“If you had told him where your brother was, you'd be flying your ship. But no, you’re too much like him—Kal Volante—obstinate, stubborn. We should never have gifted him with anything. But I saw leadership potential in him. No matter where he's hiding, we'll find him.”
I didn't know what to believe, but he was threatening my family. The only thing I wanted to do was cause him physical harm. I crawled toward him on my belly, using my forearms—pain shot through every nerve in my body.
“It's a wonderful effort you're making. I can see what Ethan saw in you. Too bad you're not smart enough to pick the right side. I'm giving you one last chance. Tell us where he is, and we put a laser bolt in your head. Your parents will get a nice message about how you died with valor. Or we find out if the poison kills you before my friend gets a turn.”
He pointed to the enclosed box, which vibrated and snarled. I winced despite myself.
“You're right to be afraid of it. We trained it to hate. And that's all it does. It wants to destroy. Wonderful things. They can be used for so many purposes. So...last chance.” He knelt in front of me on one knee and reached out to touch my face as if to comfort me.
I snapped my teeth at him. He yanked his hand away with a barked laugh.
“You had your shot.” He stood and looked to his men. “Leader?”
“Sir?” One of the four helmeted, shielded agents joined Gleason, standing at attention, face forward.
“Gather the squad and release the beast. Lockdown this sanitation station and let it do its work. Report it as an alien attack.”
“Sir, yes, sir.”
Fear rose in my stomach and ballooned out to fill my chest. I forced air in over the mass. I had to say something.
“You act as if you care about the Axis, but you don’t. You’re just a sadist trying to get more power.”
Gleason stopped and turned back. “You have no idea. The Mil-station is my home. I will do whatever it takes to defend it.”
“I get no trial. No open court. What happened to due process?”
“I am due process, little girl. My motives are pure, and I have sacrificed more than anyone. I do the things the officers can't. I get rid of the problems. I smooth out the issues. I make sure we get the funds we need. I do the dirty work.”
I continued to glare at him, trying to spread the poison from my blood to him with my eyes. It didn't work, but the image made me feel a bit better.
“You’re just a bully with too much power.” My voice was small. I didn’t expect a response.
Casually, he pulled back his leg and kicked me in the abdomen. The air in my stomach shot out. Comets of pain radiated through me. He certainly knew exactly where to strike to cause the greatest amount of torture.
I blinked rapidly, trying to maintain focus between the drugs and the pain. My mind turned in looping circles. Random images flashed in my head: a U170 sunset, the moonya that had broken my toe, my brother pushing me into the lake. I had nothing to hold. My brain was a computer with a glitch.
Gleason retreated. The door swished open and closed.
I curled to see what was going on behind me.
The container was open.
A high-pitched screech pierced the stillness, and the soldiers danced back. Roaring and snapping, the creature erupted from the enclosure.
A giant lizard lumbered toward me. It had bumpy gray skin and a forked tongue that shot out intermittently. The soldiers kept a wide berth, backing slowly toward the door.
The creature scrambled toward them. The agents produced long wooden prongs.
It snarled at their poles but stopped chasing them as they backed away. Faces screwed up, they exited.
Then it turned its head to me.
Chapter Eighty-Three
Ethan
It felt like kissing my sister.
I didn't have a sister or any other family, but that’s what I would imagine.
No sensuality, just awkwardness.
We separated quickly. Amelie played the part of the lab assistant caught after hours making out with a boy. Her eyes were set on double-wide as she turned to the doctor.
“Doctor Sinclair! I'm so sorry. I wanted to get ahead on my work, and my friend came by. I was just showing him some of the non-confidential items to build positive PR.”
“I have spoken to you about being in the lab after hours. I appreciate the ambition, but this is something else.” He glared at me then back at Amelie. “I have a few more things I'd like to discuss with Cadet Dupree. Excuse us, Junior Lieutenant James.”
Sinclair was a hardcore Gleason fan. I couldn’t let on what was happening. I nodded and glanced over at Amelie, desperate for the information.
She clasped my hand and shoved something small against my palm. I knew enough not to look, but it felt like an info chip.
“Until we’re all together again.” She lifted an eyebrow.
I took that to mean I was supposed to go, find Vega, and she would join me.
Amelie was better at stealth than I was and could take care of herself. I swallowed hard, half-expecting the doctor to summon the MPs, but he wrapped his arms behind his back and waited for me to leave. He didn’t know we were looking for Vega. Amelie would be safe here.
I left the lab, still a bit leery of leaving her alone. But at the moment, Vega was in worse danger.
I sprinted down the corridor and pushed the small chip into my wristlet. The display map highlighted a large bay three floors down at the far edge of the station.
The base was deep in the night cycle now. The hallways were empty. I prayed that I wouldn’t run into any more roaming security details.
My credentials would probably give me free rein for a little while longer, at least until Gleason figured out what I was doing.
I passed different training areas. Gleason had taught me take-downs in that one.
He’d made me believe in trying to be my best. He’d been a taskmaster but had always been fair. Guilt buzzed inside like a low-grade siren.
Ungrateful. Traitor. Hub-born Liar.
But it was wrong to abandon Vega, and it was wrong to betray Gleason.
I had to choose between two wrongs.
The deck sergeant was conspicuously absent. Even late at night, the bay was always manned. Weird.
My heart thundered in my chest as my lungs cried for oxygen. I was pushing myself too hard. I had been pushing myself too hard for days.
Amelie had set the map to update automatically. No one had moved in a while. It looked like the guard detail had left Vega, but there was something large, with a heartbeat, that remained. It must be some kind of malfunction in the map.
One turn remained before the launch bay, and my communicator buzzed and flashed. I expected it to be Amelie. She’d had time to talk her way out of Doctor Sinclair’s lab. But it wasn't.
It was Gleason. I held my wrist com up to respond. Not this time. I gritted my teeth and put my arm back down.
“It's not nice to ignore your commanding officer’s call, Ethan.” I spun around to find Gleason leaning against the wall behind me. I hadn't heard or seen him at all.
As always, he read everything across my face and chuckled as he pushed off the wall. His movements were languid and relaxed, but tension lurked underneath. There was a glint in his eyes that I hadn't seen before, a set to his jaw.
“I thought you were in your quarters preparing to ship with Atlantis.”
“I—” I had to come up with something. My instinct was to lie. Try to avoid conflict. I just wanted to get to Vega. I had a feeling he knew that, but maybe he didn't.
“I'm trying to get some training in before the Atlantis. Gotta be ready.”
“You certainly do.” His tone was conversational, but his stance was not. He squared his shoulders and bent his knees in a classic attack position. He was ready to fight. Dammit, I didn't want it to come to this. Maybe I could still talk him out of this travesty. Maybe there was a way.
I sighed. “V
ega hasn’t done anything wrong. Just let her go. Send her back to U170. I don't believe she knows anything. There's no reason to—”
Gleason twisted his neck to the side until it cracked. He straightened and looked at me.
The hardness was still there, but there was something else. A specific press of the lips and tilt of the head I’d only seen a few times, like when I failed at a mission or something terrible was coming down from high command.
“I can't give you any more training, son. You should know well enough how much I prize loyalty. What do you want to do? You have to choose.”
If I didn't walk away right now, it was the end between us. Gleason would never forgive me for betraying him. Loyalty was everything.
But Vega didn't deserve what was happening to her.
“Turn around. Go back to your quarters. Get ready for your assignment.” His voice lowered, and he unhitched the loop on his laser pistol.
I let my eyes stray from him to look at potential items that I could use as weapons. Ways I could take him down without hurting him. The minute my eyes drifted from his, he leaped at me.
His arms wrapped around my middle. I flew back, slamming against the wall.
Only one person could walk away from this fight, and it had to be me.
Chapter Eighty-Four
Amelie
“Doctor Sinclair, I sincerely apologize for being in here after hours.”
“Do you think I'm a fool?”
I took a step back.
I'd never seen Doctor Sinclair with such a direct look nor intense interest in me besides what I could do for his research.
“Answer the question, Dupree.”
“No?”
This whole situation was disconcerting. My left hand reached over and gripped my right forearm as if to give myself comfort. The motion helped me to focus and stay in the moment.
Every cell in my body wanted to panic and run.
“It's too bad. I like your parents. They’re generous individuals.”
He strolled around the lab touching the different experiments—his interest split between addressing me and reviewing them.
It almost seemed like he was toying with me. I took a step toward the door. Panic crawled out and tried to latch onto my lungs.
This was the bad part. My brain usually shut down at this point, and I became pure emotion. And that was the absolute worst thing I could do right now.
Doctor Sinclair rotated toward the last experiment then walked very close to me.
He reached in his pocket and withdrew something.
“It's so sad that you couldn't keep your curiosity under control.”
He extended his palm. It was the eye I’d used to hack the door system.
Of all the things to forget. I thought I'd covered my tracks. My hands became fists in my dress, and my breathing came out in a ragged gasp.
“Let me explain. I thought I could help.”
“I can’t excuse this. Nor can I let the information become public knowledge.”
“But I passed all the security clearances. I won't tell anyone.” I hoped I sounded convincing.
I opened my eyes as large as possible. It seemed to make people more likely to do what I wanted, some kind of internal human mechanism that desired to protect things that looked young, sweet, and innocent.
He snorted and put the eyeball back in his pocket.
“You’re resourceful and quite intelligent, and that dress is a work of art. But still, this breach cannot be forgiven.” He walked toward his experiment room.
“I swear, Doctor. It isn’t what you think.”
The doctor shook his head and pushed his magnifiers up his nose. “Such a pity. You had great potential.”
Had was the key word. He didn’t mean for me to leave this lab alive.
The time for stealth ended. I flew to the door and tapped. Hard locked. Of course. I sprinted to the door panel and started the hack.
“Quite ingenious how you engineered the eye.” He kept talking from the back room.
I pressed in every code I knew, even Ethan's.
Nothing worked.
A snarl sounded from behind me, and I swiveled.
The creatures’ maws snapped open and closed. Long tongues protruded through gaps in their teeth. They looked up at the professor expectantly like tiny OE pets.
“By Helios, those are the creatures I was researching. How did they grow so fast?”
“Amazing, isn't it? We’ve developed new techniques to assist my creatures along.”
“I thought they were completely aquatic.” Curse my endless curiosity, but it seemed to keep him engaged.
“I do enjoy your quick mind, but I really can't take a chance. You know too much. No loose ends.”
The tiny creatures wore thin black collars around their necks.
The professor pressed a series of codes into his wristlet, and the collars blinked to life with a small red light.
The professor lifted a finger and pointed to me. The creatures started to converge.
“I have places to be. Things that are in motion that cannot be undone. Goodbye, Cadet Dupree.” He walked to the exit, placed his palm on the pad, and exited.
A semi-circle of rabid killing machines surrounded me.
I pulled up my wristlet, hoping it still worked. All outgoing coms blocked. The doctor had thought of everything—except the fact that I had made a back-door com network.
I sent a repeating SOS to Dax, praying he wasn't already captured, imprisoned, or dead. Then I turned to face my attackers.
They skittered toward me. The monsters’ tiny eyes bulged as they sensed my fear.
Maybe they could smell it. Some animals had the capacity to smell emotions.
Focus, Amelie. There's no backup here. No parents. No Vega. No Dax. Just me this time.
That should've given me more confidence than it did.
What would Vega do in this situation?
Vega would never give up.
I had to pull from what I had learned from her and lean on what I could do. I spied the paddle in the corner. Of course, one of the creatures crept between me and it.
Its opaque eyes blinked at me, licking nonexistent lips. They were small, so probably couldn’t outpace me, but I didn’t know their jumping range.
They’d been pretty athletic in the water. I took my chances and raced to the weapon.
Grabbing the prong, I twisted around and smacked one of them in the jowls.
It lay motionless on the ground.
Five more to go, and now they closed in.
I choked up on the paddle. My heartbeat galloped in my chest, and my face flushed.
“Try me now!” I knew it was just adrenaline, but I suddenly felt strong and ready.
Another one made a lunge for me, and I swung the bat wildly, my aim off. I caught it in the leg, which sent it spinning. The monster’s teeth snapped uselessly in the air as it slammed against the wall. At least they were taking turns. I couldn’t handle a swarm.
It was only seconds before the next one leaped at me, biting into my shoe.
Thankfully, they weren’t Madam Sosa’s. I’d worn practical walking shoes. No one had noticed at the party, and now I was glad.
Another one snarled and snagged the train of my dress, biting as if it were gnawing flesh.
I whacked it with an upward swing. It tried to avoid me, but its teeth lodged in my chiffon. The blow launched it back against one of the lab tables.
Its packmates regrouped and started climbing the lab tables and walls for an aerial attack.
I had terrible aim. Still, I held the paddle aloft. Which one would jump on me first? My eyes skated between them. I searched for a hint of their direction.
My body clenched, and nausea rose. Terror clawed at my heart, but I took a breath.
Logic could save me.
A moving target was harder to hit. I bolted toward the entrance. One of the creatures jumped, nearly hitting me.
At least two more of the small ones remained in the lab with me.
Tiny skittering steps echoed against the flooring then grew quiet.
I ducked under a desk to regroup.
Maybe I could overwrite the hard lock on the door.
Worth a try. I crawled out. My eyes searched for the small creature with big teeth.
Nothing.
Holding my breath, I snagged a console and pulled it under the table. I navigated the security protocols and connected to the unique code of the lab door. Getting out should be easy. All the locks had been built to keep people from getting in, not getting out.
All the stress flowed away, and my brain settled. The code came as naturally as breathing. I knew exactly how to bypass security protocols.
I overrode the system using the emergency frequency that would allow me to become the new administrator. A green light flashed on top of my handheld.
The door flashed open just as a pair of sharp teeth dug into my shoulder.
Chapter Eighty-Five
Dax
I had been running for what felt like hours. I finally found a service tunnel on the far side of the mil-station nearest the Hub to breathe and pull myself together. I shouldn’t have panicked. Shouldn’t have run.
Maybe they didn’t know it was me? Perhaps I could wait it out and sneak back to the barracks? But that was a fool’s dream. Some scanner had probably tagged me as soon as I attacked an officer.
The only thing keeping me together was surviving to the next moment.
I’d lost the guards pretty quickly, but my heart wouldn't slow. I felt along the dark corridors using my hands.
At least I was still alive and free.
A message rolled over my wristlet from Am.
“Help. Trouble. Main lab.” For her not to use full sentences meant she was in deep. What could’ve happened in the last hour?
Regardless of my bruised feelings, I had to go and find her, even if the guards caught me.
I didn't have an internal map inside my head like Amelie, but I had a good sense of direction.
She was in the lab. Using the service tunnel was easy. Exiting was not.
Cadet: Star Defenders Book Two: Space Opera Adventure Page 39