Cronus

by K. A. Finn

  There's only one thing he can do, and it's going to completely fuck up his flesh arm. In one quick movement, Gryffin lifts his arm off the ground. Skin and muscle tear as the hilt of the knife passes through his arm, leaving an impressive hole.

  Without pausing he slams his fist against her ocular implant knocking her unconscious. He kicks her off him and is about to put a bullet in her head when he picks up something from Dante.

  He's lost Terra.

  EARTH

  Jake comes out of the cockpit with a heavy rope. He passes one end to Bray and gestures to the support on the side of the door. 'Fix it around there. Time to go fishing.'

  Jake throws the rest of the rope out the door as they near Dante, sprinting across the field. Without stopping, Dante leaps at the rope and Jake gives Heath the thumbs up. The transport lifts above the trees and away from the farm as Bray and Jake pull Dante inside the transport.

  The cyborg collapses on the deck and smiles. 'Thanks for the lift. Thought you might leave me behind.'

  'Not a chance,' Bray replies. 'You saved our necks down there, Dante. Cheers.'

  He brushes the comment away. 'It's why you brought me along for the ride. Kind of felt good to give a little back. Fucking hate cyborgs.' He winks and grins, then his smile drops. 'Where's Terra?'

  'Gone.'

  'Gone where?'

  'We don't know. Her comms unit is offline and we've searched the area, but can't find her. We were hoping you know what happened.'

  Dante focuses on the bulkhead and frowns. 'A team of cyborgs was closing in on her. They were taken down. I thought it was you.'

  Bray shakes his head. 'So someone took out the cyborg team and saved her?'

  'I can only see up until the team was killed. I've got no connection to them after that.'

  Heath looks over his shoulder to Bray. 'What's the plan, Commander?'

  'Does Erin have Gryffin and the others?'

  Heath nods. 'They're at the original landing site.'

  'Does Gryffin know about Terra?' Bray asks Dante, hoping he says no, but one look at the man's face tells him otherwise. Dante's eyes are squeezed shut and his fists clenched on his knee. 'You okay, Dante?'

  'Gryffin. He knows and he's angry. As in seriously fucked off.'

  Bray leans back against the side of the transport feeling the eyes of everyone on board turned towards him. That's something to look forward to. 'Okay. Heath, better rendezvous with the others. Get this over and done with.'

  Garvan lowers onto the bench beside him and nudges him in the side. 'There's nothing you could have done differently. You know that.'

  'Yeah and you really believe he's going to see it that way? He's going to kill me.'

  EARTH

  Gryffin sits at the back of the transport just staring ahead of him. Boone and Trace hold position to either side. They're sticking close to make sure he doesn't kill anyone. Thanks to the link between them he knows they're more than willing to take him down if he steps out of line.

  The way he feels right now they could be doing just that in the next few seconds. His emotions may be under control thanks to the implant, but that doesn't mean he won't kill someone. Emotions never bothered him when he killed. He wouldn't have been as good at it if they did.

  Blood pools on the seat beside him but he couldn't give a damn about it. The three of them are a mess. Boone's arm is broken and he was shot in the chest and the leg. Trace's ocular implant is damaged and he has an impressive compound fracture to his leg. He's lucky he survived being thrown against the side of the stone farmhouse. It could have killed him instead of just breaking his leg.

  Gryffin looks down at his arm and grimaces. The wound from removing the knife the way he did has left a gaping hole in his arm. He's done a hell of a lot of damage. Punching that cyborg was the last straw for it. He hasn't been able to move it since he hit her.

  Gryffin glances up as Bray's transport lands beside theirs. He desperately wants to tear the door off the ship to get to anyone with answers. Fuck knows how, but he stays where he is. Maybe the control implant and the programming are helping to keep him from going berserk.

  Bray walks over to him, making sure to keep at a safe distance.

  Gryffin holds himself back for another few seconds before he speaks. 'What happened to her?'

  Bray runs a hand through his hair. 'We were trying to get back on the transport. A group of cyborgs came up behind us. We got separated. There were so many of them, Gryffin. We looked for her, but we couldn't find her.'

  One second Gryffin is sitting on the bench a few feet from his brother and the next he's pointing his gun at Bray's head. Less than a second after he targets Bray, Trace and Boone target him.

  'Put it down, sir.'

  Trace's voice sounds in his head as clear as if he'd spoken the words.

  'You shoot him and it will start a war with the Hunters. We've got enough on our plate without adding to it.'

  'He lost Terra.'

  'And we'll get her back,' Boone says as he gently presses the tip of his gun to the side of Gryffin's head. 'He's a Hunter. Not worth getting yourself killed over.'

  Gryffin slowly lowers his arm, followed by Boone and Trace who holster their weapons again.

  Bray swallows and licks his lips. 'What the hell was that?'

  'Trace and Boone just saved your life.' Gryffin looks over Bray's shoulder to Dante. He winces as Dante shares what happened after Terra fell from the roof. His stomach objects as images fly in front of his vision. Just before he throws up, the assault slows down.

  Gryffin pauses and looks at the ground as he tries to sort out the images in his head. As useful as it is to be able to communicate with the others, it's sickening, confusing, and he hates it.

  'Someone helped her. They shot the cyborgs.' Gryffin looks up at Bray again. 'The Foundation can't have her. They wouldn't shoot one of their cyborgs. There's no reason for them to do that.'

  Bray nods in agreement. 'You got a point there. Listen, I don't want to call it, but we need to go.'

  'Not without her.'

  'We're on Earth, Gryffin. We've barely survived their cyborg attack. The three of you are barely functioning. If we stay here we'll all die.'

  'I'm not leaving her here.'

  'You don't have a choice, Gryffin.'

  Heath and another guy Gryffin doesn't recognise join Bray as they pull out stun guns.

  They fire at Gryffin and his team and they fall to the ground. Gryffin forces his eye open and sees Dante being given the same treatment by Erin.

  Bray crouches down in front of him. 'I'm sorry, Gryffin, but we have to go.' He fires again and everything goes black.

  46

  EARTH

  Terra groans and slowly opens her eyes. She freezes and looks around the room. This isn't the station. It's not Cronus either. Or Ares. She pushes up to her elbows as the door to the room opens. A tall, dark-haired man enters and closes the door behind him.

  The sleeves of his white shirt are rolled up to show thick arms. His brown leather trousers fit his tall form well and scream of wealth. He smiles at her showing perfect white teeth. Whoever he is, he's eye-catching. Almost like an untarnished version of Gryffin. She kicks herself for the unfair comparison. Most of Gryffin's tarnishes are thanks to her cruel father.

  'Terra, right?'

  His deep voice is kind. He instantly makes her feel at ease even though the situation dictates otherwise. 'Where am I?'

  'Earth. Would you like to answer my question now?'

  'I thought it was rhetorical.'

  He laughs. 'I'll give you that one. So, Terra. I know you probably have a dozen questions so I'll do what I can to answer them. First, my name is Treyton Balfe, or Trey.'

  He grimaces. 'Yeah, I see my name rings a few alarm bells for you. Yes, my father was the infamous Admiral Balfe. Believe me, I have the same feelings towards my dear father as you do. He was a bastard every single day of his life and I can never thank whoever finally killed him,
enough. I can only hope it was a slow and excruciatingly painful death.'

  'Do you honestly expect me to believe a word you're saying?'

  'Honestly, no. But I'm hoping I'm wrong. I'm hoping you'll see I'm telling the truth. You hungry? How about I get you something to eat and I'll explain everything.'

  He walks over to the door and opens it. Outside, Terra can see an open plan living room with a well equipped kitchen overlooking a manicured roof terrace. She follows Trey to the living room and looks around the stunning room as he busies himself in the kitchen. 'You have a beautiful home.'

  'House. Not a home. It's somewhere to sleep and work out. Nothing else. If I didn't have to live in the city to be close to the HQ I'd be quite happy to get myself somewhere small as far from here as possible.'

  He smiles as he pushes a plate of pasta across the counter towards her. He picks up a fork and spears a few pieces, popping them in his mouth. 'Not too bad. And not poisoned or drugged or anything. Just in case you were wondering.'

  He winks at her and gestures to the chair. 'Go on. You eat and I'll talk. You'll need your strength if you're going to take down the Foundation.'

  DIXON SPACE STATION

  Garvan accepts Zeke's help to stand then slowly makes his way out of the transport and onto the space station. He glances down at his arm and a heavy ache forms in his chest. For the first time since his arm was removed, the realisation sets in. He wasn't expecting to leave parts of himself on Earth, but he shouldn't really complain. He's alive and that's better than he thought he'd get from his end of the deal.

  'Are you okay, Dad?'

  'Never better, Zeke. Just tired.'

  'C'mon old man. Let's get you sorted.'

  Garvan smiles as the hatch opens on the other transport and Erin steps onto the dock.

  He may have rejected her out-of-the-blue kiss weeks ago after they first arrived on Earth, but that doesn't mean he isn't interested. He'd been caught off guard and thoughts of his family had clouded the situation.

  Seeing her again makes him all the more positive he likes her. Even taking in to account her scary cyborg cousins.

  She waves at him, then drops her hand - presumably when she sees the harsh implants and missing arm. As the Dixon's personnel crowd around the transport, he loses sight of her. 'Can you give me a sec, Zeke?'

  Garvan extracts himself from the crowd and hobbles over to where he saw Erin last. He spots her at the far end of the corridor walking away from him.

  'Hold up, Erin.'

  She turns around then hurries over to him. 'What are you doing? You need to take it easy.'

  He rests against the wall and holds up his hand as he catches his breath. 'Give me a sec. Damn I feel old. I need to say something to you.'

  'Can it not wait until you've had medical attention?'

  'No. I've waited long enough. I'm saying it now so please shut up. Using up valuable energy reserves here. I'd prefer not to fall on my ass until I'm done.'

  She smiles and gestures for him to continue.

  'Cheers. First off, last time I saw you, you were on the floor of the Foundation ship. Are you okay?'

  She laughs at his question. 'Me? Have you looked at yourself recently? I'm fine, Garvan.'

  'That's good. And I'll be fine and dandy in no time. I hope.'

  'I hope so too. I was worried about you.'

  'I was worried about me too if I'm being honest.' He winces and rubs the side of his face.

  'You really should go to the med bay.'

  'In a minute. I need to ask you something and I'm damn well going to do it before I fall on my ass. This has been on my mind since... well since it happened. Okay, here goes.

  ‘In the barn you did something and I reacted the total fucking opposite of what I should have. I don't suppose it's too late to... I don't know, maybe react differently?'

  She frowns then her eyes open wide and she looks up at him. 'You mean when I tried to kiss you?'

  He nods. 'I know I'm looking a little dishevelled and well—' He holds up his metal tipped arm. 'And I know bits are missing but fuck it. I like you, Erin. So I'm asking if it's too late to maybe go back in time a little and maybe react differently? It would mean you trying to kiss me again though. So, have I completely missed my chance or—'

  'No, it's not too late.' She smiles and shrugs. 'It would never be too late for you.'

  'That's a fucking relief. Thought I might have messed this up.'

  Erin stands on her tip-toes and kisses him. Instead of pushing her away like he stupidly did the last time, Garvan wraps his arm around her and pulls her closer. Erin cups the side of his face and he grunts as she brushes against the metal.

  'I'm sorry. Are you okay?'

  'Just getting used to my new bits and bobs.'

  'I think it's time I get you to the med bay. I don't need you keeling over on me. I fully plan to pick this up later. When you're up for it of course.'

  'Yes, Ma'am.'

  47

  DIXON SPACE STATION

  Bray stands beside the four beds in the med bay and scratches his head. Stunning his brother and the rest of the team wasn't what he wanted to do. Far from it, but he was out of options and out of time. Not that Gryffin will see it that way.

  Evie moves away from the head of Gryffin's bed and removes her gloves. 'I think I need a jam sandwich after all that.'

  'Are they okay?'

  She removes her hat, attempts to fix her hair, then pushes the hat back on. 'I don't see why not. We've removed any rounds they brought back as souvenirs, repaired the many cuts and gaping wounds. They've each had some time in the rejuvenation pod so all broken bones are sorted. A bit of rest should see them all right.'

  'What about Gryffin's arm?'

  'He'll need another session in the pod in a few hours but it will heal. Did he tell you how he did it? He pulled a knife clean through it. The wrong way. I mean the handle.' She shudders and looks back at Gryffin again. 'Daft fool. Did the trick though so I guess it was worth it.'

  Evie turns to face him again and smiles widely. 'So, young Bray. I'd say that was a fairly effective test, wouldn't you? They worked exceptionally well as a team and remained upright even with all their injuries. Well, remained upright until you stunned them all.'

  'Yeah, thanks for reminding me. I've got that to look forward to when he wakes up.'

  'He understands.'

  Bray laughs at that comment. 'Is that right? You a mind reader now?'

  'No. He told me.'

  'He did? When?'

  'He woke up for a short while about an hour ago. We were all set for him to go a little crazy, but he was remarkably subdued. He asked if everyone got back okay bar Terra. I said yes, and he just nodded.'

  'How do you get that he understands from a nod.'

  'How else would you take that? He nodded in agreement. Don't you think?'

  Bray shrugs and Evie takes that as her que to leave. She wanders into the next room so Bray sits on the chair beside Gryffin's bed and stretches his stiff muscles.

  Maybe Evie is right. Maybe that nod is him accepting that leaving Terra was the only option at the time. Gryffin wasn't an idiot when it came to things like this. He wouldn't have held on to command of Ares if he thought with his heart instead of his head.

  It also doesn't mean that he's happy about leaving people behind. None of them are. As soon as possible, they will go back and get Terra.

  EARTH

  Terra tucks into her delicious meal while Trey leans against the sink. 'You see, growing up my dear father had more important things to do than spend time with me. I was raised by a long line of women paid to look after me. He was too busy with Project Conscript.

  ‘It's funny, Gryffin and I have more in common than you may think. We both lost our childhoods to the project. Not the same I know. Not by a long shot, but it took that innocence from both of us.'

  'You seem to have done well out of it. I can't imagine how much a place like this would cost.'

&nb
sp; Trey nods. 'True, but that's all down to dear Dad. When he died I was left everything. All of it is blood money though.'

  'Did you know about Project Conscript?'

  He nods and smiles sadly. 'I found out about the project and all those innocent lives they stole about ten years ago. My father was never overly inventive with passwords. Add in one bored and ignored son with too much time on his hands and it didn't take long to figure out why he had been so preoccupied.

  'I told him that I knew what he was doing and he had to stop, but he didn't care. He told me to keep quiet or I would have an accident.' Trey laughs harshly and shakes his head. 'I did what I was told. So, instead of fighting him I trained, worked hard, made sure I was appointed to the Council using slightly unconventional means, but I couldn't do what needed to be done unless I was sitting among the rot.'

  He pushes off the sink and approaches Terra. 'You have no reason to believe me, but I can help you destroy them. I'm a member of the Council. Seven to be exact.' He laughs and shakes his head. 'I mean seriously, how many brain cells were needed to come up with those designations?'

  Terra looks over at him again. She wasn't expecting him to say he's a Council member. She liked to think she was a good judge of character, but this is Balfe's son. Conscript wouldn't exist if not for Balfe's involvement. Then Gryffin wouldn't exist either. Rewriting the past erases Gryffin from existence. Not something she wanted to even think about.

  'Anyway, I'm well placed in the group. I have support from the majority of the Council. There are those still in One's pockets, but his grip is lessening. There's only so many times he can lose a valuable asset like Gryffin before it's going to spell the end for him.'

  'Why would you help us? What do you want out of this?'

  'I want an end to the production line One has built. I want an end to any more cyborgs. Hopefully the ones already modified can be reverted back to the way they were, but if not, they don't deserve to live as pawns for the Council.'