by Tarah Benner
“We just lost contact with Jonah and Jade! They’re with Mordecai right now, and we aren’t leaving Jonah behind!”
Carl’s eyebrows lift. He looks slightly surprised by my outburst, but it doesn’t seem to faze him. He lets out a sigh and shakes his head. “Yeah. He said you’d say that.”
I blink slowly. What is he talking about?
“I was warned you’d be difficult, but I have specific instructions to keep you on this shuttle.”
It takes a few seconds for his words to sink in. Did he say that someone told him I’d fight this?
A dark cloud settles over me, and I glance back at Ping and Jared. They look just as confused as I feel.
Just then, I hear more footsteps coming down the jet bridge, and my body ramps into high gear. I poke my head out from the shuttle and see two figures marching toward me.
Squinting through the darkness, I can hardly believe my eyes. It’s Tripp . . . and Ziva. Ziva is actually here.
Tripp is wearing a look of disgust, and Ziva’s arms are wrapped around her torso. Her face is streaked with mascara tears. She looks absolutely miserable.
I’m not sure what just happened between them, but clearly they were not in agreement.
“I can’t,” Ziva murmurs. “You know I can’t.”
“You can, and you will,” growls Tripp. His voice is cold. Tripp flings a helmet and flight suit into the shuttle and stands behind Ziva until she climbs in.
Ping’s eyes look as though they might pop out of his head. Ziva is a bit of a celebrity, and I sense that Ping is awed by her presence.
“You better decide who your friends are,” Tripp rumbles. “Because that is going to dictate how the rest of this plays out.”
Ziva’s bottom lip trembles, and she hangs her head. I’m caught between feeling sorry for her and feeling disgusted by her attachment to a humanoid.
“How did you —” I begin.
Tripp meets my gaze with a distant look, and I’m instantly suspicious.
“What did you do?”
“Wyatt didn’t think this would go over well,” Tripp admits. “But it was the only way to get you all to Earth.”
“What?” Jonah didn’t think . . . Tripp was in on it? Jonah and Tripp hate each other. They would never collude on a plan.
Unless that plan was about me.
“Hey, can we wrap this up?” slurs Carl. “If I don’t make my weather window —”
“You’ll get your bonus,” snaps Tripp.
“Your bonus?” I snarl, rounding on Tripp.
He looks guilty. “Wyatt and I may have offered Carl an incentive —”
“Well, I’m not going anywhere,” I say angrily. “Not without Jonah.”
“Wyatt isn’t coming,” says Tripp roughly.
In this moment, there are no words. My insides are a mess of betrayal and confusion.
“He and Jade had to hang back,” Tripp explains. “We had to get Ziva out of BlumBot, and that could only happen if Mordecai was distracted by Jade.”
I shake my head. I don’t understand. “He’s not —”
“Wyatt was never going to come,” says Tripp. “This was always the plan. He asked me to make sure you got on the shuttle . . . to make sure all of you made it out alive.”
“Made it out?” I say, my voice cracking at the end. That makes it sound as though this might not work — that the air force may detonate the EMP before they have Mordecai.
Tripp doesn’t say a word. He just continues to stare at me with a mixture of resignation and sadness.
“Fine,” I say. “Ziva can go, but I’m not leaving.”
“Yes, you are,” says Tripp.
“No,” I growl in frustration. “Why does it matter?”
“It matters.”
“Ping and Jared can look after Ziva. There’s no reason for me to go!”
“Wyatt wanted you to leave,” says Tripp in a hollow voice. “He made me swear —”
“But why?” I shout, having had about enough. “Why would you go along with it?”
Tripp gives me a crushed look. “Do you really need me to answer that question?”
My head is spinning. I still can’t make sense of it. Jonah made a deal with Tripp to get me away from the colony. He was willing to stay behind and risk his life so that Ziva could be saved, but he wanted me to leave. He made Tripp promise that I would, and Tripp agreed to help.
“If we don’t go now, we’ll miss our weather window,” says Carl, turning to me in exasperation. “You in or you out?”
21
Jonah
The knot of tension inside my chest expands as the bot crushes the bug underfoot. I watch as it grinds it into the carpet — a million tiny useless pieces.
The bug had to be Maggie’s doing. It was inside the uniform she gave to Jade. She must have planted it to ensure Jade didn’t betray us.
She’s going to hate me when she learns what I’ve done. I should feel relief not to have her involved. I should feel relief that Maggie is safe. Instead I feel this profound aloneness I didn’t know I was capable of.
Hennesy already confiscated my pistol and stunners, as well as the handgun Jade had on her hip. The bots found another handgun on Jade, as well as two tiny daggers and my ankle pistol.
The bots are completely devoid of emotion as they pile our weapons on the front desk. They even take weapons off Hennesy’s men: two pistols each and a handful of knives. I suppose Mordecai isn’t taking any chances. He has no reason to trust the Space Force.
Once the bots are convinced that they’ve got all our weapons, one of them leads us down the hall. My heart beats faster. It’s not that I’m afraid to face Mordecai in person. Nothing would make me happier than to have five minutes alone in a room with him. It’s the addition of the Space Force that makes me nervous.
Hennesy only cares about the money, and he’ll do anything to get it. Mordecai’s promise of a reward is contingent on someone handing Jade over, and he’s not going to like that I have other plans.
Hennesy has five trained officers on his side — six against two. I’m still confident about our odds, but I can’t say that I trust Jade completely. She’s smarter than I gave her credit for, and the woman is a remarkable liar. I don’t like dealing with people that I can’t read. I never know what they’re thinking.
As we make our way down the hall, I can’t help but remember the last time I was here. Judging by the absence of dead bodies, I’m guessing the Space Force hauled them off for final destination — incineration followed by a satellite flight through space. Their ashes will be returned to their loved ones on Earth, but the honorable last rites of a space traveler can’t erase the violent circumstances of their deaths.
Hennesy eyes the bots warily as we make our way deeper into BlumBot. Humanoids are stationed at regular intervals, but they don’t try to stop us as we approach the back offices.
The whole place is eerily quiet. We pass empty office after empty office — their doors thrown open and desks still arranged just as Ziva’s employees left them: picture frames, coffee cups, and word-a-day calendars. It’s chilling to think that all of them are dead.
Finally, we reach the very end of the hallway, where two more bots are standing outside a door. The door leads into Ziva’s office, which must be where Mordecai is hiding.
The bot opens the door as though we’re Mordecai’s honored guests, but the officers seem reluctant to go in. Even Hennesy is hovering in the doorway.
I smirk. They were all talk when they had their guns pointed at our heads. Now that they’re about to face Mordecai, they’re a little less cocky.
Jade looks from one to the other in clear disgust, and I walk inside without being asked.
I’ve been inside this room before, but I’m realizing for the first time that it’s exactly like Ziva’s office on Earth. There are large windows off to the left, but instead of mountain views, these look into outer space.
Three more bots are positioned around t
he room — one on either side of the door and one standing beside Ziva’s desk. Mordecai has his back to us. He’s staring out the window into space.
He turns just as Hennesy and his lackeys shuffle in, and a smug grin spreads across his face.
Mordecai is taller than I expected and prematurely stooped in the back. He’s got yellowish skin that shines with grease, thin black hair, and a beak-like nose.
“Sergeant Wyatt,” says Mordecai. “What a pleasant surprise.”
I don’t say a word. I just glower at Mordecai as he studies us all. His gaze darts around at the Space Force operatives before landing excitedly on Jade.
Jade’s expression is one of bitter contempt. With her chin tucked and her face tilted forward, she looks like a demon about to be unleashed from hell. Suddenly I believe Jade’s story. She is here to kill Mordecai after all.
“Thank you, Lieutenant,” says Mordecai lazily. “That will be all.”
There’s an awkward pause as Hennesy waits. I can tell he wants to say something but is struggling to find the nerve.
“I think you’re forgetting something,” he says in a tight voice.
Mordecai smiles. He’s toying with him. “No, I don’t think so.”
“What about the money?”
“Patience is a virtue,” says Mordecai breezily. “Leave us now. Thank you.”
In that instant, I feel the tension ratchet up a notch. Hennesy’s compatriots are angry yet nervous. They were planning to take their money and run. That’s what Hennesy sold them on. They never planned to confront Mordecai directly, and I’m not sure Hennesy’s up for it.
“We risked a lot to bring her here,” says Hennesy. “We deserve what we have coming.”
In an instant, I sense movement in my periphery. One of the bots standing beside the door steps forward, and Hennesy’s face changes completely.
One minute his mouth is twisted in fury. The next I see a look of intense pain followed by emptiness — a look I know all too well.
My eyes dart from the bot’s hands resting along Hennesy’s jaw to his expression of pure release. The bot lets him go, and he drops to the floor.
Hennesy is dead — his neck snapped in two.
The Space Force officers pivot to fight, but the bots move with flawless precision. One strikes the female officer in the gut. She doubles over, having lost her breath, and the bot snaps her neck from behind.
The other two bots go for the men, and in less than ten seconds, all but one is dead. Two died instantly from broken necks; the last one was gutted with a pair of desk scissors.
The final man standing is Hennesy’s right hand. He has a moment of terror to fumble for his weapon before a bot knocks him sideways with a devastating left hook.
The man stumbles into me, and the bot takes his legs out. He crashes to the ground with a heavy thud, and the bot steps down on his chest. I hear a sickening crack of bone as the bot puts its weight on its heel. At first I’m not sure what it’s doing. Then I realize the heel has cracked his sternum.
He struggles for breath for what seems like forever, his desperate gasps filling the room. There’s a sickening gurgle as blood rushes into his lungs and his brain is slowly starved of oxygen.
The room falls silent.
“Greedy people are tiresome, aren’t they?” comes Mordecai’s disgusting voice.
I look up slowly, still stunned into silence.
Mordecai is staring at Hennesy’s corpse with a look of boredom mixed with contempt. “So predictable.”
He clears his throat, and I come back to life. My hatred is still flowing hot in my veins.
“Sergeant Wyatt, if you would —” He gestures to Jade, who is still in handcuffs. “Let’s help the lady get a little more comfortable.”
Something like an alarm bell goes off in my head, but I don’t know what else to do. Jade is here to take Mordecai out, and I am here to help her. If I disobey Mordecai’s orders, I’ll end up like Hennesy, but this feels like a trap.
Keeping one eye trained on Mordecai, I bend down next to Hennesy’s body and feel around for a key. Mordecai watches with infuriating smugness. He likes to see me bent over with the back of my neck exposed. It’s a power play meant to intimidate me. He’s the predator and I’m the prey.
I stand up quickly and uncuff Jade, wishing more than anything that I still had my weapons.
The second she’s free, the bots move closer, and my body reacts instinctively. I hunker down and raise my fists, preparing to fight to the death.
“Come now, Sergeant,” Mordecai scoffs. “Surely you realize I could have you killed at any time. What’s the use in being so tense?” He grins, revealing a row of yellowed teeth. “Your life is entirely in my hands, so you might as well relax.”
I swallow. It’s true, but I don’t relax. His bots could have killed me just as easily as the others, but they didn’t. I just don’t know why.
“Why did you kill Hennesy and not me?” I ask.
“Hennesy was a bore and a leech,” says Mordecai. “I thought you might be of some use. At the very least, you’re never boring, Sergeant. I like that about you.”
My blood is boiling. Mordecai is a piece of work.
“Jade, dear” — he lets out a demented chuckle — “I must say that you are full of surprises. I simply did not expect for you to take credit for our little coup. After all these years living in the shadows, you chose to reveal yourself at a moment when you had no hope of escape. And yet, when you went on air, I felt that you were speaking to me. We have unresolved business, you and I.”
“We do,” Jade whispers, still stone cold.
Mordecai’s mouth twitches, caught between a sneer and a scowl.
“You ruined — my life.”
“Ruined your life?” Mordecai exclaims, his eyes dancing with amusement. “Is that what you think?”
Jade takes a deep breath, but I know that look. Inside she’s screaming. She just can’t do anything.
“No, my dear. That was never my intent. I simply took an organization that was failing to live up to its full potential and showed the world what it could do.”
Jade shakes her head. I can tell it’s taking every ounce of her self-control not to launch herself at Mordecai. “You committed hundreds of crimes in my name,” she says. “You turned me into a killer.”
“I elevated your cause.”
“You’re pathetic,” I murmur, unable to stop myself.
“Excuse me?”
“You were too much of a coward to take credit for your own crimes back then. So you framed Jade because you were scared.”
“I simply used Ms. Armaz’s name so that I could work toward a higher purpose.”
“Oh, cut the crap,” I snarl. “You have no higher purpose. You have no purpose period. You’re just a pathetic prick who thinks his family has done him wrong.” I shake my head. “Even your own sister can’t stand you.”
As those words fall between us, I sense that I’ve crossed a line. Mordecai’s smug expression is gone, replaced by the cold face of a killer.
“It’s funny that you should mention my sister . . . You never could resist screwing up even the simplest of plans.”
There’s a frigid pause as his words sink in and I try to figure out what he knows.
“Oh, yes,” he whispers. “I know my sister has gone missing. Well, not so much missing as relocated. I know that she is being herded onto a shuttle this very moment by the brainless wunderkind Tripp Van de Graaf.”
Instantly, my entire body feels as though it’s been doused in icy water. My insides constrict, and I’m filled with fear.
Mordecai’s sadistic smile is back. “You didn’t really think I’d allow your little friends to abscond with one of my shuttles, did you?” He laughs, turning to Jade. “Oh, dear. You didn’t really throw in your luck with these amateurs, did you? I’m expecting something better from you, Ms. Armaz. Please tell me you planned something better!”
Suddenly, I freeze. I don
’t know what to do. My first instinct is to throw myself at Mordecai and take him out before the bots snap my neck, but I can’t be sure that he doesn’t have some contingency plan — an order for the bots to blow up the space station or take out Swift 9.
“That Maggie Barnes really is something,” Mordecai muses. “Where did you find her?” He smiles in a sickening way, as if he’s preparing to eat a juicy steak. “She is excellent — like a real-life Lois Lane meets the Scooby-Doo gang. So feisty and earnest.”
It’s not until Mordecai mentions Maggie that I feel my body come alive. The rage starts low in my gut and spreads until it’s charging through my bloodstream. My limbs thrum with a hateful energy, and I feel as though I could put my fist through a wall.
“Leave Maggie out of this,” I growl.
“Why?” asks Mordecai. “She is your Achilles heel, Sergeant.” He chuckles. “It really couldn’t have worked out better . . . Buford wanted to give you one from the very beginning, but I said it was a waste of time.” He clucks his tongue. “I suppose this was one instance where I was wrong. It really is a shame that I killed him. He would have been pleased.”
My head is spinning. My hands are shaking. Buford wanted to give me a weakness? A vulnerability to exploit?
“You see, Buford always thought you were too uncontrollable. You were isolated — depressed. You had no family — no real friends. You didn’t care about anyone or anything except the army. But that’s all changed now . . .”
White-hot rage unlike anything I’ve ever felt rips through my body. Buford is the reason I joined the Space Force. He wanted to give me someone for Mordecai to use against me, and now Mordecai has turned Maggie into a weapon.
“Leave her alone,” I repeat.
Mordecai’s sneer grows. “Now, why would I do that?”
“You don’t care about Maggie. You just want me.”
“I had thought of killing you both . . . I’m beginning to think it might be cleaner.”
“You won’t,” I say.
“And why not?”
“Because you need me,” I growl, sounding more confident than I feel. “It’s the only reason you haven’t killed me already.”