“Were you looking for me? Or coming to see someone else?” Danya asked

“I was coming to find you. You seem upset, what’s happened?” Vyken rubbed her upper arms and looked at her, concerned.

“It’s Jacob Black. That man is unbelievable!” It was about midday in early spring. The sun was shining, and the temperature was warm enough for the light jacket she had worn.  “Let’s take a walk, and I’ll tell you everything.”

As they walked, some of the newbie cyborgs were in the field staking out a large section for planting vegetables that would feed the residents of the Enclave through the next winter. They walked toward the ancient remnant of a farmhouse that had all the windows broken out of it, and part of the roof caved in. The nearby barn’s walls had buckled, and the all that was left was the upper portion and the roof.

Danya went through the entire story from what the women and her father had told her and her disturbing conversation with Jacob. They stopped by a large spreading maple tree next to the rundown dwelling with its bare branches just starting to bud with the makings of new leaves. As they faced each other, Danya finished the story. She could see that it made Vyken furious as she related the last details.

“I had a feeling Black was not what he seemed,” Vyken remarked.  “I knew he didn’t want cyborgs mating with the women in the Enclave, but not about him coercing them to breed with him. I can’t believe the Enclave Council condones this behavior, which means they probably don’t know about it.”

“What makes this even worse is that so many of us were coerced and forced to have sex just to survive. And before for you ask, yes, I was too---but that was a long time ago. I learned how to run fast and hide well.”

Vyken swore and wrapped her in his arms and hugged her to him. He would kill anyone who tried to hurt her again with his bare hands. Danya was his female, and only his.

They didn’t speak for a while because no words were really necessary. Danya looked up into his eyes, and he lowered his mouth to hers in a long, deep kiss. The passion of their kiss left them both aroused and breathing faster when their lips parted, but they both willed it back under control to revisit later when they were alone in their quarters.

Eventually, they walked back to the ship hand in hand. Meanwhile, Vyken used his cybernetics to tap into the enclave network and find out when the Enclave was holding its next council meeting and put himself on the agenda. It was set for three days later. Then he hacked into their internal email system to gauge the council members’ relationships with Jacob Black and each other.

At least two of the seven members were particularly concerned with some of Jacob’s actions. They all knew about his prejudice against the cyborgs. Combined with rumors about his liaisons with various women brought into the Enclave for protection, three of the Council wanted to remove him as administrator and as a member of the council. Next, he did a full review of their by-laws and discovered there were harsh rules on sexual misconduct by anyone in the Enclave. Coercing women for sex was major misconduct. Jacob Black was going to be removed. Vyken’s plan was coming together.

 

The monthly meeting of the Civil Restoration Enclave began routinely at 10:00 a.m. three days later. Vyken arrived promptly before the meeting was called to order. Jacob Black looked somewhat disconcerted when he noted the cyborg commander arrive. Looking at his virtual screen in front of him at the table, he quickly confirmed that Vyken was indeed on the agenda. He frowned, clearly displeased with Dark’s presence.

Vyken could hear the council members murmuring to each other from the back of the room. The three men and three women were urging Administrator Black to move him to the head of the agenda. Unlike Jacob Black, the rest of the council seemed to respect Commander Dark and appreciate his efforts in helping them build the Enclave and bringing order to old Chicago.

Although he approached the committee respectfully, Vyken Dark was pretty intimidating with his size and powerful, muscular body, stark midnight blue eyes and close-cropped platinum hair. He started his report with their excursions into the city and rescue of distressed women, children, and men with women and children as their primary emphasis in their rescue efforts.

He explained about the cyborgs in stasis on levels three and four and clearing level three for residential use. He talked about awakening cyborgs from stasis and training them to take over the building and protecting the Enclave and bringing order to old Chicago and other cities in North America. He did not, however, divulge any information about the Peruvian compound cyborgs.

Then, of course, there was the layout for the vegetable garden and starting plants in the makeshift greenhouse the cyborgs created from salvaged materials and plastic sheeting from the ship’s storeroom. He did this to first show the progress the cyborgs had made in building the support structure for the Enclave and to lull Jacob Black into a false sense of security in his position.

“Thank you, Commander Dark,” Jacob said when Vyken paused. “We certainly appreciate your efforts on our behalf.”

“I have one more thing before I go,” Vyken said. “I have had some disturbing reports about you, Mr. Black. First, is that you have forbidden the women under the protection of the Enclave to fraternize with cyborgs. Also, you have attempted to coerce women into having sex with you to help increase the population in the Enclave of the ‘proper genetic’ makeup.”

To the board Vyken said:

“He is entitled to his personal beliefs, but he is not entitled to dictate who these men and women consort with. Nor does he have authority to use his position as administrator to pressure and bully women to have sex with him, let alone bear his children. Many of these women have been either raped multiple times or coerced into having unwanted sex just to survive. They came here for protection, not more of the same.”

By then Jacob Black was growing increasingly agitated and red-faced.

“Mr. Black even berated my own female for becoming my mate because I am a cyborg.”

“Your female, Commander Dark?” one of the women asked with a hint of disapproval.

“It’s a figure of speech. She is my female, and I am her male. We are bondmates---which is not the point.

“Mr. Black’s actions have seriously undermined the Enclave’s integrity. I take no pleasure in relaying this information to you. I volunteered for this assignment at the request of Admiral Carson Gregor, who has since died. I know he would find Mr. Black’s behavior reprehensible, as do I.

“I formally request this council to remove Jacob Black from his position as administrator and as a member of this council. As I said, this assignment is voluntary. I will not continue my assistance unless he is removed.”

“Thank you, Commander Dark for your service here and during the war.”

Vyken bowed his head briefly in acknowledgment and left the room to allow them to handle the matter. Even with the door of the small conference room closed, he could hear everything that was said.

The woman who addressed Vyken demanded that Jacob explain himself.  Initially, Jacob tried to say the women were lying, then he asserted that Vyken was lying. Cyborgs were programmed incapable of lying both cybernetically and genetically. It would have been laughable if it weren’t so disgusting.

His back peddling got Black nowhere. The rest of the council was well aware of Vyken’s stellar record of service and his integrity. It took them about twenty minutes to remove Jacob Black as administrator and evict him from the Enclave altogether. He was first enraged and then he was begging because he said eviction was a death sentence. 

His eviction would be carried out in three days, and he would be confined to his quarters until that day. He would be given enough supplies for a month along with seeds and assistance finding shelter at least thirty miles from the enclave.

As soon as he heard their verdict, Vyken called AFJ-081 to come into the Enclave to escort Jacob Black to his quarters and stand guard to make sure the remained there. Vyken waited outside the conference room door until Agare Jax (AFJ-081) arrived and gave him a visual of Jacob Black and the information he needed to do his job.

Then he went to find Danya who was visiting her father and hanging out in case the Council requested further verification of Vyken’s report. He wouldn’t feel comfortable having Danya in the building without him until Jacob Black was gone. The ex-administrator had been a reluctant ally and never a friend. Now he was an enemy.

The man was no match for Vyken Dark. He was sure that Black didn’t have the guts to come after him. Black would only go after those he considered weaker than him to take his revenge. He’d either go after the women who revealed his activities or go after Danya to get even with Vyken. The very thought tempted the cyborg to just take him out.

But this wasn’t a wartime situation. He couldn’t preemptively kill Jacob Black without facing murder charges and stasis, although they would have to catch him first. Vyken could never subject Danya to a life on the run, not when he had dreams of making a family with her one day. So, he would concentrate his efforts on preventing Black from contact with anyone he might see as a means to get revenge.

He ran the data through his processers to assess the possible outcomes and the probability of Black harming someone was high enough that Vyken believed he should kill him as soon as Black emerged from the conference room.

Only his hope for a future with Danya stopped him.