Page 55 of A Cyborg for the Alien Mercenary

“Everything,” he growled, nuzzling her neck. “I see everything I like right here.”

She melted into his embrace with a soft gasp and let him hold her for a moment before playfully pushing him away. “Down, boy. We have a briefing to get to. Remember?”

He sighed dramatically and released her. “I’d rather stay here and fuck all day, but Ryke would pitch a bitch fit. And much as I’d take Anson on for the fun of it, there isnoway I’m fucking about with Ryke.”

16

By the time Covak and Jesh arrived, the rest of the crew had already assembled in the briefing room. Holographic displays flickered to life, casting an eerie blue glow across the faces of his fellow Reapers as they sat around the table, waiting for them. Ryke stood at the head of the oval table, his ice-blue eyes pinning them as they walked through the door.

“Glad the lovebirds could join us,” Anson commented, arching a brow at them.

Covak flicked him the finger as he settled Jesh into the seat next to the one he usually claimed. He’d rather sit her on his lap but figured even the suggestion might earn him some bruises.

“Alright, folks,” Ryke’s gravelly voice cut through the tension like a plasma blade. “Davis has some intel on our target. Let’s hear it.”

Davis nodded, his fingers dancing across a datapad.

“I’ve—”

A delicate cough made him pause, and he inclined his head to Mira, sitting next to him. “We’vemanaged to locate Jex,” he announced, looking up at the holo-display.

A three-dimensional image of a nondescript storage facility materialized above the table, rotating slowly.

Covak’s eyes narrowed as he studied the hologram. The facility looked unremarkable, out of the way, and not anywhere you’d stash something as valuable as a cyborg from another universe.

“It’s an out-of-the-way storage facility,” Davis affirmed, zooming in on various sections. “Which is odd given the great lengths they went to in order to keep and then get Jesh back.”

Jesh shrugged, folding her arms. “Not really. I’d say they probably weren’t able to access his onboard,” she said. “Without a Zodiac power core, Jex would be completely inert. They might know what it is, but they’d have no way to activate it.”

“Zodiac power cores?” Anson asked. “They’re not compatible with our systems. Are they? So what exactly are we dealing with here?”

“Well, they’re not compatible with the technology you have aboard theDream. But human tech in this universe isn’t particularly sophisticated. Compared to nonhumans that is,” she said. “Zodiacs have Tri-sappherium crystal power cores, which are incredibly powerful. They can also be set to overload, essentially turning us into high-yield nuclear bombs.”

A tense silence fell over the room. A chill ran down Covak’s spine.

Her lips quirked at the unspoken question in the room. “Yes, we can be remote triggers to become suicide bombers. Needless to say, that remote coding was the first we purged when we freed ourselves.”

She turned to Davis and Mira, frowning. “How did you two manage to track Jex down? If he’s inert, he’s basically a paperweight at this point. You wouldn’t have been able to get any information back from him.”

Davis shrugged. “I’m very good at tracking down shit people don’t want me to find. I found some unusual storage codes, and then we cross-referenced them with shipping manifests from your known locations. It wasn’t easy, but…” he trailed off, the corners of his lips quirking slightly.

“Good work, you two,” Ryke grunted in approval, and Mira beamed. “Now, let’s talk strategy.”

Rann arched an eyebrow. “What for? The place looks completely unguarded. It should be a walk in the park.”

“Jesh.” Ryke turned to her. “You’re our expert on these people. Does this look like one of their facilities?”

She leaned forward to study the plan of the facility on the hologram. “This location makes sense for storage. It’s isolated, unremarkable. Perfect for keeping something they can’t use but don’t want to lose.”

Ryke’s eyes narrowed. “Is there anything particular we need to do to rescue Jex? Will we need any medical intervention or specialist equipment?”

Jesh shook her head. “He’s just an onboard at this point, no body. All we’ll need is a backpack. He’s like…” she measured with her hands like she was cupping a deearin kitten. “About this big.”

“If he’s just an onboard, isn’t he essentially dead?” Anson asked bluntly. “Why do we need to rescue him if they can’t use him? Why put the team at risk?”

She shot him a look. “Not dead. Inactive. The J8 in his code means he’s from the same genetic batch as me. He’s the closest thing I have to an actual brother. I’m not leaving him there. If you guys won’t help me, I’ll do it on my own.”

Something in the center of Covak’s chest eased. He’d wondered about the bond between the Zodiacs and whether there had been anything romantic between Jesh and Jex. Hearing that Jex was her brother…

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