Page 97 of Journey to the Forbidden Zone

“I trustyou, Captain. And I trust that Norvik wants to live as much as the rest of us. Selling her to Corso doesn’t guarantee that shitheel will keep his end of the bargain.

“This … this gets us a chance.” She rose from her seat, took a step towards Carmen. “It’s a hell of a bluff. But it’s the only play we’ve got.”

Sark looked up from his console, his orange face pale.

“Captain,” he said. Then he paused and gulped before continuing. “We’ve followed you into hyperspace storms, past COPS cordons, into deals with backstabbing scum like Maltese. We’re still here. Because of you. We trusted you through everything. Even this.

“It’s time you trusted us back. Just this once.”

The words echoed in the hollow space Zed had left. Trust Norvik, who saw Mila as cargo. Trust Sark, paralyzed by fear. Trust Letitia, whose loyalty felt like the only solid ground left, but whose jealousy was a fresh wound. Surrender control. Completely. Let them stage a mutiny. Hope it was only a ruse.

The aftertaste of Mila’s scent through the air scrubbers seemed to intensify, a sweet, distracting whisper:

Surrender. Freedom.

The memory of yielding on the cold deck plates in Engineering flashed – the terrifying loss of control, the obliterating release. Was this the same? Trusting her crew with her life, with Mila’s life, with the ship? Was it surrender? Or suicide?

Letitia’s station chimed. She went to her board.

“Star Shrikehas launched their lander shuttle, Captain,” she reported. “Nick Corso is on his way.”

They were just about out of time. There was no choice. Only the gamble.

Carmen closed her eyes for a heartbeat. When she opened them, the numbness was gone, burned away by the desperate fire of the only option left.

“Do it,” she ordered, her voice regaining a sliver of its old steel. “Norvik, you have tactical command for the deception. Signal Corso. Tell him the crew has seized control. Tell him I’m confined. Tell him you’re offering Mila for safe passage.” She met Norvik’s yellow gaze, forcing herself to hold it. “Make it convincing.”

Norvik nodded once.

“Understood, Captain.” He turned back to his console, fingers moving with swift precision.

“Captain,” Letitia said urgently. “You need to be off the bridge for the deception to hold. It’ll be better if he can’t see you on the viewer.”

Carmen’s gut clenched. Leaving the bridge. Leaving her ship in the hands of a man who’d advocated selling the woman she … the woman she needed to protect. It was the ultimate surrender. Terrifying. Necessary.

“Mila,” Carmen said into the commlink, her voice tight. “Status on the probe?”

“Modifications complete, Captain,” Mila replied instantly. “Charging sequence initiated. Ready for launch in ninety seconds.”

Carmen took a deep, shuddering breath. She looked at Letitia, then Sark, finally letting her gaze rest on Norvik’s back.

“You know the plan. Hold to it.” She paused, the words sticking in her throat. “Good luck.”

Without another word, she turned and strode towards the bridge hatch. Each step felt like walking off a cliff. The hatch hissed open, then closed behind her, sealing her out.

Alone in the corridor, the muffled sounds of the bridge – Norvik’s low voice issuing commands, Sark’s nervous affirmatives – felt distant, alien. She leaned back against the cold bulkhead, pressing her palms flat against the metal, feeling the ship’s wounded heartbeat vibrating through her. Surrendered. Waiting.

Praying the mutiny was only skin deep.

CHAPTER 35

The data corridorpulsed with the sickly light of corrupted code. Jagged static scars marred the walls where a watchdog’s corrosive burst had struck. Zed’s avatar sprinted silently, the briefcase clutched tight. The thunderous scraping of claws and the guttural data-growls of the pursuing watchdog echoed behind him, closing fast.

Evasion probability:23.1%.Decreasing.

Zed processed the variables. The watchdogs’ speed exceeded his avatar’s maximum velocity within this constrained environment. Its attack pattern suggested adaptive learning; previous evasive maneuvers were becoming less effective. The maze offered limited branching paths. Logic dictated a trap.

He reached an intersection. Left led back towards the heavily fortified sectors he’d bypassed earlier. Right was unknown. Scans indicated a dead end 47.8 meters ahead, but with a structural anomaly – a potential service conduit access point. Risk assessment: High probability of confinement. Higher probability of watchdog interception before access could be exploited.