Chapter 3
The trip to Betania is so boring that I even seek out the cyborg’s company.
After three days, I can finally call him by his name without cringing. I don’t know if that’s good, but since we have to work together, I am trying to make the best of it. He is, and remains, taciturn, and only speaks when someone asks him something, or when he needs to clarify something that has to do with our assignment. We eat together with the other officers in the canteen, but those men and women bore me. I have absolutely nothing in common with them, and never know what to talk about with them. About the fun they have on the gym deck together, when they play ball against each other? About their advancement potential in the strict hierarchy of the fleet? I almost have the impression that they like Johar more than they like me. He sits in the officer’s mess in the evenings and plays poker, or hangs out in the machine room to talk shop with the mechanics. All of them have gotten used to his metal-covered face a lot faster than I was expecting. By the third day, nobody thinks it is strange that a cyborg is sitting at the table with the officers. The women are even giving him appreciative looks. The man, who at the beginning our trip was so confrontational with Johar, seems to be the only exception.
I find this strange. Why do the people on the ship have such a high tolerance for the cyborg? The humans who live on Earth usually keep their distance from them. It is for good reason that the cyborgs only have visitor permits in human territory. It is something like a restricted permit. The only other cyborgs on board are the women from the wellness area on the ship, and they do not sit at the same tables as the human members of the crew. Well, yeah. It would be pretty embarrassing if a cyborg woman, who massaged away some first officer’s tension the night before, was now sitting at the table with him for breakfast.
By now, I know Cassie Burnett’s file by heart, and could draw her face, if necessary. She is a small, delicate blonde. She looks a little timid in her picture, but if she is the Qua’Hathri warrior’s companion, then there must be more to her than meets the eye. And I can’t forget that she also let a man, who isn’t exactly harmless, into her bed. His name is Zeyliv, and he was one of the first men whose genes were expanded by my father, always in search of creating the perfect warrior. In Zeyliv’s case, it was the genes of a feline predator. These made him faster, stronger and more aggressive. I know that my father also experimented with other animal species, but the feline predator genes were his favorite. Fast, effective and overly callous, they were his pride and joy until their escape.
The closer we get to Betania, the more excited I get, and the quieter the cyborg gets. During the day, I often see him in the conference room, where the see-through window panes offer an amazing view of the universe. He just stands there and stares out the window. As soon as I come into the room, he turns away as if he were doing something forbidden. What does he see out there? There was only one time I was able to catch a glimpse of his face while he was looking out, because it was dark out and his face was mirrored in the window. I could see a mix of anger and vulnerability in the way he pressed his lips together, and also in his eyes. Somehow, I felt like I was seeing something much too personal, and I snuck back out without a word.
I find him there again today, one day before our planned arrival on Betania. “Tomorrow, we reach our destination,” he takes the words right out of my mouth.
“That’s what I wanted to talk about,” I answer and sit down in one of the uncomfortable chairs. He sits down next to me and looks at me. “The man who is the father of one of Cassie Burnett’s children, is something like a ruler on the planet. His status is somewhere between an elected representative of the people and an all-powerful king, but it looks like he can depend on his people’s support. So, we will look for this man first and find out what he knows.”
Johar doesn’t even try to hide his skepticism. “That would not be a good beginning for an investigation,” he starts. I feel a flash of anger and want to say something, but he raises his hand in an authoritative way. “I know that it is very difficult for you to work with me like your father demanded.” He looks at me appraisingly. “But like I already said, this part of the mission is under my control. How old are you? 25?”
“What does my age have to do with anything?”
He gives me a thin-lipped smile, which isn’t meant as an expression of his goodwill. “I am already over 50 years old and know what I am doing. You, on the other hand, surely do excellent work in your own area of expertise, but when was the last time you were on a dangerous outside mission?”
I am silent and feel myself blush. He is right, but does he need to rub it in so directly? “I completed basic training,” I begin, but Johar snorts depreciatively.
“That so-called training isn’t worth two cents in the real world.” He keeps looking right at me. “This planet is inhabited by animal-humans who were created by your father in his lab.” I examine his expression, but cannot find any judgment in his chiseled features. “What would you do if a gorilla-human started running towards you, with the intention of killing you? Dazzle him with your sweet smile, and ask him for mercy?”
“Enough. I get it,” I hiss and stand up. He gets up, too, and reaches for my wrist. But I am not finished yet, even if I can’t pry his fingers of steel open. “You have made it perfectly clear that you are indispensable for the success of our mission. The only thing I can’t figure out is…,” I pause deliberately and lower my voice, “why you are so hell bent on excluding me from everything and going it alone?” My words have the desired effect. He lets go of me, and his eyes bore into mine. “Maybe I should send a report to my father that you are out of control? Or turn you off as a precaution?” My hand goes up to the button on his neck that would take him out of commission. For a second, his face is filled with blank hatred. Even the metal plate seems to glow with anger. What I am hinting at has to knock some sense into him: a cyborg who is out of control is taken out of commission. His mechanical parts, as well as human parts of his body would be disposed of.
He steps back from me and gives me room to breathe again. “Okay. What is your alternative suggestion?” I smile at him, calm and collected, despite my racing heart. I am trying to show him that I am open to reasonable arguments.
He, too, answers with a calm, almost expressionless voice. “My suggestion is that I find a place to stay near the space port and begin my inquiries there. If the ruler of the planet impregnated a woman, he didn’t just let her leave. There must have been some kind of incident. He is not going to just let you in on why he let the mother of his child leave. There will be rumors, and I will go after them.”
“We will go after them,” I say. “I am accompanying you.” With that, I turn around and leave him to stare out at space for as long as he wants to.