Healed by the Cyborg (Cyborg Protectors Book 4)

  Healed By The Cyborg

  Alyse Anders

  Alyse Anders

  Healed by the Cyborg

  Copyright 2020 Alyse Anders

  ISBN: 978-1-7770382-2-9

  All Rights Are Reserved.

  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this story are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  First edition: April 2020

  Cover Art by Amanda @ Razzle Dazzle Designs

  Contents

  The War

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  The War

  The Sholle came without warning.

  Their planet long ago stripped of resources, they search the universe for resource-rich worlds to strip bare, leaving a wake of destruction behind them. Their ships attacked in waves – first small, then ever increasing, until their victims are worn down, unable to resist the inevitable.

  Zarlan was the next planet in line, marked for attack.

  The Grus sent an army forward to protect their people, evacuating their civilians up to Grus Prime, the space station that orbited Zarlan. The battle was hard-fought, but despite their will to win, the odds were stacked against them.

  Until a lone scientist discovered a new weapon, their last hope to save their world.

  A cybernetic matrix was implanted into the brain of the dead Grus soldiers – The Fallen – bringing them back to life. Their bodies were cybernetically enhanced, their emotions stripped, leaving them as the perfect killing machines.

  The Sholle quickly became the hunted.

  The Fallen destroyed the remnants of the Sholle, capturing who they could, killing those who wouldn’t surrender, and driving the rest from their solar system. The Grus were the first race to lead such a defeat over the Sholle, their survival legendary. Joy reigned across Zarlan and Grus Prime, even as their world was left damaged. The deeper fracture came between the now split people – Grus and Fallen.

  The Grus high council refused to let these walking weapons reintegrate back with the Grus, terrified of their abilities and enhancements. They were instead given Zarlan to live upon while the Grus would remain orbiting on Grus Prime. Regions were divided, leaders appointed, and the new state of the world was created.

  And there they stayed; a people divided for fifty years. The Grus and the Fallen. The living and the re-born.

  That was until a ship appeared far away in the night sky…

  Chapter One

  Hallam stood in the middle of the old complex that had once served as a medical facility for the Grus people, his assessing gaze traveling over his patients who’d been brought to him for help. While the Grus no longer lived on the surface of Zarlan, the planet was still populated with a scattering of cyborgs, bounty hunters, and outcasts from other sectors. The prison wasn’t far from here, and occasionally he’d be brought a patient to care for. The fights below the surface in the prison facility were brutal and more often than he cared to admit, by the time they were transported to the facility there was little he could do to save them.

  Before his rebirth as a cyborg, that fact would have upset him.

  Currently, he had three patients resting comfortably in beds. One was a cyborg who’d become trapped by a rockslide during the last storm. His biological leg was pinned and the subsequent damage required the limb to be amputated and replaced with cybernetics. The second was a female bounty hunter who’d captured her quarry hiding on a small settlement away from the city, only to get surprised when her target’s gang arrived to free him. She’d gotten caught in the ensuing firefight, sustaining injuries to her chest. Her recovery had been initially questionable, but Hallam was able to use a technique he’d pioneered after the war to help save her life.

  The last patient – a Grus technician who’d come down to Cimacha, Zarlan’s capital city – had gotten into a fight with a cyborg. While the cyborg hadn’t started the altercation, he was now held in the prison and threatened with decommissioning if this Grus died. Like everything that had happened to the Fallen – from their initial rebirth, to the rules that were forced upon them – this wasn’t something the cyborg had asked for, but he would be the one to suffer the consequences.

  Unfortunately, the wounds the Grus suffered were severe enough that there was little Hallam could do to save the man’s life. His only regret was that it would also cost the life of the cyborg as well. Walking over to where the man lay, he checked the readings on the display.

  “Computer, run a scan on patient three. Compare against previous scans and predict patient outcome.”

  The computer’s pause was far shorter than he would have liked. “Scan complete. Patient’s life signs are fading. Life termination imminent. Projected death, one hour.”

  When that occurred, Hallam would notify the prison and the cyborg in custody would be decommissioned. No trial, no justice, only swift punishment. Another one of his duties he hated but necessary to keep the peace between their people. If the Grus thought for a moment that the Fallen couldn’t be controlled, then the potential that they would turn on the race who created them was too much for the Grus high council. Hallam had no idea what they’d do if they were placed into that position to chose between the safety of the Grus people and the lives of the cyborgs on the planet. He didn’t want to ever be put in the position to find out.

  Pressing a few buttons on the console, he gave the Grus one final scan. “Computer, notify me before death occurs.”

  “Affirmative.”

  With his rounds completed, Hallam made his way to the small office he’d commandeered as his own when he’d taken up the role of lead doctor after the war with the Sholle was won. Before his rebirth, he’d been little more than a medical technician, but after Hallam had taken charge of the medical needs of the Fallen. Initially, he’d worked with Commander Aidric to help the dead be implanted with the cybernetic matrix that initiated their rebirths. But as the war continued, and the consequences of what they’d done registered with him, he stopped.

  Aidric hadn’t.

  Taking his seat, Hallam opened his matrix link with the computer network, letting the blast of information wash through him. There’d been some action up on Grus Prime, but the details were thin at best. No doubt he’d be informed of what was happening the moment someone got hurt and they needed him to bail them out. That was the way of things when you were a doctor for cyborgs.

  He broke the link, and immediately reached up to scratch the back of his head. The itch was deep, as though it was originating somewhere in his brain, rather than on his scalp. Thankfully, it faded away after a few moments, leaving him able to concentrate on his report. With his patient’s life hanging by a nanometer, there was little point in putting off writing the words he’d inevitably need to send. Connecting to the system once more, he set about mentally constructing the report. He was nearly complete, when the itching in the back of his brain started once more.

  Then the facilities communicator sounded. Ignoring the itch, he opened the feed. “Hallam here.”


  Rykal, the leader of the Fallen, appeared on the screen. “Doctor, how full is your facility?”

  “Three patients, soon to be two.”

  Rykal frowned. “I’m sorry to hear that. Please pass on my thoughts to the family.”

  That was odd. In all the years that Hallam had informed Rykal of a death, not once had he shown any trace of concern or sympathy for any of the patients here. “His foolish actions will also cost the life of cyborg. The moment the Grus dies, he will be decommissioned.”

  Hallam should have a handle on the anger that simmered beneath the surface by now, but each time a cyborg’s life was impacted by the actions of a Grus, no matter who they were, it ate away at him.

  Rykal nodded, his lips pursed and the muscle in his jaw jumping. “Send me the cyborg’s designation. I’ll see if there’s something I can do.”

  He knew it was a nearly pointless action, but Hallam appreciated the attempt. “Done. What can I do for you?”

  Rykal hesitated, his gaze slipping to someone off screen for a moment. “We have a number of patients of alien physiology who will require assistance. They’re currently in stasis on a ship, but we need to move them to a more permanent location until we can process them.”

  “You’re unable to wake them?” Hallam reached up and scratched his head once more. “Have they been processed through quarantine protocols?”

  “Partially.” Rykal reached up and placed the call on hold for a moment, temporarily blocking communication. When he came back, he stared at Hallam with something akin to determination. “I’m coming to you to discuss the details.”

  Hallam cocked an eyebrow. “This is a secure channel.”

  “You’ll understand once I give you the details. We’ll be there within the hour.”

  The screen went black, leaving him with more questions and unease than he’d had moments before. The itching continued, but he was able to ignore it the longer it went on. If it continued after Rykal left, he’d connect his matrix to the computer and run a diagnostic to see if there was a problem he’d missed with his internal scans.

  Hallam was in the process of calibrating the new cybernetic leg on his patient when the doors to the medical facility opened and Rykal strode in, a small female trailing behind him. Instinctively, he ran a scan of her physiology – heat signature, oxygen co2 exchange rate, pheromones – and was mildly surprised at the results. “She’s not Grus.”

  Rykal reached his hand and taking the woman’s as they got close. “Hallam, it’s been too long since I’ve visited you in person.”

  “There’s been little need.” While he made his base of operations the medical facility, Hallam had taken charge of all major medical decisions when it came to the Fallen as a people. “My reports have been adequate for our needs.”

  “They have. But things have changed for some of our people that will impact those needs.” Rykal encouraged the woman to step closer. “Hallam, this is Lena. She’s a human from a planet called Earth. Her ship and its passengers have been traveling at faster than light speed for fifty years to arrive here.”

  Hallam might not have the emotional connection to others that he’d had before his rebirth, but even he could see that there was something between these two that went far beyond friendship. “How long have you been here?”

  “Not long.” Her hair was a shade of red that Hallam had never seen before, and her skin was pale in contrast to Rykal’s. “My passengers have all survived the trip. Currently, we only have three of us who’ve been woken from stasis.”

  Hallam couldn’t look away from their joined hands or help but notice the way Rykal’s heart rate increased whenever she’d rub her thumb across the top of his. “There’s something different about you, Rykal. The readings I’m getting off you are not the same as the last time we met.”

  “That’s because there’s been a change to my code. Something that will impact twenty-eight of us in total.” Rykal dropped her hand and stepped closer, so Hallam had no choice but to look him in the eyes. “If Aidric’s assumption is correct, it will impact you as well.”

  Hallam was one of the first cyborgs to be reborn during the war. As a medical technician, the thought of being able to prolong life after death had been fascinating to him. The reality of what that entailed had proven to be far less appealing. “Why only twenty-eight?”

  “When Aidric created the first wave of cyborgs, he hadn’t realized that there was a problem with the code. Have you ever wondered why that initial group of reborn have all gone on to become leaders of a sort in our community, and none of the others have?”

  It wasn’t something Hallam had considered before now, but Rykal was correct. “What does that have to do with the humans?”

  Lena stepped beside Rykal once again. “The passengers on my ship? We’re all women. Back on my planet, we were all drawn to this sector of space. When I put a call out that I was bringing a ship here, a one-way journey to see what was out here, they all came. Twenty-eight of us in total.”

  “That doesn’t make sense. How would your people even be aware of ours at such a distance? The number is little more than a coincidence.” That had to be it; the idea that two alien races were somehow aware of one another across the vastness of space was beyond illogical.

  Hallam would have continued to believe so, if Rykal hadn’t cocked his head to the side and narrowed his gaze. “When the did itching in the back of your head start?”

  It was impossible for Rykal to have known about that. Hallam lowered his chin and stared hard at Rykal. “Over an hour ago. How did you know?”

  “It’s how it started with the others, myself included. It’s like a sudden awareness that there’s a wound that’s starting to heal. One that you hadn’t noticed previously but now that you’re aware, you can’t seem to pull your attention away from it.”

  The longer Rykal spoke, the greater the itching in Hallam’s mind became. “What’s the cause and what do I need to do to fix this?”

  “The cause is a woman on my ship, the Kraken. She’s not aware of what’s happening herself, nor will she be able to understand you at first.” Lena lowered her chin and narrowed her gaze on him. “Every person on board is my responsibility. I need to ensure that they’re all protected and can be woken from stasis safely.”

  Rykal nodded. “Which brings us to the crux of our problem. The stasis pods are on the ship, which is currently in the valley to the north west of the city. They’re there because the collection of the stasis tubes is generating a low-grade signal that somehow reached the Sholle. They sent two scout ships to investigate.”

  The myriad of thoughts that had been racing in his mind, came to an immediate halt. “Are we in danger? Are the Grus?” Despite everything, his core programming to protect was firmly intact.

  “We pulled Eagan in and came up with a plan. The scout ships were destroyed, and the Kraken has been masked for the time being, but there’s no way we can leave them there. We need to find a place to move the stasis tubes so we can wake the women one at a time.”

  “I assume there’s a reason we’re not waking them all at once?” It would have been the logical course of action.

  Rykal and Lena shared a look, before Rykal cleared his throat. “Our reactions to our mates have been unpredictable at best. I kidnapped Lena, and Darrick nearly self-decommissioned. Eagan was able to keep control better, but it helped that we were able to prepare him for what was to come.”

  “Mates? We’re no longer capable.” Hallam fought the urge to scratch at his head again.

  “That’s what we all believed. But Aidric has confirmed the connections between us and the human women. It’s not just any of them that causes this reaction. A specific female is intended for a specific cyborg. That connection is undeniable.”

  The thought of having someone of his own, a mate wasn’t something Hallam had ever wanted, even before his rebirth. He couldn’t imagine losing control of his actions over a woman who he’d never met. He tried to say
as much, but a completely different question came out of him. “You want me to find a location where you can mask the stasis tube’s signals, while you wake the women one at a time?”

  “Yes. It will need to be far away from the city so that we don’t inadvertently trigger the awakening of one of the twenty-eight of us before they’re informed. Do you have someplace that might work?”

  Several possibilities flashed to mind. “The basement of this facility would be the best. We can erect a shield that would prevent any signals from being detected, and the medical facilities are here in case any of the women require care. That way, we can also ensure that all quarantine procedures are followed.”

  “You understand that you’ll be impacted as well. You were the third of us to be reborn.” Rykal reached out and squeezed Hallam’s shoulder. “You’ll need to find your mate before you can do this.”

  Panic raced through him so strongly, it felt as though he’d been punched. That was something he hadn’t experienced since his last few moments before the Sholle blasters destroyed the medical facility he’d been working at, trying to save the life of another Grus. “There’s no need. I’ll do my duty without waking anyone.”

  Rykal reached out to him through the cyborg neural network. My friend, that’s something you might not be able to do. The pull becomes overwhelming the closer they are.

  Hallam ignored him, and instead held out a data pad to Lena. “Bring the ship here and we’ll work to move the stasis tubes into the facility.”

  Hallam? You need to understand –

  “If you’ll excuse me, I have patients I need to prepare for.” Without another word, he turned his back on them and went to prepare the long dormant facility, ignoring the increased itching in his mind.