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It only took a few minutes at his maximum speed to reach his home. Rin stirred and moaned once or twice, but never regained consciousness. Her silence spurred him on as he realized how much he enjoyed listening to her talk about the hawks, the project, and just about anything else she was passionate about. After a lifetime of solitude, he’d found someone he enjoyed spending time with. Now, the universe wanted to take her away from him. The universe could fraxx right off. Rin belonged with him. He would not let her go.
He held on to that thought as he opened an internal comm channel he’d never used before—the one that linked him to every cyborg in the colony.
“This is Axe. I need help.” With that confession out of the way, he went on to explain the situation: Rin’s injury, their current location, his concerns about Lieutenant Douglas, and why he didn’t want the officer informed about what had happened until Rin was stable.
He had no idea who would answer his call for help. To many of the cyborgs, he was little more than a name.
The response stunned him. Acknowledgments flooded in from everyone. Every single cyborg on the planet offered to assist. It almost overwhelmed him.
Then a single message came through as a priority. It was Edge.
“I’m coordinating the response. River will bring the human doctor to you. Wreckage and Ruin are closest to you, so I’ve dispatched them to check the scene of the attack and secure it against contamination by the human soldiers,” he informed Axe.
“Thank you. Oh, and tell those two to bring me back my axe. It’s still with the body of the ghost cat.”
“Done. What else do you need,” Edge said.
“A fresh vial of medi-bots. I don’t think she’ll survive without them.”
Edge fell silent so long Axe wondered if his request would be denied. If Edge refused, he’d try injecting Rin with some of his blood. It might work… but his nanotech was coded to his DNA. The newer medi-bots could be given to anyone.
“You know that’s not how things work,” Edge said. “Humans need to be vetted before being accepted as citizens, and non-citizens are never offered the nanotech.”
“You asked me what I need. I need her. Do you understand?”
“I think so.” Another pause. “I’ll bring it over myself. There’s going to be hell to pay when the military learns what we’ve done. You ready for that?”
Despite everything, Axe grinned to himself. “Are you asking me if I’m ready for a fight? I think we both know the answer to that.”
Edge chuckled. “Yeah. We do. Keep her alive until we get there.”
“I will.”
He charged the last stretch to his home and almost kicked the door off its hinges as he barreled inside with Rin still in his arms.
“Help is on the way, sunshine. Oh, and welcome to my home. You’re the first person to ever visit.”
Until today, he’d never allowed anyone inside, not even the handful of friends who knew where he lived. Now, everyone knew where to find him, and in a few minutes, his quiet home would be filled with the chaos and noise that always came with a crowd.
The thought didn’t bother him as much as he expected.
Rin woke to the unfamiliar sounds of people talking in hushed tones somewhere nearby. Who the hell were they and why were they in her habi-pod? When she opened her eyes, she quickly developed a new set of questions. Where the hell was she, and why was she here?
“Hello?” her voice was little more than a husky rasp, but it was enough to get someone’s attention.
“You’re awake!” She recognized Axe’s voice right away. But why did he sound so relieved?
“Awake but confused,” she said as she struggled to open her eyes.
Then Hera was in her head, sending her a flood of emotions. Happiness, worry, and more relief. Why was everyone so happy she was awake?
Hera sent her several images that explained everything. The first one showed her fighting with a large predator. The next was of her lying on the forest floor, her leg shredded and blood everywhere. The last one was of Axe standing over the corpse of the animal that attacked her, his blood-splattered axe gripped in his hand.
“Thank you, Hera. I remember now,” she said aloud and then turned to look at Axe.
“You saved me.”
“The hawks saved you. They kept the ghost cat distracted long enough for me to reach you. I just finished the job.”
