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Pauliss saw a very dark glint in the man’s eyes and raised his hands:
«Fine. I’m not Hunter. So what?»
«So… leave now, before I change my mind and break your arms for trying to take advantage of my fiancée!»
Pauliss’ face turned pale. He swallowed hard and hurried to exit the apartment, leaving the angry man with the heavily injured woman.
Lindon jolted to Serena, quickly getting out a portable medical scanner he took just in case, knowing how badly the woman could be hurt and saying that she’s fine. This time, however, he knew that even she would admit she was nowhere near fine.
«Shit!» Lindon shoved the scanner into his pocket and picked Serena up onto his arms.
Running out with her, he knew that the best way to help her was back at the ship, but it was parked ways away. He did, however, know about a small medical shop nearby, which operated as an emergency hospital for the locals.
Entering it, he was greeted by one of the medical pods activating and quickly lay down Serena inside, worried for her well-being. The pod came to life, scanning her for the injuries, and showing the extent of her wounds on the screen.
«Severe injuries detected. Administering first aid and healing stimulants.» the pod reported. «Bed rest highly advised.»
Lindon watched as the medical appendages set Serena’s broken ribs into place and applied the tight corset bandage to keep them in place while she will be healing. One of the appendages freed her lungs from all the blood that was collecting inside, and another set of stim-shots were made, administering some painkillers and stimulators to help her get to her feet for the time being.
When the pod opened up again, Lindon saw Serena slowly opening her eyes, barely able to be conscious.
«Serena…» he leaned over her, squeezing her palm. «Do you hear me?»
«Hunter… He…» the woman grimaced, feeling all her body aching.
«We saw.» Lindon swallowed a lump. «Are you good enough to walk?»
«We have to… find him… something… is wrong.»
«Wolfin is on his tail. I’m more worried about you. We need to get you back to the ship.»
«But…»
Lindon cupped her cheek, making her look at him:
«We’ll find him. We’ll find out what happened to him. Trust me. But right now… I need you to get up. I’ll help you to the ship.»
«My things…»
«We’ll get them on our way. Alright?»
Serena tried to push herself up, but felt her body protesting, so Lindon helped her slip off the pod, grasping her by the waist and trying not to press her too hard. Together they slowly made their way back to her apartment, where Serena stayed by the door, seated on a chair that stood there, while Lindon collected everything she told him to.
When the man walked up to her, bag in his hand, she took the syringe he offered her and made herself a shot of one of her special painkiller mixtures.
«I’ve contacted Lyssa. She’ll be up on the top floor shortly to pick us up.» Lindon helped Serena throw her arm over his shoulder.
This time they took the elevator to the top floor, and from there – the stairs to the roof, where ships could land shortly to drop off or pick up people and cargo. When they ascended the stairs, Lyssa was already there, waiting for them with the cargo bay door open.
«Welcome back, Captain!» the AI greeted Serena when the two walked in. «I highly advise you to get to your quarters and lie down.»
Serena wanted to object, but her legs buckled under her, and Lindon was forced to pick her up onto his arms.
«Contact Wolfin.» Lindon growled, carrying the woman to her quarters. «Find his location.»
The ship swiftly ascended into the skies as Lindon carried Serena to her quarters.
Chapter 8. Hunter
It took Serena a couple of days to recover, and another two – for them to catch up to Hunter’s trail.
They didn’t find out how exactly he got to Daruta, but when they saw Zarad meeting up with the cyborg, they fell back to see if the two will lead them to Falana.
What they did manage to find was that Zarad was purchasing some materials and rare resources that were available only on Daruta. And since the planet was a known trading stop for many different ships from all over, no one noticed the Veluthian ship that was parked in the space port for a number of days.
However, even after the ship flew off, they still hadn’t seen Falana anywhere. Lindon, ordering Lyssa to be cloaked and unseen, followed the cyborg and Zarad, until the ship reached one of the seventeen moons of a space gas giant – Nahelas-Torm. Six of the seventeen moons were inhabited – there were various tiny settlements there that operated in collecting the rare gases from Nahelas-Torm for export.
Reconfiguring MSS Lyssandra to look like any other human ship, the crew docked in the small space port, which could barely be called a safe place – a couple of pirate ships were freely parked there as well.
Serena – even though feeling better and much stronger than she was before – was eager to see Hunter again and find out what happened to her man. In the past few days she barely spoke to anyone – and when she did, all she could ask was if they can finally get Hunter back.
Lindon didn’t like this obsession, even though understood her wish to know what happened to the Terran. To the Veluthian it all seemed too suspicious, too obvious that Hunter came to fight her in that cage. It seemed like Falana was forcing Serena into a trap.
Wolfin agreed with him on that and they both were worried that Serena would not be as clear headed as she should be when the time comes to meet Falana and her goons face to face. Both men also agreed that for the time being Hunter should be considered an enemy, because the man they knew would have never hurt Serena at all, and this augmented fighter nearly beat her to death, barely landing a few blows to the woman.
So when the Veluthians saw Falana and Zarad walking out of their ship – Lyssandra was parked only two spaces away from it with constant video feed aimed at their vessel – they headed out to follow the two. Since Hunter wasn’t with them, Wolfin forced Serena to stay on board with Laneth and Kayla watching over her, as they all will be searching for any sign of Hunter. Laneth was ordered to contact the Veluthians as soon as they catch glimpse of the cyborg and keep Serena inside the ship at all costs.
And though Laneth wasn’t sure she would be able to stop the woman from running off, she promised to do everything in her power to do so. Kayla, on the other hand, promised to let them know if anything happens.
Serena felt irritated and offended, remaining on the ship. She stayed silent all the while her eyes were glued to the screens watching Falana’s ship standing on the parking plot.
Laneth and Kayla didn’t bother the woman and entertained themselves by quiet chatter – Laneth was explaining something new to the girl. It was a good distraction to keep the child engaged in their life, as the girl was quite capable and smart for her age. She caught on quickly and Laneth was glad that Kayla was so interested in topics like the mechanisms the woman worked on a lot, or the programs she was creating. Apart from that Kayla was very interested in medicine, and Laneth hoped that someday in the future the girl would find herself learning a number of very useful skills that might come in handy in their line of work.
Unfortunately, the conversation they were having was so deep that Laneth didn’t notice Serena slipping out of the bridge.
«Laneth.» the ship’s AI called the woman. «I could not stop our Captain.»
The woman jumped from her seat and whipped around, immediately concerned for Serena, who was nowhere to be found.
«Where did she go?» she asked, panicked
«She’s outside!» Keyla screamed. «She went to Hunter!»
Laneth glanced at the screen and immediately jolted out of the bridge, seeing Serena approaching the cyborg and hoping that Kayla would contact Wolfin or Lindon to let them know. The mechanic cursed herself for not being able to make three shocker guns to knock the cyborg out – she was able to make only two and gave them to the Veluthians, as they needed them more than she did.
If they only knew…
As for Serena – she wasn’t really thinking. When she saw Hunter walking out of Falana’s ship, she slipped away, while Laneth was distracted by Kayla, and ran out to see if she could manage to at least speak to the man.
Running up, she jumped in front of him, and the cyborg stopped, coldly looking at the woman.
«Hunter!» Serena called out. «Please! Let me know there’s something of you left in this…»
A heavy blow landed to her jaw, throwing her down.
Through the ringing in her ears she heard him making a step forward and grabbed his leg. The cyborg froze, looked down and she saw him tilting his head a bit. The next flash of pain made her curl up on the floor, when he kicked her in the side.
She forced herself up and caught up with him again, but as soon as he saw her next to him, his foot landed a kick to her leg, making it snap. Serena gasped, falling down, and yet still caught his ankle.
«Hunter! Please! I know you’re…» she breathed out.
The cyborg leaned down and grabbed her neck, raising her up.
Serena reached out to touch his face, but felt her chest bursting with pain. Her mouth almost immediately filled with blood, and the woman realised her strength was failing.
«Hunter… I love you…» she whispered, shedding blood. «Please…»
The cyborg in front of her remained expression-less, until suddenly something hit him in the back and he bared his teeth, arching his back.
Serena felt a jolt of shock enveloping her body and her mind slipped away, throwing her into the safe embrace of darkness.
Perhaps, it was for the best that things happened like this. But Lindon and Wolfin, who rushed back to the ship at first news of Serena running off, weren’t happy to find their Captain in the condition she was in when they arrived in a nick of time.
Swiftly, they delivered both – the barely alive Serena and the cyborg they knocked out with one of the shocker guns Laneth supplied them with – on board Lyssandra. They were glad that things like this happened in this space port all the time and no one seemed to care for the scuffle that took place.
And while Laneth was working hard with Hunter, trying to find out what to do and if they could even get him back somehow, Serena was placed into the care of the medical bay. It took the mechanic a little while to find out that Hunter, though augmented, was, in fact, still partly human. The only problem was that there was some kind of a chip installed to make him either pliable for manipulation, or put under direct control of Falana herself. And since it was connected to his brain, the man was delivered to the medical bay as well to get this part extracted – with hopes of him becoming himself again.
Some time passed before Hunter opened his eyes, but the first thing that came to his mind was the memory of Serena in front of him – wide-eyed, pale and spilling blood from her mouth. He wasn’t sure if what he saw was a nightmare.
He tried to get up, but something held him down. When he looked at his body, he saw an alien, metal torso, glimmering under the lights, and the same, metal-covered arms and legs. His gaze slid further and he saw a medical pod, inside which lay a woman. The pale face, silver hair and multiple bandages on her body made him flinch.
«Serena!» he called out, his voice coarse and low.
The man tensed up, hearing the bindings screeching, and began twisting and turning, panicked at seeing Serena so close – unconscious and obviously hurt.
«Let me out!» the man growled, trying to break free.
The bindings on his arms and legs rumbled, giving way under his strong cybernetic body, and suddenly ripped, allowing the man to jump off the table. He jolted to the woman, pressing his palms against the lid of the medical pod, and tried to understand what happened.
«Serena!» he almost let himself punch the lid, but froze, when he heard someone aiming a gun at his back.
«Step away from her, you metal freak!» Lindon’s voice sounded.
Hunter slowly raised his hands and cautiously turned to his friend.
«Lindon… what the…» the man looked at the barrel, aiming at him. «Put that down… What happened to Serena?»
«You happened.» Lindon grimaced, hatred written all over his face. «You almost killed her.»
Hunter fell silent, shocked to hear these words, but then looked at Serena and tried hard to remember what exactly happened when he last saw her.
«I don’t…» the man shook his head. «What?»
«Oh, so you don’t remember? First you almost killed her in the fight club, then you almost killed her two days ago.» Lindon’s gun flinched to the side. «Step aside.»
«Lindon…»
«Don’t!» the Veluthian bared his teeth. «Just get away from her!»
Hunter saw Wolfin stepping up from behind Lindon:
«Wolfin…»
The Veluthian passed Lindon, holding a blade, and lowered his stance, obviously getting ready for a fight.
«Guys…» Hunter didn’t know what to do, seeing his friends being so hostile towards him.
«Shut up!» Lindon growled. «Step aside. Get on your knees, hands behind your head.»
Hunter understood that whatever he says – they will not listen. He slowly took a step to the side, kneeled and clasped his hands behind his head, feeling desperate and confused.
«If I may…» Lyssa’s voice sounded. «His control chip has been deactivated and removed. If my calculations are correct, he is back to his usual self.»
«What did I do?» Hunter raised his eyes to Serena.
«You have attacked Serena and caused her extreme injuries that were almost fatal. Though you did that under the influence of the controlling chip, I am afraid Wolfin and Lindon have decided you do not deserve their trust at the moment. I am sorry.» the AI replied.
Wolfin and Lindon saw Hunter’s eyes filling with tears.
«I didn’t… I didn’t mean to…» he exhaled shakily, understanding the dire situation. «I’m so sorry…»
«Sorry isn’t going to cut it, Hunter.» Wolfin gritted his teeth and glanced at Lindon. «I told you we should have locked him up.»
«Lock me up, if you think it’s necessary.» Hunter met Wolfin’s gaze. «I will not fight it. I just… just tell me she’s going to be alright.»
«Captain Serena is suspended until her wounds heal.» Lyssa reported. «Estimated time for full recovery is seven days.»
«Lyssa, provide us with cuffs strong enough to keep him from attacking.» Lindon ordered.
«Cuffs are unnecessary, as he is no longer under someone else’s control.»
«Cuffs! NOW!»
«Of course.»
A moment passed and one of the helper bots arrived with cuffs similar to those used on Serena back at Velutha, when she was taken into custody. Wolfin grabbed them and his blade waved to the side.
«Turn around. And don’t flinch, or I’ll cut your shiny metal arms off.» the Veluthian said.
Hunter slouched, slowly turning his back to Wolfin. He didn’t want to fight the men who loved Serena just as much as he did. He knew why they were so untrusting of him.
As soon as the cuffs clasped his wrists behind his back, Wolfin placed the blade at his throat.
«Up. Very slowly.» he ordered.
Hunter complied, feeling guilty for doing something so vile that his own friends turned from him. He couldn’t even fathom what Serena might say when she wakes up.
Before he was escorted out, he glanced at Serena’s body once again, feeling his heart aching.
Chapter 9. Scrap Metal
Serena awoke with a sharp inhale that made her arch her back from a phantom pain of her previous wound. She panicked, scrambling off the medical pod and falling to the floor, trying to catch her breath, while ascertaining where she was and was she even safe at all.
Her memory kicked in, showing her the emotionless face of someone she loved, watching her as his blade pierced her chest, aiming at her heart. A pained, desperate wail flew out of her throat, and she curled up on the floor, shedding tears in a realisation that Hunter was lost to her forever.
She didn’t hear someone running up to her. She didn’t feel the warm embrace that the man gifted her, trying to comfort her. All she could feel and realise was the immense pain and the desperation that buried her under the heavy sense of emptiness.
Serena didn’t feel the shot that she was administered, but, at least, it helped her begin to swim out of the chaos of emotions that reigned over, until her tears ran dry, and she felt the numbness slowly returning to her.
Even though she felt like she still needed to cry and scream – her body no longer answered her commands, not allowing her to push a single tear out. Only then she realised she wasn’t alone and someone was holding her close, embracing and caressing her hair in a desperate attempt to calm her down.
«Please, Serena…» she heard Lindon’s voice near her ear.
It took her some time to feel strength returning to her. She moved to free herself from his arms and slowly rose, finding herself standing on her knees. The empty, hollow sensation in her heart grasped her and she reached out to grasp the man’s shoulder – only to push herself up to her feet.
Once she stood, Lindon caught her upright when she swayed.
«Serena?» his voice trembled, seeing her almost as broken and distraught as when she first returned to the ship after Hunter was thought to be dead.
She tried to say something, but her throat let out only a pained gasp and the woman stepped towards the medicine processor, ruffling through the capsules with her trembling fingers in an attempt to find the right one. She saw Lindon fish out the sedative and push it into a syringe, giving her another shot.
Serena closed her eyes, feeling her body slowly stop trembling.
«Thank you…» she breathed out, turning to leave.
She didn’t even make a single step, when Lindon caught her in a tight embrace once again:
«Serena… I’m so sorry…» he whispered. «He’s… locked up.»
Even though she was numb from the sedatives, Serena felt her mind tensing up:
«What?» she pushed out of herself.
Lindon slowly leaned back, catching her pained, desperate gaze.
«We locked him up.» he repeated.
It took a couple of moments for Serena to understand what he was telling her:
«Take me… to him…» her voice sounded coarse.
«Serena, please…»
«Take me…»
Lindon saw in her eyes the strange glimpse of pain, mixed with a semblance of hope, or something very similar. He was afraid to let her see the cyborg, but he knew that she would have to see him for herself.
With a heavy sigh, Lindon nodded:
«Let’s get you in some clothes first, alright?» he tried to reach out to her.
The woman lowered her eyes to her body, seeing it barely covered by the bluish bandaging gel that helped her recover. She couldn’t make herself say anything, and simply nodded to the man, although her mind was swirling in hundreds of thoughts and questions that clashed together because of the state she found herself in.
When they got to her quarters, Serena was so distant and seemed so unresponsive that Lindon had to help her dress up. The man worried that when she sees Hunter she could do something out of her character. With what the cyborg had done to her, he wasn’t sure what to expect from the woman. All he could – was be there for her if she would need support of any kind.
Heading to where the containment cell was located, Lindon couldn’t help but think Serena looked like a zombie – she walked, but stumbled, her eyes looked to the floor, but seemed not to notice anything around.
Before stepping in, Lindon checked his gun to be set to the heaviest charge – just to be sure that if Hunter attacks, he would cause the cyborg a hefty amount of damage. He still had the shocker gun Laneth made, but wasn’t keen on using it after the bloody scene he came upon when they saved Serena last time.
If it weren’t for Wolfin, Lindon would have most probably destroyed Hunter that day.
As they walked in, the lights flared up from the dim lighting that was there before to the bright illumination.
Hunter jumped from the cot and approached the see-through door that allowed him to see his visitors. Seeing Serena made him smile – she was alive, seemed absolutely fine, though her face was still pale and somewhat shocked. He thought it might have been because she was still in shock knowing he was alive.
Serena looked up and saw him in the cell and immediately felt her emotions drowning her again. The sedatives helped her stay collected – somewhat – and she heard herself say:
«Lyssa, open the cell.»
Lindon immediately grabbed his gun out of the holster, frowning, but didn’t move, when the door slipped open, letting the cyborg out.
Hunter jolted out to embrace Serena, but as soon as he made three steps to her, he saw her jumping back to the wall and pressing herself against it, trembling. He stopped mid-step and his smile slowly faded, as he understood what he was seeing in her wide eyes.
She was terrified.
«Serena…» Hunter watched her face for any sign of recognition and softness, but there was nothing but the terror she felt from seeing him approaching her.
The man looked away, unable to see this. Lindon gripped his gun tighter, though it wasn’t aimed at Hunter at all.
«I’m so sorry…» Hunter exhaled. «I am… so… so… so sorry.»
He looked up at Serena again, seeing her flinch and felt tears running down his face. Fighting against his urge to embrace her and comfort her, he stepped back and squeezed his fists:
«I’m sorry. I don’t know what else to say, Serena.» he said, slowly heading towards the door. «But I am sorry.»
When he exited, Lindon saw Serena slipping down to the floor, braking into tears. He didn’t follow the cyborg, but instead chose to walk over to Serena and kneel next to her, embracing and offering her the comfort she needed.
It wasn’t the first time she was grasping at him, crying her eyes out in an absolute chaos of a mix of emotions that drowned her. But he wished it would be the last.
Hunter stepped through the ship lost and hurt – the way he saw Serena looking at him was too much for him to bear. He heard her crying behind and it made him look at his hands.
Feeling desperate and hollow, the man headed to the only place he felt he belonged to now.
Laneth heard the door opening and looked at the entrance. Seeing Hunter in all his metallic glory, she jumped up, throwing off her protective mask she was wearing while welding a couple of pieces of metal plates together. She didn’t let go of the welding gun, though.
Hunter took a cautious step forward.
«Can I crash here for a while?» he asked, his voice shaken and tense. «After all, I’m just… scrap metal.»
Laneth saw a genuine expression of sadness and guilt on his face and tilted her head:
«Your chip was taken out, so… you’re you, right?» she nervously stepped back. «You’re not going to try and kill me?»
«No. I’m not going to try and kill anyone.» Hunter shook his head.
Laneth took a very deep breath and swallowed hard, before answering:
«Very well. You can crash here.» she watched him slowly walking over to a corner and sitting down on the floor, grasping at his head.
The woman glanced at the welding gun and put it down, picking up a scanner instead. She approached Hunter very slowly and cautiously, watching him, and aimed her scanner at him, still very interested in the way he was put together. She took a few minutes studying the results, before sighing:
«They kept your head and torso intact… So you’re at least part human. Though, they definitely exchanged your bones for some sort of an alloy…»
«Like that matters.» Hunter retorted, feeling desperate and defeated.
«It does. You still need sustenance and sleep.» Laneth lowered the scanner, looking at the man. «And… well, you’re still a man, if you were wondering.»
«Thanks, I guess.» Hunter lowered his hands, looking up at her with teary eyes. «But how is that going to fix anything? Lindon and Wolfin hate me, Serena…»
He gasped for air, realising how much pain he had caused.
«Serena?» Laneth asked.
«She’s afraid of me.» the man wiped his tears and looked at his metal arms, gritting his teeth. «Who wouldn’t be? Look at me. I’m a… pile of scrap metal that almost killed her…»