“They went under,” Janet rushed out. “Did you see that? He lifted him straight into the air, a man filled with metal and taller than god...right over his head!”
She had seen it, but she hadn't registered it. What she did see now was Da with the rifle raised and pointed over the side, waiting for a victim to emerge.
Had Netto been shot? “Who'd you shoot!?” Rylie turned to him. “Who did you shoot?” she asked again.
“He advanced on you, Buggy. We protect our own.” His voice was so matter-of-fact it derailed her. “A bullet won’t kill him, only hinder him.”
She blanched.
“He shot Zeph. Look!”
Farther out, a flash of metal appeared out of the water. Right on the edge of a wall of mist. Da lowered the gun as they watched the Cyborgs resurface and tear each other up. A flash of teeth and a garbled taunt was sounded before they dipped back under the surface.
Janet leaned forward over the rail, her face devoid of color. Long minutes passed while nothing happened, and Rylie couldn’t stop her heart from wanting to explode within her chest. They were all waiting for something, anything to happen, but nothing did.
They were gone.
The sun had disappeared below the horizon and the remaining light cast an ashen glow over the area, surrounding them in a gauzy veil that couldn’t be ripped off. No one spoke and the Cyborgs had yet to reappear. Bubbles emerged now and again but Rylie knew they could be from anything.
What if they don’t come back? Will the EPED think we killed them?Her fingers bruisingly gripped the railing.Will I ever see him again?She pictured a blue-grey corpse, torn apart by teeth and hungry fish washed up onto the shore. Metal pieces and wiring was torn from the mass, left in a tangled mess in the sand.
Her hands strained on the ledge. Janet was just as tense next to her.
“Where are they?” Janet asked.Dead. Gone.Her sister’s question went unanswered as she screamed into the dusk.
“Netto!” A splash somewhere in the thick of the mist sailed through the air. She heard Da trigger the safety back on his gun.
“We need to up the shields.”
“You can’t be serious! We need to go after—”
“We don’t. They’re Cyborgs. They can take care of themselves,” he quipped.
“We can’t just leave them. This is all your fault!” Janet's voice rose in anger, turning away from the water. “We shouldn’t have lied to them. I’m going in.”
Janet moved to release one of the drop pods.
Rylie kept her gaze on the last bit of ocean that was visible, scanning anything and everything for movement. She found a water-light nearby and dropped it over the side as a precautionary beacon. She knew it wouldn’t do much but it was at least something.
She listened as her family continued to argue. “They’ll kill each other!”
“They won’t.”
“How do you know? How can you know?” Janet demanded, prepping the drop-pod.
“They don't turn on each other. They're men but men with strong loyal, coded morals. I've seen it in battle, I've killed by their sides. They won't kill each other over such a minor disagreement, only if the act committed by one of them defies their coding, defies the logic, intelligence, and strict behavioral conduct within themselves. The scientists didn't want their super soldiers offing each other from something as primal as theiralpha nature, and they didn't want them to turn on their creators, regardless of their hatred toward them. They were created to kill Trentians, to win a war that spanned the galaxy, and to do more than any normal man can.” He sighed. “They won't kill each other. All we can do is let them duke it out.”
Rylie chewed on the inside of her cheek and heard the splash of one of the pods being released. She turned toward Janet who was preparing to enter it.
No one stopped her as she stepped into the top. “Even if they don’t, I'm going in. I goaded Zeph and I won't feel responsible for his behavior, nor will I let him go back to his ship. I don’t want to inherit a business under the thumb of the government.”
“Stay within the watership’s radar,” Da said. “Don't make your sister and I come after you after nightfall because you went too far.”
“Be careful,” Rylie said.
Janet nodded. She was beautiful when she was angry. Her sister was beautiful all the time. She was inside the pod and gone the next moment. Rylie turned back toward the ocean but was met with nothing but darkness. Her hands lifted up as the shield ascended from the railing.
It cocooned the ship within a matter of seconds. The sound of the water was gone. She sat down and gritted her teeth. “What now?”
