate everything around her. She thought the med bay on Infinity was impressive, but Alpha's makes it look like an old fashioned Ultaran set-up. 'Milla would be in heaven here. This is amazing.'

  Desyl looks up from the pod. 'Yeah, let's hope it does what Bray thinks it will.'

  Evie moves over to a large unit, not too dissimilar to the pod Gryffin is in. She mumbles to herself as she taps on the control panel on its side. 'Why is everyone in such a negative mood. This ship is state of the art. If this machine can't bring him back from the dead, nothing can.'

  'I hope you're right.'

  She points to the booth she's programming. 'Can you stop arguing with me and put him in there?' As Desyl manoeuvres the heavy pod in place, Evie looks at Bray. 'Are you going to continue holding up the wall or actually get your hands dirty?'

  'We've got a room full of Foundation technicians we need to process. I should help with that.'

  Desyl grabs him by the arm before he can turn away. 'Hold on. You've got Foundation technicians here? Can they not help with Gryffin?'

  Bray snorts loudly. 'I may not have too many warm feelings towards my brother, but even I wouldn't let them near him without having a chat first. What's to say they wouldn't do more harm than good? Doesn't look like it would take much to finish him off.'

  Bray looks down at his brother, then to Terra before he turns and leaves the room.

  Terra watches Bray as he disappears down the corridor. In her rush to get Gryffin here, she never thought about meeting with Bray again. From what just happened, he's less than happy to see her.

  Evie stands beside Terra and looks at the empty corridor. 'I really hope they don't make a mess with those Foundation personnel. It would be a shame to soil this beautiful ship, wouldn't you agree?'

  Terra blinks and frowns at Evie. 'Sorry?'

  'Nothing dear.' She gestures to Gryffin. 'So, how long can he be out of the pod before...' Evie doesn't finish the sentence and that grates on Terra's already frazzled nerves.

  Desyl scratches the side of his head as he looks over at Terra. 'A few seconds, max. When he blasted the cyborgs on Ultar, he used up his last life. Technically he's dead. His implants may be able to help get him going again—'

  'But you can't activate his implants until we figure out if he's been booby trapped
,' Felix says as he arrives, his hands clasped behind his back. 'What a pickle.'

  'Helpful as ever, dear,' Evie says. She places a hand lovingly on the rejuvenation pod. 'This contraption will act as a stasis pod too. We'll need to transfer him quickly. Care to get that bit going so we can help this young man?'

  Terra zones out as Felix and Evie spend a minute arguing over which controls to use. She just wants him out of the pod and awake again. Evie leans down to look at Gryffin, checks a few of the readings on the pod then straightens up again. Evie clicks her fingers at Desyl and Heath. 'What are you two standing around for? You really expect me to lift him in?'

  Evie opens the lid and hooks some monitors to Gryffin while Desyl, Heath, and three other Nomad lift him into the rejuvenation pod. 'So, his less than reliable implants are damaging the surrounding tissue. His brain, heart, lungs, and everything else is being affected. If he's to have a chance of surviving the next few days, we need to repair the surrounding tissue, buy us some time to figure out the Foundation data and fix his implants. Did I leave anything out?'

  Desyl steps aside as Evie pushes between him and the bed holding Gryffin. 'He received some sort of command from another cyborg. They could be transmitting between them. We sedated the other three as soon as we got them on Ares. They're in a holding cell until we deal with him.'

  'Four cyborgs. And we didn't get you anything.' Felix moves over to the side of the larger pod and lowers the panel so he can get a better look. 'Can we remove any of the components?'

  As much as Terra would like to say yes, it's not her call to make. 'Nothing. He wants all his implants left as they are for now. He... he's considering having them upgraded, but...' Her eyes fall on Gryffin then to the monitors showing a heartbeat only present thanks to the pod.

  Ryder's blunt statement on Ares finally sinks in. ‘He's dead, Commander’. If they turned off the power to the pod Gryffin would never wake up. Whether he had implants or not wouldn't change that simple fact. Right now, she just wants him to wake up and look at her.

  'Can you stabilise his body so it's strong enough to handle the implants? Whatever happens after that is his call.'