Finding Her Cyborg (Cyborg Redemption) Page 3

  “Nas,” she snapped, her lyrical voice becoming sharp. “Captain Nasli Demeter. He’s supposed to be in this cell.”

  Ranvir knew who Nas was. He had served with him under his father and then under Nas when he’d taken over the unit. After entering the cyborg program, he’d even been a part of Nas’s pod. Until the day he’d been promoted to a major and assumed command of his own pod.

  It wasn’t common for a cyborg to promote out of a pod. Pods were tight-knit groups, but Nas had put him up for promotion, stating Ranvir was a natural leader and his talent and skill would be wasted if he wasn’t leading a pod.

  When promoted, Ranvir severed his closed-network link with every member of his old pod, except for Nas. They’d served together for too long and decided to maintain the network, even though they rarely used it. Tapping into it now, Ranvir reached out to Nas and received no response.

  “My Gods! You’re Talyani,” the civilian blurted out, his voice full of awe. “The Talyani. I’m Vujcec. Vujcec Wells. I’m a huge fan.”

  Talyani’s gaze went to the man she hadn’t noticed before sitting on one bench. Ranvir could tell she was used to being recognized. Still really? On a prison transport ship?

  “Captain Demeter is not on this ship,” Ranvir responded, causing her gaze to jerk back to his.

  Her eyes widened in disbelief, and she took a step forward. “What? He has to be. My source told me they were loading you by your unit numbers.”

  “Your source was wrong,” he told her bluntly. “They made sure to separate the pods.”

  “Oh, Gods, what do I do now?” Talyani ran a shaking hand through her hair. “He needs to get off whatever ship he’s on, or he’s going to die. We all will.”

  “What are you talking about?!” Ranvir gripped her waist and slammed her against the cell wall. He forced himself to ignore how light and delicate she felt or how her waist was so tiny that his hands encircled it.

  Talyani cried out and gasped for breath. Ranvir ignored his remorse for the rough handling. “Explain!” he repeated, his fingers digging deeper into her flesh.

  “The…the ships are set to self-destruct,” she finally managed to get out.

  “What?!” Wells shrieked, but everyone ignored him.

  Holding her gaze, Ranvir demanded, “When?”

  “In… in less than fifteen minutes,” she stuttered. “I overheard two of the guards talking about it.” Her gaze searched his. “Are you sure Nas isn’t on this ship?”

  He was certain. “I’m sure.”

  “Then we need to get word to him.” She struggled in his hold, but his grip remained firm.

  “We’d have to use the open network,” one of the other cyborgs said.

  “Then do it!” she demanded, looking over his shoulder.

  Ranvir lowered her to her feet. “The emperor will know the minute we use the open network. He’ll immediately destroy the ships, and no one will survive.”

  Suddenly all four cyborgs stiffened. They stared straight ahead, unblinking.

  “What?” She grabbed his shirt and shook him. “What’s going on?”

  He blinked and focused on her face. “Someone else has discovered the plot. He’s broadcasting the information over the open network. The explosion can’t be altered.”

  Ranvir looked to the other cyborgs, who nodded. “Let’s go.”

  ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

  Minutes later, Talyani had her breath knocked out of her again as she was shoved into a seat in an escape pod. Her stomach struggled to settle after being slung over a cyborg’s shoulder as they’d raced through the corridors.

  How they’d made it through the crush of bodies, she couldn’t say, but they had. At least she and the four cyborgs had. She didn’t know what had happened to her ‘fan.’

  Instead of immediately closing the door, which would launch the escape pod, the gruff cyborg who had carried her moved to the control console.

  “What are you doing?” she asked when she could finally speak.

  Instead of answering, his fingers rapidly moved over the controls.

  “Hurry up,” one of the other cyborgs growled.

  Ranvir ignored both of them. He wasn’t the computer expert of his pod, so the reprogramming of their destination and deactivation of their transponder was taking longer than he’d like. Still, it was better than being sent directly back to Kirs.

  “Done,” he announced. “Launch us.”

  “Wait!” Running as fast as he could toward them was her fan. “Don’t leave me!”

  The cyborg’s hand didn’t pause.

  “Stop!” she exclaimed. “You can’t leave him!”

  His hand stilled for only a moment, but it was enough for the fan to dive beneath the door before it sealed and the escape pod launched.

  “Thank Gods,” Vujcec breathed as he rolled onto his back. “I thought you were going to leave me.”

  “We were,” Ranvir informed him. “You’re of no use to us.”

  “And she is?” Vujcec jabbed a thumb towards Talyani as he stood. “Why? Because she’s a woman? I thought they removed that part when you became a cyborg so you wouldn’t be distracted.”

  “She is the one who freed us from our cell,” Ranvir told him coldly. “If it weren’t for her, we’d all still be sealed in our cells. That’s why she’s here. You have done nothing but snivel and cry for all your claims of assisting the rebellion.”

  All four cyborgs looked to the viewing port at the same time.

  “Strap in and brace for impact,” Ranvir ordered, taking the seat beside Talyani.

  Chapter Three

  Talyani had experienced turbulence before. You couldn’t travel in space as much as she did and not. But that was like comparing the gentle waves on a beach to a series of tidal waves. Five, to be exact. One for each ship that exploded. Each wave tossed and rolled the escape pod. At one point, she was sure none of them would survive. Her head slammed back against the hull during one particularly violent roll, and darkness descended. She welcomed it.

  ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

  “Why are you sending us there?”

  Ranvir released his seat restraint and then checked to make sure Talyani still had a pulse before looking at the cyborg who questioned him. The sleeve of their uniforms revealed that two were lieutenants and the other was a private, but nothing else.

  “Names. Specialties,” Ranvir ordered, and they instantly responded to his authority.

  “Pike. Weapons specialist.” The brown-haired lieutenant immediately replied.

  “Tane,” the private spoke next. “Navigator.”

  “Ganesha.” A deep well of a voice came from the larger lieutenant. “Pilot.”

  They didn’t give him their first names, but Ranvir hadn’t expected it, as first names were only used within a pod.

  “I’m Somerled. The coordinates I entered are beyond the empire’s normal flight paths. It gives us time to decide where we want to go.”

  “There’s a tracker,” Pike informed him.

  “Which I disabled before we launched. They’ll have to do in-depth scans to locate us now, which won’t be possible until the debris fields dissipate. That’s going to take a long time with five destroyed ships. By then, we should be long gone.”

  “We’re not returning to Kirs?” Tane asked.

  “No,” Ranvir told him, realizing that Tane was relatively young for a cyborg. “The Rebellion is lost, Private. At least for now.”

  “Then where are we going?” Tane pressed. “Escape pods have a limited range.”

  “Bionus,” Pike suggested.

  “The planet Shui’s about to invade?” Ranvir looked at him in disbelief.

  “We’ll assist them,” Pike argued.

  “Four cyborgs against the entire Kirs military?” Ranvir just shook his head. How the hell had these two ever been selected for the Elite program?

  “Tuater,” Ganesha said.

  Finally, an intelligent suggestion. Tuater was a small planet on the outer edge of the Leonis Star System. It would be an excellent choice if they were in an actual ship, not an escape pod. “We’ll never make it in this.”

  “Go to Tyurma,” Talyani murmured, lifting a hand to the back of her head.

  “And do what?” Tane sneered. “Turn ourselves in? How stupid are you?”

  Talyani glared unflinchingly into the cyborg’s mocking gaze. “Stupid enough to sneak onto a ship bound for Tyurma. Stupid enough to obtain the codes that set you free.” Talyani’s words grew louder as she released her harness and stood, bringing her closer to the cyborg. “Do you think I planned all that and didn’t have a way for Nas to escape?”

  Silence reigned in the pod as Talyani continued to stare Tane down.

  “You always planned on going to Tyurma?” Ranvir’s question pulled her blue gaze to him.

  “Not to the moon itself, but to the waystation on its dark side where the prison supply ships dock. My private ship has been there for ‘repairs’ the last two weeks.” Her fingers made air quotes. “I’d already bribed the guards to take Nas and his pod to the station. Once they were on board, we were going to fly to Bionus. The flight plan was approved weeks ago, so it wouldn’t raise any suspicions. Once I was on Bionus, they’d take off for parts unknown, and I’d report my ship stolen.”

  “You actually believed that would work?” Pike snorted.

  “Yes.” Ranvir could tell she believed that. “And it would have if Shui hadn’t decided to be judge, jury, and executioner.”

  “But he did,” Ranvir told her. “Now, you can’t return to Kirs either.”

  “What?” He saw the slightest sliver of doubt enter her eyes for the first time. “What do you mean? No one knows I’m involved.”

  “They will once our escape pod d
ocks and your ship takes off,” he informed her.

  “Shit,” she whispered and dropped back into her seat. The reality of her situation had started to sink in.

  Ranvir turned to the console and entered the new coordinates.

  ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

  Talyani watched as the cyborg with the major’s insignia on his arm skillfully maneuvered the escape pod into the docking port closest to her ship on the way station.

  She’d thought she’d prepared for all contingencies. Her ship had a ‘technical’ problem that allowed it to dock at the way station. The crew had transported down to the moon’s surface to witness the trial since there wasn’t live reception on the dark side of Tyurma. She’d planned on sneaking Nas and his pod on board before her crew returned. They’d then travel on to Bionus as scheduled. That wasn’t going to be possible now.

  “Be ready,” The major ordered, and the other cyborgs took up defensive positions in front of the hatch, shoving her and Vujcec behind them.

  “Ready for what?” she asked.

  “Whatever’s on the other side,” he told her, joining the others. “Pike, open the hatch.”

  She watched as the hazel-eyed cyborg, with the regulation cut of short brown hair, slapped the button, and the door slid open, revealing…

  Nothing.

  No one was there.

  “Move out,” the major ordered.

  “Everyone is on the surface for Shui’s transmission,” Talyani told them as they exited the escape pod into an eerily silent corridor. The other waystations she’d been on were busy, boisterous places filled with people.

  None of the cyborgs responded to her comment. They continued to walk forward in formation, forcing her and Vujcec to follow.

  “My Gods, that’s an MKX-7!” Vujcec exclaimed as they passed a viewport. “You own an MKX-7?!”

  “It’s the ship Nas recommended,” she responded absently, her gaze remaining on the major.

  When they reached the airlock where her ship berthed, she pushed forward to enter the code to open it. The major got there first and, to her amazement, could disengage the lock.

  “How the hell were you able to do that?” she demanded angrily.

  “Override code,” he told her, moving through the airlock to the ship’s hatch and entering the code again, received a different result.

  “That’s not going to work.” This time, she got past the other cyborgs and entered a long combination of numbers and symbols. At the major’s raised eyebrow, she shrugged. “Nas suggested the extra layer of security, especially when the ship is left unattended. I was on a hijacked ship once.”

  “I know. I was part of the rescue team,” he told her.

  “You were?” she asked as the ship’s hatch opened. “I don’t remember seeing you.”

  “Because you didn’t,” he bit out, then gestured. “Let’s go.”

  ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

  Ranvir’s jaw clenched as they made their way to the bridge. He couldn’t believe he’d revealed that. Cyborgs rarely discussed missions outside of the team or pod that completed them. For some reason, he needed her to know.

  He remembered everything about that mission, including how Nas and Reiji had acted after finding the Supreme Judge’s family. He’d known something had happened but never discussed it.

  Now he knew why.

  Nas had met Talyani and became obsessed. By all appearances, she was just as obsessed with Nas. After all, she’d purchased the sleekest, fastest, most expensive ship available on his recommendation.

  On the bridge, he and the other cyborgs quickly and efficiently prepared the ship for departure. Glancing at Talyani and Wells, he pointed to seats along the hull. “Sit and strap in.”

  “Troubadour, this is Tyurma Waystation. You are not cleared for departure,” a voice stated over the comms. Five pairs of eyes looked at Talyani.

  “It’s an old term for a traveling singer,” she explained. “It seemed appropriate.”

  “Troubadour, I repeat, you are not cleared for departure. Shut down your engines.”

  Ranvir silenced the transmission, then looked to Ganesha in the pilot’s seat. “Get us out of here.”

  “Yes, Major.” Ganesha disconnected the airlock and guided the ship away from the station using the thrusters. When they were a safe distance out, he engaged the main engines. In moments, Tyurma disappeared behind them.

  “Shit,” Ganesha muttered. “This girl can move.”

  Ranvir ignored Ganesha’s comment and looked to Tane in the navigator’s chair. “Anyone pursuing us?”

  “No, Major. All radar hits are on the other side of Tyurma. Gods, I haven’t even heard rumors about a navigation system this advanced. It not only detects vessels at this range but identifies them by name. There are shuttles out there besides escape pods.”

  Ranvir just grunted. “Make sure it stays that way. Super detection and speed do us no good without a defense system.”

  “We have a defense system,” Talyani informed him from where she sat next to Wells.

  Ranvir slowly turned to glare at her. “As well equipped as the MKX-7 is for defending against pirates, it doesn’t stand a chance against a military ship.”

  “Then it’s a good thing this isn’t an MKX-7.” Releasing her harness, she stood and moved to a reflective wall. Pressing her hand against it, a console emerged. “It’s an MKX-10 prototype. Designed specifically to protect high-ranking government officials traveling in space. As my father is a Supreme Judge, and I do a great deal of interplanetary travel, I was allowed to test it.”

  “That’s a military-grade defense system.” Ranvir crossed the room, shocked at what he found. He reached around her and pressed a few buttons. “And it’s fully loaded with torpedoes, missiles, shields, and a laser array system.”

  “As I said, we have a defense system,” she told him smugly.

  “Orders, Major?” Pike asked.

  “We go back for Nas and his pod,” Talyani said, looking at Pike as if that should have been obvious.

  “We go to Tuater,” Ranvir countered.

  “What?!” Talyani rounded on him. “No! We have to rescue Nas and his pod.”

  “Do you know how many vessels are out there?” Ranvir pointed to the screen in front of Tane. “How are we supposed to know which one Demeter is in? Which ones contain members of his pod? Military ships are filling the area, searching for survivors. As soon as they find cyborgs among them, Shui will discover his plan has failed, and he’ll order the pods destroyed.”

  Talyani’s stunning blue eyes widened, and her bottom lip quivered. He hated being the cause, but heading to Tuater was logical. It’s what Nas would do.

  “Major, the Nissa and Prefect have arrived. They’re powering up their weapons,” Tane informed him.

  “Shit.” Ranvir was intimately familiar with both ships, having served on both. They were the most powerful battleships in the Kirs fleet. “Put it on the main screen.”

  As Tane did, two icons representing smaller ships suddenly disappeared.

  “We can’t just sit here and watch them be massacred!” Talyani exclaimed, looking at them in disbelief.

  “We can’t save them,” Ranvir snapped.

  “Maybe not, but we can at least give them a chance,” she told him defiantly.

  “And how do you suggest we do that?” Ranvir demanded.

  “By firing on the ones firing on them.”

  Both Ranvir’s brows shot up. “You want us to attack the Nissa and the Prefect?!”

  “Not to destroy them because obviously we can’t, but we can distract them. It’ll give those in the pods time to get away.”

  “To where?” Ranvir couldn’t believe they were even discussing this.

  “I don’t know.” Her hands waved expressively. “But I know we have to give them a chance.” Seeing only blank expressions on their faces, she pressed her hands together and pleaded. “Look, there are cyborgs in those escape pods and shuttles. They have to know they can alter their course like you did. They just need the chance. We can give it to them.”

  “She’s right.” Pike said, causing all eyes to turn toward him. “We know our cyborg brethren are attempting to reroute their pods, but that won’t matter if they’re destroyed first.”

  His gaze turned to Talyani. “Thanks to Mamsell Zulfiqar, we can assist them, which is what we all swore to do when we put on this uniform.” He gestured to what the four of them were wearing. “To protect our people from any force that would destroy them. We started the rebellion in the first place to protect our people from Shui’s unquenchable thirst for power. If we abandon them now, we’re no better than him.”