Page 5 of Her Cyborg Commander (The Drift: Haven Colony #9)

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There were things she had to do before she left. The first was to double-check the contents of the bug-out bag she’d packed. It wasn’t as if anyone could have come in and messed with it, but her time as a soldier had taught her that it was better to be sure you had everything before heading out. Where she was going, every item mattered.

The inventory list in her onboard files matched the one neatly printed and tucked into the top of the bag. One by one, she removed the items, compared them to the list, and set them down on the bed. Once everything was accounted for, she repacked the bag and set it by her bedroom door with a comm unit set neatly on top. She’d need that soon.

The scent of raspberries wafted by her, reminding her of the bath she’d been about to take. She had no time for that now, but she still needed to wash the remains of her milkshake off her legs and feet.

She stripped off her soiled clothes and tossed them into the laundry chute out of habit. She wouldn’t be here when they were returned—clean, dry, and folded—in a few hours.

Then she hurried to the bathroom and took a hasty bath, rinsing herself off with handfuls of water. It wasn’t the long soak she’d wanted, but it would have to do.

Once she was back in her room, she dressed in dark, loose-fitting clothing and then dragged a large container out from the back of her closet. She set it down on the floor, searching for a moment until she found the scanning pad located off to one side. She pressed her thumb to the pad and waited. A soft beep was followed by a snick as it unlocked.

Once opened, the lid of the case revealed a small army’s worth of weaponry and ammunition. The lower part of the case contained a full set of combat armor. She’d had it custom made when she was still on Astek Station, what felt like a lifetime ago.

No one in Haven knew about her private stash except for Phaedra. After the negotiations were done and the cyborgs were assured of their place in the new colony, Phaedra had taken River shopping. It took several days to visit the various shops and dealers recommended to them by the cyborgs who ran the Nova Club. They’d helped her with some of the purchases, and Phaedra had paid for the rest. Being a princess had advantages, including access to the royal treasury of the Vardarian empire.

Thoughts of her time on Astek Station gave her an unexpected pang. The station where she’d taken her first steps toward a life of real freedom had been destroyed some time ago. The Gray Men had murdered so many innocents in their attempts to maintain control over the sector, but in the end, most of them had lost everything anyway.

Too bad it wasn’t all of them. If that were the case, she’d be able to stay in Haven. Too many had escaped, though. Including the man who featured in the worst of her nightmares.

Astek’s replacement, Defiance Station, would be finished soon, but she wouldn’t be around to hear about it or find out what came next for everyone involved. She had to leave. It was the only way to keep Haven safe.

She couldn’t wander around Haven outfitted for war, so once she confirmed everything was accounted for, River closed the case and set it beside her bug-out bag. Then she turned and looked around her room one last time.

“Damn you for doing this to me. And double damn you for violating the only place I truly felt safe,” she muttered.

The last thing she did was to retrieve a data stick from a desk drawer. She moved to place it on her bed but then paused. She needed to do something else. Without giving herself time to overthink things, she tapped a button on the side of the device and recorded a brief message. It would be automatically added to the end of the message already stored on the data stick. Once she was done, she set it down in the center of the bed where whoever came looking for her would find it.

River turned her back on the bed, her room, and everything she’d created here. She gathered up both the bag and case and carried them downstairs. Then she set the last part of her plan in motion.

The comm unit she’d prepped for this eventuality was as heavily encrypted as she could make it and would never be used again. What she planned to do next would violate the rules that governed the cyborgs on Liberty, and she didn’t want to get anyone in trouble for helping her.

Once she sent the message, there’d be no turning back. River gave herself a moment to review the situation. She had to be sure this was the right move. It took less than a second for her to be certain. This wasn’t just the right thing to do. It was the only thing she could do.

“Sissy, engage security protocol Exodus Omega.”

“Executing,” the AI said.

Once she was sure there would be no record of what happened next, she activated the comm. “Vixen. Vixen. Vixen. The Dove is in flight. Repeat, Dove is in flight. Are you available for capture?”

It was the one potential hitch in her carefully orchestrated plan. She couldn’t be sure if the intended recipient of the message was even in the system at the moment. If she wasn’t, River would switch to her secondary plan.

She was still pulling on her favorite set of combat boots when a reply came through. Text only.

“This is Vixen. Message received. Fox will capture and bring Dove to the nest.”

River curled her lip at that bit of news. Vixen was near enough to receive the message but not close enough to make the pickup. That meant involving yet another being in her plans. She had hoped to get away without dragging anyone else into this mess, but needs must and all that. If Hezza B. trusted Thrash to do this, she would, too. Besides, it wasn’t like he ever knew the contents of the cargo he sometimes delivered to and from Hezza’s ship. This would be no different, except this time, the cargo would be a cyborg.