Page 62 of Human Reform
“She found something,” he gasped.“In the security framework.I couldn’t let her tell anyone.”
A murderous rage coursed through me.“You’re going to take me to her.Now.”
I grabbed a utility cord from his supplies, binding his wrists viciously tight before shoving him toward the door.
“If she’s harmed, each step you take will be your last,” I promised.
The trek to the caverns took thirty agonizing minutes with Tegan stumbling ahead of me through the dense jungle.Fluorescent fungi illuminated our path in eerie blue-green light while nocturnal creatures called in the canopy above.
“In there,” Tegan finally pointed to a narrow opening in the mountainside.
I shoved him forward, following closely as we entered the vast chamber.The sound of dripping water echoed off stone walls, punctuated by something else—soft, hitched breathing.
And then I saw her.
Alora was tied to a massive boulder, metallic restraints cutting into her wrists and ankles.Her face was tear-streaked, her hair matted with sweat, and her eyes wide with terror until they landed on me.
“Daxon,” she sobbed.
Something primal snapped inside me.With a savage roar, I turned on Tegan, my fist connecting with his jaw in a sickening crack.He stumbled backward but couldn’t escape.My next blow caught him in the stomach, doubling him over.I didn’t stop.My knuckles split against his face, again and again, blood spattering across stone.
“You.Will.Never.Touch.Her.Again.”Each word was punctuated by another blow.
He collapsed, unconscious, blood pooling beneath his broken face.
I activated my wrist communicator, overriding our security protocols to get an emergency ping signal.“Aeon.Eastern cavern complex.Now.It’s Tegan.He’s a traitor,” I said, my voice shaking with barely controlled rage.
I rushed to Alora, breaking her restraints with my bare hands.“You’re safe now,” I whispered, gathering her trembling body into my arms.“I’ve got you.”
She buried her face against my chest, her body shaking with silent sobs.
Aeon arrived within ten minutes, taking in the scene with a single glance.
“I’ll handle him,” he said grimly, hoisting Tegan’s unconscious form over his shoulder.“Take care of her.”
I carried Alora back through the jungle, her body light against my chest, my heart pounding with equal parts fury and relief.
“I found something,” she whispered against my neck as we neared the settlement.“In the colony’s security framework.A kill switch.If I’d alerted you before neutralizing it, it might have triggered.”
My arms tightened around her.“What happened?”
“Tegan ambushed me after I neutralized the infected thread.He’s been working for CE all along, Daxon.For nine years.He’s the one who corrupted my original code back then for a nice paycheck.Then, they paid him even more to sabotage Planet Alpha from the inside.”Her voice broke.“He’s one of you, but he betrayed everyone for money.”
I couldn’t believe I’d worked alongside Tegan for two and a half years, trusted him with our most sensitive systems, but never once suspected anything.
“He would have destroyed everything,” I murmured, pressing my lips to her forehead as we reached my quarters.
I placed her gently on my bed, activating my communicator.“Commander Helix, we have a situation.Tegan has been compromised—working for CE since the beginning.He planted a kill switch in our security framework that Alora neutralized today.She was captured trying to alert us.”
Helix’s voice came back immediately, tense with barely contained fury.“Understood.Secure her.I’ll meet Aeon at containment.”
I turned back to Alora, cradling her face between my hands.“You could have died trying to protect us.”
She gave me a weary smile.“Pretty ironic.Isn’t it?The woman who enslaved you while working for CE coming back to save your whole colony from them twice.”
“You saved more than the colony.”I pressed my forehead to hers, inhaling her scent to reassure myself she was really here and safe.“You also saved me.From a life without feeling.From a life without you.”
TWENTY-SEVEN
