Cindrac Read online

  Chapter Five

  Cindrac allowed his nanites to turn on the security cameras at the rooftop and around the city. He wanted what was about to happen to be a warning to the overlords who thought to thwart him from getting those other computers.

  Using the backdoor, Cin coded into the hybrid vehicle when he stole it, Cindrac shut the ship down completely. As expected, Loquan jumped out, pulled a stolen gun from the back of her pants, and pointed it at him.

  “I don’t need you,” Loquan hissed. “I don’t need anyone.”

  Cindrac’s more evolved mind, and all that he learned, already won this battle. He just had to play it out. While Loquan had been turning her nanites into scary-looking leather outfits, Cin had been exercising more practical uses for his new technology.

  After commanding his nanites to camouflage, Cindrac’s image shimmered and disappeared, leaving Loquan fuming as she scanned the roof for him. Stomping her feet in anger, she waved the gun around in the air.

  “Come out, you coward!” Loquan screamed.

  Cindrac walked right up to her, knocked the gun out of Loquan’s hand, and then stepped out of her reach. Loquan screamed in impotent fury and looked around the roof for him.

  “Stop this now, Loquan,” Cindrac warned, not wanting to kill her though he knew it was inevitable.

  “Show yourself, you coward,” Loquan spat.

  Cindrac allowed his image to shimmer into view and wasn’t surprised when Loquan rushed at him. As gently as possible, he tripped her before she could reach him.

  “Stop, Loquan.” Cindrac could see the madness in her eyes as she was sprawled on the ground and shook his head.

  Feeling the small probe in his nanites, Cindrac easily deflected Loquan’s pitiful effort to hack into him. Using his command of the nanite codes they shared, Cindrac seized control of Loquan’s body and left her paralyzed on the ground.

  “Let me go!” Loquan shrieked.

  “I can’t,” Cindrac stated sadly. “You’re too dangerous, and I can’t let the elite get you either.”

  “So, what? You’re going to kill me?” Loquan snorted. “You need me!”

  Cindrac shook his head sadly. “No, I don’t.”

  Holding her body to the roof with her own nanites, Cindrac walked to the hybrid vehicle and got inside to the screams and cries of Loquan.

  “Don’t let them get me again!” Loquan yelled out in fear.

  “I won’t,” Cindrac whispered as he took to the skies.

  When he was far enough away not to see it, Cindrac set off the kill switch initially coded into the nanites. The same codes the nanites themselves had easily overridden upon injection. Cin didn’t need to watch to know that all the computer chips embedded in Loquan’s body were the next to be fried.

  By the time Cindrac reached the next lab, Loquan’s body was nearly liquefied from the inside, leaving nothing for the overlords to learn from her. When he reached the room where the computer was supposed to be, Cin was furious enough to trash it when he saw the system was gone.

  Glad he’d left the security cameras running throughout the city, Cin looked into the lens of the nearest one and sneered. “I will have what I’m looking for, no matter the cost to all of you. I’ll see you in a little while.”

  Cin stormed out of the lab and set the remaining equipment on fire by superheating the internal power supplies. Cin got in his ship on the roof and headed to where he knew many unconnected computers were taken.

  Halfway to his next target, Cin noted the warning from his nanites and was ready when the face of an overlord appeared as a hologram in the sky.

  “Cindrac! What is it you want? We want to work with you! Please, stop and talk with us!” the overlord bastard, Henris Rotchild, pleaded.

  Cindrac’s response was to blow right through the hologram in the sky and shut down the satellite system that projected it. He chuckled at the desperation the overlords must feel to use the archaic Project Bluebeam technology to sway him. The same technology the elite used to help enslave mankind.

  There was no need to listen to anything the overlords had to say. Cin learned enough to know that the twisted bastards would lie and betray him, as they had all of humanity, to keep power and the human race enslaved.

  The elite wanted to use and control him, and if that weren’t possible, they would torture and experiment on him to find out what the nanites were doing. All so they could try again and create another like him and Loquan, but one they could subdue and control.

  As he got closer to his destination, Cin shut down the security cameras, all the power, including the backup systems, and used the kill switches to down the personnel. Cin was pretty angry but didn’t even consider killing anyone and only rendered them unconscious.

  Hovering above the main entrance, Cin was irritated that there was nowhere to land without doing so on an unconscious body. He traveled down the road until he found a clear spot and sighed at the mile trek up the mountain he’d have to make. Cin hated to waste time, but it was important that he didn’t become the same as those who’d destroyed mankind.

  Cin jogged up the road, allowing his stronger, faster body to get him there in record time. He easily stepped over the bodies and entered the mountain complex, while his nanites automatically adjusted his eyesight to the dark interior.

  Cin pulled up a map of the complex in his mind and was amazed at the compound's size. He knew the computers he was looking for wouldn’t be connected to the global network and couldn’t trace them through the other systems. Cin knew this would take more time than anticipated unless he found another way.

  As he walked down the main corridor, Cindrac pulled up the compound’s security cameras from the last twenty-four hours and allowed his nanites to run through the tapes for him. Within seconds, they played back the video of a group of soldiers rolling in four computers only hours earlier.

  Following the soldiers' route, Cin found the room where the computers were taken and threw open the door. He was shocked to see not four but eight different unconnected systems inside. Cin’s nanites started with the first one and pulled the information from each until he’d gone through them all.

  Cindrac was just beginning to process the information on time travel when his nanites set off a warning. Shaking his head at the overlords' idiocy, Cin walked out of the complex, destroying every piece of technology within it as he went.

  Stepping outside, Cin waved his hand, disabling all of the ships' weapons systems hovering above him. Not only was he giving the pilot time to land, but Cin was also protecting himself at the same time.

  Walking down the road to his vehicle, Cin was pissed off when he saw the soldiers destroyed his stolen hybrid ship. He looked up and seized control of the first aerial craft he saw and forced it to land. Cin knocked out the entire crew, stormed over to it, and pulled out the unconscious soldiers.

  Figuring he gave them plenty of time to land and save themselves, Cindrac cut the other ships' power systems still hovering around him. Most were close enough to the ground for no one to be hurt, but two others crashed and were calling out minor casualties.

  Another hologram appeared in the sky as Cin took off, and he didn’t bother to stay around to hear what the overlord Cybil Rickefoller had to say. The woman was known for her twisted sexual appetite, like most of the overlords, and Cin couldn’t fathom why they thought Cybil would deter him from his mission.

  Cin was just getting close to the first elite bunker when he saw dozens of ships in the skies above it. Sighing at the same tired response, he knocked out the soldiers and lowered the vessels to the ground. By the time he reached the bunker, everyone but his targets were unconscious.

  Cindrac couldn’t help but smile when he strode in the unlocked front door of the bunker and saw none other than Cybil Rickefoller trembling in the living room. Her physical features might be considered acceptable by human standards, but the elite's inbreeding was obvious.

  No amount of technology or surgery could rem
ove all traces of the centuries of incest among those who thought themselves better than everyone else. The woman, uselessly begging for her life, and those like her sickened Cin to his core.

  It was no wonder that the peaceful, decent alien species of the universe wouldn’t have anything to do with the overlords. All but the Consortium had refused to give them weapons and technology, knowing the elite would use it against the enslaved and helpless population.

  “I don’t even hear what you’re saying,” Cindrac admitted to the bitch with a cold grin.

  “Wait! Please!” Cybil slid her robe off her shoulders and let it pool on the floor around her.

  Cin gagged on a bit of bile that came up at her naked display, and with a look of disgust, he set off her kill switch, blowing her head off. Trying to erase the sick feeling from being that close to the woman, Cin made quick work of Cybil’s husband, four brothers, and aunt.

  Grabbing the totes he’d left by the front door, Cin had some of his nanites watching the airspace around them while he rummaged through the refrigerator, cabinets, and spices. All the while, other nanites were rapidly processing the information taken from the eight computers at Cheyenne Mountain.

  Putting the supplies in the ship, Cindrac dreaded having to go to the other bunkers. It wasn’t that the elite didn’t deserve death. They deserved to rot in the most bottomless pits of hell. He was just tired of the killing. It’s what he’d been bred for, but not who he wanted to be.

  Cindrac didn’t want to be anything like the overlords wanted, nor did he just want to exist as he had been. He was free, as all of humanity should be from birth, and he refused to allow the overlords to win by becoming nothing more than what they planned for him to be.

  Uncaring about terrorizing them any longer, Cindrac instantly killed the overlords at the rest of the bunkers that night and shut down all of the satellites to prevent them from using their blue beam technology on him again.

  Cindrac wasn’t afraid the technology would be used against him; he was just tired of the pathetic games played by the overlords. Everything was a lie or con with the elite, even among themselves, and Cin wasn’t going to be a part of their twisted version of the world any longer.

  Arriving at the cabin just as the sun was peeking over the horizon, Cindrac carried his stolen foods, journals, and books inside. After putting everything away, he sat in the recliner and kicked back to watch the rest of the sunrise through the wall of windows.

  Though breathtakingly beautiful, the scenery couldn’t stop Cin’s mind from straying to the problems he faced. His nanites estimated that it would take Cin sixty-four days to get all of the computers and destroy all of the elite at the rate he was going. Cindrac knew that the destruction and death would wear on his soul if he continued as he was.

  What worried Cin more was the probabilities that the elite would start using the slaves against him were getting higher with each successful mission. At some point, the overlords would threaten innocent lives to bring him back under their control.

  Cindrac knew there had to be a way to accomplish everything without harming the innocent, losing his humanity, or missing a chance to get the other computers with alien technology and earth's true history.

  While Cin contemplated the problem, he went to the kitchen and grabbed a beer from the fridge. He was just marveling over his first sip of the tasty brew when Cin’s mind finally assimilated the information he’d stolen on time travel.

  “Whoa,” Cin whispered in shock.

  Immediately turning his thoughts inward, Cin went over all aspects of known time travel in the universe, most of which the elites hadn’t been able to decode. Cin could tell the overlords had desperately tried by the communications sent back and forth between them on the subject.

  Their goal was to go back in time and start the process of enslavement much earlier. The overlords believed that with their current level of intellect that they could ensure they would seize power long before essential knowledge and resources were lost in the wars they created.

  Ironically, the Rosetta stone to decode the secrets of time travel was one of the things destroyed during one of their instigated race wars. It was something that other aliens refused to give the elite because of their alliance with the Consortium.

  Like the overlords, Cindrac began to think that the key to their total annihilation might just be time travel. If he could go far enough back to the inception of the takeover of humanity, Cin might be able to prevent this terrifying future for Earth.

  Briefly wondering if he would still exist if he succeeded, Cin’s mind ran through all of the alien information stolen from the elite computers on the topic. He was more than a little surprised to learn that the power to sift the strands of time was already within him.

  Cindrac finished his beer and grabbed another from the fridge before walking onto the deck to look at the mountains' early morning view. Sadly, Cin’s mind was too chaotic to enjoy the scenery.

  Six hours passed before Cin had the probabilities figured out for a dozen different plans. The best course of action was one Cin was more nervous about than any other option, solely because he needed to rely on someone else to accomplish his goals.

  Figuring there was nothing to lose, Cin used his nanites to concentrate his energy before flicking his hand in the air in front of him. Cin sucked in a sharp breath at the shimmering disc hovering mere inches from him.

  Hoping like hell that he wasn’t making a huge mistake, Cin closed his eyes and jumped through the disc. Opening his eyes, Cin had no time to applaud his accomplishment before a giant fist hit him in the face and launched him across the room.

  Cin didn’t have time to wonder why he wasn’t pouring blood and unconscious from the blow as the giant stalked toward him, wearing only half-buttoned pants. Cin immediately realized his mistake when he saw a tall, blond beauty wrapping a bed sheet around her and reaching for a weapon.

  “Wait!” Cin held up his hands in surrender. “I’m not here to fight but for help! I’m from Earth, and I know you are a friend to those from the planet.” Cin studied the woman. “Both of you. I can change what’s happening, but I need your help.”

  “Who the fuck are you, and how did you get here?” the giant growled, moving to stand in front of his woman.

  “I’m Cindrac. That is the only name they gave me at birth. A few days ago, I was a soldier slave on Earth that they were using for nanite experimentation. It gave me power. The power to get here, and the power to fight back against those enslaving Earth,” Cindrac admitted, knowing he had to be honest with the giant man.

  The woman slid to the side of the bed and moved around the giant to stare at him. “You’re the one on the news reports from Earth. The one they’re calling a rogue terrorist! You’re the one killing the elite!”

  Cin couldn’t help but smile at the woman’s rising excitement. After all, he’d been through in the last few days, it was nice for someone else to see that he was desperately trying to do the right thing by his world and its people.

  “Yes, but it’s taking too long, and I’m at a point where they will begin harming the innocent as a last-ditch effort to regain control of me,” Cin admitted.

  The giant folded his arms across his chest and carefully studied Cindrac. “You do not register as a normal being. What are you?”

  “Commander?” someone called through the comm in the room. “We’ve got an unusual life sign in your quarters. We have a security team on the way. Are you all right?”

  The Commander of the outpost narrowed his eyes at Cin for a moment. “Cancel the team. I’m fine and will apprise you of the situation later. Set the recordings of my quarters to classified, monitor life signs accordingly, and await word from Freya or me.”

  “Sir, are you sure?” came the reply.

  The Commander angrily pulled on a shirt and hid the woman from Cin. “Yes! Now do it!”

  Realizing the tall beauty was trying to dress beneath the sheet, Cin turned his back and placed hi
s hands behind his head. He wanted to assure the nervous giant that he had come in peace and wouldn’t try to hurt them.

  No more than a minute passed, during which Cin could hear clothing being passed around and donned before the giant cleared his throat.

  “You can turn around now,” the Commander stated.

  “Let’s go into the dining room,” the woman suggested. “I need some coffee for this.”

  When she saw Cin’s eyes light up, Freya laughed. “Would you like a cup as well?”

  “Yes, please,” Cin said with a grateful smile.

  Freya led the way from the room, and the giant stayed close on Cin’s heels, making sure he made no move to harm the woman. Once they were in the kitchen, the Commander pulled a chair out, then moved to another and did the same.

  Cin could tell by the look on the giant’s face that he expected Cindrac to sit, and he did so to put the Commander at ease. Moments later, Freya returned to the table with three mugs and took the seat between Cin and the Commander until the giant pulled it closer to his side.

  Giving the giant a frustrated look, Freya sat beside the Commander and looked at Cin. “Why did you come here? To us? You must know that going to the LAW Council would have been a better idea.”

  Cin turned to the rightfully suspicious giant. “I’m here because of the Commander. Specifically because the records I’ve accessed state that you are the person in LAW most familiar with Earth, and this is the Outpost closest to the planet as well.”

  The giant shook his head in confusion. “If you’re here to ask for LAW to intervene on behalf of the humans, we’ve already tried. The elite overlords have a stranglehold on your population, and we can’t risk an assault without massive civilian casualties.”

  Freya snorted in disgust. “The last time LAW tried to intervene, the overlords threatened to genocide an entire continent through those damn kill switches. How did you get around that?”