Their own craft had been dismantled to support the new colony. That’s how it was made. The shell became homes and stores, the equipment used to start the building, the computer systems to aid with data storage and communications. The mining rigs were used to initially create underground caverns in the solid mass to protect them from the elements until they knew what they were dealing with and could start to build. It was one of their roles, or had been, to collect materials and send them back to Earth Corp. Only that never really got off the ground. They stopped coming.

  No one knew why and without the ability to contact them, that’s how it stayed. There was talk of making a ship and going back but it was just too far, they didn’t have the skills and would take decades. They didn’t have the infrastructure to even consider it and how would they fly it anyway, no one any longer knew how. Fuel wasn’t an issue. The mining ore had been rich in fuels, the manufacturing and technology was.

  Then from time to time, a vessel would crash land or some managed to get a message down to them and they gave the pathway through the asteroids. A few came for the minerals, others just to trade but they were few and far between. Some said the risks were too high and didn’t come back. She could believe it looking at the damage on this ship. Some took her tech with them to trade on, others she traded for herself. People didn’t starve on her world and she helped put more food on their tables. And that was all that mattered, until now.

  Noticing an open hatch high above to the right, Angel made her way over to it. The feel of the metal rough under her hands. It had to be a good 8ft above her. Luckily a rope hung from it. Angel sneered and guessed that was how Bertl had got into it. Securing her boat to the bottom of the rope, she started to climb up. Reaching the opening she grabbed the edge with one hand and levered herself up, swinging her foot up to catch the lip to help her. Suddenly wishing she weighed a lot less as she struggled to make it.

  A hand came out of nowhere and grasped hers, lifting her cleanly up and putting her back on solid ground. Angel was too shocked to speak. Six huge men stood in front of her.

  She gave a nervous smile and hoped this wasn’t the end, then pushed that aside. She’d not heard a bad thing about these people. She stepped forward and held out her hand in the old traditional greeting.

  She held her nerves in and went for broke. “Permission to come aboard. Hello I’m Angel. Did you crash here? Do you need assistance?”

  One stepped slowly forward towards her, like he knew he was so much bigger and could scare her. He took her hand slowly. He moved silently, and she recalled she’d not heard them move when she’d climbed up. She guessed it was a thing for them. He held her hand gently like he was scared to hurt her. Angel looked at the hand that was so much bigger than hers, then looked at him.

  “D838, I command here.” He told her.

  He dropped her hand and stepped back. Angel wondered if that was his name. That wasn’t a name.

  Angel looked around, but she couldn’t see much in the darkness and couldn’t see Bertl either. “You know it’s not safe for you guys to stay out here. This could all go under water very quickly.”

  He nodded. “We have stabilised the ship. It will not sink any further.”

  Angel nodded. “Ok that’s good to know. How long have you been out here?”

  “94 Planetary days.”

  “What?” Angel shook her head in disbelief, “you’ve been here on your own for that long? Why haven’t you come into the community, we could help you on dry land. If you have injured or need supplies, we can help.”

  One of the men had a glazed expression in his eyes. Angel ignored it and focused again on the leader.

  “There is dry land here?” he asked.

  Angel realised he clearly didn’t know. Now Angel was concerned, what had Bertl told them?

  “I know Bertl has been here, that’s why I came to find him. I do tech, repairs, rebuilds, make new stuff. He brought me some tech a while back and I thought it was a one off, then he came back again and again,” she paused as another one came towards her with a bottle and handed it to her.

  “You are dehydrated, it is clean water,” he told her. Angel looked up surprised at the guy, the bottle and the leader.

  “How do you know that?”

  “We can read your systems, we are programmed to do that. Drink.”

  Angel nodded warily and lifted the bottle to her lips and took a little, it was some of the best water she’d ever had and drank deeply. If it killed her, that was ok with her, it tasted great.

  After several swallows she wiped her mouth. “Thank you,” he gave her a slight nod and the delivery guy was gone. So silent. “Ok, so I was amazed at the tech but also worried, some of it, I was sure had blood on it and I was worried about what he was up to. I don’t want to get dragged into anything and was sure, someone would come looking for it. So, I followed his trail out here and, here you are. I’m guessing, he didn’t tell you much?”

  “No.” The leader told her. “The ship was already damaged in space. Hardly any crew left, they tried to make it through the asteroid field and nearly failed completely. It was that or die in Space, oxygen was low, venting into the atmosphere. The pilot didn’t make it, but he managed to release us from stasis and close off all unnecessary systems to preserve enough for us. We woke to this with a record of what happened.”

  “Shit. That’s terrible. I’m sorry, the asteroid field is deadly unless you know how to get through it. It’s not our design it just seemed to happen over time. People crashing here happens often over the years and we all try to help where we can. It keeps us safe in some ways but causes us problems in others. Do you need assistance? Can I get you anything?”

  “Bertl said it was safer for us to stay here.”

  Angel huffed. “I bet he did. What did he take?”

  “Some of the ships systems that were inactive.” He told her.

  “Why would you give that up?”

  “He told us the work we had done was not enough payment for what we needed. We have injured, they are being repaired but the ship needs special materials. He said he could get them.”

  “And you believed what he told you? Couldn’t you read he was lying?”

  The leader shook his head. “There was enough truth to it to read as real.”

  Angel frowned that was a weird way to put it. Then she remembered what he’d said about his injured. “Repaired?” she asked with some confusion.

  The leader gave her a nod. “Yes. We are Cyborg.”

  Chapter Three

  Burn looked at the data as it streamed across his optic. This was a seeded world. Another of Earth Corps. They hadn’t known about this one, which meant there were probably more out there. “Send the information to the Admiral.”

  “Affirmative.”

  They’d only been able to access any information by sending out a communications buoy. It boosted what was on the ground, so they could access what computer systems were on line down there. It allowed them to read any stored information on whatever device they were using once they’d cracked the access code. Luckily for them, they had all the old Earth Corp codes. The buoy would also be able to boost any communications with them, if anyone was listening that is. The data continued to stream, uploading the intel to his data banks. The asteroid field had kept them isolated, but they had survived. No re-supplying from Earth Corp in decades and no way to communicate with them either. Logic told him, with so little technology, it was unlikely they were a threat to the Empire.

  They did have a leadership of sorts. An Overlord system. Created after a period of destruction. It was clear they made the rules here and governed the people fairly. There appeared to be no evidence of foul play or dictatorship rule, no despots on this one. Just a system to keep people alive and not allow chaos to rule.

  There was something about it he liked. The Planet was mainly water with some areas of solid ground where mining was carried out, but it was precarious work. If not done correctly, the tunnels flooded. It was illogical work and yet, they still did it. They didn’t have the technology for ground penetration surveys, so this was old school stuff. Dangerous stuff.

  This is what they traded to the ore vessel that had stood in their way. It was high quality ore by all accounts, but they were paid a substandard rate. It didn’t reflect the work or the danger. That was the problem with limited buyers, the buyer held all the cards. Maybe the Empire could do something about that? It was an ore they were interested in. Burn mulled these thoughts over as he continued to read the information being uploaded to his system. The water provided a lot of food. Rice, fish, fruits, fertiliser, but it also offered considerable dangers in its depths. The wild life could be challenging. The hard land offered farming and less danger but that was the minority.

  Burn thought of the all hot worlds he’d been on. How he’d been scared by them. The water appealed. Not to say this world was cold. No, it was humid in places that would be difficult for humans. Cyborgs could regulate their body temperatures, use their own cooling systems. Even when their skin is burning, they could turn off their pain receptors and cool their systems to still be able to fight.

  They would extinguish the fire when they could and the nano’s if not too damaged, could fix it. Trouble was, sometimes the damage was too far gone and the nano’s exhausted themselves trying. They did triage, the most basic lifesaving work. Work that would keep them functioning.

  More information flashed across his optic. This world used trade and credits on the ground. A mixture of both. Food was allocated to each home and they could top it up if they wanted to. It was basic, but it seemed a workable system. People found something they were good at and it put more food on the table.

  He searched for information on this ‘Zhitech’ he was looking for. “Contact the ground, find the leader of the Overlord and request permission to land. Full scan of the planet. I want maps of above and below ground. Find somewhere we won’t sink.”

  Through the data on his optic he saw Jace turn to him from his position on the Bridge and give a nod. “Affirmative.”

  ***

  Angel looked from one to the other. “Cyborg,” she repeated. He gave her a nod. “94 Days?” he gave her another nod. “Your people are being ‘repaired’?” she questioned. He stared at her.

  “Is the female broken?” another asked.

  Angel frowned then blinked. Was she broken? Bloody good question! Shaking her head she looked a lead guy again. “No I’m not broken, just needed a minute to process all that.” She half pointed at all of them. “You’re a bit of a surprise.” They didn’t say anything else, then she remembered that Bertl had told them to stay put. But he’d used them to do work in the area. “So, if Bertl said to stay put, how come you guys did all that work on the floating colonies?”

  D838 answered. “He told us we help him, he’ll help us.”

  Angel nodded. “And what help has he given you?”

  “He is yet to fulfil that part.” D838 told her. Angel pursed her lips. That didn’t come as a surprise to her.

  “How close are you to getting this ship off the surface?” She saw him glaze over.

  His eyes cleared. “I have accessed the latest update. It will take a very long time. Our communications array is damaged, we are working on it but are having to create the components.”

  Angels eyes lit up. “I might be able to help with that. I make tech. Would you not prefer to come into the main community? We can find you housing, help with doctoring, food.”

  “We cannot leave the ship. The technology is advanced for this world. In the wrong hands it could be dangerous. We need to defend it if needed. We have plenty of supplies and our med bay is working although limited on Cyborgs, it was made for humans. Are you a Designer on this world?” he asked her.

  “People design many things on this world. I do a lot of that myself, yes.” She told him honestly.

  “A Cyborg Designer,” he clarified. Angel hadn’t ever heard of one of those.

  She shook her head. “I’m sorry I’ve never heard of that here or anywhere else. I don’t even know what one is.”

  “They are our creators.” He told her blankly.

  Angel blinked. Had she heard right? Someone had played God….

  And before she knew it the words were out of her mouth. “Fuckers,” she whispered. There were several chuckles around her. It was a reminder she wasn’t alone. “Can I help do any repairs?” she asked.

  “We need to access off world communications. Bertl said this world did not have that capability.”

  Angel chewed her lip. “He’s right we don’t but what we do have is the old communications hub that came with us on our ship, generations ago. I know cos I’ve fixed it more times than I care to remember. We use it to relay and store information.”

  D838 stepped forward towards her. “We would wish to see that and access it’s systems.”

  Angel nodded, she bet they did. “Good, you can come with me.”

  ***

  “Permission to land had been granted. They appear to be rather excited to have been asked.” Zenn relayed.

  Burn smiled. They could offer this world many things. “Deploy communications satellite. Ready off-worlder, teams 4 and 12 to docking bay 2, full amour.”

  “Affirmative.”

  ***

  Angel decided they needed a bigger boat. Or she could only take two of them. Her little paddle wheel couldn’t carry them all, it just wasn’t big enough. Not only were they large, they were damn heavy too. As one got in the boat nearly tipped up. Angel looked up in surprise. He had to be the weight of three men. She’d told them to stop. Her boat could only carry 6 humans. That meant 2 of them max. The Cyborgs immediately understood the problem and set about making make shift paddles. The leader D838 and one other then joined her in the boat. Taking up the oars, they asked the direction. She set her paddle wheel to start keeping up a running commentary avoiding the marshes and they headed for the first colony.

  “What happens if Bertl comes back while you are gone?” she asked.

  Both men carried on rowing. Then D838 answered. “He will not be allowed on board again. He is not honourable and has stolen tech from us.”

  Angel absently looked around as they passed the grasses and water-logged trees. “He might not listen,” she mumbled.

  “Then he will die.”

  ***

  The off-worlder touched down and a welcome committee appeared to be waiting for them. Burn left the flight deck and headed through to the storage and holding area, walking through his men gearing up, to the off ramp. “Cyborg’s ready for deployment?” he called out.

  ‘Hoorah’ came back in a co-ordinated response and Burn hit the ramp mechanism and it started to descend on yet another new world.

  Burn strode down the ramp followed by his men and headed for the welcome party. He stopped some distance from them as his men fanned out around him and the ship. A male stepped forward and held out his hand in the Old Earth way. Burn stepped forward to meet him and took the hand. “I am Edward Bannister, head of the Overlord here, these men are my seconds. Welcome, welcome. It has been so long since a ship other than the ore explorers and traders have visited us. It is good to see you. We are open to trade and travel as long as it’s peaceful.”

  The male’s hand was steady and strong. His people carried weapons, but they were no match for his, they were old tech but it clearly worked on this world. Burn dropped his hand and gave a short bow. “I am Commander Burn and these are my men. We have a ship in orbit around this world and have come looking for information. Finding your world was a surprise to us, a welcome one. However, one of the ore craft is on its way here. They said you were legally their world. We checked with the Intergalactic Justices and no such bond exists. This is a free world, not recorded before us.”

  The Overlord leader looked perplexed and confused but covered it well, he indicated ahead of him. “If you’d care to follow me, we can discuss this in more detail.” Burn accepted the offer and walked along with him. As they moved towards a building, the leader spoke again. “I do not understand how we are not registered as a world under Earth Corp,” he spoke quietly. Burn could guess this was the story they’d been told, others would also think this is a fact and finding it wasn’t, would be a blow to those who held out hope of seeing them again.

  On entering the building he was led to a large room with a large table. Edward indicated the seats on one side of it. Burn and his officers took the seat, the others behind him. “Are you able to accept the truth?” Burn asked as he looked at each man on the opposite of the table to him.

  The leader, Edward nodded, his facial expression showing everything he feared. Burn leaned forward. “As I said, we found you by accident. We have extensive records going back to the early days of Earth Corps creation. We know about the seeded worlds and the journeys into the unknown quadrants of Space. Your people were brave pioneers, the technology was …… patchy to say the least. They took huge risks in coming here.

  On other worlds we have found, Earth Corp left the people to die in those worlds and we also know, they used many for their own ends. We are a product of that, the same as you are. We have read your records, you are a seeded world like many others and Earth Corp tried to hide much of that from its own people and the humans around them. Us and you, are some of their secrets. They held many of them, many lies. And people got lost in their greed. This world was never registered as a colony by Earth Corp. It was never mapped. All the information on creating and supplying it, are gone. As far as anyone in the outside world knows, this does not exist. I’m sorry. No one is coming.”

 

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