Chapter 9

Riley held me back as my eyes blurred with tears. He tried to tell me something, but I couldn’t make his words out. I was too consumed with grief and anger when I saw my brother. Questions raced through my head. How? When? Who? Whoever did this to him was going to pay! I struggled as Riley pulled me to him and suddenly my vision went dark.

I awoke back in our quarters to see a guilty-looking Riley staring at me, wiping my forehead off with a cool, damp cloth. When he finished his guilt seemed to deepen as he ran his hand through my hair. I knew what he had done to me and I wanted to be angry with him. I mean, how could he? My brother was practically right there! I saw him! We could have saved him, if only… if….

If only he wasn’t amongst those that were collared.

The sight of that evil, cruel medallion encircling his neck made all my worst fears well up to the surface. Somewhere along the lines, someone put that… that thing around his neck. It all but confirmed my known, justifiable fears, of the day one or both of us ended up with the metal on us. But it hurt worse for me to see him with it. And to see the soulless expression of his eyes, if even for only a scant second. If one of us had to bear the punishment of wearing that collar, I wished it was me. If only it could have been me instead of him!

“Travis, you need to rest. Your fever is getting worse.” Riley felt my cheeks again before dabbing at them and my forehead once more with another cool cloth. “You can’t worry about this right now, as much as you should. Get better first, then we’ll figure out a way to get Jesse back.”

“B-But… I-I can’t rest, knowing that every second we wait, he has to wear that-that horrible device! And knowing the torture he must be enduring!” I squeezed my eyes shut, my breathing coming shallower and shallower. It felt like the entire station rested on my chest. It started to hurt trying to take in air.

I saw Riley grimace as once again he rubbed his hand across my face. “I-I’m… I’m sorry, love. But… I have to do this again.” I saw a tear slide down his face. And once more, I fell into darkness.

I emerged from my forced sleep with a hazy, disoriented feeling. My face felt hot against my pillow, my hair matted with sweat against my head. I saw Riley standing nearby, his eyes closed in what I gathered was him working on his damaged memory core. Thoughts of what he said to Kevin came back to me. Was there really a traitor amongst Kevin’s group? And if there was, who was it? I wanted to immediately say it was Zane but I dismissed him as too cowardly to even plan such a thing. For he knew that if I found out it was him, I’d beat the ever-living shit out of him, no matter how many of his personal lackeys he had hooked around his little finger. I’d find a way.

Ruling out Zane, then who else could it be? No one else jumped to mind. I went through all the names I knew, starting with Scooter. I even considered the possibility that Julian was that person but just as briefly as I did Zane I dismissed the notion. Julian was the one that clued me in to the fact that Jesse was missing. Why would he trick my brother into wearing that collar and then tell me he’s missing when he called?

Just as the thought of trying to sneak by my boyfriend to attempt a rescue of Jesse crossed my mind, Riley’s eyes snapped open. He gazed down at me and I could see both love and pain in those mechanical eyes. Again I wanted to be angry with him, but all he really was doing was looking out for my personal interest. He was trying to make sure I was healthy enough to do whatever it is we had to do. I couldn’t fault him for that, even with knowing that Jesse’s torturous ordeal continued. I grimaced at that.

“Why don’t we talk to Kevin or Julian and tell them that we saw him?” Riley suggested. He sat down next to me on the bed as he felt my face and forehead again. “You feel a bit cooler but not one hundred percent just yet. I calculated that in a few more hours, a day at most, you will beat this fever. You just need to let yourself get better.”

I wanted to argue, but I think with all of the times Riley had to either sedate or shock me into unconsciousness I just didn’t have the energy to even try. I just lay there, him staring down at me as he gently caressed my face and doing his best to ease my pain. I felt only the slightest trace of feeling from his touch, my heart numbing to the realization that I had failed Jesse. Utterly. I had promised him that I’d never let him get collared and look what happens to him. A mix of painful emotions filled me to bursting.

Crying won out above all others.

“Tr-Travis… why are you crying?” Riley asked in sudden alarm. “Please… talk to me.” I almost wanted to laugh at how startled and almost flustered my boyfriend appeared, his expression comical to me for a few seconds. But of course it wasn’t the time for humor. I guess there is some consolation that I hadn’t lost mine despite the gravity of my brother’s plight. I just threw my arm over my face, trying to hide my pain away. I still embarrassed easily, especially when I felt I was showing weakness. I had to show strength all this time until Jesse and I got our parents’ place back. Sure, I leaned on Kevin and Julian and the Krew a bit during that time frame, but I confided hardly any of my stresses to my brother – I didn’t want him to freak out about things. It was my burden to bear, looking out for him. I couldn’t really stand the thought for some reason of letting him comfort me when stealing our dinner failed for nights at a time, both of us getting hungrier by the hour. I fought with Jesse on those days just so he couldn’t make me feel any better.

“It’s just not fair!” I shouted into the room, feeling the desperation seize me like a constrictor, working at squeezing every last drop of hope and expectation from my weary body. “It’s not fair at all!”

“Of course it’s not, Travis.” He remained silent for a time as I wept into my arm. He tried to lay a gentle hand on my one arm but I jerked it away angrily. I felt content to wallow in my misery. The second time he reached for me several minutes later, I begrudgingly accepted his offer of support. I didn’t need to upset my only means of staying the least bit sane. I couldn’t help but admire and love this bot sitting next to me even more than I had previously discovered.

“I-I’m sorry, for being bratty,” I mumbled dejectedly. He said nothing. Slipping down next to me on the bed, wrapping his arms around me, was all he needed to say. I hugged him closer to me, appreciating him all the more. “I do love you, Riley. I really do.” Our legs intertwined.

“I know you do Travis.” It almost sounded like relief came out of his voice again when I declared my feelings towards him. It was almost like he was prepared to accept my love for how fleetingly he thought I’d give it to him. “And… I love you. So much.” He pulled me tighter to him. For a time we just lay there together, me relaxing some despite the situation. But Riley shattered that moment when he spoke again. “Travis… I… I-I have something to say. I can’t keep hiding the intent of that program sent to you for me any longer. I can’t expect you to really love me unless I ‘come clean’ about it..” For a moment, I thought I heard the comm panel signal an incoming call. I ignored it for now, desperately wanting to hear what he had to say.

“Wh-What are you saying?” I asked, fearful of it somehow severing his intimate tie to my being.

“Shh… it’s nothing bad… really. But it’s something we’ll have to deal with. Somewhat soon.”

The comm panel in the room chirped again as I eased. It flashed rather urgently at us as decided to extricate myself from Riley’s vice-like hold. I eyed him appraisingly, wondering what he had to tell me. He followed quickly, trying to stay near enough to help me if the need arose. I activated the panel after grabbing a robe for the two of us. I was surprised to see the face on the screen.

“Hello Travis. It’s good to see you like this and not in my security office.”

“D-Dawson?” I asked a bit startled. “Why are you calling here? Not that your company isn’t welcome, it’s just that I figure–”

The burly man chuckled. “It’s okay Travis. Today is a light security day – I don’t have anything pressing to take care of. Well, only one thing, but it involves you.”

“Me?” I pulled a nearby chair over to the panel to sit down for a bit – Riley kept insisting I sit before I got too dizzy or something. I complied just to get him to stop hovering. “What could you possibly need me for? And it’s not that great a time as something’s come up.” I swallowed. I tried to be strong, brave as I told him but it failed. Spectacularly. “Sh-She’s got him, D-Dawson. J-J-Jesse’s been… c-collared.” The man’s eyes widened in alarm.

“I’m going to do everything in my power to get him back to you, Travis. I guarantee it. Now I’ll make this brief, as in a way this is related.” He paused. “Admiral Hanson arrived on the station not too long ago and he wants the three of us to have a chat about this problem. Right now he’s talking to Shelby, hopefully setting that man straight and clearing up this whole matter.”

Just then I saw a glimmer of hope at the end of a short but very dark tunnel. Maybe Dawson could help me rescue Jesse! “When are we gonna meet? Oh, and I’m bringing someone along – he’s keeping me sane through this. I hope that’s okay.” Even if it wasn’t, I needed Riley there with me. Just knowing that he stood by me right now kept me from raging into a full-blown panic attack. Dawson nodded. He seemed aware of things enough not to refuse me even if I was a mere boy.

“As soon as you’re able is fine. Would you like me to have some security escort you and your friend to my office?”

“I think I can manage.” I flashed Riley a weak smile. “I have all the protection I need.” My eyes stared deeply into Riley’s. I wanted to show him how much he meant to me and thought maybe giving him a task might help him deal with my emotional meltdown. His eyes brightened as the comm panel switched off. I decided a quick shower and a change of clothes were in order, as Riley had stripped me of my earlier garments – probably due to me sweating straight through them.

The walk to the office was quiet but comfortable. A few times I swayed but each time Riley made sure to steady me. I looked over to him and, with the simplest touch, he helped to ease my mind. I appreciated him all the more for even that tiny gesture. Without a word, he soothed my spirit. I smiled over at him and, with a small breath, decided to take his hand into mine. Again I got to see the delight play out in his eyes. Our entwined hands swayed a bit as we walked and a few times a small giggle escaped Riley. It felt rather nice to just sideline all my stress and relish the moment before it was gone, the stress rolling back in like high tide.

Both men were in the office when we stepped through the threshold. The sliding doors stopped the conversation mid-word and both heads turned to face us. Dawson nodded at me as he sat down in his new chair – one made a bit wider to accommodate the sheer size of the man. Both saw me holding Riley’s hand and I made no move to take my hand out of his grasp. Dawson smiled widely while Hanson seemed content with the struggle of trying to remain professional as he failed to hide part of his own smile.

“Good to see you in higher spirits, young man,” Hanson said, breaking the solidifying ice around us all. “Travis, right?” I nodded. “Glad I could still remember your name. Meeting so many people tends to make it hard to place names with faces.”

“Understandable, sir,” I said respectfully. “Not to mention being second in command of the Space Fleet has to be a full-time job on top of that.”

The man snorted indignantly. “Too right. I never wanted to play in the politics game but, lo and behold, I get more than my fair share.” He chuckled. “Alright, let’s get down to business – I’d like to relax in the VIP quarters sooner rather than later.”

“Of course, Uncle.” Dawson pulled out another chair and the four of us sat down. “Travis, the situation with the mind-controlling devices on board the station has gotten out of hand. Counting your brother, that makes another ten newly enslaved kids. And that puts the count to about sixty percent of the entire station’s children population amongst their ranks. And they’re growing. Fast.”

“Wh-What?!” I almost shouted. “S-Someone’s collaring kids that aren’t even orphaned now?!”

Both men looked at one another before each nodded in turn. “Someone or a group of people are somehow luring kids away from their parents and somehow either tricking or forcing them to wear the collars. And each event seems to have happened inside quarters where my security sensors are limited at best due to station regulations. That or in areas where interference is high, thus disrupting anything we might receive.”

“This has to stop.” Admiral Hanson looked very upset. But also very angry. “This goes against the ideals of the universal charter signed centuries ago when all the old countries of Earth united finally under a single banner. So in the end, it seems that Commander Shelby is violating the very charter he swore to uphold and honor. As of now, he’s relieved of command. And until I can find a suitable replacement for either head of security or station commander, the Chief here is acting Commander.”

“Congratulations, sir.” I nodded once towards Dawson and he returned the nod. At least someone decent was in charge of the station. And that led to my next thought. “So, I take it you’re going to either order the orphanage matron to step down or have her remove and destroy the collars, right?”

“That won’t work,” Dawson said as his face hardened. “It seems that the few kids that have slipped from her grasp have led her to alter the devices since last time the computer scanned them for replication.” For just an instant, the strong man seemed to falter. “At the news of hearing Shelby possibly being relieved, I found a present on the doorstep to my office this morning.” Surprise showed on Hanson’s face as Dawson stood up. He turned away towards a door I’ve never been through. “If you’ll all follow me.” Riley helped me to my feet and squeezed my shoulders, again giving me some reassurance. We followed both adults into a hallway that actually connected the security office to the medical ward. A man with a surgical mask on his face approached a bed with a body shrouded in a sheet. “Dr. Winchester, have you begun the autopsy yet?”

The man that had given me check-ups over the years – as well as Jesse – seemed very haggard and older than I last remembered. His salt-and-pepper look from a year ago gave way to smoky gray strands of hair that look frazzled, matching the feelings I sensed coming from the man. Dignified to the last, he barely showed his underlying emotions, almost making it hard for me to tell something was wrong with him. Normally ramrod straight when he stood, I could see a noticeable slouch in his posture.

“Not yet,” the good doctor said wearily. He noticed both me and Riley standing in the background. “Are you sure you want Travis here to see this? And his friend, whom I not familiar with. You are…?”

“My name is Riley,” my boyfriend said. “I… I’ve never been a patient of yours but I think you aided Travis’s parents along with a friend of theirs in my construction.”

The man’s eyes brightened as Dawson and Hanson looked at Riley with confusion. “Ah! So you’re the bot that they built. If you don’t mind, I’d like to take a look at their work one of these days.” Riley nodded a bit. “No offense, but I thought their goals for you were mighty ambitious.”

Before the doctor and my boyfriend could go on some more, Dawson jumped back in and snagged the doctor’s attention. “Yes, they can remain. As much as I don’t want to, I think it’s necessary that Travis see this. Maybe he can help with identification.” Dawson came over to me and placed a large but gentle hand to my back, guiding me closer to the bed. Riley followed.

“If you say so.” Dr. Winchester sighed. “This is the part of the job I always hate…” With little fanfare, the man pulled the sheet back and settled it around the body’s waist. I gasped in horror and turned around to hide my face into Riley’s shoulder, unable to look at it. “As you can see, the boy’s neck is severely burned, far worse than the rest of his body. Third degree burns are here and along his lower face. Second degree burns cover most of his torso and arms.”

I felt Dawson lift my head up gently and stared into my eyes. “Travis, I’m sorry I had to show you this, but it had to be done. For you see, this boy was one of the collared.”

“Wh-What are you saying…?” I gulped, hoping to swallow my fear at what he wanted to tell me. I didn’t really get a good look at the boy’s face – the scene was too gruesome to look at for me. He couldn’t have been older than twelve!

My blood ran cold.

“I know this isn’t easy, but I want to make sure that… that this isn’t Jesse. We don’t really have good visual records on most of the children on board for some reason.” The man growled a bit. “It appears that the residential database had been hacked, deleting all records of every child residing on board. We’re in the dark here.”

“You can do this, Travis,” Riley whispered into my ear. “I know you’re strong. I’ll be here with you.”

Again, I swallowed. “O-Okay… I’ll take another look.” I steeled myself and took a deep breath. I had to know for certain, one way or the other. If I didn’t do this for Jesse, I’d never forgive myself. Slowly, I turned and stared at the badly burned body and stared at his face. I saw his blond head of hair and my breath caught in my throat. My eyes traced down his face, looking through the scar tissue. As my studying continued, I felt dizzy and weak. I turned back into Riley’s open arms and I felt him chase away the evil with his presence. I tried to calm myself but I felt panic starting to win.

“It’s… it’s not my brother.” As I uttered those words, I felt a bit more at peace, but I still felt heavy. For this boy to die at such a young age… It seemed like a cruel irony – given life and then have it taken away from him before he really had a chance to experience it. I started to get angry but it faded as fear crept in. Could…. Could this happen to Jesse as well? Or was it an accident of some sort?

“It seems that the modifications to the collar compared to the default blueprints we have on file suggest that our friend can detonate individual or entire groups of collars at once with some unknown means. When she does, the small amount of plasma that keeps it powered breaks through the shell and starts to severely burn the neck, lower head, and upper chest. If left alone long enough the plasma can, as you’ve seen burn parts of the lower body as it runs down the torso.” The doctor tried to sound detached from the entire description but he struggled; he probably had to give care to the boy as the only one on board qualified to handle all matters of children’s affairs – in life and in death.

“Is there any way to tell the difference between the old collar and the new one?” I asked, hoping there would be so I could tell if Jesse had one of the older collars or not.

With a start, Riley yanked me away from the body, stunning me. “Doctor! You must destroy the child’s body! It is infected with a deadly virus! If the body remains intact, the virus will consume his flesh and release itself into the air of the station!” Riley turned to me. “I can breathe for you for a time and make sure that you don’t get sick.” Without any warning, he mashed his lips to mine and held my head firmly to his. His own lips stayed open enough that with every exhale from him I inhaled and took in his oxygen.

Deciding not to second-guess a robot, the doctor slammed a button on a nearby panel, sounding off some sort of alarm as Dawson attempted to leave. “No, you can’t leave!” Dr. Winchester shouted. “If the bot is right, we all might have something so until I can rule all of us out to be safe, no one leaves. This office is under quarantine until further notice.”

“How can I conduct station business with me and Admiral Hanson trapped in here?!” Dawson started pacing. He knew better than to question the doctor – I knew he looked after Dawson’s own kids having seen them in here a few times before my parents took their fateful trip. He even helped to stabilize his young daughter’s condition as her Double Strke kicked in unusually early. Suddenly, Dawson growled. “Damn it! I should’ve seen this coming! Shelby can resume command since I’m now trapped and his superior that relieved him is also now trapped!”

“How could you know that they would do this to the poor child?” Hanson asked, a bit peeved himself. “It’s… it’s barbaric!”

Dr. Winchester had returned from taking the body of the boy elsewhere – it was probably best that I didn’t think about where. “Now that’s settled… I can start to examine each of us to see if anyone might be infected.”

“Start with Travis,” Dawson said immediately. “I don’t want to see anything happen to another child if I can help it.”

With a lot of awkwardness, Dr. Winchester managed to get samples of blood from me without having Riley disengage from my mouth. He even got a breath sample from me via me breathing into Riley and him exhaling through his nose. All in all, it was the most bizarre medical exam I’ve ever had. But after a time, I was deemed healthy and had nothing that resembled a deadly virus inside my system. And with the computer announcing the air clear as well, Riley finally let me go.

“That… was very weird. Good, but weird.” I looked at him with a dopey smile, thinking of the experience as the longest kiss I ever had. A couple of times I felt Riley’s tongue tease mine as I used him a filtration device for my air, almost messing up my rhythm. I could feel him giggle against me during our extended lip lock and I tried not to, for fear I’d dislodge my lips off his.

“I’m glad it wasn’t too unbearable for you Travis.” A slight blush crossed his face. But it faded quickly and he looked really serious. “I’m programmed to protect your life by any means necessary.” His seriousness faded. “Not that it’s hard for me to do such a thing.”

I couldn’t help but run a trail of fingers down the bridge of his nose before I tapped it once. “You seem to amaze me more and more. Why did I resist you for a time?”

“You weren’t sure if you could love a bot,” Riley whispered quietly, falling under my spell. “I’m just really glad that you can. Really glad.”

“If you two can hold back for a bit, we have another problem.” Dawson stepped up next to us and slightly interrupted our moment.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“That’s easy.” Dr. Winchester approached the doors as if to leave, but they didn’t open. He stepped back to try again and got the same result. “We’re trapped in here until the station commander outside the quarantined area clears it. And I don’t think Shelby will want to free us if we are a hindrance to his plans.”

“Not necessarily,” Riley said as his eyes drifted. “Travis and I can get out.”

“How?” The doctor threw up his hands. “Are you strong enough to tear your way through the doors?”

“Doubtful but I’ve never really tested my strength in that regard. But there’s another way. One that I think Travis is fairly familiar with.” I followed Riley’s line of sight and saw him staring at a grate sitting behind the doctor’s desk. The two of us locked eyes for a moment and it didn’t take very long for me to nod, agreeing. If I had to do this in order to save Jesse and all those other kids, I had to do it. For now, it all fell to me. “I will keep him safe as we travel towards A level and the commander’s office. We’ll get there and release the controls on the medical office.”

“That’d be a start. It might be a good idea if you can also slip into the orphanage and find the control device for the collars. It should be small and have some sort of receiver – neural or vocal. This is what it should look like.” Dawson showed me a small metal box using the console on the doctor’s desk. It looked very nondescript and seemed that it probably could blend in with surroundings with ease. “If you can get that device, we can move against the matron and Shelby once we’re free. Getting that device is more important than freeing us, understand?”

“Yes, sir.” We started to walk towards the grate but I stopped. “Dawson? Does this mean we’ve just been deputized?”

The two of us had been climbing down for about a half hour. It always seemed to take forever to get where I needed when I had to resort to crawling through mostly ductwork. I estimated we were between B and C levels somewhere when Riley decided he was ready to talk some more – we had been pretty quiet up to that point.

“Travis, we never did finish our talk before Dawson called. I have something really important to tell you.” I paused when the vent leveled out for a time as I caught my breath. Did I really want to hear this right now? I saw Riley glance at me, looking a bit apprehensive. He couldn’t sit still in the limited space, his hands constantly wringing the air like a wet shirt sat in his hands, as if maybe his actions would cleanse him. “C…Can I tell you now? I know this isn’t the ideal condition to tell you… and I fear your reaction, but I cannot hold this in for much longer.”

With some hesitation on my part, I felt my head slowly nodding consent. Enough of me seemed to need to get this mystery behind us in order for us to move forward. Otherwise I feared we’d stagnate. “Okay… go ahead. I’ll try to stay calm but no promises.”

“Fair enough. That’s about all I can ask from you, really.” Riley sidled up next to me and took my hand into his, squeezing it. “Travis, I never wanted to deceive you in this way, I really didn’t. But… when we had se… um, made love, well… the program your parents sent you activated.”

“What’s that mean?” I asked. “You didn’t tell me what it could do so right now that means nothing to me.”

If Riley could sweat, I think he’d have started by now given his furtive glances and inability to remain still. “Um… well, that’s the thing. I couldn’t tell you until after we… or rather, you finished as you did. Inside of me.” He swallowed again, a very human reaction to nervousness. “I can’t keep stringing this along so I’ll just say it and deal with your reaction as it comes.” With a final huff, he managed to stare into my eyes.

“What is it?”

“Travis… I’m pregnant.”