Page 17 of Human Reclaimed (Cyborg Planet Alpha #2)
SEVENTEEN
TALIA
I squeezed Rune’s hand before letting go, straightening my shoulders. Time to be Captain Reed again.
“Thank you all for coming,” Rune’s voice carried across the plaza. “As you know, we face a significant threat. Captain Reed and I have developed a strategy we’re calling Operation Eclipse.”
I stepped forward. “In three days, the bunkers in the eastern cavern system will be complete. When—not if—the pirates breach orbit, Commander Aeon will trigger a silent alarm through your communicators. At that signal, you must immediately evacuate to the safety zone.”
The crowd murmured, exchanging worried glances. From the back, a tall figure pushed forward—Tegan, his auburn hair catching the fading sunlight, followed by two other security officers I recognized as Kel and Tobin.
“With all due respect,” Tegan said, his eyes narrowing at me before turning to Rune, “why wait for them to breach our defenses? We should conduct a preemptive strike against their fleet. Five ships won’t stand a chance if we surprise them.”
Several colonists nodded in agreement, their voices rising in support.
I stepped forward, feeling all eyes shift to me. “While your brigade and security team are exceptional—frankly better than anything I saw in fifteen years with Earth’s Army—you’re not equipped for an assault of this scale. A preemptive strike is too risky.”
Tegan’s jaw tightened. “And just letting pirates breach our defenses isn’t suicide?”
“No,” I said firmly. “It’s strategy. The best way to protect everyone is to evacuate the colony and surrender it temporarily. We lure them in, trap them, and take them down systematically from positions of advantage—fewer casualties, better outcomes.”
“We lose our homes either way,” someone shouted from the crowd.
“Only temporarily,” I countered. “Not permanently.”
The murmurs grew louder, faces hardening with disagreement. I felt the crowd turning against me. For a moment, I was back on Earth, fighting to be heard in strategy meetings dominated by men who dismissed my expertise despite my rank.
Rune moved to my side, his presence immediately commanding attention. “Enough!” His voice cut through the noise like a blade. “Captain Reed’s strategy isn’t born from fear or weakness. It’s born from intelligence and experience.”
He paced before the crowd, his tall frame and broad shoulders silhouetted against the sunset. “I’ve fought in more battles than most of you combined. And I’ve learned that victory doesn’t go to the strongest or the most aggressive. It goes to the smartest.”
The crowd quieted, their eyes fixed on him.
“I understand your desire to fight,” he continued, his voice softening with unexpected empathy. “To protect what we’ve built here. But rushing headlong into battle without proper preparation isn’t courage. It’s recklessness.”
I watched him in awe, struck by how he commanded their respect without intimidation. He wasn’t the cold, calculating cyborg weapon I’d known from my time during the war. He was a free-thinking leader—passionate, protective, and persuasive.
“Captain Reed has given us something more valuable than simple bravery,” he gestured toward me. “She’s given us a plan that keeps our most vulnerable safe while maximizing our chance of success.”
Commander Helix stepped forward, her blonde hair glowing in the fading light. “It’s settled then. We’ll follow Captain Reed’s strategies, both defensive and offensive, and execute the evacuation as planned at the signal.”
The crowd dispersed, tension still visible in some faces but the near-mutiny quelled. Tegan lingered, giving me a reluctant nod before returning to the security center.
As darkness fell across the plaza, Rune’s hand found mine again. “You handled that well.”
“Me?” I raised my eyebrow. “You’re the one who turned a mutiny into a pep rally.”
He laughed, the sound warming me from the inside. “They just needed perspective. Your plan is solid. They’ll see that when it works.”
“If it works,” I corrected, doubt creeping in.
“When,” he repeated firmly, his fingers tightening around mine. “I believe in you.”
Four simple words, but coming from him, they felt like a lifeline. In that moment, despite the looming threat, I realized I was exactly where I was meant to be.
He leaned in close, his breath warm against my ear. “Want to escape to my oasis for a moonlight swim?” His voice dropped to a husky whisper that sent shivers down my spine. “The water’s perfect on nights like these.”
My heart skipped. “God, yes. I’ve been thinking about that place since you first showed it to me.”
His fingers tightened around mine. “We may not get another peaceful night before the pirates arrive. Might as well make this one count.”
We slipped away from the plaza, taking a narrow path that wound behind the settlement’s western perimeter.
Planet Alpha’s twin moons cast everything in silvery-blue light, making the jungle seem both magical and mysterious.
The night-blooming flowers unfurled along our path, releasing sweet perfume into the humid air.
“Something’s been bothering me about CyberEvolution,” I said as we walked, ducking beneath a low-hanging branch. “When I was discharged, it wasn’t just coincidence.”
“The classified footage you mentioned?” Rune guided me over a moss-covered log.
“Yeah.” I grimaced at the memory. “Someone deliberately sent me that file. It was an unmarked data packet on my military laptop.”
Rune’s jaw tightened, a muscle pulsing at his temple. “Did you ever discover who sent it?”
“No, but…” I hesitated, piecing together a puzzle that had haunted me for two and a half years. “You mentioned someone named Benjamin Reeves—the one who created the reprogramming code for you all.”
“Benjamin was a revolutionary. A true believer in cyborg autonomy.”
“I think it might have been him,” I said. “He must have known that as a captain, I could potentially raise hell about those experiments. Maybe he thought I could stop them.”
We pushed through a curtain of hanging vines, and suddenly Rune’s private oasis appeared before us—the small waterfall cascading into the blue pool that seemed to glow from within. The surrounding foliage formed a perfect natural barrier, making this place truly hidden from the rest of the world.
Rune stopped at the edge, turning to face me. “If Benjamin sent you that footage, he chose well. You’re not someone who looks away from injustice.”
“Well, it didn’t seem to do much good. Like I said, I reported it to my colonel and two days later—honorable discharge, no explanation for it.
After that, I kept digging privately.” I kicked off my boots and sat at the pool’s edge, dangling my feet in the warm water.
“I’m pretty sure CyberEvolution was tracking me. They knew who I was and what I’d seen.”
“They must’ve been waiting for the right moment to silence you,” Rune said, his voice hardening as he joined me at the water’s edge.
“Exactly. But you got to me first.” I looked up at him, sudden realization dawning. “What if it’s not a coincidence that the pirates are attacking now? What if CyberEvolution sent them—or at least tipped them off?”
“To capture you? And blame us for the kidnapping?”
“Breaking your truce in the process. Two birds, one stone.” I stood up, pacing along the water’s edge.
“Think about it. Your colony kidnaps me—an Earth citizen—after signing a peace treaty. Then I mysteriously die during a pirate attack. CyberEvolution gets to paint you all as the villains while removing the one person who knows about their illegal experiments.”
Rune’s eyes widened, his mind clearly working through the implications. “That peace treaty six months ago… Dr. West seemed too willing to sign.”
“False pretenses,” I muttered. “I bet CyberEvolution never intended to honor it.”
“The timing’s too perfect to be coincidence.” Rune stepped closer, his hands coming to rest on my shoulders. “If you’re right, they won’t just want the pregnant cyborgs and babies. They’ll want you, too.”
I swallowed hard, fear and determination warring inside me. “I should have pressed harder when I found that file. Made copies, gone public?—”
“And ended up dead in an accident ,” Rune cut in, his fingers tightening protectively on my shoulders. “They’d never have let you expose them.”
“So, what do we do now?”
Rune’s expression hardened, his blue eyes reflecting the moonlight. “We fight. And I promise you this…” He cupped my face in his hands, his touch surprisingly gentle for someone so powerful. “They will never take you. Not while I’m breathing.”
The fierce protectiveness in his voice made my chest tight. This wasn’t just duty or strategy talking. This was something deeper, something I hadn’t experienced in a very long time, maybe ever.
“The only way CyberEvolution gets to you is over my dead body,” he added, his voice dropping to a dangerous growl.
I reached up, tracing his jaw. “Let’s make sure it doesn’t come to that. I’ve lost enough people I care about.”
His eyes softened, and for a moment, raw vulnerability flashed across his features—a reminder that beneath the warrior exterior was someone learning to feel deeply and care intensely.
And at that moment, I knew he felt something dangerously close to love for me, and if I was being honest, I felt that for him, too.