Reve Read online

  The ships systems were the same. Every component, every function, every programme needed to be working at 100%. Less than that, and it showed up on one check or another. A series of diagnostic tests were continually running to specifically identify all programs and hardware throughout the ship and if it was faulty, it was stripped out and reworked. Nothing was left to chance.

  They might be war machines, but they had a complete knowledge of the ship and themselves, embedded within their systems. They could work on any equipment and everyone, took a turn working in all areas. And when it came time to fight, they all stood together in one strong show of power. Exactly how it should be.

  He connected his neuro net to his navigator. Time to destination?

  14.3 Hours.

  It mattered not what they found. The unknown held no challenge for them. It was what they were used to. Reve revelled in it. They were Cyborg, and nothing or no one stopped them doing their job or got in their way.

  ***

  How long could they hold out? Brenna tapped the work top with her nail as she looked at the screens in her make shift command centre. They’d been playing cat and mouse for hours. The new defences seemed to be working. She checked the other screen, then pointed to it. “What the hell is that?” Several of their attackers were dragging up something huge …. What the hell was that?

  “Shit, that’s a cannon.” Paul told her. He came from a family of soldiers.

  Brenna turned to look at him. “A cannon? What’s that?”

  “It looks like old Earth tech. Like the gun emplacements we have off the ship and the new ones we made, only these look much bigger. Probably got a different payload and a lot bigger punch too. If they fire that and…..” he looked around…. “I don’t know how much of a pounding this place will take. It could be bad.”

  “They’ll fire it at us, knowing we’re down here?” she asked turning Zhai.

  Zhai nodded. She remembered he came from a family of old Japanese warriors. The swords on his back were razor sharp and centuries old and he knew how to use them. “If they are what I think they are, they are used to bombard into submission.”

  Fuck. “Move all the children into the safest zone.”

  Zhai swallowed. “I’m not sure there will be one.”

  Brenna nodded. “Do it anyway. We reinforced with metal for a reason. Give me community comms.”

  Zhai turned them on, giving her a nod. Brenna leaned forward over the microphone. “Listen up people. We are under attack, we all know that. I will need all vulnerable members moved to the safe area. When I tell you, I want everyone else to pull back to their safe rooms. We are facing a bombardment unlike anything we’ve seen before. When it stops, we will charge back to our positions and remind them, we are still here,” she roared out. “Stand by.” She cut the comm off. Her people cried out their support around her. She glanced back at Zhai. “Give me as much time as you can to get everyone to safety.”

  Brenna stood up and zoomed in on the shot of the ‘cannon’. She could see it being moved into position. Then it was connected to something. She guessed it needed a power supply. So not old school ballistics then. The aggressors started to pull back around the entrance, she guessed this was it. She looked at Zhai again, he nodded. “Give the order to pull back and close the blast doors,” she told him. He moved off to do it. Brenna hit the communications again. “Now people, move fast. Secure what you can.”

  She waited, watching her people drag injured back with them from the defences outside and the blast doors start to close. Her people running inside from their defences carrying more wounded. Brenna ran out of the command centre and up a flight of stairs, then turned towards the entrance. Seeing a man go down, Brenna hurried over pulling his arm over her shoulders, supporting the soldier no longer able to walk on his own. “Get them down to medical,” she shouted out as others came towards her, and others rushed around her heading for safety. Medical had been one of the first safe rooms completed. The command centre had been next.

  Bren moved as quickly as she could, another person came to aid her supporting the other man’s shoulder. They made it out of the tunnel just as the doors locked down behind them and the first bombardment started. The whole place shook violently. Zhai was up ahead and looked back at her. Brenna gave him a nod. His face showed nothing, but she knew what he was thinking. She was thinking the same. They might not survive this round after all ….

  ***

  He could see the planet on the view screen across the front of his Bridge. It looked pretty enough but he knew looks could be deceiving. Reve opened communication to his comms. How long to communications range?

  If they have that technology, we will be within planetary range in approximately 28 universal minutes.

  Reve waited as the planet grew larger in the screen. His systems processing the time delay along with the speed of their craft. It carried one of the best engines Kim could design. The Admirals mate was magic with engines. She could get more speed, using unknown technology that made intergalactic travel faster, quicker and easier than ever before. Folding space had brought a whole new era of space travel.

  There are two ships in orbit. Unknown tags. Infiltration range in 8.2 minutes.

  Let’s remember our orders. Be polite first and ask. When they ignore us or give us lies, take what we need to know. Reve smiled. Unknown tags. In their experience, that meant pirates. This might be more fun than he’d expected. Ship wide comms.

  Affirmative

  Ladies, we have two unidentified ships around our planet of interest. Prepare for battle. No tags. Looks like we have a welcoming committee. We will offer introductions as we are obliged to do and when they ignore us or try to run, we will do what we do best. Remind them we are the Cyborg Empire, and no one gets away from us. He could hear the roar of approval over his neuro net.

  No response to hails. Comms told him.

  Reve smiled wider. Well, well. Infiltrate their computers. Let’s see what they’re up to.

  He could feel and see over his optic his men preparing for what would happen next. They welcomed it, it was what they were made for.

  Comms re-opened communication with him. They are pirates. Raiders. This is the sixth time they have attacked this world. They are trying to set up a base, but the community is putting up a good fight. They tried taking it by hand to hand several times and failed, this time, they have joined forces, promising slaves and food and brought in pulse rangers. They are going to bombard it into submission.

  Intercept those ships, sever any of their communications. Do we have communications with the ground community?

  Coming on line now.

  Good, get me on screen with them. Ship wide comms.

  Affirmative

  Duty Troop Leaders prepare for engagement. All boarding parties to off-worlders. Take the ships. Good hunting. Comms off.

  I have ground communications linked in. Its old, had to patch it. It fits with the intel on this world as a seeded one.

  Their intel was good then. Let the Admiral know we have engaged two ships at the planet of unknown origin and communications with the community would suggest they are a seeded world, not technically advanced.

  Affirmative. Reve knew his comms officer would be doing just that.

  Open communications with the ground. On screen when ready.

  The vid screen came alive with the source of their communication from the ground. It was clear they were under bombardment. The room looked to be underground, reinforced, it shook as the pulse ranger hit it but held. People were moving around dealing with damages, orders, repairs. A woman stood in the middle of the screen removing her headwear and gloves. They were covered in what looked like blood as was the old-style medical body wrap she’d worn. At a guess, he’d say she’d been helping the wounded, although the room behind her was not a medical room. So she’d come from somewhere else. He judged her to be of northern Old Earth heritage as she pulled the medical coverall off and handed it off to someo
ne. A Doctor? An Asian male stood behind her, carrying Japanese warrior swords. Another old heritage. He took all this in in seconds as the female looked shocked and whispered “Robert?”

  Immediately Reve knew he’d scared her. Her face was pale, and she took a step back, her voice disbelieving. Her body wavered. The male behind her reached out to grasp her arm in comfort and support. It was a reflect action for someone you cared for and seemed to wake her from her thoughts. She took a deep breath and nodded, glancing back at him. She appeared to reassure the male. Reve didn’t like it. His system registered his interest was sparked, his body responded.

  Reve narrowed his gaze on the male. A growl crept up his chest and rolled through his throat.

  “Take your hand off the female.”

  Chapter Two

  Brenna stood transfixed to the spot. Robert ….. No…… not Robert. He’d been a life saver… this was a…. life taker. Her teeth set on edge, she had no doubt about that. There was something in the way he held himself. Fully in command. And there were subtle differences in his face. The eyes were harder, the lips….. fuller. The countenance …. Rigid, not welcoming or open as Robert had been. This one was guarded. The voice similar but not quite the same. And the heat that flared in his eyes ……that was new. Robert had never looked at her like that. Ever. She swallowed taking in his size. He was a lot more…… man, than Robert had ever been and that unsettled her. It was unfair to him. Robert had been a good man. This one was dangerous, and way more than she was used to. Brenna pulled herself together. He didn’t give orders here.

  “You don’t give order’s here. State your purpose I’m busy.”

  The male on the screen stared at her for a while longer. She found it …. unsettling. Like he was seeing through her. Brenna was sure she’d heard a growl over the comm link when he’d told Zhai to take his hand off her arm. She looked beyond him and saw no animal. Zhai hadn’t lingered, it wasn’t his way to hang on to anyone and still the man in front of her, hadn’t liked it. She wasn’t sure what to think about that. Maybe they didn’t like females or them being touched? Her gut clenched, and her pulse quickened. The words…. what a waste…. lingered in her mind.

  Reve knew it had been a poor start. “My apologises female,” he told her, bowing slightly. His eyes never leaving her face. He couldn’t seem to drag his gaze away from her. There was something about the female, his sensors told him everything he was feeling. None of it logical. It was far more than curiosity and that intrigued him. “You are correct and appear to be under attack. We are the Cyborg Empire. Created by Earth Corp, now free males. We look for others of our kind and seeded worlds left by them to die. We found your data on this world and came to find you. It would appear you survived. This is good. However, on arrival in orbit around this world, we found two ships whose people I expect are attacking you. We offer our assistance in removing this threat. We have dealt with them before many times in our part of space.”

  He spoke with a calmness he didn’t feel and watched, clenching his fists, as another blast rocked the room. He couldn’t save her from here….she had to accept him…. Their offer. Reve found himself holding his breath willing the walls and ceiling not to cave in around her. Dust and debris cascaded throughout the room falling around her shoulders. He watched as she looked around uncertain holding onto the desk in front of her, looking up at the lights shaking, then back to him on screen. Her face told a thousand emotions. “Why should we trust you and what will be the price? We do not know you. You could be just as bad as they are.”

  He showed no emotion on his face. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking. “Those are valid concerns.” He told her. “We will upload our records for you to look at. We do not lie.” He turned to look at someone off screen and gave a nod. It seemed an exaggerated move for her benefit. Which seemed odd. She guessed he’d signalled his communications officer. Information started to flow over their screens, over-riding their own protocols. They hadn’t asked for access codes. Brenna and Zhai looked at each other surprised to see it. Paul looked excited. They had accessed their systems easily as if those protections weren’t even there. That told her everything. They could access systems, and nothing would be hidden from them.

  “Isolate that console, from our systems.” She told Paul thinking it probably wouldn’t do much good. The damage would already be done if that was their intent, but it gave a sense of control, she really didn’t think they had. Brenna tried to control her nerves. She didn’t like having an unknown element taking things out of her hands. She was used to being in charge. In her office, in this room, in her theatre. Things were complicated enough already, they didn’t need this. It took them a while to gather all the data. While the cannon continued to hit them. She turned to Zhai, wishing it to hurry up. It looked real to her. He nodded. Clearly it did to him too.

  “It’s real,” Paul told her. “There are Earth Corp tags all over the intel and the later stuff, has tags I’ve never seen before. Its corroborated with at least three other Earth Corp partners and something called Intergalactic Law.” He turned excitedly to her. Like he’d found something new and sparkly.

  Brenna refrained from shaking her head at his jubilation. They weren’t out of this yet. She turned back to the man on screen. “You do not lie?” He gave her a sharp nod. “Then on your honour, you will swear that no one under your command will harm a living being in this community.” He didn’t hesitate to give her another nod. “I want the words Captain. I want them recorded.”

  He studied her for a moment longer. “I so swear.”

  She believed him. “Your name and designation and then we have a pesky problem outside. We’d appreciate your assistance in removing them.”

  The man smiled. Bren wasn’t sure it was at all friendly. “My name is Reve, I am Captain and Counselman to the Cyborg Empire. This is my ship Retribution. I look forward to meeting you. Your name female?”

  That almost sounded like a demand. He rubbed her all the wrong way. Brenna’s heckles rose. She didn’t like being in he’s attention. Didn’t want it. It felt too personal. He unnerved her. “Mrs Brenna Colman,” slipped passed her lips before she’d even thought about it. An instinctive reply that suddenly embarrassed her. Like she was trying to impress him or put him off his stride. It made no sense to do that or think it. Brenna frowned. Everyone around her knew she no longer used her married name. Not since Robert was gone. What was she doing? It made no sense, but it just came out…. Shit.

  The man took a step forward, as if trying to be nearer to her. He continued to stare at her in that uncanny way. Bren swallowed. It felt like she’d been caught out in a lie. “It is our pleasure to assist you. We will be in touch.” The screen went blank.

  Fuck, she felt wired. She turned to Zhai. “What do you think?”

  He shrugged his shoulder. “The enemy of my enemy…..”

  “Ermm,” Bren murmured nodding. She wasn’t so sure …. In any event, if he was here, she had no choice but to let Roberts family know that he had a clone or whatever that guy was. People would talk. She didn’t want Sonja hearing it from someone third hand and that conversation wasn’t going to be easy. Another blast hit the room. Fuck! His family had closed in around her after he’d died. Tried to help her but she’d pushed them away, it was too painful to keep seeing them.

  Now, she’d have to tell them this. How the hell do you explain it? How do you say it isn’t their son or nephew or cousin? They would see Robert in this Captain, everyone would. Brenna turned to Zhai and gave him a nod, then walked back into medical. They had injured, and she was needed. Picking up her datapad she sent a message to Sonja, telling her they needed to talk. Brenna tapped the pad with her thumb. She’d be surprised to hear from her. She’d been keeping her distance. Brenna hoped it didn’t bring her pain.

  She wasn’t sure she was ready for this or if she’d ever really would be. They had kept telling her time was a great healer, but it hadn’t helped her any. Part of her couldn’t get passe
d the feeling that Robert wasn’t truly gone. It had made no sense to her at all, she knew that. Day after day she’d been faced with the reality and it still persisted in the back of her mind. She’d put it down to the grieving process, but it had seemed more than that and she hadn’t been in a place to be really able to think about it. It had been bad enough to stop her sleeping, getting in the way of her moving on. Lingering, in the back of her mind all this time. Right up to now. Brenna rubbed her eyes suddenly feeling too tired for this shit. She needed to clean up one mess at a time.

  ***

  Engaging both ships. The comm broke into his thoughts on the female. He sat back in his chair and watched the action unfold as his off-worlders, moved to engage the ships around this planet. He’d no doubt his men would be victorious. Anything less, wasn’t conceivable. The odds, as always, were in their favour and the bounty, would be most welcome.

  The two off-worlders with his own, maneuverer through the atmosphere of the planet heading for their destination. His optics displayed all the systems around him. He pulled his own stats forward through the other information being displayed and studied the output. Heart rate elevated. Heightened emotions. He was irritated by what the female had told him. He’d been angry when the male had touched her. He wondered if he was her husband. The thought rocketed his emotions. His sensors clearly displaying that he didn’t like that thought very much. No, the data told him. That didn’t fit. His body language held no physical connection to the female, he seemed more of a ….subordinate. Reve replayed her reactions. She’d called out a male’s name shortly after seeing him …… Robert. Then looked shocked, saddened, dismayed even.