“A cyborg? I’m sorry, what does being a cyborg mean actually? Is he not human then? A machine?” Reeling from the idea she might have been falling for a robot or an android, Tamsyn blinked hard. Denial came immediately. No, he was a man, a very attractive man, and she had feelings for him.
Melly moved to the seat next to Tamsyn. “He was a man, a regular soldier, but then he was terribly injured in battle, more than even the rejuve resonator could fix and he agreed to join an experimental program to have himself made into a cyborg. Rebuilt with biomechanicals and other augments. He’s human at the core, mind and heart but he has nanorobots or nanites in his bloodstream, to maintain the enhancements and the linkages to his brain and other systems. I’m sure Jeff is hoping Cody’s system will defeat the virus.” She bit her lip. “All I can give him is supportive care and a peaceful ending, if it comes to that.”
“Do you think there’s really a chance for him to recover?” Tamsyn asked, trying not to allow the hope in her heart to grow too strong. “Can these nanite things fight a virus?”
“He’s a top secret military experiment,” Melly said. “I don’t think anyone knows what his true capabilities are, especially with regard to the Western Flu. Clearly, from the symptoms Jeff described, it is affecting him. I’ll know more once they arrive and I can examine him, talk to him if he’s still aware enough.”
“I want to help,” Tamsyn said firmly. “It’s important to me.”
The doctor searched her face intently. “It could be dangerous?—”
“I’ve faced the flu before. I know what it can do. Cody matters to me,” she said. “I need to help in any way I can.”
Melly pressed her hand. “He’s a special guy all right. I’m sure I can use all the assistance I can get for as long as this goes on.”
“You’re telling me he’s tough,” Tamsyn said. “He’d have to be to survive a battle, those injuries and then whatever the researchers did to turn him into a cyborg, which I’m sure wasn’t pleasant. My ranch hands and my foreman were tough and that didn’t help them at all. If these nanobots can push Cody over the line to survive then it’ll be a much needed victory.”
“If he survives, which is a big if right now,” Melly said, “He might not come out of it the same person mentally. I have to raise the possibility. Whatever you and he might have shared?—”
“We’re just friends.” Tamsyn felt a blush creeping up her neck and over her face and clenched her fists. “We talked while we cooked, you know?” But clearly he wasn’t as interested as I was because he never mentioned this cyborg issue. The realization hurt but Tamsyn pushed the pain aside. Right now the unknowns of his being a cyborg were the least of her worries when it came to Cody.
The APC rocked slightly as Zach re-entered the gunnery turret and took out the infected Watcher as ordered. He had to use one of the vehicle’s other, more precise weapons since the huge blaster on the roof couldn’t depress its muzzle enough to shoot anything standing next to the door. “Got him,” the soldier reported. “It’s going to be one hell of a mess out there when we can finally exit this tin can.”
“How did the others react?” Melly asked.
“As usually, flocking to the noise. Right now we’ve got a crowd at the door but they’re acting confused, even more than usual. I’ll stay on overwatch,” Zach said. “I hope the captain’s right and they wander off when nothing else happens.”
“You’re telling me I’ll have infected roaming on my ranch,” Tamsyn said, belatedly realizing the swarm might not leave the vicinity. The idea was depressing and not a little scary. She’d been foolishly confident in her home’s distance from town or from anywhere else humans could be found.
“Probably, since there isn’t a population in Rosewater to lure them back,” Zach said, confirming her fears. “We’ll have to keep a much closer watch around the house and barns from now on.”
“But we’re going to wipe out a substantial number of them when the captain gets on the scene,” Trent reminded them all. “The closest swarms beside this one are in New Damarkal.”
“Millions of infected.” Melly shivered. The city had been the planet’s third largest before the outbreak.
“Thanks for the discouraging statistic,” Tamsyn said. “Nowhere is really safe, is it?”
“There has to be a solution.” Melly’s response was impassioned. “I refuse to believe humanity on this planet is going to die out after all the centuries of hard work to build a viable civilization here. And we, all of us, deserve a chance to live our lives as something other than refugees from hordes of mindless predators.”
“The captain’s working on this,” Zach said. “It’s become our mission here, versus what we were sent out to do. We’re an X factor, operating outside the system and structure of your world, doc. There’s hope.”
Tamsyn tucked away the information confirming her suspicion the group of soldiers wasn’t really retired veterans carrying out a ranch startup. Despite the current dire threat hanging over Cody’s head, she was glad she’d met these people and even more determined to stay with them. Her dreams had all been for the success of the Wendover family ranch but those dreams turned to ash and blew away on the wind once the outbreak took over. She needed new dreams, or a sense of purpose at least, and if this group planned to do something to save what was left of the Randal Four colony, then she wanted to be a part of it. She’d go even if Cody wasn’t a factor although the thought of losing him before she ever got a chance to explore what they could have together was a crushing blow.
“Looks like the swarm is breaking up,” Zach reported from the gun turret. “A few wandering off down the driveway and others heading across the open prairie. Who knows what motivates them?”
“I find it chilling the Watcher apparently had a hold over them and once we took him out they lost their purpose,” Melly said.
“Although it’s useful knowledge,” Zach answered. “We find any more Watchers, they become our priority targets.”
She nodded. “I agree with that of course. But I want to know what makes an infected become a Watcher and why. We need to know so much more.”
“The captain said he was bringing intel,” Trent reminded her from his seat at the controls.
“Seems to me we’re gathering puzzle pieces,” Tamsyn said. “These isolated facts have got to fit together at some point and give up a few answers, don’t they?”
“That’s the hope anyway,” was Melly’s answer.
* * *
