Page 19

Chapter

Nineteen

Tivek

H ow could I have been so careless? I'd spent my entire adult life moving undetected through the most dangerous situations imaginable, and now I'd failed to notice a Kronock guard hiding in a shadow.

I cursed myself for becoming distracted, first by my feelings for Morgan, then by the kiss in the dungeon, and finally by her obvious hurt when I'd told her the lie that I'd only kissed her to keep her quiet.

What had possessed me to say such a thing? The words had fallen from my lips almost reflexively, a shield against vulnerability. I'd feared her rejection and feared she would be angry that I'd taken such liberties, and so I'd made an excuse.

Even though most of my existence was built on lies and half-truths, this particular falsehood felt like acid in my mouth.

I'd wanted to kiss Morgan from almost the first moment I'd seen her, and the moment my lips had touched hers, any pretense of it being merely tactical had evaporated like sun-touched mist.

I'd been about to confess the truth when the Kronock's voice had cut through the tension snapping between us.

My right hand inched toward the blaster at my hip, my movements slow and deliberate as I kept my back to the reptilian guard. Years of training took over, pushing aside the storm of emotions that had clouded my judgment.

I locked eyes with Morgan, seeing the fear there but also a determination that steadied my own resolve. My fingers closed around the grip of my weapon.

"Duck," I whispered, the word barely audible.

The moment she dropped, I spun, drawing and firing in one fluid motion. The blaster discharged with a high-pitched whine, the energy striking the Kronock's chest in rapid succession. The creature lurched forward, its massive frame propelled by momentum even as life fled its reptilian eyes.

I shoved Morgan aside as the dying alien crashed to the floor where she'd been standing, its clawed hands still reaching, tail thrashing in its death throes.

Her eyes were wide, her mouth opening and closing wordlessly as she stared at the fallen guard.

"We need to go," I said urgently, grabbing her hand. "Someone will have heard the blaster fire."

We ran, our footsteps echoing off the metal floors. Then the harsh wail of an alarm reverberating through the corridors.

I pulled Morgan into a dark alcove as a group of Kronock guards thundered past, their pounding footfalls and swinging tails betraying their presence before they came into view. We pressed ourselves against the wall, barely breathing until they had passed.

Then we were running again, up ramps and through corridors, until we reached the ground level. We paused in a maintenance corridor to catch our breath, and I took a moment to mentally orient myself. We needed to move east, toward the central hub of the complex.

Another scream pierced the relative quiet, and I felt it in my bones.

The sound came again, and I felt Morgan tense beside me, her hand unconsciously tightening around mine.

I realized I was still holding it and should probably let go, but I couldn't bring myself to relinquish the contact between us.

"We need a plan," I said, trying to think like the Shadow I was trained to be, not the emotionally compromised operative I'd become. "Rushing in would be suicide."

Morgan nodded, her strategist's mind already working the problem. "The interrogation chambers will be heavily guarded, especially with three high-value prisoners."

"If only we had a distraction," I mused, scanning our surroundings for anything we could use.

As if in answer to my unspoken wish, an explosion rocked the facility, the force of it nearly knocking us off our feet. Alarms that had been wailing intensified, joined by new ones as emergency protocols activated.

"What was that?" Morgan gasped, steadying herself against the wall.

A slow smile spread across my face. "That, I suspect, was my brother."

A second explosion followed the first, and through the chaos of blaring alarms and shouting guards, I heard the distinctive sound of Kronock weapons fire.

“Your brother?” Morgan gaped at me.

I couldn’t explain how I was so certain, but I knew Deklyn. I knew how he thought. I knew his tricks. This was undoubtably him.

"He's creating a diversion," I said, pulling Morgan toward the source of Ariana's screams. "We need to use it."

We moved quickly but cautiously, the environmental suits helping us move unseen in the dimly lit corridors. The Kronock were in disarray, all attention focused on whatever havoc Deklyn was wreaking elsewhere in the facility.

When we reached the door I was sure was the origin of the screams, I paused, assessing the situation. The door was sealed but unguarded. It seemed every Kronock had been called to respond to the attack or had rushed off on their own.

"Can you override the lock?" Morgan asked, eyeing the control panel beside the door.

I studied the alien interface for a moment before shaking my head. "Not without time we don't have. Stand back."

I adjusted the setting on my blaster to maximum output and fired directly at the control panel. It exploded in a shower of sparks, and the door slid open with a hydraulic hiss.

Inside, the scene was exactly as I'd feared. Ariana, Vyk, and Torq were strapped to metal tables, various wires attached to their bodies. A single guard remained, its back to us as it adjusted something on a control console. The only reason it hadn’t heard us was the continuing blasts shaking the building and the sirens shrieking.

I signaled Morgan to stay put, then moved silently across the room, my training allowing me to approach the Kronock without detection. When I was directly behind it, I pressed my blaster to the base of its skull.

"Move, and it will be the last thing you ever do," I said quietly.

The Kronock froze, the pointy tip of its tail twitching nervously.

"Release them," I commanded. "Slowly."

The creature emitted a series of defiant growls as its bionic eye blinked red.

I pressed the blaster harder against the Kronock's skull to emphasize my point.

After a moment's hesitation, it reached for the console, clawed fingers sliding across the controls.

The restraints holding our friends retracted with a metallic clank.

Morgan rushed to Ariana's side, helping her sit up. The pilot's face was bruised, her eyes unfocused, but she was alive.

"Morgan?" Ariana whispered, disbelief coloring her voice. "How...?"

"Later," Morgan said, already moving to help Vyk, who was in slightly better condition.

I kept my weapon trained on the Kronock as I edged toward Torq. The young Blade was unconscious but breathing steadily.

"Can you stand?" I asked Vyk, who was now sitting upright, shaking his head as if to clear it.

"Get me a weapon," he growled, "and I'll do more than stand."

A third explosion, closer this time, rattled the instruments on the walls. The Kronock flinched, its tail lashing with agitation.

"That would be our cue to leave," I said, backing toward the door and keeping my blaster aimed at the guard. "Morgan, help Ariana. Vyk, can you manage Torq?"

The commander nodded grimly, hoisting the unconscious cadet over his shoulder with a grunt of exertion.

As we backed from the chamber, I made a split-second decision. "Morgan," I said, tossing her my weapon. "Keep this on our friend here."

She caught the blaster deftly, her aim steady as she trained it on the Kronock.

I moved to the console, my fingers flying over the alien interface as I initiated a complete system lockdown building floor by floor, starting at the top.

"What are you doing?" Vyk demanded.

"Creating chaos," I replied, inputting one final command sequence. "And making sure he can't follow us."

The Kronock lunged suddenly, its massive frame propelled by desperate rage. Morgan fired without hesitation, the energy bolt catching the creature mid-leap. It crashed to the floor, twitching once before lying still.

"Nice shot," I commented, genuinely impressed by her accuracy.

"Big target," she replied curtly.

Another explosion rocked the facility, closer than the last.

"Time to go," I announced, taking the lead as we hurried from the chamber. "If I'm right, Deklyn is heading for an exit."

"What about Sasha?" Ariana asked weakly, leaning heavily on Morgan. "My sister?—"

"She's with my brother," I assured her. "And if I know Deklyn, he’s executing his exit plan.”

As if on cue, the unmistakable sound of sustained blaster fire echoed from somewhere ahead.

"This way," I called, leading our battered group toward what I hoped was freedom.