Escape (Project Vetus Book 1)

by Emmy Chandler

  And Justin can see every bit of that on my face.

  “Good. Then we understand each other. So here’s how this is going to go. I’m going to walk you and the biological samples down to the shuttle and secure you to your seat. Then I’ll come back for Dreyer and the data. You will be quiet and cooperative. And if everything goes well, I won’t have to hurt baby rat. But if you so much as twitch before I get you strapped in, I will stun you unconscious, and we’ll just have to cross our fingers for your little passenger. Got it?”

  I nod, trying to control my pulse. To disguise the fury surging through me with every beat of my heart.

  “Good.” Justin reaches into the front pocket of his satchel and pulls out a laser pistol.

  “Your friend in the control booth got you a gun?” I can’t tell anything about the settings, so I have to take his word that it’s set to stun, and not to blow a hole right through me.

  “Yes, and it only responds to my prints, so don’t get any ideas. I’m going to bind your hands.” He digs into his bag again and comes up with a set of wire cuffs, no doubt also courtesy of the corrupt guard working with him. But then his gaze flicks from one of my wrists to the other, both still strapped to the table, and I can see the reality of this situation as it occurs to him.

  He’ll have to put the gun down in order to free my hands, then bind them together. Which is exactly why he’s not even trying to take any of the guys. And why he’s not willing to wake Tirzah up.

  Justin grabs my chin and leans in until he takes up my entire field of vision, his fingers bruising. “I swear to god, if you try a fucking thing, I will kick you in the gut until what’s left of that baby lab rat runs down your legs. Do you understand?”

  My entire body trembles as I nod in his brutal grip.

  Finally he lets me go, then taps on his com device. The bindings fall away from my right wrist, and it takes all of my self-control to resist the urge to punch him in the gut.

  This is not my moment.

  Justin sets his gun on the metal desk at his back, then he slides one of the wire loops around my right wrist and adjusts the clasp to tighten it. “One down,” he mumbles, and I realize that’s a sign of his nerves.

  To bind my left wrist, he has to either lean over me or go around the table. He chooses the safer, longer route, rather than leaning over my currently free right arm. Which would’ve been the right move, if not for the fact that he left his pistol sitting on the desk, next to his insulated cylinder.

  In position on my other side, he frees my left wrist, then discovers that he still has to lean over me to grab my right one. Justin may be a brilliant scientist, but he is less than proficient at prisoner control.

  Maybe he should have brought his guard friend with him.

  Jaw clenched, he leans over my midsection to grasp for my arm. I suck in a deep breath and sit up as I wrap my left arm around his neck and squeeze. My non-dominant arm isn’t very strong, so I brace it with my right hand, scratching his face with the wire cuffs, and I hold on for dear life.

  I hold on for my baby’s life.

  Justin flails, trying to get free. Desperate to draw a breath. Then he realizes his hands are still free, and he starts punching me. I’ve never put anyone in a headlock before, and my technique is terrible. That and my general lack of strength mean that by the time he finally passes out, draped over me on the lab table, my legs and back are bruised from his fists. Fortunately, he’s a scientist, not a fighter, and his position means he didn’t have access to my stomach.

  For nearly a minute after he slumps over me, I maintain my grip, in case he’s faking unconsciousness. I have no idea how long he’ll be out, so I let him go and grunt as I maneuver him into a position that will give me access to both of his hands. And his wrist com.

  Like the pistol, it will only respond to his fingerprints, so I bend his elbow and wedge his arm into what I truly hope is an uncomfortable position so I can use the fingers of his right hand to tap through unfamiliar menus on the device.

  Bindings…

  Bindings…

  Finally, I find the controls for bindings, listed by proximity. Evidently they transmit a signal. Which makes sense, considering that they can only be remotely released. I tap the button to release what I assume are the wires holding my ankles to the table. But while my legs remain bound, the clasps holding wires tight around Tirzah’s wrists pop open.

  Her arms slide off the narrow arms of the desk chair, and she slumps forward. Then she tips out of her chair face-first and I flinch when she hits the floor with a thud. “Sorry!” I whisper as I tap to release all of the other bindings within signal distance of Justin’s wrist com, just in case.

  The wires around my ankles loosen, and I pull them free just as Tirzah slumps even flatter on the floor, with the release of her own feet.

  A relieved sob bursts from my throat, and I shove Justin to the floor. Then I climb down from the table on the other side, my thoughts racing.

  Station Delta is on lockdown. The lab cameras are turned off. There’s a shuttle with departure clearance waiting somewhere in zone X. And I have access to both a pistol and a wrist com I’m not authorized to use.

  I have no idea what to do.

  I need help.

  My pulse races so fast the room begins to spin as I round the table and squat next to Justin again, terrified that he’ll wake up while I’m close enough to grab. I use his finger to navigate through more menus, cursing the complicated structure, until I figure out how to unlock the lab doors. While I’m at it, I run through and unlock all of the cell doors too.

  Please, please, please let Carson and the others be conscious.

  To keep him from locking everything down if he wakes up suddenly, I slide the com device off his wrist, then I race around the table and grab his pistol from the table, mostly to keep it out of his reach, should he wake up. Then I race into the hallway, headed toward the cells.

  “Carson!” I peek into Burke and Everett’s cells as I pass them, and I find them both asleep, Burke on his bunk, Everett on the floor, as if he passed out suddenly.

  Gas. Justin locked them in and piped some kind of gas into their cells.

  Thiago and Vaughn are both starting to stir as I race past their open doors, but I keep going until I burst into Carson’s cell. He’s lying on his bunk with his left arm and leg hanging over the side, his eyes still closed. “Carson!” I shout as I cross the small space, and his arm twitches. Then his foot moves.

  He groans as I shove him over and perch on the edge of the cot. “Carson!” I shake his shoulder, and his eyes begin to flutter as footsteps shuffle toward me from the hallway.

  “Lilli?” Vaughn appears in the doorway, with Thiago behind him. “What’s going on? Where’d you get a laser pistol?”

  “Corporate espionage. I think that’s what you call it. Justin’s trying to take Tirzah and me, and a bunch of data and samples, to UA’s competitor. She’s unconscious in the lab.” I stand and shove the gun at him. “We can’t fire it, but I assume it has blunt force potential. Will you go check on Tirzah?”

  “Lilli?” Carson’s eyes open and for a second he struggles to focus on me. “What’s going on? What’s wrong?”

  “Justin has more book sense than common sense.” I give him a nervous smile, even as my pulse seems to tick away the seconds, keeping me almost miserably on-edge. I have no idea how long we have before the lockdown on Station Delta will end and armed guards will descend upon us. “Get up. There’s an unconscious project assistant director in Lab A, and somewhere around here, there’s a shuttle with departure clearance waiting for us to board, but I have no idea where it is or how to get to it.”

  He frowns as he looks past me to where Everett and Burke are now watching us from the doorway, looking half-asleep and puzzled.

  I fill them in quickly on the way to the lab, where we find Thiago kneeling next to Tirzah, trying to wake her up, while Vaughn stands over Justin, evidently ready to bash his head in with
the butt of the pistol, should he wake up.

  The second Carson steps into the lab, his entire bearing changes. He blinks, and all vestiges of drowsiness are gone. His spine is straight, his silver-eyed gaze sharp. “Status?” His focus stalls on Tirzah’s prone form as he scans the lab.

  And I realize I’ve just met Captain Carson Sotelo for the first time.

  24

  CARSON

  “Status?” I glance around the lab, taking in the insulated, refrigerated canister on the desk. It’s for biological samples. Lilli was right.

  Corporate espionage.

  “Vitals are good, but she’s out cold,” Zamora says from the floor, where Dreyer lies draped over his lap, eyes closed. “I don’t think it was gas, or she’d have woken up along with us. Which probably happened when our cell doors opened, clearing out the air.” Thiago’s gaze shifts to Lilli. “Was that you?”

  “Yeah.” She holds up Justin’s wrist com. “I figured out how to unlock the bindings and the doors, but that’s all I had time for.”

  “That was great work,” I tell her, pride echoing in my voice. “How did you disable him?”

  “Headlock. Took forever. No one ever tells you how long it takes to knock someone out like that, but my ankles were still cuffed to the table, and I couldn’t reach any weapons, so…” She shrugs.

  “You choked him out while you were still strapped to the fucking lab table?” Coleman’s incredulous gold-eyed gaze finds her.

  “He threatened to hurt the baby. But I kind of suck at fighting.” She lifts the back of her shirt and turns so that I can see. “Is there a bruise?”

  Rage fires through me. Her back and side are already purple with bruises developing like roses blooming on her skin.

  He hurt your mate, the beast growls. He tried to hurt your child. Kill him.

  A growl rumbles from my throat and I lunge at the unconscious scientist.

  “Sotelo.” Jamison steps into my path, holding me back with both hands on my chest. “We still need him.”

  “It’s okay.” Lilli grabs my arm and pulls me back. “I’m fine. We’re fine.”

  I fall to my knees in front of her and lift the hem of her shirt to expose her stomach. The skin is unblemished, except for a hint of stretch marks from her previous pregnancy.

  “Seriously, we’re fine.” Her hands slide into my hair, and the physical demonstration of her need to reassure me wrings my heart out like a wet rag. Nothing can be wrong while she is healthy and happy and with me, but I will tear down the world, should any of that change. “I bent over him so he couldn’t get to my stomach,” she adds.

  For a moment, pride threatens to derail my focus, as the beast puffs out his chest. My mate is smart and protective. A tiny little warrior, fighting for our unborn.

  She is perfect, the beast purrs. Get her to safety.

  I press a kiss against her flat abdomen, already eager for the day she swells with my child. Then I stand and force myself to focus.

  We’re getting out of here today. Thanks to Lilli.

  “May I see that?” I nod at Justin’s wrist com, and she sets it in my palm. I tap on it to confirm that it’s locked to his fingerprints, and when it doesn’t respond, I hand it to Coleman with a nod at the unconscious scientist. “Check for alerts. We need to know who’s coming and how far out they are.”

  He takes the device and kneels next to Justin to use his finger on the devise like a stylus.

  I turn to Lawrence and Jamison. “Look for adrenaline. If we can wake Dreyer up, she might be able to help us with access to his tech.” Because she’s the only one of us with significant experience in that area.

  “You said there’s a shuttle?” I turn back to Lilli.

  “Yes, and it’s already authorized to get through the pyro-shield, because Justin has a partner on Station Delta. In the control room. They released a prisoner to trigger a lockdown, and if that’s still in effect, chances are good that no one knows what’s going on down here yet. He said Dr. Brennan and her crew were all locked in their quarters. Oh, and the cameras are off.” She points up at one mounted near the ceiling, and I look up to see that the red power light is off.

  “She’s right.” Coleman looks up from Justin’s com device. “There are no alerts, and Station Delta is on lockdown. Reinforcements are on their way from Station Alpha. No one knows about this yet, but we’re in deep shit the moment they figure it out.”

  “Then let’s get moving. Lilli, where’s the shuttle?”

  She shrugs. “All I know is that he was about to march me ‘down to the shuttle’ and secure me, then come back for Tirzah.”

  “Found the adrenaline!” Lawrence turns from an open upper cabinet with a pneumatic injector.” He tosses it to Zamora. “Don’t fuck it up.”

  “This is not my first adrenaline injection,” Zamora mumbles as he lifts Dreyer’s shirt to expose her sternum. He counts to three, then he presses the metal cylinder to her chest. There’s a soft hiss, then Dreyer’s eyes fly open. She gasps, washed away for a moment by the tide of adrenaline surging through her veins.

  “Zamora?” She blinks up at him. “What’s going on?”

  “Evac of enemy territory. You good? We need you to work some tech magic.”

  She sits up and pushes hair back from her face, hands still trembling from the jolt. “Yeah. What do we need?”

  “Access to the front door. Rumor has it there’s a shuttle waiting for us, courtesy of our favorite dumbass genius.” Coleman stands, giving her access to Justin and his com device.

  Dreyer glances around the room, taking it all in. Then she pushes herself to her feet and crosses the room to kneel next to Justin. “He did this to me?”

  “He was going to sell you and Lilli—and my child—to UA’s competitor,” I tell her.

  Her eyes narrow. Then she sets to work, and while she taps on the com device with the guard’s finger, I turn to address the rest of the room. “Take everything we can carry. Anything we could possibly need, or that could be sold later on. There’s no telling where or when we’ll be able to stop for supplies.” Then I grab Justin’s satchel and start raiding the cabinets, taking mostly medical supplies.

  Two minutes later, I glance at Dreyer to see that she’s using her own finger on the com device now, having authorized her own prints. Which means we’re done with Justin.

  The beast growls as I approach the unconscious scientist. Spikes, blades and spires emerge from the seams in my skin, and Dreyer backs away from him when she realizes my intent.

  “Carson?” Lilli’s voice is tense. “Are you…? I mean should you…?”

  “Yes.” I kneel next to him and use my left bone blade to slice through his neck, so deep that I hit his spinal cord.

  Blood spurts from his neck, then pours from the massive wound to pool on the floor. Justin’s eyes fly open. He blinks up at me, gasping as he bleeds out.

  The beast is not satisfied by such an easy kill, but Justin is no warrior. No soldier. His death wouldn’t have been a fair fight even if I’d stood him up and given him his gun.

  “Can’t be done.” Tirzah backs calmly away from the spreading pool of blood on the floor. “He doesn’t have access to the front door, and I can’t get it for him. Not without raising an alert, anyway.”

  Lawrence turns from a cabinet open across the room. “If he doesn’t have access, how did get in here?”

  “Lilli?” I turn to her, holding her gaze. “What did he say exactly? About the shuttle?”

  She frowns, and her focus turns inward as she thinks back. “He said something about walking me down to the shuttle.”

  “Down?” Coleman turns from the drawer he was rifling through. “Is there a down?”

  “Oh my god, there must be!” Lilli gasps. “Another level. A lower level.”

  “The supplies,” I say, as I catch on, and she nods. “From the boxes behind the wall panels. They’re coming up from downstairs.”

  “The other facility,” Jamison says. “T
he lab they kept us in at the beginning. It’s not in another building. It’s on another floor.”

  “So how do we get there?” Zamora asks. “We’ve been all over this level, and there’s no elevator. No stairs.”

  “We must have missed something. Dreyer, is there a map on that thing? A blueprint?”

  “Not that I’ve found. But there’s a list of door locks, some Justin can access, some he can’t. I thought the list looked too long…” She taps on the screen, then scrolls through a list. “There. This one’s labeled ‘stairwell.’”

  “But unlocking it won’t help unless we can find it.”

  “Maybe it will,” Lilli says. “Assuming the lock is pretty damn sturdy. Like…a big bolt.”

  Thiago snorts. “Considering they clearly don’t want us to know about this lower level, much less have access to it, that sounds about right.”

  “Okay, everyone be quiet,” Lilli says, and when we all go still and silent, she looks at Dreyer. “Unlock it. Then keep locking and unlocking until we hear something.”

  Dreyer taps on the com device.

  We all listen, but I hear nothing. “Spread out,” I whisper, and the men silently head out of Lab A to listen in other areas of the building.

  Dreyer taps the screen again, over and over, as we make our way from room to room on silent feet. And finally, I hear a faint metallic whisper that no unaltered human ear could have heard.

  “Got it!” I call out, and the others rush into Lab C, where I’m staring at the supply closet door.

  Dreyer taps again to unlock it, and I pull the door open. And there, at the back of the closet, is a second, clearly reinforced metal door. Not the light-weight, transparent alloy kind. The heavy-duty kind we probably couldn’t even drive a tank through.

  Fortunately, we don’t need to.

  “Dreyer, what can you do about that pistol? Any way to authorize new fingerprints?”

  “Nope. Not without programing hardware they don’t have down here. It’s probably against policy to keep stuff like that on the surface, to avoid this exact scenario.”