hundred thousand citizens here; that many potential soldiers if the emperor was clever enough to use them. Now they all despise him. Every man caught working with the authorities is tortured in a rather nasty way.”
I would never use thieves as soldiers, Lucius thought.
“I didn’t come here to talk,” said the captain. He detached the straps on his chest. One of the soldiers took Lucius in his arms. “Give him a body and you will be rewarded.”
“Rewarded?” The doctor narrowed one eye. It seemed he was willing to stop complaining. “What sort of reward are you offering?”
“When the emperor sits on his throne you will have whatever you desire.”
“I need supplies now, not in some uncertain future.”
“And you shall have them. Trust me, it will be sooner than you think.” Arrius turned to the walls where the stacked shelves were. “Though, I thought you would want something more. It seems to me have enough supplies.”
“Looks can be deceiving.” Axios turned and moved toward an inclined bed in front of the screens. “I will fix this man only because I owe you. And I don’t want any reward for it.” He looked at the soldier that held Lucius. “Put him down on the bed and strap him. We don’t want him falling down, now do we?” he said. He then turned to the captain. “You have brought parts, I hope.”
Arrius nodded to his men and they dragged the crates before the doctor’s feet. Arrius tapped few buttons and they swung open.
“Military-grade,” said the doctor. “I know a lot of people who would die for these.”
“And I know some who died trying to take them,” said Arrius. Lucius didn’t know if the captain implied to his ship and the lost men during the assault on Lightning Bolt, or to the thieves they encountered in the merchant district. But the doctor was right – the body was worth dying for.
The doctor came closer, tapping his crutches, and stopped beside the bed to check the straps while Lucius looked at the shelves. He was surprised to see that not all of the body parts were rusty and old. In fact, some of them were brand new, like one of the legs that rested on the second shelf.
“Why don’t you fix your leg?” Lucius asked the doctor.
Axios turned to where the emperor’s eyes looked and then he turned back to Lucius. “Because I love walking on one leg.”
“You do?” Who would be crazy enough to love walking on one leg?
“Of course not, you fool. It’s because I cannot afford to have that leg.”
Lucius clenched his fist.
“Watch your language, doctor,” Arrius warned him. “Such words can get you killed.”
Axios turned. “Oh really.”
Lucius fought to restrain his anger. It was the only doctor who could help him get that damned body. It would do no good if he was executed. Lucius shook his head to the captain.
“Never mind,” said Arrius, “just fix him.”
Doctor Axios turned back and stared at Lucius. “That leg you see there is mine, but it costs more to sell it on the black market than to use it myself. You see, the emperor doesn’t care about his people. He never bothered to bring them a doctor.”
Arrius shifted uncomfortably while Lucius wondered whether to punch the doctor or not.
“I sell my parts on the black market so I can offer free medical service to the poor.” He took a syringe from a table near the bed and pushed it in a port behind Lucius’s left ear. He glanced back at Arrius and said, “Not every battle is fought on a ship.”
But Lucius was more concerned about the contents of the syringe. He remembered the man above when he emptied the thing. “Is it a drug?” he asked.
“Not the kind you’ve seen up there. This one will make you numb. You will fall asleep and when you wake up you will be whole again.”
Lucius liked the sound of that. His hand grabbed the doctor’s arm. “I want no pain receptors.” He had endured enough of pain already. “Is that understood?”
The doctor dropped one of his visors over one eye and stared at Lucius for a moment. He lifted the visor back up. “Your eyes are regular. If you don’t have pain receptors you won’t know when you’re injured, unless you get new eyes with visual report.” He turned and moved toward the shelves.
“I think I can notice when I am injured,” said Lucius.
The doctor searched through the shelves and took two tiny balls. “Now these will do fine for you – if you have the coin, of course. Attaching your body is free of cost, thanks to Captain Arrius, but the eyes cost extra.”
“I told you I don’t need–”
“Take this,” said Arrius. He held the victory coin between his fingers.
The doctor moved his eyes from Arrius to the coin and back. “I had the same,” he said. “But I sold it long ago.”
“Now you can have it again,” said Arrius. “Take the coin. I think it will cover your expenses.” Arrius tossed the coin to the doctor.
“Mm. It certainly will,” said the doctor as he caught the coin. “But I won’t accept it.” He tossed it back to the captain.
“It’s a gold coin,” Arrius said. “Take it.”
“I know what it is, captain. But I won’t accept it.”
Arrius pulled out his sword. “What about this?”
“Your ceremonial sword? Do you consider me a fool, captain?”
“It is more than a ceremonial sword. It took countless heads from both human and savage.”
The doctor leaned on his left crutch and with his right hand he took the sword. “And what am I to do with a sword?”
“It’s made of silver and Imperial steel. You can sell it, melt it, whatever you think will do.”
“Hmm.” The doctor examined the sword. He did few slashes in the air even. “I like its weight distribution.”
“Do you take it or not?” Arrius urged.
The doctor smiled. “The sword of mighty Aquila. And you are willing to give it to me just like that? For a pair of eyes?”
“The Aquila is gone. I have no need of it anymore.”
Doctor Axios gave the sword to one of the soldiers. “Put in on the third shelf behind you.” The soldier looked at Arrius for confirmation. After the captain nodded the soldier complied. Doctor Axios adjusted his right crutch under his armpit. “You just bought your friend new eyes.”
“If you are done talking,” said Lucius, “then proceed. I want that body by tomorrow.” I have a throne to claim, he almost said.
“Certainly.” The doctor came closer and pressed the syringe that was already inserted behind Lucius’s ear. “Now relax,” Axios said to him, “it will soon be over.”
And then the last thing Lucius heard was the doctor asking, “Who is this man that is worth so much to you, captain?” and his face blurred into blackness…
It was a fine sunny day and pleasantly warm over the hills of New Coventry. However, to Lucas it was anything but fine. His father was gone for three weeks now. Lucas didn’t know if he would ever see him again. All he knew was that the people his father worked with took him away right after the accident. Some of them said he died, others that his body was terribly damaged and beyond repair. But what frustrated Lucas the most was that they didn’t allow him to visit his father and see for himself if any of that was true.
Every night his mother went to bed crying, and in the morning she got up looking the same, almost as if she never slept but cried through the night. Her hair was disheveled, her eyes swollen; the complete opposite of what Lucas remembered her. Now all she did was stay at home and despair. Lucas heard a doctor once say that she suffered major depression, although Lucas had no idea what that was. The only comfort she got was from her friend Mrs. Arlington who was visiting her every day after work. They would sit together at the veranda, drink tea, and talk.
That same sunny day, Lucas hid behind one of the opened windows toward the veranda. He peered between curtains, trying to overhear the conversation and find out anything new about his father.
“Project Eternity will
work,” he heard Mrs. Arlington say. “Have faith, Alana.”
Alana did not respond, did not touch her tea even. It was almost as if she wasn’t there, but somewhere else, someplace better.
Mrs. Arlington gently blew over her cup and then took a sip. She put the cup back on the table, porcelain clinked softly. “I talked yesterday with the head of our research division. He said Project Eternity has a green light. Do you know what that means?”
Alana looked away in the distance at the green fields of New Coventry. “By the time they get it to work it will be too late,” she said.
“Jon said his team was ready to begin trials with human brain a week before the accident. He said they had a cybernetic body prepared, all they needed was a brain donor.”
Alana looked at Mrs. Arlington. “I know what he said.” She looked away. “He was wrong.”
Mrs. Arlington took a sip of her tea and put the cup back on the table. “You mean about Subject Zero,” she said.
Alana didn’t say anything.
“They improved since then. I saw a body work with an AI. It was flawless…”
“Human brain is not an AI.”
“I know that, but every simulation we have run so far proves it will work even better with a human brain.” Mrs. Arlington took another sip of her tea, put the cup back. Alana took a deep breath and exhaled, saying nothing more.
After a brief pause, Mrs. Arlington said, “Mr. Kensington asked about you this morning. He wanted to know when his finest computer engineer is coming back.”
“I am not coming back.”
“Don’t say that, dear. We miss you. Project Eternity needs