“You were saying?” Jarcor sneered at the soldier, handing him a scalpel. “Do as he told you and be careful with that, any foul play and you’ll wish that bullet had killed you,” he threatened him.
“You can’t do this. Go back to the battlefield,” he insisted, shaking, obviously nervous.
“I believe we’ve established we can. Get to it, now.” Jayport yelled at him and the man finally approached Tobbil scalpel in hand. Jarcor followed close behind, ignoring the pain caused by the disobedience as much as he could.
The soldier cut through and lowered the patch of Tobbil’s skin, uncovering the panel below. With his part done, Jayport dropped the gun and quickly subdued the human, gagging and tying him up.
With the soldier out of the way, it was easier to work on Tobbil and soon Jarcor had entered the access codes required to free him.
Quickly, Tobbil grabbed the scalpel Jarcor had previously given him and cut open his control system. Jarcor instructed him as to the codes needed to deactivate the controls and soon they were running towards the rest of the group, swiftly repeating the operation.
They were able to finish releasing the whole group before the Taucets returned, giving them enough time to escape the area. They would have preferred to use the vehicle, but they knew it had a tracking device and it would be insane taking it with them.
“Where should we go?” Tobbil asked.
“We’re not far from the Rocky Mountains. There are a lot of places there where we can hide for a while, as we regroup and decide what our next step should be,” Jarcor said.
“Let’s go then, we’re wasting time here chatting. The relay team must be nearly due to get here,” Jayport pointed out.
The others nodded and Jarcor led them out of there. For a few hours, the only sounds breaking the silence were their footsteps across the woods, and up the mountains. They didn’t stop that night. They kept going, putting as much distance as possible between them and the camp. It would be very hard for the guards to find them, but a group of twenty men dressed in army uniforms would be too noticeable, so they stayed away from roads and villages as much as possible.
They finally made a stop the following morning, at the top of a hill. They could see clearly if someone approached them, so they established a roster for lookout while others went looking for food.
Jarcor tested their communication system and though it didn’t have that wide a range, it suited their purposes.
“Were you able to send all cyborgs the information with the codes?” Jayport asked, taking a seat next to Jarcor.
“I set a program for the information to go out in a few days. With this massive escape, humans will be looking for accomplices and someone to blame on this, so I added extra firewalls and protections to all the information I’ve sent them,” he explained as he looked around.
He was still having trouble believing they had finally escaped. Ever since he had woken up from his surgery he had felt as if he had been living in a damn nightmare. The only time he had felt human again had been in the arms of Sabrina. But he knew that wasn’t happening again.
He was certain she would had moved on with her life and she’d forget he even existed, and he knew it was for the best for her.
The hunters returned, and they roasted the deer they had hunted and killed. After feasting on the meat, they cleared the area, erasing all signs of their presence, before they continued on their way.
Like the night before, they didn’t stop to rest. They were all eager to put as much distance between themselves and the human soldiers as they could. They were positive there would be a massive search for them.
After seven days running up the mountains, they finally found a small abandoned village they decided to use a shelter. They assumed it to be empty because it had been raided by the Taucets. They usually cleaned up the areas, taking the inhabitants as their prisoners, though most rumors said humans were turned into slaves.
“Spread around the locale, look for food. We need something other than meat,” Jarcor ordered.
“Yes, please, I’m starting to miss the camp’s food,” one of the men complained, making the rest laugh out loud. Not even the dogs would miss that camp’s dreadful food.
They were able to find some canned food and after cleaning up one of the abandoned buildings they established their quarters there. Though they were still excited with their freedom, Jarcor knew they had to find a more permanent solution for them.
“What are your plans?” Jayport asked him that night, as if reading the thoughts that rushed through his mind.
“We need to find a place where we can be safe,” he said, frowning.
“Do you think there is such a place on this planet?”
“Yes, in South America there are impenetrable jungles where a man could hide forever, but it wouldn’t be an ideal solution. We need a place of our own.”
“You mean, like a planet?” Tobbil asked, excited.
“There are several planets not far from this solar system where we could live,” Jarcor nodded. “Humans wouldn’t have any jurisdiction there and we would truly be free.”
“How would we get there? Humans don’t have that kind of technology,” one of the other men stated.
“But the Taucets do. We need to find a Taucets’ colony and steal one of their vessels,” Jarcor explained.
“Who would fly it?” Jayport asked.
“I’m sure I could fly it. I was an air force pilot and it can’t be that different. We just need to get our hands on one of those and then we’ll figure out the rest.”
“True, after all our intelligence is a lot higher than average. There isn’t much we can’t learn,” Jayport added.
Jarcor nodded.
They chatted a few more minutes before they started to look for a place to sleep. Jarcor had established sentry teams that would be relieved after four hours, so he too, closed his eyes and tried to get some rest.
They had quite a challenge in front of them, but he was sure they would be able to do it. Whoever had made the decision of turning him into a cyborg, removing all his human rights had made a huge mistake. They had made him aware of the inhumane way people were treating cyborgs, just because they were mechanically enhanced.
The Government was blatantly ignoring the cyborg’s hearts and their souls and that was unfair, to say the least.
With the establishment of the Cyborg base in the abandoned village, they would make several incursions to the nearest towns to get some food and supplies, trying to go as unnoticed as possible.
They had to steal the things they needed, since the cyborgs had never been paid for their job as soldiers and Jarcor had been stripped of all his possessions he had owned prior to his life altering surgery. They were careful to only take what they strictly needed.
Like they said, it was only fair they got some restitution for all they had done, risking their lives for humanity.
In one of their trips around the area, they stumbled upon a Taucet colony. They cheered at the discovery, finally feeling they were closer to getting what they needed: a way off the planet.
“Maybe we should try to talk to them, you know, your enemy’s enemy is your friend,” Jayport suggested, with a frown.
“We can’t risk getting killed. Not when we’re free and so close to getting out of here,” Jarcor dismissed his friend’s idea. “We just need to get one of their bigger ships and use it to get out of here.”
“We would need fuel and enough supplies for a long trip through space, since we don’t have any idea where we’re going.” Jonbran, one of the men, pointed out.
“I’m sure we can get all that from the Taucets. We have to move closer to where they are and study their movements, before we decide how to act further,” Jarcor replied.
“That makes sense,” Jayport agreed.
“We can leave in the morning. It will only take us a few days to get there.” Jetfra, one of the men from the group that had found the colony, explained. “We can hide in the woods outside the colony and scan it thoroughly.”
“Perfect. We’ll all go. If we get the opportunity to get the vessel we need, we’ll be able to leave this place immediately.”