We Can Rebuild Him

Written by Wade R. DeYoung

Steve Austin ran over the mountainside in the Cascades, and he uprooted the oaks and maples that obstructed his path. Although perspiration gushed down his forehead, the movement of his legs and right arm was effortless, since the artificial limbs imposed no energy demand on his human physiology. Steve searched for his high school sweetheart and former fiancée, Jaime Sommers. Steve thought she had died three months ago. Complications from surgery. Her immune system had rejected her prosthetic limbs. But today Steve discovered that she was still alive. He wanted her, and he hoped she wanted him. But did she still remember him and their engagement?
Steve leapt over a 10-foot-tall boulder in his path as gracefully as a butterfly dips from the sky to a daffodil. He didn’t think often about his accident six years ago, but he thought about it now. It reminded him of why he was the way he was now. Half artificial. The experimental lifting body plane, the M2-F2, thundering into the ground at 260 miles per hour, sand swirling around it, the plane tumbling end over end, nose to tail. Was it six times or seven? An astronaut should remember such details, but Steve repressed the memory.
No one saw Steve running 65 miles per hour over that ridge. Although Steve didn’t care now, Oscar would care. Steve’s cyborg prosthetics were level six top secret. He searched for his lost love with his telescopic left eye, which had a gunsight reticle, but he couldn’t spot her. He brushed away intervening birds and insects as gently as a father would chastise a toddler. He threaded his fingers through his short, brown hair.
Steve’s walkie talkie buzzed. A lanyard held the radio to Steve’s leather belt. Steve lifted the walkie talkie to his ear and pressed the “speak” button. “Yes, Oscar,” he said.
“Snow White, this is Mother Goose,” said Oscar Goldman, director of the Office of Scientific Intelligence.
Steve said, “Oscar, I think we can drop the code names. There’s no one up here besides me, birds, bugs, and buttercups.”
“Wrong, pal,” said Oscar. “You know Jaime’s up there too, and someone else is on the way. Someone you should know about.”
“Who?” asked Steve, as he considered the absurdity of Oscar’s statement. Jaime was an OSI agent too. He didn’t have to use code names in front of her.
“Barney Miller.”
“Barney? Why? Rudy neutralized his bionic strength a year ago. Besides, I don’t need him to find Jaime. Odds are she’s looking for me too. And she can hear a lot better than I can.”
“Wrong on two counts, pal,” said Oscar. “Rudy re-activated Barney’s bionic strength yesterday. Barney broke into my office today, and he knows where you are. Rudy implanted an electronic tracker in one of Barney’s arms this time, because of the last two times he went rogue on us. We know he’s headed your way.”
“Why, Oscar? Why do you keep unleashing this bionic time bomb? You know he can’t handle being super strong!” exclaimed Steve.
“It was another experiment on the neutralization and re-activation of bionic power. We’re still not sure how well that works. I’ve got 10 helicopters looking for him, and they all have the frequency of his tracker, but we still haven’t located him.”
Steve recalled the last two times he’d fought with Barney. Barney had two prosthetic arms to Steve’s one. Steve had narrowly beat him. “Well, that’s just lovely, Oscar. Now, I’ve got two problems to deal with.”
“There’s more. We have evidence that the Sasquatch may be in your area. You’ve tangled with Bigfoot a few times before, too. But, should Barney find you before you find Jaime, and should he attack you, just run away, Steve! Run away! Steve, you can’t stop him!” exhorted Oscar.
“Never rains, but it pours,” said Steve. “Thanks, Mother Goose. Snow White out,” he said replacing the radio in its lanyard. The walkie talkie squawked a few times more, but Steve ignored it.
With both hands cupped around his mouth, Steve called out, “Jaime!”
And that was a mistake. The Sasquatch heard him, leapt over a 30-foot-tall grove of trees, and attacked. The hairy creature lunged at Steve and hit him on the left shoulder, the one that wasn’t synthetic. Steve plunged into the dirt, but his nuclear-powered right arm bore the brunt of the impact. Still prone, Steve kicked the robot in the knee with his left leg. The monster howled in rage and pain as the astronaut regained his footing. Bigfoot swung at Steve’s head, but he blocked this with his right arm. Sasquatch, trying to bring Steve to the ground, jumped toward the six-million-dollar cyborg. Steve, still cradling his injured left arm, dodged away. The Air Force colonel debated with himself over whether he should attack the beast while it was vulnerable and decided against it. Did Bigfoot mean him harm, or was it protecting something?
Meanwhile, Jaime had heard Steve’s call with her artificial ear and ran toward him as fast as her bionic legs could propel her.
The seven-foot-tall robot with brown, shaggy fur got to its feet, and Steve looked it squarely in the eyes. “I don’t want to hurt you,” he said.
Sasquatch growled and lunged again. The monster swung at the astronaut’s jaw, but Steve again blocked the robot’s blow with his bionic arm. The giant grasped and lifted a boulder above its head.
Suddenly, Steve felt a hand on his right shoulder. He turned to the blond man. “Barney!”
Barney said, “Hey, Stevie boy, my good and loyal friend.”
“Barney, I’m a little busy h—”
The robot hurled the rock at Barney, and the seven-million-dollar man deflected the boulder with his left arm. “Come on! Let’s get him!” cried Barney.
Sounds of grinding gears and nuclear muscles filled the air as Steve and Barney sprinted to their alien robot opponent. Barney slammed Sasquatch in the face, while Steve buffeted it in the belly. Overwhelmed by superior force, the creature fell to the ground and descended into an electronic hibernation cycle.
“It’s wild, Steve! It’s wild!”
“Uh, no, not wild really, but thanks, Barney. I thought that gorilla would kill me … and … you—”
“Yes, what about me, Stevie boy?”
“In the first place,” said Steve, waggling a finger, “I hate it when you call me that, and I think you do it intentionally to piss me off. In the second place—”
“What?” said Barney with a wide smile. “You think I might still be upset with you?”
“Well, uh, yeah. I do.”
“I am mad at you, Steve.” Barney paused, as Steve shot him a tense look. “I’m mad at you, because you didn’t tell me about your fiancée,” said Barney, punching Steve’s left arm softly.
“Ouch,” cried Steve. “Don’t do that. Ole Sasquatch there did a number on my flesh and blood arm.”
“Well, maybe good old Rudy will replace it with a synthetic one. Then we’ll be even,” said Barney, grinning. “Except, of course, for the eye. I hear Jaime has a bionic ear. You two with your bionic sensory organs—”
“Yes, I do have a bionic ‘sensory organ,’” said Jaime as she decelerated, her long hair coming to rest around her shoulders. “I heard you two fighting 10 miles away.” Eyeing Barney, she said, “Steve, who is this tall drink of water?”
“You mean Stevie b—umm, Steve didn’t tell you about me either?” asked Barney.
“Well, I did have some memory loss after I ‘died.’”
“No, Jaime, I didn’t tell you about Barney. Allow me to introduce Barney Miller, world renowned racecar driver and the second bionic person.” Steve turned to Barney. “And, Barney, this is Jaime Sommers, world renowned pro tennis star and third bionic person in the world.” Steve paused. “Ummm … Jaime, Barney and I have had some problems, and uh, I wasn’t sure if…”
Jaime smiled at Barney. “You know, Barney, Steve sometimes has trouble sharing his feelings.”
“Yes, I’ve noticed that too, Jaime,” replied Barney. “Steve didn’t tell me about you, and he certainly didn’t tell me how very charming and attractive you are.”
Jaime blushed and grasped Barney’s hand. “Well, I don’t understand why Steve would ever have a problem with you, Barney. You seem like a great guy, and you just helped him out of a bind.”
“Well, part of the problem, Jaime, is that’s not my hand. That’s not me you’re touching.”
Steve’s brows furrowed. “Barney, are you sure you can handle being at full bionic strength now? Do you still harbor a grudge against me, Rudy, and Osc—”
Sasquatch growled, and Steve and Barney assumed fighting stances.
With a hand in the air, Jaime said, “Stand down, fellas. I know how to handle this big lug.” Jaime approached Bigfoot slowly. She peered into its gray eyes. “Sasquatch, it’s me. Jaime. Remember me?”
The robot nodded.
“I know Shalon, the woman who created you. I know she wouldn’t want you to harm me or Steve.”
The creature nodded again.
“Okay,” she said placing her hand into Bigfoot’s hand. “Why don’t you go find Shalon now, okay, big guy?”
The robot gave a final nod and lumbered away into the woods of the mountain peak.
“You handled that well, Ms. Sommers,” observed Barney. “Oh, ah, how did you become bionic, Jaime?”
“Well, Stevie boy here,” she said shooting a knowing glance at Steve and Barney, “took me skydiving. And, uh, my chute didn’t open. I don’t think I hit the ground as fast as Steve did, but the fall wrecked one arm, both legs, and my right ear. Rudy and Oscar saved my life, same as they saved yours and Steve’s.”
Barney turned to Steve. “I don’t harbor any grudges, Steve. Rudy and Oscar saved my life after a car crash that should’ve killed me. And you. You helped me to adjust to the man I am now.” He held out his hand to Steve.
Steve shook Barney’s hand, saying, “That’s great to hear, Barney!”
Jaime rushed to Steve and embraced him. They kissed.
Barney said, “The only three bionic people on Earth! But I suppose you two want me to leave you alone. Okay, I’ll go with two provisions.”
“What’re those?” Steve asked.
“First, I’d like to kiss the lady’s hand.”
“No problem, Mr. Miller,” she said offering her right hand. Barney kissed her bionic knuckles gently. “And what’s your second stipulation, sir?”
With an elfin smirk, Barney said, “You gotta invite me to the wedding!”
“I agree wholeheartedly,” said Jaime with a beaming smile.
“No problem, Barney,” said Steve. “Now, would you make like a tree and get out of here?” he said winking.
“Catch ya later, Steve!” Barney raced down the mountainside at 70 miles per hour.
Jaime looked to Steve, still cradling his left arm. “Babe, how do you feel? How’s the arm?”
He managed a feeble grimace. “How would you feel after a bionic giant hit you in your non-bionic arm, my dear?”
“Probably the same way you feel, my dear,” she said. “Does it hurt?”
“Only when I laugh,” he coughed.
Jaime smiled a smile as brilliant as all the suns and moons in the Milky Way. “Babe, my memories are all back, and I want to be your wife.”
Steve grinned. “Be gentle with me, Jaime.”
They fell to the ground and made love in the grass. And one might only imagine the ecstasy of making love to someone with ultra-powerful limbs.
Arising after the climax, Jaime’s hazel eyes clenched with Steve’s gray eyes. She winked and whispered, “Stevie boy, I’m pregnant.”

Other Works by Wade R. DeYoung Published by
Diagonals Literary Festival

Rex Quondam, Rexque Futurus

Return to the Sea

tyranny

Time is a Boulder

Snow in Orlando

About the Author

Wade R. DeYoung was born and raised in Michigan. After 28 years, he retired from the U.S. Army as a captain and served as an aircraft armament mechanic, a recruiter, an environmental science officer, and an entomologist. He has a B.A. in English (creative writing track) from the University of Central Florida (2025), an M.S. in public health (medical zoology track) from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (2015), and a B.S. in zoology from Michigan State University (1991). He has written numerous poems, short stories, and one novel. His poems have been published in 100subtexts, Fae Corps Inc Newsletter, Bewildering Stories, Children, Churches and Daddies (Scars Publications), Diagonals Literary Festival, and Carmina.