Page 5 of Human Reclaimed (Cyborg Planet Alpha #2)

FIVE

TALIA

I stood with my back to the windows in the medical recovery room, acutely aware of Rune’s presence before me. Too close. Too everything. The morning sunlight from the jungle outside warmed my back while the air between us seemed to vibrate with something unidentifiable and dangerous.

His piercing blue eyes locked with mine, and for a heartbeat, I forgot I was supposed to be furious. Forgot I’d been kidnapped. Forgot everything but the strange pull between us.

I couldn’t respond to his request for my help at that moment.

My worldview was fragmenting before my eyes—free-thinking cyborgs, hybrid babies, and peaceful colonies with humans and cyborgs coexisting.

None of this aligned with what I’d been taught during the war, and what I’d believed in the two years since my honorable discharge.

Cyborgs were weapons, not people with dreams and families and communities.

The silence stretched between us, filled with an electricity that made my skin prickle. He stood close enough that I could see the small scar above his left eyebrow, the faint freckles across his nose, and the slight crease between his brows. So human. Too human.

Suddenly, Rune stepped back, breaking whatever spell had momentarily caught us. I exhaled slowly, only then realizing I’d been holding my breath. Relief washed over me—mixed with something that felt absurdly like disappointment.

“If you agree to help us,” he said, his voice steadier now with distance between us, “I can offer you conditional freedom. More access to the settlement. Less… confinement.”

My mind instantly began calculating. Freedom meant opportunity. Opportunity meant escape.

“I’ll help you,” I said quickly, forcing sincerity into my voice. “I don’t condone how you kidnapped me, but if innocent lives are at risk—especially children—I can’t turn my back on that.”

The hint of a smile touched his lips, and my chest tightened. Damn it, what was wrong with me? Stockholm syndrome setting in at record speed?

“That’s excellent news.” Rune moved toward a small closet I hadn’t noticed before, opening it to reveal a pair of socks and combat boots. “These should be your size.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You just happened to have my exact size boots waiting?”

“We did research before bringing you here,” he admitted without apology. “Thorough research.”

“That’s not creepy at all,” I muttered, sitting on the edge of the bed to pull on the socks.

The boots were indeed a perfect fit, which was both impressive and unsettling. I laced them up, my mind racing with potential escape scenarios. First, I needed to learn the layout of this place. Understand their security protocols. Find communication equipment.

“Ready?” Rune asked, his hand hovering near the small of my back but not quite touching as he guided me toward the door.

My heart hammered as we stepped into the corridor. This was it—my first glimpse of freedom since waking up on this alien world. The curved hallway of the medical bay lit up as we walked, the lighting warm and responsive.

“Your colony is… not what I expected,” I admitted as we passed through the main doors.

The humid jungle air hit me like a wall—thick, fragrant, and alive in a way Earth’s atmosphere hadn’t felt in decades.

The settlement sprawled out ahead of us, buildings of metal and local materials nestled among towering trees.

Stone pathways wound between structures that seemed to honor rather than conquer the natural environment.

Most shocking were the people. Cyborgs and humans—no, colonists, I corrected myself—moved freely, conversing, working, and living. Some even laughed. And there, near what I assumed to be the central plaza, the two small children still played next to their parents.

“I can’t believe you actually have cyborg children here,” I whispered, the reality of what Rune had told me finally sinking in.

“Yes,” he said simply. “Our future.”

We walked along a stone path, the twin suns filtering through the jungle canopy in dappled patterns across our skin.

I took mental notes of everything—pathways, buildings, and the potential weak points in their perimeter.

But despite myself, I was also captivated.

This place was beautiful in its strange, wild way.

“The security center is our nexus,” Rune explained as we approached a low, curved building. “From here, we monitor the entire colony and surrounding jungle.”

The air inside was cooler, a welcome relief from the humidity. The large room curved in a semicircle, multiple workstations facing a wall of screens displaying various sectors of the colony.

Rune guided me to one particular station where a tall man with auburn hair and intense green eyes monitored three screens simultaneously. Recognition suddenly dawned in my mind. He was Rune’s companion last night when they kidnapped me on Earth, the one who jabbed me in my neck with the sedative.

“Tegan,” Rune called, “say hello to Captain Talia Reed.”

Tegan’s fingers paused over his transparent display. His assessing gaze swept over me, neither hostile nor welcoming, merely evaluating me closer than he did last night.

“Welcome to Planet Alpha, Captain,” Tegan said finally. Like his partner Rune, he wore black tactical pants and a fitted black T-shirt—clearly the security uniform around here.

“Not exactly a welcome when you’re brought against your will,” I replied, holding his gaze across his workstation. The security center hummed with activity around us—screens glowing with data and other personnel moving efficiently between stations.

A half-smile quirked his mouth. “Fair point. But necessary nonetheless.”

The casual way he dismissed my abduction ignited something fierce in me.

“Yeah? Was jabbing a sedative into my neck necessary too? Real gentlemanly approach you’ve got there,” I snapped, rubbing the spot where the needle had pierced my skin last night.

“Nothing says ‘we respect you’ quite like drugging them in a parking lot.”

Tegan’s fingers hovered over his display. His expression remained maddeningly calm. “I was just following orders from Commanders Helix and Aeon.”

“Following orders?” My voice rose an octave.

“From Commanders Helix and Aeon, whoever the hell they are?” I spun toward Rune, who stood just behind me, his broad shoulders blocking my view of the exit.

“Who, exactly, are these people who get to determine my fate? Who gave them the right to decide to kidnap me—to bring me to another planet against my will?”

Rune shifted his weight, the movement fluid and natural—so human. It was still hard to reconcile what I knew of cyborgs from the war with the very organic beings surrounding me.

“Commander Helix is our head female commander here on Planet Alpha,” he explained, his voice steady.

“Aeon is our head male commander. After discovering the pirates were using your military strategies to target our colonies—particularly pregnant cyborgs and babies—they determined you were our best defense.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “Yes, you already briefly explained that back in the medical bay. But that doesn’t make it right, and it certainly doesn’t make it my problem.”

The blue light from the nearby screens cast shadows across Rune’s face, highlighting the strong line of his jaw. Something flickered in his eyes—frustration, maybe even guilt.

“You agreed to help us,” he reminded me, “in exchange for more freedom around the colony.”

“Fine. Show me what I’m dealing with.” I gestured toward Tegan’s screens. “Let me see the footage and briefings of what these pirates have done.”

Rune’s posture relaxed slightly. “Three other settlements were targeted in neighboring systems within the last month alone.”

Tegan’s fingers danced across his display. “Casualties and targets, coming up.”

The data materialized in crisp blue light before us. Tegan enlarged the section detailing primary targets, and my stomach clenched at what I read.

“Three pregnant cyborgs taken in the Beta settlement raid,” I murmured. “Two hybrid infants from the outpost on Theros.” I looked up at Rune, my throat tight. “So, they’re really targeting your future generations?”

“Yes, for profit,” he confirmed, his deep voice grim. “The technology that could be harvested in the future, exploiting what allows us viable pregnancies and offspring with humans, not to mention the novelty of hybrid babies is… valuable to certain parties.”

Tegan pulled up video footage next, and the holographic display flickered to life with scenes that made me physically recoil. Armed figures in tactical gear stormed into homes. A woman—clearly pregnant—dragged away screaming. Another clutched a small bundle to her chest as attackers closed in.

I felt the blood drain from my face. These weren’t just statistics. These were families being ripped apart.

“Those poor women,” I whispered. “Those children…”

Something uncomfortable twisted in my chest—a strange sense of kinship with these victims. Yes, I’d been kidnapped, too, but this was different. This was systematic hunting of the vulnerable.

I glanced around the security center, at the cyborgs working diligently at their stations.

At Rune, whose eyes never left my face, watching my reaction carefully.

These weren’t the mindless weapons I’d been taught to fear during the war.

They were people building a new life, creating families, and seeking safety from being controlled and exploited.

Part of me still wanted to go back to Earth, to my quiet condo and my predictable volunteer work at the veterans’ facility. My lonely but comfortable existence where nothing surprised me and no one expected anything from me.

But another part—the part that had once led soldiers and protected the vulnerable for fifteen years in the army—couldn’t turn away from this.

“I’ll do my best to help you,” I said quietly. “I may not approve of how you chose to bring me here, but this…” I gestured to the images of terror on the screens. “Is wrong.”

Rune stepped closer, so close that I could feel the heat radiating from his body. “Thank you,” he said. The genuine relief in his voice made something flutter traitorously in my chest.