Page 16 of True As Steel
“I will try to track where they’re headed with it,” Jarog continued. “But truth be told, judging by the number of people they have surrounding that pod, I think they captured a Cyborg.”
I slightly recoiled, although it made sense. A Cyborg would be worth a fortune, way more than what they would get for a regular rebel like me.
“Could it be your pod brother?” I asked, hope blossoming in my heart for him.
Jarog shook his head with a resigned expression. “No. Caylan was telling me he’d gotten onboard a vessel when our communication cut off. So, if this is indeed a Cyborg, he’s unknown to me.”
“Would you want to rescue him?” I asked.
He hesitated, reflecting on my question. “Do you mean rescue the captive generally speaking, or specifically rescue the Cyborg, if that’s what that person is?”
“Both,” I replied.
“If that person is just a random rebel stranger, I would only take that risk if there was a relatively safe way for me to rescue them. Otherwise, no, I wouldn’t,” Jarog said honestly. “If that person is a Cyborg, even one I don’t know, I would be a lot more inclined to take greater risks to rescue him.”
“Why?” I asked, frowning. “Cyborgs are just enhanced people. What makes your life more valuable than mine?”
“It isn’t,” Jarog said with a shrug. “But I have no hero complex either. There are lots of people currently enslaved or being abused in many of the mercs cities and compounds on this planet. Once you reach Satos, are you going to volunteer to go rescue those complete strangers? Of course not,” he accurately replied on my behalf. “As much as you wish they could be freed, there’s nothing in it for you to put your life on the line. It’s their own battle to fight.”
As much as I wanted to argue with him, he was right. Outside of my military missions where selfless sacrifice was expected, I wouldn’t randomly go out of my way to rescue someone I didn’t know, especially not if it meant possibly forfeiting my own life or freedom… unless I stood to gain from it somehow. If I’d been told one of the most charismatic leaders of the rebellion against Shui was trapped in that pod, I’d bend over backward to try and save him so that he could continue to help advance our cause. But some random other grunt in the movement? Not so much.
I didn’t like what that said about me and people in general.
“You’re right,” I reluctantly conceded. “However, I thought you said there was little trust between Cyborgs. Why would you consider risking your freedom for one?”
“There is suspicion right now between Cyborgs, but it doesn’t mean it can’t be mended. You have little trust in me as well, and yet you intend to stick your neck out on my behalf should Haelin show aggression towards me,” he countered.
“I have good reasons to be wary,” I mumbled, feeling put on the spot.
“No need to get defensive,” Jarog said with a smile. “You would be foolish not to keep your guard up. I’m not just a stranger to you. I was always a loyalist. And yet, we’re working together and getting to know each other. With time, there could be trust and friendship between us. If my suspicions about my pod brother are accurate, then I am all alone in this universe. Other Cyborgs will be the closest thing to a family for me to belong to. So yes, I have a personal incentive in rescuing that captured rebel, if it is a Cyborg. But I would also rather not have one of us join the ranks of the Ferein Cartel. On this planet, he could do a hell of a lot of damage, and the Ferein are ruthless.”
I felt myself soften as my heart constricted for him. I couldn’t imagine being all alone in the world. Even if the worst had happened to my brother, my uncle, and father, I had other relatives and friends I could turn to. Jarog literally had no one.
“You’re not alone,” I said softly, stunned by the words spilling out of my mouth. “If you are as honest as I want to believe you are, then we could indeed become friends. While we wouldn’t want the Fereins to get a Cyborg of their own, my rebel group would be more than happy to recruit one. As you may recall, my brother had been trying to sweet talk some of your peers into joining us.”
It was his face’s turn to soften. He smiled in a non-committal fashion then resumed eating. I didn’t know how to interpret that response. A part of me believed there’d been a glimmer of relief in his eyes, but that wretched man was so hard to read.
After finishing breakfast, I used the replicator to refill the cooling boxes with food for our lunch break later. In the meantime, Jarog was checking our speeders to make sure they were still in good working order for the last leg of our trip. We’d been pushing them hard. Lucky for us, they used power crystals as energy source instead of fuel, and multiple solar cells on various parts of the vehicles allowed them to store additional energy throughout the day.
As we mounted our speeders to head out, I felt an odd sense that a chapter was closing. The new one starting came with no small amount of uncertainty and anxiety. It shouldn’t. Haelin wouldn’t screw me over. So, why couldn’t I shake this sense of doom?
Thanks to Jarog’s perfect planning and his clever use of the snitch, we completed the rest of the journey without incident. It had almost been too easy. Was that merely the calm before the storm? My stomach fluttered in a rather unpleasant fashion as the silhouette of Satos finally rose on the horizon. We could have been there at least an hour earlier, but Jarog had slowed us down to allow the sun to begin to set before our arrival.
In the next few minutes, their surveillance systems would pick up our presence. Without a stealth shield—and even then—there was no way to sneak into town. By the time we reached the city gates, their security guards would have an incredibly detailed profile on both of us. Well, at least they would have one on me. While I kept my face as exposed as possible so that their facial recognition systems could easily identify me, Jarog did a phenomenal job at ‘inconspicuously’ keeping his head lowered and at an angle that would make it harder.
It made sense to the extent that we wanted them to focus on me, not him, so that they could quickly warn Haelin of my presence. I’d been here a couple of times before for a short stop. The last time dated back at least a couple of years. But the place had grown by leaps and bounds, not to mention their defenses and security systems. Satos had effectively become a fortified city with massive titanium walls that would be impossible to breach. Multiple towers and turrets lined the walls, providing both lethal air and ground defense. While the entrance to the city sat wide open, a series of reinforced doors and barbed gates could seal off its access in no time.
We significantly slowed down our speeders as we entered the busy city. Nobody tried to stop us. Nevertheless, I knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that we were being observed, many guards ready to intervene in a blink, even though I couldn’t see anyone tailing us. This time, Jarog yielded the lead to me. Despite the many changes Satos had undergone since my last visit here, I remembered well the way to Perdition—Haelin’s nightclub and casino where she handled most of her affairs.
Satos had come a long way from the dusty little start up city it had once been to the high-tech metropolis it had blossomed into. The clean, well-maintained streets, the sleek surface of the gleaming buildings, and the fancy lights adorning them screamed of opulence. And yet, the people traipsing about couldn’t have looked more common, some even rather rough around the edges.
As I’d hoped, most people didn’t pay us much attention, but a handful did a double take when their gazes landed on our faces and undoubtedly noticed the brand on our cheeks. I hated the sense of helplessness I felt right now. If all went well, Haelin could help us get rid of the mark. Thankfully, no one bothered us.
We pulled up in front of Perdition—which I barely recognized due to its spiffy new façade. As soon as we dismounted our speeders, a male and a female came to take our vehicles and go park them on our behalf. I didn’t like that one bit. Even Jarog didn’t seem too thrilled about it, but he also didn’t make a fuss. Frankly, I’d expected them to deprive us of a quick getaway method the minute we’d crossed the city gates. But disguising it as the standard valet service of the club was even smoother.
A pair of burly Narengis greeted us as we entered the premises. The bipedal species resembled satyrs with their goat legs and humanoid upper bodies. However, they had very little body hair, other than their long manes, crowned by a massive set of horns that varied greatly in shape and size, from goat-like to antler-style. Their angular faces and large eyes gave them a rather attractive otherworldly look. But these guys were also on the very muscular side. They stood directly in our path. Although not menacing per se, a single look from them sufficed for us to understand we were to unload our weapons.
That, too, had been expected.