Cronus

by K. A. Finn

  He disappears in a side room and comes back in with a comms unit. 'I know about the Dixon's. Don't ask how. I may or may not have a few shady connections. If I'm going to take the Council down I need to have connections all over the place. If you send them a message, something generic that the Foundation won't be able to decipher, they'll pick it up and we can go from there.'

  Terra looks down at the unit. She doesn't have a way of getting in touch with the station directly. But that doesn't mean he can't use whatever message she leaves as a way of luring them out into the open.

  'I get you trust me as far as you can throw me. All I'm suggesting is you leave them a message so they know you're alive and well. If they want to respond it's on them. The Dixon's have been around for so long because they're careful. There's no way you sending them a message can hurt them in any way. With your comms knowledge you know that as well as anyone.'

  He's right. She has no doubts the Dixon's will have fail-safes in place to ensure they can't be traced back to the station. She needs to send them a message. She needs them to know she's safe and well. She needs Gryffin to know.

  She types out a quick message and sends it to the nearest comms station. Fingers crossed the Dixon's will pick it up.

  48

  DIXON SPACE STATION

  Garvan pushes up the bed when he hears a knock on the door. He frowns when he sees Gryffin standing in the doorway. 'Captain?'

  'You good to talk?'

  'Sure.'

  Garvan quietly watches as Gryffin limps past his bed and slowly lowers in the chair next to it. 'You okay after what happened on Earth? Heard you took a bit of a beating.'

  'I'm fine.'

  'Bray said you'd had more work done, but I got to say, I didn't believe it till now. Speaking from experience, that must have hurt. Are you okay? I mean after all the work.'

  He's not surprised when Gryffin doesn't answer. 'Evie said your son got you out before they connected the implant to your brain.'

  'Impeccable timing. Never been so glad to be reunited with my boy.' He adjusts the pillow under his arm, trying to ease some of the pain.

  The connectors below his elbow had been checked by Bray and the Dixon's. Thankfully, they had been fitted with a hell of a lot more care than Gryffin's had been. The wound is clean and free from infection.

  They took a sample so they can grow a new arm for him, but it'll take a few months to organise and even then it may not be a viable option. Until then, he would prefer to have an arm of sorts so he told them to leave the metal connectors. Hopefully, he'll be fitted for a robotic arm later today from the stores on Cronus.

  'Listen Gryffin. I'm sorry about Terra. She was only on the surface because of me.'

  'Not your fault. She wasn't taken by the cyborgs. Not sure if that's a good or a bad thing.'

  'Yeah, Bray said you can communicate with the other cyborgs. Are you picking up on what Dante saw or something he picked up on from one of the other cyborgs?'

  Gryffin shakes his head. 'Both, I think. I don't know what I'm getting. It's taking time to sort through. But she's safe. Or she was. Whoever took her was gentle with her.' Gryffin frowns and stops talking. Garvan can't tell if he's thinking or seeing something or picking up on something. Whatever he's doing, he's not here with Garvan.

  'Gryffin?'

  He looks back up at him again. 'Any useful intel you can give?'

  'Well, they've rebuilt the lab. They've even got the delightfully sadistic ladies working on the mods. They've hit back, Gryffin. Taking the ship didn't slow them down for long.'

  'What did they do to you?'

  'They tenderised me like a prize cut of meat for a few days. When my mate was satisfied I was messed up enough, they strapped me down and gave me the worst damn headache of my life.'

  Garvan tries to laugh, but it sticks in his throat. 'We need to stop them, Gryffin. I've got this thing on my face and left my arm in their lost property box. I got off light. What they did to those women, to Bray, to you... it's not right, Captain. Sorry, Gryffin. Going to take time to get used to calling you Gryffin instead of Captain.'

  'How many cyborgs are there?'

  Garvan blows out a breath. 'I counted at least fifteen. That's only the ones who came to bring me to and from the lab. Can't say how many more there are elsewhere.'

  'I accessed the system on the ship Bray stole. It's got some details on the mods. Anything useful you can tell me? Anything that might help take them down?'

  Garvan focuses on his feet as he thinks back to his time on Earth. 'The only thing I can think of you've already figured out. They didn't talk to each other. It was like they were talking up here,' he says as he taps the side of his head. 'They were definitely communicating with each other. They'd look at each other then one of them would act. Like she had received instructions, but they sure as hell weren't verbal. Is this a new thing you can do or has it always been there?'

  'It's fairly new. One of the cyborgs from the New Colony connected with me before he died.'

  'Before he died? Jeez, it's still happening then.'

  'We're all flawed. Boone, Trace, and Dante have been getting problems with their implants too. Nothing major, but they based all the designs off me. Not a great starting point.'

  Gryffin gets to his feet and steps out of the room. He returns a few seconds later with an artificial arm. 'Lucky for you, they were able to improve some parts. You're getting a slimmed down version of mine.'

  Garvan stares at the arm with a mixture of regret and excitement which confuses the hell out of him. No point regretting what happened to him. He'll never be reunited with his arm. It's gone and he has to get used to it. On the plus side, the arm Gryffin has in his hand is not a bad looking replacement. It's obviously metal but instead of having the bulky tubing and wiring Gryffin's does, it's sleek and pretty neat looking. 'Don't tell me you have arm envy, Captain.'

  Gryffin smirks. 'Mine has a built-in gun. Yours doesn't. You ready?'

  'Nothing else planned at the moment.' He'd rather not try it right now, but it's probably best to get it over and done with. In truth, he's terrified about having the thing connected to him. After where he's just been the idea of having any more metal attached to him isn't something he's overly keen on.

  He lifts his arm up and watches in morbid fascination as Gryffin lines up the connectors. Everything clicks in place and Garvan winces as a strange pressure pulls at his elbow. 'Yeah, that feels fucking weird.'

  'It'll take a while to get used to it. Leave it on for a few hours if you can.'

  Garvan smiles as his new metal thumb twitches. 'Ha! I did that.'

  Gryffin ruefully shakes his head and leans back in his chair. 'You're dealing with this better than Bray did.'

  'Yeah, well, I've had my fair share of shit thrown at me over the years. Not saying I won't fall to pieces about what happened at some stage, but I got a debt to repay first. And I don't mean the warm and fuzzy kind.'

  'One.'

  'One. Fucker is on borrowed time, Gryffin. I promise you that.'

  Gryffin rests his head on his hand but doesn't say anything for a few minutes. 'When we go back to Earth it's going to be a one-way trip for some of us. The odds aren't in our favour. Even if I can link with the other cyborgs and can control them, I don't think it's a fight we can win.'

  'Probably not. It's one we've got to fight though.' Garvan holds up his new arm. 'We owe it to ourselves. We've got to put a stop to this, Gryffin. Not saying I fancy bidding my life farewell just yet. Hell, I didn't survive all that fun Harvey put me through just to lie back and die, but if I got to die I want it to be while I'm screwing with the Foundation and this fucking project.'

  He pauses and closely examines the Nomad. He looks beaten, worn down, and exhausted. Terra's disappearance following so close after losing Roman is the last thing he needs. 'I'm sorry about Roman. Bray told me what happened.'

  Gryffin nods, but doesn't look at him.

  'Have you heard anything from the re
st of the fleet?'

  Gryffin frowns and stares at something on the floor. The Nomad clenches his jaw as he concentrates on a remarkably uninteresting patch of floor.

  'Gryffin?'

  He looks back at Garvan and the frown deepens. 'What?'

  'You went a little... strange there for a minute. You good?'

  He taps the side of his head. 'It wants me to back off. Wants me to stop fighting it.'

  Garvan is far from an expert but you don't have to be one to see Gryffin is struggling to keep control of whatever the hell is in his head.

  'I asked if you'd heard from the fleet.'

  'Yes. The High Commander is sending a group to Ultar to keep an eye on what the Foundation are up to. The rest will wait on the other side of the Port until we're ready.'

  'So you're launching a full scale attack?'

  'Not a lot left to lose at this stage. I'm done fucking around. We'll hit Ultar and Earth at the same time.'

  Garvan frowns as something Gryffin said registers with him. 'Hang on. I thought you were the High Commander?'

  'I stepped down. I'm barely keeping a hold on myself. The Nomad need someone solid in place. Creed was born for the role. I worked with him years ago and trust him.' Gryffin finally looks up at him. 'He'll give as good as he gets.' He pushes to his feet and winces as he puts weight on his new leg. 'I'll let you rest.'

  Garvan shuffles up the bed as he tries to figure out how to broach this next subject with Gryffin. 'I don't quite know how to say this, but I think I'm going to be possibly dating Erin.'

  Gryffin leans on the back of the chair to keep his balance. 'Right.'

  'Is that a problem?'

  'Why the hell would it be? I couldn't care less who either of you are with. None of my business.'

  'Okay. That's a relief.'

  'Why? You think I was going to kick the shit out of you?'

  'Got to admit it crossed my mind.'

  Gryffin frowns for a minute before he speaks again. 'If Bray and Sayber hadn't got to you first and brought you to the Hunters, I would have tried to recruit you myself. I've never done that before. Usually new recruits come to us, not the other way around. Erin could do worse.

  ‘Get some rest. If you want a piece of One you've got a lot of work to do. You need help getting to grips with any of your implants let me know.'

  He smiles briefly then leaves the room and a stunned Garvan behind.

  DIXON SPACE STATION

  Gryffin comes awake with a shout to find someone looming over him. He scrambles up the bed, desperate to get away. 'It's okay, sir. It's Boone. Calm down, sir.'

  Gryffin winces as the lights come on and he finally sees Boone and not the Scientist beside him. Trace and Dante are on the beds opposite him, each with the same expression on their faces as Boone. 'You saw all that?'

  Boone nods. 'We tried to block it, but we couldn't.'

  Gryffin lies back on the bed and puts his hands over his face. Dealing with the nightmares alone is bad enough. Having Trace, Boone, and Dante in his head with him, experiencing everything he did, that's so much worse.

  Boone nods over his shoulder and Dante and Trace leave the room. Not that it will do much good, but at least he won't have to look at them.

  'I don't want to talk about it, Boone so don't even go there.'

  'We all have memories we wish we didn't have. Only a matter of time before I show you some of the fun I had at the hands of the Scientist. Same goes for Dante and Trace. Doubt any of us will want to talk about it afterwards.'

  Gryffin nods, relieved that Boone isn't going to try to get him to open up. Not that he needs to. Having Boone in his head rules out the need to talk about anything. Of the three cyborgs left alive from the New Colony, Boone is the one he's had most contact with. He's an impressive fighter and Gryffin can easily see him at the helm of his own ship in a few years. If he survives the next few weeks that is. 'You have family?'

  Boone nods and smiles widely. 'A wife and daughter. They live on Aura One. It's a small farming colony. Not exactly Ultar, but it was my home.'

  'Do you remember them? I mean remember your life with them?'

  'I know it's not what you want me to say, but no. Each day I'm remembering more about them, but I don't remember me with them. It's hard to explain. Whatever the Foundation did to me... it blocked them from my memory. I can't remember the things I want to remember and can't forget all the horrors I'd give anything to forget.'

  'Yeah. I get that.'

  'Is the control implant getting stronger?'

  'Yes. I've got it for now. How do you deal with...' He scrubs a hand over his face as he tries to figure out what the hell he wants to say. 'When something happens to them.'

  Boone sits on the side of the bed and massages the connector on his arm. 'Having people you care about is an amazing thing, sir, but it's also painful when something goes wrong. You just have to hope the good outweighs the bad.' He pauses and glares at his mechanical arm. 'The Foundation took those good times from my memory, but I still know they existed. I can still feel them even if I can't remember them.'

  'I don't want to forget her.'

  'You might, Gryffin.' Boone pulls a locket out from under his t-shirt and shows Gryffin the picture of his family. 'Evie got this off the system for me. I forgot them for a while, sir. I may have forgotten them, but they still remember me. Someone out there remembers what we had. They have memories of the good times they had with me. I'm hoping my head will sort itself out one day but if not... well, at least they have those memories. They're not lost forever.

  'We just have to hang on another few days, sir. After that, we'll either be dead and the people we care about will be safe or we'll be alive and, hopefully, will be able to put things right with them.' He smiles and holds up his mechanical arm. 'Hell, we may even be able to kiss goodbye to all these implants.'

  'You really believe that? About the implants I mean.'

  'No. I believe there's a chance we can stop the production of any more cyborgs, but whatever happens, we're cyborgs for the rest of our lives. No coming back from what was done to us. Just hope my wife and daughter can accept that. I'm not the same person anymore.'

  Boone just put in words exactly how he feels. There is no coming back for any of them. As soon as they were put on the table and the first component fitted, they lost a large piece of their humanity.

  Boone looks around as Bray steps in the room. 'You both okay?'

  Gryffin nods. 'Yeah. Something wrong?'

  Bray grins widely as he shakes his head. 'Quite the opposite actually. We just got a transmission from Terra.'

  49

  DIXON SPACE STATION

  Boone reads the transmission to Gryffin again in his head. 'I'm safe. Don't lose my bandanna.'

  Gryffin looks down at the red bandanna tied around his right bicep. No way he's going to lose that.

  Felix points to the screen at the head of the room. 'We've managed to get a few messages to and from Terra since that one. She's on Earth. Poor girl. But she's very much alive and well. I think we're happy enough to go with a quick video call.'

  Evie nods as she examines the data. 'We can send the transmission through a few dozen stations to mask it, but I agree. We'll be safe enough.'

  Gryffin stares at the screen and a wave of relief hits him when Terra's face appears. The relief dies away when he spots someone behind her.

  'Am I glad to see you all.'

  Her eyes go to Gryffin, but he can't stop looking at the man behind her. Terra points over her shoulder to the person holding Gryffin's attention. 'This is Treyton Balfe. Don't worry he's on our side,' she adds quickly. 'He's no fan of his father or the project. He saved me from the cyborgs and is keeping me hidden.'

  'Where?' Gryffin doesn't realise he's spoken until everyone turns to look at him.

  'I probably shouldn't say where exactly. I don't want the Foundation to pick up on anything.'

  Gryffin clenches his fists as Trey leans over her shoulder a
nd smiles at them.

  'Don't sir.' He hears Boone's voice in his head. So much for the implant dulling his emotions. If Boone can pick up on his anger it's not doing a great job.

  'Time isn't on our side,' Trey says as he leans close to Terra. Too fucking close. 'I don't have the luxury of trying to convince you how much I hated my father. I'm on the Council and I want to help you kill or replace or whatever you want to do to the other members. The Foundation is rotten and I'm on board for changing that. By working together we can all get what we want. An end to the corrupt Foundation and to the cyborg project.'

  Trey smiles down at Terra which pushes Gryffin's grip on the control implant to its limits. 'If Trey can help I think we'd be crazy not to use him,' Terra says. 'He knows all the access points in the building. He knows the security numbers. Hell, he has all the information we need.'

  Bray looks over at Gryffin, but Gryffin can't stop staring at Trey. He has the irrational need to break his neck and he can't explain why.

  'Just breathe, sir.'

  'Get the fuck out of my head, Boone.'

  Bray frowns at Gryffin. He must have caught the surprise on Boone's face at his internal reply. Bray turns his attention back to Trey and Terra. 'Give us some time to talk about this. Can you keep Terra safe for the moment?'

  Trey leans on the counter behind him and crosses his arms. 'I have Council duties to attend to, but she should be safe enough here. If I get wind of anything I'll get her out. I promise. It's in my best interests to keep on your good side. If anything happens to her I'm fully aware of what will happen to me.'

  He meets Gryffin's eyes and the bastard has the nerve to smile at him.

  'You can get me on this channel,' Terra says, wrapping up the conversation. 'I'll see you all soon, okay.'

  Gryffin knows he should look at her, but the fucker is still smiling over her shoulder. Just before the transmission ends, Trey winks.

  Sayber speaks for the first time since Gryffin entered the room. 'We need to regroup back in the Outer Sector.'