When she reached the vessel, Rafaroy was about to have a heart attack. She had been away a bit longer than he expected, so when he saw her walk towards him, he let out a deep sigh of relief.
“What took you so long?” he grumbled.
“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you on the way home.”
Nodding he helped her hop in the vessel along with her bag and soon they were flying away towards their island.
She told him all that had happened, and she could see his frustration that he had not been able to protect her.
“All that matters is that we have what we need and even more,” she said, putting her hand over his. “There was no other way.”
Back on the island, Zandar and Alanna welcomed them with a real feast. They wanted to celebrate the success of their mission.
After they had eaten, both men went to the vessel to work on the transmitter.
Repairs didn’t go quite as they expected. It took them two more weeks to make the device work properly. With each day that went by, Rafaroy got more and more worried about Elena’s wellbeing. The baby was very big now, and he was afraid he would tear her from the inside, on his way out.
She kept telling him, he was overreacting, but he couldn’t stop.
When they finally managed to contact the cyborgs on Arcadia, the whole island heard his shout of joy.
“Finally… we have been trying to contact you for months…” he told Jarcor.
“Well, we have been looking for you all that time. No one seemed to know anything about you,” Jarcor replied. “Is Bretdon with you?”
“Bretdon? No, I haven’t seen him in a long time. Did he manage to escape as well?” Rafaroy asked, surprised.
“So we heard, but he hasn’t been in touch with us either.”
“I’m here with Zandar. I helped him escape from a protection camp.”
“That’s great news. Are you ready to come here with us?”
“I’m more than ready. We need to get there as fast as possible. We have a medical emergency I’ll explain when you guys get here,” Rafaroy explained.
“We’re on our way. It will take us three days to get there. Give me your coordinates,” he asked.
“Did Khajal manage to escape?”
“Yes, he’s been here for a few months now.”
“Perfect, I’ll be more than glad to see you all.”
After they ended the communication, they spent the rest of the night celebrating. In three days, they would be on their way home.
Elena was happy, but deep down, she was a bit worried. She had no idea how the other cyborgs would receive her and her sister, on their planet, but she didn’t share her worries with Rafaroy. He was already too stressed with the baby’s arrival to add more.
She did her best to hide her worries from him, sure she was overreacting, but even so, when their vessel landed on the island, her heart missed a beat.
Three cyborgs came out of the vessel and met the men on the beach. Hugs and laughs echoed around while the girls watched from afar. Alanna seemed as worried as Elena felt.
“Do you think they will want to take us with them?” the little girl asked in a lower tone.
“Rafaroy seems to be sure of it. We’ll have to wait and see.”
Rafaroy greeted Jarcor and the men with him with enthusiasm. They were finally there, and he would be able to take Elena out of this planet.
“You told us about a medical emergency, so we brought Haycor, one of our doctors,” Jarcor said, signaling one of the men with him. “So, what’s the problem? You guys look pretty healthy to me.”
“It’s not any of us. My female is pregnant, and she is soon to give birth to my child,” Rafaroy explained, with a stern tone.
Haycor gasped. “You didn’t mention you were with a cyborg female.”
“That’s because I’m not. She’s human.”
Haycor exchanged an astonished look with Jarcor. “There has to be a pattern here. It’s the second one in a very short period of time,” Haycor stated.
“Yes, you’re right,” Jarcor agreed.
“What the hell are you guys talking about?” Rafaroy asked, with a deep frown.
“Khajal also managed to get his female pregnant. She has just given birth to a very healthy baby cyborg,” Jarcor explained.
“Please, tell me you’ve assisted her in the birth…” Rafaroy said, turning to look at Haycor.
“Yes, of course, I did. We had to perform a C-section because the baby was too big for her birth canal,” Haycor replied, looking around.
“Yes, that’s what I was afraid of. We have no means to perform a C-section on her here on this island. And taking to a human’s hospital was out of the question. Though her slave’s code bar is long gone, she still has the nipple rings,” Rafaroy explained. “Not to mention they would find out the baby is a cyborg.”
“Of course. Where is she? I want to see her,” Haycor asked, barely containing his enthusiasm.
“On the shelter, we built, with her younger sister,” Rafaroy showed him the way and motioned Zandar to guide the other man. He needed to talk with Jarcor. “As you might assume, I’m not going anywhere without the girls. I know I should have told you about them when I asked you to come here, but I was desperate to get her the help she needs.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. Though humans could be considered our enemies, they are also our creators and not all of them treat us like machines,” Jarcor pointed out. “I’m sure your female is in that smaller group and she’ll be more than welcome in Arcadia, especially now, that she’ll give birth to cyborg baby.”
Rafaroy sighed with relief. “I have to admit I was a bit worried about that. She’s become very important for me, and I wouldn’t go anywhere without her.”
Jarcor let out a deep sigh. “That’s starting to feel like an epidemic. Khajal feels the same about his female.”
Elena watched Zandar approaching the shelter with one of the men, and her heart missed a bit. Rafaroy had stayed behind with a man she was sure was Jarcor, considering all she had heard about the man.
“Elena, Alanna, allow me to introduce you to Haycor. He’s a doctor, and he’s just helped the first human female to give birth to a cyborg baby.” Zandar said, with a wide smile. “Haycor, she’s Elena and her sister Alanna.”
“Oh, that is great news. I feel I’m about to burst,” she said, with a faint smile.
“Not on my watch,” the man assured her, smiling. “Would you mind if I take a look at that baby?” he asked, signaling a small bag he was carrying.
“No, of course not.” She guided him to her bed, and after lying on it, the man took something out of the bag.
“This is a portable scanner. I’ll be able to see the baby and calculate how much time we have left, comparing it with Jerrant’s records. Jerrant is Khajal’s baby,” he explained.
She nodded and watched him running the device over her huge belly.
“This is a big boy, that’s for sure. I guess he could be born right away, but he seems comfortable in your belly, so we should have enough time to get to Arcadia. There, we would perform a C-section, to prevent any possible problems,” Haycor added.
She truly hoped he was right. “He’s too big for me to deliver him,” she agreed.
“Yes, I would think so too. I’m guessing Rafaroy’s nanocybots adopted you as well, right?”
She nodded. “Yes, that’s what we’ve assumed, since my Taucets’ tattoo is totally gone” she explained, showing him her neck.
“Yes, the same happened to Khajal’s woman. Don’t you know where I can meet a woman like you two?” he asked, with an amused tone. “You have brought hope to our people. Knowing we can reproduce naturally is a huge step for us.”
“Yes, Rafaroy has told me about it.”
“All we have to find out now is what makes the nanocybots adopt the female.”
“There must be a common factor.”
“Yes, we just don’t know what it is,” the doctor replied, scowling.