Page 54 of Human Reclaimed
“Get up,” Delia snapped, yanking my arm hard.
I winced convincingly. “My ankle. I think it’s sprained.”
She rolled her eyes. “Carry her if you have to. We’re on a schedule.”
When one of the men bent to grab me, I slipped a tracker into a gap in his armor at the shoulder joint. The second tracker I managed to plant on Delia’s belt as she hauled me back to my feet.
“I’m trying to move,” I snarled, playing the reluctant captive while inwardly celebrating my small victory. The trackers would activate soon, once I was on the ship, sending my location to Rune. Now I just needed to stay alive long enough for him to find me.
Inside the capital ship, I was marched down sterile corridors to a small, bare interrogation room. Delia pushed me into a metal chair and secured my wrists to the table.
“Now,” she said, leaning so close that I could see the mechanical parts of her cybernetic eye adjusting focus, “let’s begin again. The location of the pregnant cyborgs.”
I stared at her, projecting defiance while my mind raced. I needed to appear cooperative without actually revealing anything of value.
“They move them,” I said finally. “Every three days. Different locations. I’m not privy to all of them.”
Delia’s human eye narrowed. “But you know some.”
I hesitated and then nodded slowly, as if reluctantly. “I’ve seen the southern bunkers. Near what they call the Echo Ravine.”
“Good,” she purred. “What about the colony layout? Security protocols?”
“Look,” I said, forcing vulnerability into my voice, “I didn’t ask to be part of this. I was kidnapped, just like you took me today. If helping you means I can go home…” I let my voice trail off, painting the picture of someone whose loyalty could be bought.
Delia smiled coldly. “Smart woman. Admiral Voss rewards those who cooperate.”
As she continued her questioning, I fed her carefully crafted half-truths and misleading information, nothing that would actually endanger the colony but enough to maintain my cover of cooperation. All the while, I pictured Rune—his intense blue eyes, his strong hands, and the way his voice softened when we were alone—and prayed he’d find me soon.
Because when he did, these pirates would learn what it truly meant to face the wrath of a cyborg war alpha protecting what was his.
Time moved slowly as I sat rigidly in the metal chair, the cold bite of the restraints against my wrists a constant reminder of my predicament. The interrogation room seemed to close in around me as Captain Delia paced like a predator sizing up her meal. The recycled air tasted stale and metallic, reminding me of my military bunkers during the war.
“You’re being quite helpful, Captain Reed,” Delia said, her cybernetic eye whirring as it adjusted focus. The red glow it cast across her sharp features made her look demonic in the dim light. “I’m almost disappointed… I expected more resistance from someone with your reputation.”
I forced a defeated shrug. “What’s the point? I just want to go home.”
She laughed, and the sound sent ice down my spine. “Home? Don’t be so naive.”
“Our deal?—”
“Was never real.” She leaned across the table, so close I could smell the antiseptic on her uniform. “But you’ve proven useful so far, so perhaps Admiral Voss will keep you around for a while.”
My stomach twisted, but I kept my expression neutral. Years of military poker faces hadn’t abandoned me yet. “Keep me around for what?”
Pride loosened her tongue. Delia straightened, her chest puffed with self-importance. “You’ve seen those pregnant cyborgs. Those… hybrids they’re growing. That’s just the beginning, the primitive version.”
“I don’t understand.”
Her cybernetic eye gleamed. “CyberEvolution has been planning this for decades. The war, the peace treaty—all stepping stones.” She began circling the table. “Those colony mothers are just vessels. We’re perfecting a new species—human-cyborg hybrids with enhanced capabilities that respond to our command codes.”
I swallowed hard, genuinely disturbed. “That’s?—”
“Brilliant,” she finished for me. “Imagine children born with perfect obedience, superhuman strength, and complete loyalty to CyberEvolution. We’ll place them strategically—political positions, military leadership, economic powerhouses. Within one generation, we’ll control every major institution across settled space.”
My blood went from boiling to ice cold. This wasn’t just harvesting technology or enslaving cyborgs. This was galactic domination through bioengineered infiltration.
“The hybrid genetics are the key,” Delia continued, drunk on her own importance. “Human enough to pass scrutiny, cyborg enough to follow programming. The perfect sleeper agents that no security scan can detect because they’re born, not made.”
