Page 7 of Her Cyborg Commander
The comm unit she’d prepped for this eventuality was as heavily encrypted as she could make it and would never be used again. What she planned to do next would violate the rules that governed the cyborgs on Liberty, and she didn’t want to get anyone in trouble for helping her.
Once she sent the message, there’d be no turning back. River gave herself a moment to review the situation. She had to be sure this was the right move. It took less than a second for her to be certain. This wasn’t just the right thing to do. It was theonlything she could do.
“Sissy, engage security protocol Exodus Omega.”
“Executing,” the AI said.
Once she was sure there would be no record of what happened next, she activated the comm. “Vixen. Vixen. Vixen. The Dove is in flight. Repeat, Dove is in flight. Are you available for capture?”
It was the one potential hitch in her carefully orchestrated plan. She couldn’t be sure if the intended recipient of the message was even in the system at the moment. If she wasn’t, River would switch to her secondary plan.
She was still pulling on her favorite set of combat boots when a reply came through. Text only.
“This is Vixen. Message received. Fox will capture and bring Dove to the nest.”
River curled her lip at that bit of news. Vixen was near enough to receive the message but not close enough to make the pickup. That meant involving yet another being in her plans. She had hoped to get away without dragging anyone else into this mess, but needs must and all that. If Hezza B. trusted Thrash to do this, she would, too. Besides, it wasn’t like he ever knew the contents of the cargo he sometimes delivered to and from Hezza’s ship. This would be no different, except this time, the cargo would be a cyborg.
5
“What doyou mean she’s gone? Gonewhere?” Edge forced the words out through gritted teeth. He stared at Skye, anger making his nerves sizzle.
The Bar None was usually a bustling place at any time of day, but right now it was as silent as the void. A group of cyborgs gathered around the table where he’d been enjoying a late lunch. He hadn’t known anything was wrong until Skye and the others had trooped inside wearing matching expressions that told him a shitstorm of trouble was about to land in his lap.
Skye shrugged. “We don’t know. There’s no sign of forced entry. The residential AI indicates she returned home yesterday evening and made herself a milkshake. That matches the message she sent me around the same time. She wanted me to know she was taking care of herself. That’s the last time anyone heard from her.”
“What about after that? The AI should have noted when she left,” Edge asked, frustrated that he’d been left out of the loop for this long. If they’d told him right away, he could have tracked her down by now. She was his responsibility, dammit.
“Less than an hour after that, the system locked itself down. Phaedra and her team are looking at it now. Phaedra said it looked like River ordered the shutdown herself.”
“Of course she did,” he growled, more to himself than anyone else. “Why make it easy for us to find her and get her out of whatever trouble she’s in?”
“She might have done that.” Skye held up a data stick. “But we don’t know because the data stick she left for us to find is bio-locked. So far, none of us can open it.”
Edge held out his hand, and Skye passed the device to him with a knowing smirk. “Think you’ll have better luck?”
He pressed his thumb to the scanner. The little device chirped twice and then the red band around the scanner turned green.
Before he could comment, Skye laughed. “Imagine that. She left the message for you.”
He raised a brow and gave her his best cold stare. “I’m her leader. Of course she’d want me to see this first.”
When Skye seemed ready to say more, he slashed the air between them with the flat of his hand. “Now is not the time for jokes. We need answers.”
He touched a small button on the side of the data stick. At first he wasn’t sure what form the information would take. A map? Text? A recording of some kind?
When an audio recording started, he had his answer. River’s soft voice filled the air. “Hello, everyone with Edge right now. I know this will sound cliché, but if you’re listening to this message, I’m already gone.”
Where?He thought.Wherethefraxxare you?
“If you check the shuttle logs at the spaceport, you’ll find one of them recently took an off-the-books flight. I flew it to the northern continent, well into the polar area, and had it return on autopilot.”
She laughed softly, though he didn’t like the sadness in her voice.
“I’ve scrubbed the coordinates, so don’t bother looking. Though I know Edge will insist it be done, anyway.”
“Damn right I will.” He pointed toward Striker and his human female. “Find that shuttle and go through everything. Take someone from Phaedra’s team with you.”
“On it,” Striker said, already moving for the door.
