City of the Cyborgs (9 page)

“I won’t leave you!” he yelled back.

But Sarah knew that further struggling would achieve nothing. “Run! You can rescue me later! Go for help!”

She saw Josh duck under another blow from the black club. His sword struck the annihilator’s antenna and broke it off. The cyborg fell to the ground.

“I’ll be back, Sarah!” he yelled. Then he turned and ran.

∗ ∗ ∗

Josh glanced back once. Some cyborgs were following, but they were bulky and slow. He whipped around a corner and soon managed to lose them.

But fear gripped him. “We’ve got to get Sarah out of there. I’ve got to get to the others,” he gasped. He made at once for the hideout, wishing with all his being that they had never come to the City of the Cyborgs.

S
arah still struggled in the annihilator’s grasp, but he held her firmly. Then he looked down at the cyborg on the ground. “Annihilator Unit 36go has lost antenna.” He spoke without emotion in his metallic voice.

“Do you have the insane unit?”

“Yes, Peacemaker.”

“Then bring the unit to reclamation at once.”

Sarah glanced over her shoulder as he relentlessly pulled her along. The four annihilators that had taken off in pursuit of Josh appeared at the end of the street, and she heaved a sigh of relief. Josh was not with them.

He got away!
she thought gratefully.

The annihilator gripped her arm tightly as they walked down the street. The cyborgs they met continued going about their business, paying absolutely no attention to her or to her captor. And she thought,
Back in Oldworld, when an arrest was made, everybody stopped and looked. But these cyborgs don’t notice anything!

Their destination, she saw, was going to be the tallest building in the city. Rainor had mentioned going there. He said the tower was a “hotbed of annihilators.” The place was evidently their headquarters.

The annihilator who held her arm did not loosen his grip. When they came to a line of guards at the entrance, he halted before one and recited a number. The guard stepped aside, and they entered.

Inside, the building was clean and light. They passed several cyborgs who apparently were janitors. They were busily mopping the marble floor. Frightened though she was, Sarah saw that this building was much more attractive than the other buildings that she had visited. The walls here were smooth and white, and the lighting system was such that there was not the gloomy atmosphere of other buildings.

The annihilator passed several others of his kind, and each time had to give a number. Sarah’s heart sank, for she knew that it would be difficult for anyone to break into—or out of—this place.

Finally her captor reached a corridor where he opened a door and firmly pushed her inside. Without another word, he shut the door behind her, and she heard the lock engage.

Sarah looked around. She saw a cot, a chair, toilet facilities, and a table. On the table sat a pitcher of water.

Fear came over Sarah Collingwood then. There was something ominous about the very bareness—and readiness—of the cell. She had been thrown into dungeons where there had been dank, ill smelling straw and where rats were prone to wander. That had been frightening, but, for some reason that she could not understand, this seemed worse.

She could not sit down but began to pace nervously. There were no windows, nothing to look out of, no books to read, and she knew that she could not simply sit. She walked back and forth in the small space and thought that this was the way a lion in captivity would get its exercise. Back and forth. Back and forth.

Finally she grew weary and lay down on the cot. She closed her eyes.

“It’s so bad to be alone,” she whispered. “Oh, Josh, please come and get me soon!” Then, “Goél, please help us all.”

Sarah finally slept. She awoke several times, always to a sense of fear. And then she heard her door being opened.

Sarah’s eyes flew open, and she sprang up from the cot to see that her visitor was not a cyborg but a normal looking human being. Hope came to her, for at least she could talk to this person.

The man who entered was tall and lean and appeared to be about middle-aged. He had penetrating dark eyes, and dark hair fell about his shoulders. He wore a dark red tunic and a pair of matching trousers, and on his feet were soft looking, low-quarter shoes with the toes curled up in a strange fashion. He had on a soft velvet cap with a gold tassel hanging from the top. Around his neck hung a gold pendant with the sign of a lightning bolt on it.

“Sir,” Sarah said, “I have to talk to you.”

“That is why I came. You may call me the Peacemaker.”

And then Sarah knew another start of fear. This was the very one that Cee Dee had spoken of as being in charge of this terrible place. She looked into his eyes and saw no kindness there.

But he was studying her with interest. “What is your name, and where do you come from?” the Peacemaker asked.

“My name is Sarah Collingwood. There’s been a terrible mistake. I am just a visitor here. I mean you no harm, Peacemaker.”

“Do you not?” The Peacemaker smiled, but there
was a cruel aspect to his lips. “I have heard that said before and find it difficult to believe.”

“I am the servant of Goél, and if you know anything about him—”

“Yes, I have heard of Goél,” the Peacemaker said slowly, “but he has no authority in my kingdom.” He studied her a moment longer. “How many units entered my kingdom with you?”

Sarah fell silent. She closed her lips firmly and did not say a word.

“Ah”—the Peacemaker’s eyes narrowed—“you are stubborn. But that will change when you become part of the One.”

And then suddenly Sarah Collingwood knew stark terror. “You can’t make me into a cyborg!” she cried.

“Oh, indeed I can! Those who enter my kingdom without permission leave me no choice. I cannot allow spies to return to the outside world and reveal my secrets.”

“Peacemaker,” Sarah said desperately—she could not control the trembling of her hands—“please don’t make me into a cyborg!”

“Now, my dear, do not worry. It is not at all bad. When you are part of the One, you will have no more fears as you have now. I see that your hands are trembling.”

Sarah quickly hid her hands behind her back. “I don’t want to lose my fears. When you lose those you lose your joy too.”

“You’re not thinking properly, my dear. But that will all change.” He listened while Sarah begged, but then shook his head. “You are upset now, but afterward you will have total peace. Oh, I’ve seen this many times. You, perhaps, do not know the history of my
country. At the time my grandfather was the ruler here, we had nothing but wars and revolts. But he was a fine scientist, and it was he who discovered the principle through which peace would come to our people.”

“You’ve made slaves of them!”

“Oh no, indeed. Not slaves! Do not look at it that way.” The Peacemaker smiled again. “My grandfather simply discovered a way to take away all rebellion. Once the will was controlled, our people became very quiet indeed.”

“They’re the same as dead!” Sarah cried out. “They might as well be buried.”

“A typical reaction,” the Peacemaker said. He rubbed his hands together. “My father perfected the technique, and, of course, now that they are both gone, I must continue their ways. Now, my dear, I understand your fear. But that fear will soon be gone.”

“But I don’t want to lose all of my fears. Some fear is good. It’s part of being a human being.”

“An ugly part. There’s no crime in my kingdom, there are no family problems, there is no unrest or rebellion. The other nations of Nuworld seek peace continually—and never find it. We have achieved peace in the City of the Cyborgs.”

“Your people are all slaves! I won’t let you do this to me!”

The Peacemaker touched a button on his belt, and the door behind him opened.

Two large cyborgs dressed in white entered. Their appearance frightened Sarah even more. And then she heard the Peacemaker say, “Take her to reclamation. She must be reclaimed.”

“Yes, Peacemaker.”

Sarah tried to avoid the white-clad cyborgs, but
each seized one of her arms and followed the Peacemaker out of the small cell. They dragged her down the hall until they reached another door, which the Peacemaker passed through.

Inside, Sarah saw a large black machine at one end of the room. It was covered with coils and gauges.

“Place her on the table,” the Peacemaker said.

He stood watching as they laid Sarah on a white marble table. It was as cold as ice.

“Fasten her tightly. We don’t want her to hurt herself.”

“Yes, Peacemaker.”

Sarah soon was bound so tightly that she could not move. Her head was fastened by a soft leather strap. And then the two white-dressed cyborgs stepped back.

The Peacemaker stood over her. He had put on white gloves and held some sort of instrument in his hand.

“There will be a very small discomfort, but that is a small price to pay for eternal peace.”

“Let me go!” Sarah cried. “Don’t do this to me!”

“I always have some difficulty with candidates for my kingdom. They do not understand,” the Peacemaker said, “that I have to take all of the responsibility for this city. I could not do that if there were rebellion as there is in other countries. We only do what we must.”

Sarah began to plead again, but there was no mercy in the lean face of the Peacemaker. He lifted the shiny instrument and said, “In a very short time you will be part of the One.”

Sarah felt a pain in her temple. It was not severe, and it was not the physical pain that caused her to cry out. She knew that she was being made into something
nonhuman or only partly human, and this frightened her more than any of the terrible wild beasts and monsters she had ever encountered in Nuworld.

She began to lose consciousness, and as the blackness closed around her, Sarah cried out with all of her might, “Goél—help me!”

R
eb and Rainor stood thoughtfully before the electronic fence that surrounded the City of the Cyborgs.

“There must be
some
way to get through that shield and out of here without using any code words,” Reb said.

The boys started to walk slowly along the line of posts. Once Rainor picked up a stone and tossed it toward the invisible shield. There was a distinct
click
, and the stone seemed to shake before it fell.

“That’s a powerful jolt of electricity,” Reb said. He looked upward, thinking. “I wonder how high up it goes. Surely not all the way to the moon!”

“That’s an idea,” Rainor said. “If there was a tree here, we could climb up it and maybe jump over the magnetic fence.”

“And maybe break our necks when we fell,” Reb snorted. “Besides, there ain’t no trees. I think they did that on purpose. Looks like they really don’t want anybody out of this place!”

They walked along farther down the post line, and Reb picked up a stick. Cautiously he approached the fence.

“Watch out, Reb. That thing’s dangerous.”

“I’m just going to try a little jab at it.” Reb cautiously extended the stick. When it struck the invisible shield, there was a crackling, and he jerked his hand back. He stared at the stick and saw that the end was
singed. He tossed it down and flexed his fingers. “Well, we’re not going to walk through this thing, that’s for sure. Not without the right words.”

“And it won’t do any good to rescue Mayfair if we can’t get out of the city. They’d catch us eventually.”

They walked on, and Reb racked his brain, trying to think of some way to make an escape. Finally he said, “I remember once how my Uncle Seedy busted out of a jail back in Arkansas.”

“Your uncle was in jail? What in the world did he do, Reb?”

“Oh, nothing serious. He hadn’t killed anybody. They caught him making moonshine.”

Rainor just looked at him. “What’s moonshine!”

“It’s a kind of alcoholic drink people made in their backyard.”

“Oh. And making it was against the law?”

“It was then. Anyway, Uncle Seedy got found out, and they throwed him in the slammer, and he found a good way to get out.” Reb grinned, remembering.

“What did he do?” Rainor asked with interest. “Maybe we could do it.”

“I doubt it. He had his nephew Ferdie come by after dark with a logging truck. Ferdie, he tossed up a rope, and then—when my Uncle Seedy caught it—he put the other end around a big logging chain. Uncle Seedy, he hauled it up and tied it to the window of his cell and said, ‘Let her go!’”

“What happened?”

“Pulled the whole side of the jail down is what happened. Uncle Seedy fell through it and broke his leg. Guess he was lucky it didn’t kill him. But he got out of jail.”

Rainor was forced to smile. “Doesn’t sound like anything we’d like to try.”

“No, I guess not. Well, I’ll put on my thinkin’ cap. Maybe we could build some sort of a tower and jump over this thing. I don’t know how we’d keep from breakin’ our legs, though.”

The boys returned to the city, both depressed. At every turn they seemed to be frustrated. They were halfway through town and back to their hideout when suddenly Rainor stopped in his tracks.