Chapter One
Raven
I’ve been on patrol in the Rocky Mountains of western Montana for three days. All I’ve seen so far are animals: two grizzlies, dozens of elk, wolves, coyotes, rabbits, foxes, and a few wild horses. If any Mesaarkans are hiding out here, I haven’t found them. Neither have my brethren cyborgs; instead, I've encountered just miles and miles of rugged wilderness.
After the raid on the Mesaarkan base a few months ago, I had hoped that we’d find more aliens to subdue. So far, all I’ve done is a lot of sky-riding. I’m starting to envy my friend Steele Nova, who found his genetic mate held captive at the Mesaarkan base.
The group that raided Gretchen had escaped from California. Once we scooped them up, life in Gretchen returned to mundane. Such was rural life in post-war America, still recovering from the alien attack 100 years ago.
When I first joined the team, they considered me a bit of a hotshot because I always strived to be better than they were. One of the cyborg shrinks suggested that it might bebecause of an underlying fear that I would not be good enough. After I thought about it, I had to agree it was at least partly true, but I was always highly competitive. I not only wanted to be good enough; I wanted to be the best.
Maybe that’s why I was so frustrated that all the miles I put into these patrol sessions yielded no results. I rarely even saw people in need, so I did not have the opportunity to help anyone, which was the second part of our job.
Heading back to Gretchen for food and rest, my musings were interrupted by a message from the Cyborg Matching Project. They found my genetic mate. She lives in Eastern Wyoming just outside Brislow, a small town, if you can call it that, near the Medicine Bow Mountain Range. Like many towns in Wyoming, it claimed only a few hundred residents.
The female who was my mate lived on a small ranch outside of town. Her name is Hannah Lawrence. I certainly didn’t expect that, but I knew it would shake up my life. I seriously doubted that she would want to move to Gretchen since she had a farm already. In the five years of my awakened life and 87 years of virtual life, I could only imaginehow it would feel to get this news.
It almost felt like a punch in the gut. I had yearned to find my genetic mate, yet it was terrifying at the same time. What if she didn’t accept me? What if I couldn’t protect her?
On the positive side, she had voluntarily entered the Cyborgs Matching Project, indicating that she wanted a cyborg mate.
The project would have notified my sergeant and Lieutenant Hawk so that they could make plans for my expected absence. I didn’t have to wonder what she looked like because they sent pictures of her along with the message that went directly into my onboard CPU. As soon as I saw her in my mind’s eye, I knew Hannah was the one. She was incredibly beautiful, with warm brown hair and dominant blue eyes. One picture made me feel like she was looking straight into my eyes and had discovered all the secrets of my soul.
I knew I had to go and find her as soon as possible because the service had lost contact with her. They could only notify her that they had located me. Something must have happened to the com tablet that she received when she applied for a cyborg mate because she never replied. But I had the coordinates of her ranch, so I would head there as soon as I could arrange for leave.
I wouldn’t make the same mistake thatSteele Nova had made by waiting months to seek his genetic mate. By the time he found her, she had been a captive of the Mesaarkans for several months, and it wasn’t a pretty tale. The fact that they were unable to contact Hannah had me quite concerned.
Sergeant Rowe was waiting for me when I returned to the barracks a couple of hours later. “Congratulations, Guardian Blackwood. Lieutenant Hawk and I have just received a message that your mate has been found. Hawk is giving you open-ended leave to seek her and establish a relationship,” he said, extending his hand to shake mine.
“Thank you, sir. There seems to be little information about the town of Brislow. The report from data collection stated that it is a small village, much like Gretchen, with only a few hundred residents. They have no formal law enforcement, so I may be able to continue my service there with approval from Cyborg Command.”
“That is a possibility,” said Rowe. “We’re not expecting you back. In fact, we have put in for your replacement. Once a cyborg finds his mate, she takes priority over your obligation to Cyborg Command. Taking care of her and her community is one of themost important duties you will have.”
“Yes, sir.” I needed no further explanation because I knew the mission of the Enclave was to build strong families. After all, strong families build cohesive communities.
The next day, I left for Brislow, about a three-hour trip from Gretchen. As I neared the coordinates of Hannah’s ranch, I decided to approach in stealth mode as a precaution. I’m glad I did because I discovered what looked like ten men intimidating two women in front of the ranch house.
I flew on past and landed quietly about half a mile away behind a stand of conifers. Climbing off my cycle, I engaged my nanite armor, donned my gun belt, and took out my ion rifle. I approached with practiced stealth and soon got close enough to hear what was going on.
“Your time is up, Hannah. If you can’t pay up, we will evict you today,” said a baritone male voice.
“Come on, Markus! You know damn well if we gave you the grain, we won’t have enough until harvest for our cattle,” said the female. “Can you take one of the steers instead? We don’t even have as much grain as you are asking for.”
“Mayor Jenkins doesn’t care. You eitherpay what you owe or pack up and leave.”
Markus stepped closer, but before he could respond, I stepped into view, leveling my ion rifle at the group.
“That’s close enough,” I said, my voice calm but stern enough to make the men freeze.
All ten turned to look at me, their eyes narrowing as they took in my armor and weapon. One of the thugs reached for his gun, but I shifted the rifle slightly, targeting his hand.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” I added. “You’ll lose more than this little shakedown.”
Markus, the leader, squinted at me, his confidence faltering. “Who the hell are you?”
“Someone you don’t want to mess with,” I replied. “You have two choices: leave now or find out just how bad I can make your day.”
They had no idea how easily I could have killed them all with a sweep of my ion rifle. Little did they know how tempted I was just to do it. But the odds were too high that Hannah would be traumatized.
