He quickened his pace and was almost at a run by the time he arrived in the control room. He found Kirelle bent over Casin, who was on the floor unconscious. Rounding the console he found Corin, Savar, and all the others on the floor as well. “Lack of battery power?”
“Yes,” Kirelle responded. Misery lined her face. “We’re rotating the external chargers between them to keep them above 1 percent, but I don’t know what else to do.”
“We’ll touch down on Aurora in ten minutes. Will they make it?”
“Yes. But honestly, we have only minutes to find Mordjan. The external chargers are almost out of power.”
Tristan eyed the cyborgs, then the console. “Could we somehow hook them up to the ship to recharge?”
Kirelle turned to the cyborg who had previously been unconscious for the journey to the ship. “Mochi, what do you think?”
He nodded. “I thought of that, but only as a last resort. Electricity is not my specialty, but I do remember that hooking fine electronics to Ardak ships is dangerous because they tend to have high power that is somewhat unstable. A surge in power could fry their chips—or even electrocute them.”
Tristan knelt beside Casin, lifting the external battery. “What about wiring it to one of these? Won’t it block power surges?”
“I never thought about that. It wasn’t designed for that, but it would stop some of the surges. Not a big one, though.”
Tristin examined a console next to the control console. “I’ll use one of the smaller consoles, which should have less power going to it. If we wire it correctly, we can hook up three cyborgs to each converter and that will help distribute the charge. What I really need are tools.”
“I know where those are,” Mochi said, heading for the door of the control room. “I’ll be right back.”
Kirelle brought a hand up and sank her fingers into her hair. Her face was stressed, her golden eyes earnest. “I can’t believe this is happening. They got through the transformations. We’ve escaped, come this far, and now they’re going to die from lack of power. We’re on a spaceship! Jukkete!”
Tristin stepped around Casin and pulled her into a hug. It was instinctive, something he would have done for Andraya. He didn’t think about it until she stood there stiffly in his arms.
But after a few seconds, her arms went around his waist.
“They’ll be fine. We’ll wire them up to the console quickly for maintenance, then land and find Mordjan.”
Mochi returned with a box of tools. He set it down and picked up some wire. “I also found this and thought maybe we could use it for the connections.”
“Great thinking,” Tristin replied, kneeling next to the panel of the smaller console and setting to work.
Mochi was a good assistant, following directions quickly, his moves efficient. Once they had the rechargers connected to the console, Mochi repositioned each of the unconscious cyborgs while Tristin hooked them up to the rechargers.
He rechecked Casin, the first cyborg he’d connected to the new power supply. “Damn. Unfortunately, this charging situation is simply maintaining their current charge, not refilling their battery levels. Or if it is, it’s so slow that it’s almost undetectable. At this rate, they’ll be unconscious indefinitely.”
“In orbit around Aurora,” the AI informed him just as he finished.
“All right. We’re in orbit,” he told the others. “Now we just have to find this Mordjan and get him to help us.”
Mochi also stood and perused the enormous planet below. “How are we going to find him? That planet is huge.”
“What about checking for magic signatures?” Kirelle suggested.
“We’re not looking for elves, we’re looking for cyborgs,” Tristin replied. He set his chip to work scanning all frequencies, although he didn’t know whether their transmitters would broadcast far enough to reach into orbit.
“What makes you think they aren’t working together?” She crossed her arms. “My understanding is that the elves are highly involved in the resistance. If there are cyborgs who escaped, it makes sense that they’re working together.”
“How would we search for magic signatures?” Savar asked.
“Just turn on your infrared scanners.”
Tristin frowned. “The ship doesn’t have infrared scanners.”
“No,” she said crisply. “But you do.”
“Do I need my exoarmor?” Savar asked.
“No, the infrared scanners are inside your visual cortex enhancers. Just ask your chip to switch your optic scanner to infrared.” Then she paused. “Wait. I don’t know exactly how much power it will take. Only one of you should do it.”
“I’ll do it.” Mochi said first. He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them and peered out the window. He was quiet as they orbited the planet. “Look! Down there in the mountains.”
“Very good,” Kirelle said, looking out the window beside him. “That is an elven shield.”
“It’s so tiny,” he exclaimed.
“It’s probably not that small—we’re just very high up.”
“All right, I’ll land the ship there and see if we can find this Mordjan. It’s going to be tough though—it’s the middle of the night on this side of the planet. Anyone sane is probably asleep.” Tristin instructed the computer to turn around, and following Casin’s directions, set the ship down in a clearing west of the shield.
By the time he’d set the ship down, Kirelle and Mochi were nowhere to be found. He sprinted down the corridor to the docking bay, knowing without a doubt that Kirelle was trying to leave without him.
He arrived just in time to see her place her hand on the scanner to open the exit door. It opened slightly, and he commanded it to shut through his connection with the ship.
She turned back to face him, her face growing angry. “Let me out. I need to find Mordjan.”
“You also need backup.”
She pointed to Mochi, who stood slightly behind her. “Backup.”
“Bullshit. If he was any kind of real backup he’d be in front of you.”
“You are correct,” Mochi replied. His face remained impassive, but with a smooth motion he stepped around her so he’d be first off the ship.
“You’re not leaving this ship unless I go with you,” he said, throwing on his armor.
“How much battery power do you have?” she demanded.
His visual cortex was steadily flashing 6 percent. “Twenty percent,” he lied smoothly.
“Traako, you’re just dumb enough to get yourself killed, you know that?”
He tried to elbow her out of the way, but she pointed over Mochi’s shoulder out the window. “Do you see those two? Elves. Perhaps I should go first?” her voice was dry.
They were some distance away just inside the edge of the forest tree line, but he magnified the figures with his ocular enhancement, and sure enough, two of them had pointed ears. He opened his mouth to reply, then shut it and took a step back. Giving an exaggerated bow and gesturing toward the door, he said, “After you.”
She raised her chin and when Mochi stepped aside, she strode through.
He followed, ignoring Mochi’s pointed stare.
Kirelle was obviously still angry about how he’d turned away from her earlier; he’d have to apologize again later. But he stayed right behind her, and as they started across the wide stretch of grassy plain toward the forest and the elves, he spoke in a low voice. “I don’t like the idea of you being in front. Even if they are elves.”
“And I’m the only doctor you have, right?” she shot back angrily.
“No, that’s not right,” he said calmly. “We have to think logically. We don’t know these elves. They could be dangerous.”
“Maybe that’s how it is with your species,” she retorted. “But elves are not that way.”
“How many worlds have you been on?” he asked.
“Enough,” she shot back.
“That wasn’t an answer,” he grous
ed. They were about halfway across the distance, and he could tell he wasn’t going to change her mind.
“It doesn’t deserve one. Someone has to find Mordjan and save your asses. And it’s going to be the elf. I’m sorry if that bothers you, Your Reverence.”
“It’s Your Majesty,” he said without thinking.
She actually stopped midstep and looked up at him as if he’d lost his mind. Her mouth opened, then closed again.
Even Mochi gaped at him.
He felt heat creep up his neck, and couldn’t think of a damn thing to say to make that last comment better. Well, he might as well really stick his foot in it. Maybe he could get a laugh. He smiled. “I know. You’re speechless in my presence.”
She gave a sound that sounded a cross between an angry horse and a strangling ice bat, then threw her hands up in the air and headed for the elves once more.
Chapter Sixteen
Kirelle
She literally had minutes to find Mordjan and get the cyborgs recharged, and all she could think about was how she wanted to wipe the smirk off Tristin’s face.
“Halt,” a strong elven voice called out from the trees.
She stopped, bowing her head slightly.
The two elves emerged from the trees, arms slightly raised. The elves were flanked by two enormous males who appeared at their sides. She frowned. They were not elven, and much larger than Tristin’s sleek musculature.
Tristin stopped trying to edge around her and simply stepped in front of her. Mochi was only a second behind.
“Who are you?” the elf in the center asked.
“I am Kirelle. We have just escaped from the Ardak king’s ship, and ask to see your leader, Mordjan. We need to use your charging stations, because all of our cyborgs are unconscious, out of power.”
“All of your cyborgs? How many are there?”
“Seven,” she replied. “But they are almost out of power.”
The elf in the center looked at the enormous man to his right. “Call Mordjan. And inform Tordan.” He turned back to them. “My name is Elberos and this is Rydaeron. The two cyborgs are Borian and Chihon. You’ve come to the wrong palace—the cyborgs are all at Renwyn.”
Kirelle examined Borian and Chihon more closely. Both were tall and muscular, but while Borian had dark hair and light skin, Chihon had a shock of white hair that contrasted with dark skin. “You’re both cyborgs?”
“That’s right,” Borian replied. “But we don’t know what you’re talking about. We don’t have recharging stations.”
A shiver went through her. “What did you say?”
“We don’t need to recharge.”
“Ever?” Tristin asked sharply.
“Ever,” Borian affirmed.
“Oh gods,” Kirelle said, truly worried for the first time. “If we can’t find power, we could lose all of them.”
A portal opened to their right, and two enormous men that looked similar to Borian stepped through, followed by a golden-haired elf. Their efficient movements gave them away as cyborgs, and the gray-eyed cyborg stepped forward toward her, while Tristin clasped arms with the other enormous male.
“I know them, Tordan,” the other male said. “This is King Tristin of the Tuorin system, the one who gave us the cure for the Red Death.”
Kirelle could have cried with relief.
“Mordjan, good to see you again.” Tristin stepped forward. “This is cyborg scientist Kirelle, and Mochi. The other cyborgs who fled with us, Savar, Jaffa, Evett, Lucas, and my cousins Casin and Corin, are on the ship, unconscious.”
Mordjan frowned. “Why are they unconscious?”
“They’ve run out of power, so we were hoping to use your cyborg recharging stations. But Borian has just told us you don’t use them.”
Mordjan’s dark brows rose. “Cyborg recharging stations? I’ve never heard of such a thing.” He exchanged a glance with Tordan. “Let’s get you to the cyborg lab and see what we can find out.”
Tordan’s eyes went to the elf. “Aielle, can you make a portal to the lab at Renwyn?”
The golden-haired elf nodded and raised her hand, opening a portal.
Tordan gestured for them to walk through. As the others went through, he turned to Kirelle. “I apologize for the delay. These are troubled times, so we have to be certain about newcomers.”
She nodded. “I understand. I only hope you can save these men. Tristin is almost out of power. We have the unconscious cyborgs stable, but if disconnected, they will literally die in minutes without a recharge.”
They emerged from the portal into the strangest room she’d ever seen. The upper half of the enormous space appeared to be an elven palace. High ceilings, ivy crawling up the walls, and intricate designs carved into the columns and the moldings. But the lower half looked like a lab in an Ardak spaceship. “It looks almost like you’ve transported one of our labs here,” she said to Aielle.
The elf laughed. “That’s because it’s exactly what they did. Roihan and Aria took one of the ship labs apart, piece by piece, and brought it here.”
Less than a minute later, two cyborgs strode in from the hall, appearing slightly disheveled.
“I’m Roihan,” the first said without delay. “My mate is Aria. You said your cyborgs need to recharge?”
“Yes. Their power drains every twenty-four hours.”
Roihan started. “Why?”
She paused. “I don’t know. I have no idea why yours don’t drain.”
“What is their power source?”
“Battery crystals.”
Mordjan had joined them, and he propped his leg on a chair, then stuck a small knife into it. He opened a compartment so they could see his power source. “Does it look like this?”
She nodded. “But Tristin’s is slightly larger.”
Mordjan’s brows rose. “Then why the hell are they running out of power? And what the hell do you recharge them with?”
All eyes turned to her.
She shrugged helplessly. “We put them in glass cylinders and they recharge on their own. I didn’t make the cylinders—X-Blade did that. My specialty was working with their bodies and artificial limbs.”
“Do you have one of these rechargers?” Aria asked.
“Yes, we have two, but they’re on the ship, keeping the other cyborgs alive.”
“All right, let’s get one of you on the table so we can see what we’re dealing with,” Mordjan said. “Tristin?”
Tristin nodded and removed the exoarmor from his torso.
Roihan looked him over. “Where is your battery compartment?”
“I can open it for you,” Kirelle offered, stepping forward and finding the notch for the tiny compartment just under his rib cage with her fingernail.
“Interesting,” Roihan commented, peering into the compartment. “It’s so different, but at the same time, it’s much the same.”
“That’s probably because Tristin is the best cyborg I’ve ever made,” Kirelle said proudly.
“Uh-huh,” Roihan encouraged, looking at the battery. “What is so special about him?”
“He runs two chips. His mind is faster than anyone else’s, and he can fly entire Ardak ships by himself.”
Roihan prodded at the battery. “What is this?” he asked, pointing to a green wire.
“I’m. . .I’m not sure,” she was forced to admit. “Like I said, I don’t work with the batteries. These battery compartments come already assembled and I install them into the limbs.”
“Well.” Roihan looked up at Tristin briefly. “Take a deep breath.”
“Why?” his voice rose.
“Just kidding.” Roihan held up the green wire with a small attachment on the end. “I was already done. Here’s your problem.”
“What is that?” Tristin asked worriedly, hunching over and trying to peer into the battery compartment.
“It’s a battery drain.”
“A what?” Tristin and Kirelle demanded at the same time.
“I can’t believe it,” Kirelle said faintly. “I had no idea.”
“You know, Tristin, my mate, Aria, can also fly ships by herself. It would be interesting to see what else you two have in common, and how it’s similar to or different from the upgraded cyborgs.”
“Are you telling me there is another cyborg who can fly a ship with her mind?” Tristin asked.
“And what are upgraded cyborgs?” Kirelle’s voice was high.
“Aria can fly ships with her mind—I believe they probably used the same specs you did to make Tristin here.”
Roihan stood up and clapped Tristin on the shoulder. “You did well. Now let’s get these power drains out of your other cyborgs, then we’ll have some breathing room until we can figure out how to recharge them back up to full power.”
Kirelle avoided Tristin’s gaze as they went back through the portal to the ship. She watched as Mordjan removed the devices from Casin, Corin, Evett, and Jaffa, guilt filling her.
She hadn’t even thought to look for something like that on their trip to Aurora. They all could have died, and over something so simple. She should have known.
But she hadn’t.
She’d also thought she was creating the most advanced cyborg on the king’s ship, but it was obvious that other scientists were also creating them. Maybe Aria was even better than Tristin. And she was almost afraid to find out the capabilities of the “upgraded” cyborgs.
A realization hit her at that moment, one she didn’t want to admit. She’d called Tristin arrogant, but in her own way, she had been suffering from the same flaw. Hubris was a personality trait that afflicted so many elves in various ways, and it was one she’d sworn she wouldn’t succumb to.
But she had. She’d thought because she was the best that the Ardak king wouldn’t order her execution, but he had. She’d thought she had known everything about the cyborgs, but she hadn’t. She thought she’d created the best of them, but she hadn’t done that, either.
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