Free City of the Cyborgs by Gilbert L. Morris

Dee’s arm. “Come along, Cee Dee. I’ll show you where you can lie down. I’ll talk to you awhile. Maybe you’ll get sleepy.” She led the girl away.
    As soon as they were gone, Rainor said angrily, “Somebody has made these people nothing but mindless slaves!”
    “And this Peacemaker. Who
is
he? What do you think of him?”
    “You know pretty well what I think. Anyone who would do what he’s done to a young girl like this doesn’t deserve to live himself.”
    Secretly Josh agreed with him, but he took a less violent point of view. “Well, maybe there’s a way to convince him that what he’s doing is wrong. If we can find him.”
    “You haven’t been around very much if you think that, Josh.”
    “How’s that?”
    “I mean that people who are in total control—youcan’t easily convince them that they’re wrong. They’ve got power, and they won’t give it up.”
    Josh slowly nodded. “I suppose you’re right. I think I was just hopeful.”
    Rainor lowered his head and seemed to be deep in thought. “I think it’s getting clear what we’ve got to do, Josh.”
    “Are you thinking the same thing I am?”
    “Probably. We’ve got to help all these people. Not just Mayfair but
all
of them.”
    “I’m coming to believe that’s why we were sent here.”
    “What do you mean, ‘sent’? Sent by whom?”
    “Well, since we’ve been serving Goél, we have found out that things just don’t accidentally happen. I mean, why were we out there in the desert at exactly the time you came along?”
    “You think it was meant to be? That Goél planned it that way? Is that it?”
    “All I know is that we wouldn’t be here to help you look for Mayfair if you hadn’t met us. And if you hadn’t met us and saved our lives, we’d be dead. And now it looks like there’s a job laid out for us, Rainor.”
    “Still, I just came here to find Mayfair.”
    “I know you did, but it’s come to be more to it than that, hasn’t it?”
    Slowly Rainor nodded. “And the first thing we’ve got to do is find this Peacemaker. But I’ll tell you one thing.”
    “What’s that?”
    “When I get my hands on him, he’s going to have anything
but
peace!”

9
The Captive
    S arah and Josh were making themselves a snack in what had once been the cafeteria kitchen.
    “I think Cee Dee is going to get well,” Sarah said. She glanced over at him, adding, “She’s making much more sense now. Just give her a little time, and she’ll be fine.”
    Josh had made himself a sandwich and was proceeding to add a layer of beef. He added salt. He shook pepper over it until it was almost black. Then he eyed the sandwich and took a huge bite. “That’s good,” he said and offered it to Sarah. “Have a bite,” he mumbled.
    “It would paralyze my tongue, Josh! I don’t see how you eat anything with that much pepper. You always did do that—even back in Oldworld.”
    “It adds flavor.” But then he said, “I think you’re right about Cee Dee. She has some bad times, but in between she’s talking quite a bit and making a lot more sense.”
    “It gives me chills just to think about her life here.”
    They had found some windfall apples lying under a tree, and Sarah was cutting one into small slices with her sheath knife. She nibbled on a piece, then said, “These aren’t as good as apples used to be in the old days. They aren’t as sweet, and they’re harder. But they’re apples.”
    Josh swallowed another bite of sandwich, then said solemnly, “Well, when people get to be your age,the olden days always seem better. That’s one sure sign you’re getting old.”
    Sarah stuck out her tongue at him and shoved a sliver of apple into his mouth. “There, chew on that!” She took another bite herself and then walked to a window. The abandoned cafeteria was in an especially rundown section of town. She looked out at the grim street and sighed. “Josh, this has got to be the ugliest city in the whole world. Not one