Lion Page 3

  The meeting dispersed. An upload hit neuro net. The parameters of the mission were laid out for him in more detail. They’d not been much to go on. The request was clearly a Cyborg tag. The rest was unknown, other than location and time. They’d done a data search of their own files and that information came up too. Flowing across his optic amongst the other diagnostic’s being displayed continuously across his system. His optic allowed him to keep tabs on his functionality. His onboard computer never turned off. Just like every other Cyborg.

  They’d been built for war by Earth Corp. Using human DNA to start the process. Stolen it or bought it. They didn’t care. Taking embryo’s and sperm to start the process. Spliced in the strongest, biggest, fittest of humans. Then created generation after generation refining the process until they had a viable product. Then used that DNA to build on. Keeping what worked for them and discarding what didn’t. Testing each new generation to be the best. Terminating, when it didn’t work out. Adding cybernetics and a computer with data nodes to their systems when it did. All to create the ultimate soldier. And when that wasn’t enough, they added animal DNA to the mix. They needed to be faster, deadlier, hunters and predators and ferocious in battle.

  It was the reason he was called Lion. An alpha male. He carried that animals’ DNA. It gave him an edge in battle and the tracking skills to match. While he was naturally dominant and aggressive, he was a whole new level when cornered or in battle. When dealing with females in his training, he could be….. possessive. A deadly and natural response for the animal, one that needed careful handling as a Cyborg. So when it came to choosing a name, it seemed the obvious choice. Logical. It was who he was.

  That first meeting on the Space Station had been turned everything on its head. First knowing an Empire existed and second, that there were females that matched them to their DNA and thirdly, those same human females could have children with their Cyborg mates. It was a revelation. Morgan herself, having been given considerable amounts of nano’s during injury, was receptive to Cyborg seed. Her pregnancy had been a surprise to them all. Every Cyborg on her ship went through her pregnancy with her. The father unknowing and still on the Space Station awaiting their return. Lion supressed the smile that beckoned remembering how Pain had passed out at seeing the child for the first time and knowing it was his.

  There was no doubt it was his child. Morgan only had eyes for him and DNA didn’t lie. The child grew more and more like her father in many ways. A beautiful child by any measure, with her mother’s good looks. Smart and the apple of every Cyborgs eye on their vessel. Each, a willing uncle.

  It opened a window of opportunity for them all. Gave them data they’d not known before. Conception with a human was possible. Mac, their Cyborg Doctor and mate to Dark, had embraced the new information and started her tests on female mates, including herself. Test’s that had proven a number of things. Mates started to improve their health, age and abilities. The nano’s in their blood from seed and saliva slowly brought them back to their optimum. Some were getting younger both in looks and physicality.

  But that didn’t mean that every female was a potential mate. They weren’t. They had to be a match in their DNA for their nano’s to accept them and push the Cyborg in the right direction. He’d met plenty of females over the long years of his life and not felt the slightest twinge of interest. The Admiral met his Kim after many decades, and it was instant fireworks. His neuro net told him it had been the same for every Cyborg when they’d met their mate. No fireworks, no female.

  And that didn’t even take into account the odds of finding one in the first place. They were slim. It was a large universe. They understood that logic was likely to win this one. So they went about their business taking the only logical response.

  Morgan and Pain came towards him. “You good to go soldier?” she asked.

  “Yes mam.”

  “The Admiral will want to be kept updated, as will I. He wants our men found and this connection made. We need to know what’s happening there.”

  Lion gave a nod. “They could be lost brothers. We don’t have enough intel that’s why you’ve got a full compliment.” Pain told him.

  Lion got the message. He was going in blind. It could also be they were still enslaved to the system that had created them. His job in that case, would be to free them and give them a new download if they wanted it. “I will make sure to connect with them as soon as possible.”

  “The meeting has been set up. You have the data. Report as soon as you can. Good hunting.” Morgan told him, turning to go to talk with another of his brothers.

  “It seems friendly enough, but you know to expect the unexpected.” Pain told him then went to stand with his mate. Lion knew his job. He was a hunter. The predator in him made him very good at it. He’d find his brothers and offer them a new life.

  ***

  Two Months. It hadn’t been the ideal time to leave but what choice did she have? None. Four had been right. The next round wouldn’t go so smoothly. If you could call that last meeting smooth. But in the end, credits talked, and they appeared to come in line. Five weeks post deadline, she wasn’t sure just how true that was, time would tell, and she had her people keeping an eye on things. They’d be stupid or not. There was nothing she could do about that. She’d heard the whispers from the bars. Traders were worried what the changes would mean for them and the Port.

  There was no way round it. Many of them liked the fact that it was a little lawless. A little uncivilised. No one liked being reigned in. She got it. She kinda liked it a bit rough too.

  Her father had dealt with ruthless people all his life. It was who they were. Changing that wouldn’t be easy, if at all. She was amazed they’d not come at her yet. But then, two deadly Cyborgs with several more nearby was a big deterrent as were the other 167 on company grounds at the mines. In hindsight, her father had done the right thing at the right time. By the time it was common knowledge about the Cyborgs, it was too late for his competitors to get their own.

  Was she surprised Cyborgs were now an Empire? Knowing what they could do, not really. It was more of a surprise they’d waited so long. She’d pulled all the achieve files they had on Cyborgs and asked to be updated on their history. It hadn’t been a fairy story. More like a horror. The things Earth Corp had done in the name of the perfect soldier….. How they had survived that, she didn’t know. But guessed, having your emotions and pain receptors cut off would help protect the brain, and the body could recover. Nano’s. The miracle fix for Cyborgs. They could fix almost anything given the right conditions.

  Two months. Getting to this point had taken longer than she’d hoped. The Empire had agreed to the meet and were waiting for her. Her ship was good but still, it had taken nearly eight weeks to get to the waystation.

  She was ready for this meeting. The feeling that she needed to get back kept dogging her. Her people were good, and she had better intel than most, but it wasn’t like being there. Her Cyborgs could find out anything. They had the ability to see further, hear better and could pick up on your body language and even taste your emotions in the air. It told them all they needed to know about you. If you were honest or a liar, your emotions told the story. They could pick up every minute detail. It would tell them everything, unless you were very good at hiding it and most humans weren’t.

  It had given her and her father before her, plenty of advantages in meetings. Now, she was wondering if those same skills were going to come back to haunt her.

  She didn’t know these Cyborgs. It was likely they were different to hers. Four knocked and came in.

  “Docking in 5.” Pilar gave him a nod and followed him to the bridge. Taking her seat she strapped in. The ship and Cyborgs navigated to their berth and docked. The waystation was how she remembered it. One large vessel anchored in space. The Mariha, mid-point stop, for many destinations. “We are to meet here,” Four told her. The map came up on the screen. “We have two hours forty before the meet.”r />
  Pilar stood. “Good, I’ve a few people to see. Lock the ship down. Camera’s running as usual. We need to be on our way ASAP.”

  “Affirmative.” They both told her.

  Pilar grabbed her weapons from the weapons locker and passed Four and Five their own. The Cyborgs moving around her to also grabbed pulse riffles and some stun grenades. Pilar smiled. They did love to be ready for anything. She made her way through the ship and stood at the loading bay door as it started to descend. The usual docking bay manager was waiting for her. He’d managed to keep his job for a very long time. That told her a lot. He was good and he knew how to keep people happy. She held out her hand to him. “Bobcat, nice to see you again.”

  “Pilar, you get more beautiful every time I see you.” He took her hand and shook it.

  “Flatterer. How’s it been?” she asked looking around.

  “Some good some bad. The usual.” He passed her the data pad and she placed her hand on it. It took a palm scan and acknowledged she was who she said she was and automatically was paid for docking with them. He took it back and looked at it then put it away. “Business or pleasure or both?”

  Pilar smiled. “You know me, I like a bit of both but don’t expect to stay more than today.”

  He nodded. “If you’re looking for something special, you might like to check out the market place. We’ve a lot of new stuff just come in.”

  Pilar nodded. “Will do. I also want to set up a new arrangement on a permanent docking bay here. She pulled out her own data pad and swiped the information to his.

  He took it out again and looked at it and nodded. “We can do that. I’ll give you my best price.”

  “Excellent. I want a package deal. Send it to me by end of day and we’ll thrash it out.” He gave her a nod and walked away.

  “Ok, part one was easy enough. Let’s check out that market then I need to see both Roual and Betrice. Roual first.” They knew exactly where to find them. Roual would be at the Dirty Dog. A bar. Betrice would be in her office at the back of the regulated whore house she owned. Both had fingers in a lot of pies and both, held more knowledge than anyone else she knew…. And she had business for both of them.

  ***

  Lion watched his pilot dock the ship. Smooth and easy. Then deployed his men. Some would stay on board, others on leave on rotation for the day. They wouldn’t be staying long. Unless, he found things he didn’t like about his new brothers. Then they might be staying awhile until it was resolved to his satisfaction.

  Giving his orders over his neuro net, two of his brothers stayed with him. They had 58 minutes before the meeting. Data downloaded from the waystation told him who was docked and who was in residence. No one came up as Cyborg. So that meant the Cyborgs he was looking for weren’t registered in their own right. Not a good start.

  Identifying which ship belonged to them wouldn’t be easy. They’d have to do it the hard way. Infiltrate the systems and check. He put four of his men on it.

  If they got a lead, he could track it. If not, they’d just have to follow their guests from the meeting back to their ship and do it old school. Lion smiled. One scent of the human and he would be able to find them anywhere.

  The data ping alerted him to the location of the rented conference room. His optic displayed the information. It held no electronic trail. Paid with credits from the waystation. That told him who he was meeting had money and an account here. No name was attached to the booking. Anon. It wasn’t unusual for people to wanted to keep their dealings quiet. He could see by the stations layout they’d picked the location of the meeting well. Plenty of exits if needed. Not that that would help them if he needed to track them.

  Lion connected via his neuro net to his communications officer. See if we can find anything else out about the human that booked the meeting room.

  Affirmative.

  Lion cleared his optic as he descended the ramp. His second Brix, was dealing with the official waiting for them. One look around told him there were plenty of wary eyes looking in their direction as they emerged. It was often the case. They couldn’t hide what they were. And their reputation was still alive and kicking throughout the universe. A reputation they had deserved back then. They’d done things on orders that couldn’t be eradicated. Humans were careful around them. They had good reason to be. In the early wars, Cyborgs killed without discrimination as directed to do by their officers. Unable to refuse, they carried out their orders. Programmed to do what they’d been told to do. Trying to refuse wasn’t an option. That power was removed from them.

  It was the reason most of them had their emotions cut off. They all held data banks that held every memory. Every action they’d ever taken was recorded. Decades of knowledge that would be more than a human could live with. Even some Cyborgs had problems. But they could turn off their emotions and most had or had it done for them. It was the only way to deal with what they’d done. What they’d once been.

  Not that Cyborgs asked for understanding or forgiveness. They accepted the role they’d played and the lives they’d taken. Decades of war with Cyborgs that didn’t age gave them plenty to bear witness to.

  The Designers had been cleaver. They built them to last. A secret billion credit industry that had to have longevity to make it pay. How long they would live was anyone’s guess. Some were already nearing 200 years. The majority around 150 years down to the kids. Those that were in their 70s. And still, they looked the age their nano’s were programmed for their aging process to stop.

  Lion knew exactly when his aging process was stopped. 32. The information on his creation flowed across his optic. He hadn’t asked for it, the thought process pulling the information easily from his data banks.

  In living universal years, he was 147. 18 Before that were in the growth pod until he reached maturity. Then he was birthed and the training started. Strength, fighting, weapons, seduction, infiltration, hunting. They all had their place in his world or had back then. But his logic ruled. The computer embedded in his brain ran all his systems. All his diagnostics and every one of them, flowed continuously across his optic. Anything that flagged red, his nano’s dealt with or his computer, depending on where the problem was. And every day, his system diagnostic told him what he needed to do to remain in peek condition. 100%. At all times.

  Less than that, had been seen as a failure.

  And under the Designers, that could be deadly. You were no good to them if you weren’t at your peek condition. They didn’t make allowances. The job was the job. If you died doing it, well, they could haul your ass back and start again.

  Not now, however. The Designers were long gone, and the Empire didn’t work like that. Less than 100% was accepted. Far too many Cyborgs were injured and not able to fix their damage. There were somethings that even med beds and nano’s, couldn’t fix. The brain was one.

  The Designers had allowed for many things. Limbs could be regrown. Cyborgs could be switched off, crated, used for spare parts. Re-booted. New software uploaded, new data nodes, wiring, cybernetics added. And dead didn’t always mean dead. If you were lucky, you could be revived. No one wanted to lose their investment. But too much damage in the brain…… or central wiring that was a problem.

  Which made their decisions on throwing them to the wolves, time and time again illogical. Or leaving them on other worlds and selling them off. The data they’d found told them that Earth Corp had been overreaching, haemorrhaging credits, unable to meet its financial obligations. The company had been slipping for years. They started selling off the old for the new. Then faced legal action from several parties and on several fronts. Investors started leaving a sinking ship in droves. Distancing themselves, as quickly as possible. No one wanted to be associated with their creation or how it was achieved.

  Self-preservation was a strong emotion. Cyborgs knew all about that.

  The Old Earth wars came first. The Corporations, fighting for resources and position. Governments in league with them for
greed. Then the instability of the moon, mined and fought over for its resources became a dangerous factor. Old Earth became polluted and they moved out into the solar system dominating the other planets. It had simply been just another job to the Cyborgs and when those resources had also been exhausted and Old Earth so polluted that people were dying, they’d looked to the universe for answers.

  Earth Corp used its space knowledge and sent exploratory ships barely space worthy out to find new worlds, new sources of riches to make them even richer.

  Calming new worlds for their companies, offering new opportunities, new lives to those who desperately wanted it. They only had to come up with the credits to get on board, offer samples of their DNA, stem cells, sperm, eggs, blood and tissue and Earth Corp made promises of the promised land, with mined resources sent back to Earth Corp in support ships to help build those new colonies. Only that didn’t work out so well for Earth Corp or the colonists.

  Earth Corp didn’t have the resources to keep their promises. It all started off well enough. Research ships were sent out to identify those new worlds. Colonists and ships brought together for those first ventures into space. Cyborg advanced groups sent out to secure some worlds too. Then Earth Corp’s problems started catching up. In order to keep up with the new worlds, they had to send ships out every year to a multitude of new worlds. The cost staggering. Some would take up to another year to get there. Engines were old school back then. To keep up with the rotation they’d banked on those first ships bringing back enough wealth to keep the payload going. But it didn’t bring as much as they’d hoped or as quickly, and it started a tipping point that couldn’t be reversed.