Page 71 of The Darkest Parts of Me

Renn feels tears prick at his eyes. Their world has been flipped upside down in a matter of minutes, and yet Nate is still loyal and willing to stand by his side despite the unknown ahead.

“Thank you, Nate.”

Nate eases and then pulls his friend into an embrace.

They hold onto each other for a long moment until Renn steps back. “Okay, this is what we’re going to do. We still have two days before the admiral arrives. We will proceed as normal.” He pauses. “In the meantime, see if you can find anything else about Project Abyssal and who is involved. And don’t dare reach out to anyone until we know for sure who we can trust. This is uncharted territory. Until then, say nothing to anyone. If something comes up, call me. No messages until we know more.”

“Will do.”

They keep their goodbyes brief, then Aldrenn strolls into his bedroom. He doesn’t even make it to the bed before he breaks down, falling to his knees, praying that he’s doing the right thing and that he, but most importantly his crew, will be alive by the end of it all.

Renn hardly sleeps that night. He finally drifted to sleep for about an hour, but it still felt like minutes. He pulls a fresh uniform out of the closet the next morning, and as he’s buttoning the captain’s insignia onto his shoulder, the alert of someone hailing him from the bridge rings throughout the room.

“Answer call,” he says aloud, and a hologram comes through.

“Good morning, Captain. This is Officer Johnson from the bridge. You are receiving an urgent message from Admiral Grey. He wishes to speak with you immediately.”

Renn’s heart rate accelerates, but he keeps his voice calm and face neutral, like he isn’t at all fearful of what this unexpected call could mean. “Send him through to my personal office please. I will take his call there.”

“Very well, Captain,” the officer says quickly and then is gone.

Aldrenn can hear his heartbeat thumping in his ears, but he casually makes his way to the office and sits down in the chair with his head held high and posture straight. He taps on the screen, and the admiral’s face appears.

“Good Morning, Admiral.”

Thomas’s face is relaxed as he smiles at Captain Anton. “Morning, Captain. Thank you for taking my call.” So far, nothing seems off, maybe this really is all a misunderstanding.

“Of course, sir. I’m looking forward to seeing you in a couple of days.”

The admiral’s eyes narrow slightly. “That’s actually why I’m calling. There’s been a change of plans. My officers and I will be arriving at the Seraphim within the hour.”

Renn’s heart drops in his chest, but he pretends to play dumb. “Oh, very good, sir. I will let the crew know to expect your arrival today.”

As Renn looks at the face of the man who has been a mentor to him for many years, he feels a chill shoot down his spine as he now looks back at Renn with a wicked smirk that he’s never seen before.

“Come now, Captain Anton, let’s stop with the charade. I know you know about Project Abyssal.”

For a split second, Renn thinks about acting like he knows nothing, but the strategy doesn’t seem to work on the admiral. They know each other too well, or at least Renn thought he did.

“Tell me it’s not true, Thomas. Tell me there must be a mistake.”

The admiral chuckles darkly. “Oh, Renn, how dare you think you can address me so casually. However, that wasn’t your first mistake.” He glares at the captain as he goes on. “I had such high hopes for you, but when I realized you thought more with your heart, I knew I couldn’t recruit you to the cause.”

Renn’s blood boils underneath his skin. “And what cause is that exactly? Murdering innocents?”

Thomas shakes his head in disgust. “Even now you can’t see it, can you?” Renn says nothing as he clenches his teeth. “The galaxy is only expanding, Captain Anton. Do you really think everyone is going to play along peacefully? It’s only a matter of time before one of them decides they want all the control. I’m ensuring that Earth will rule this galaxy. You should be thanking me.”

Renn scoffs and then stands. “This is insane. You really think you can rule an entire galaxy through death and destruction—”

The admiral puts up a hand, interrupting him. “Oh, it’s not just me, Renn. I think you’ll be surprised how many people within our association agree with me, and have from the beginning.”

Renn slams a fist on the desk. “Traitor!”

The admiral only smiles wide back at him. “Oh, how wrong you are, my boy. Now, listen carefully to what I am about to explain to you.” Renn feels like his skin is on fire, his heart so heavy that it is making it difficult to breathe. “First of all, I want to know what you did with those files, and I want them back immediately.”

It takes Renn about three seconds to know that Nate, in his cleverness, did something with them. What, he isn’t sure, but he’s proud nonetheless. “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.”

“You know, the more you lie, Captain, the more difficult this will be for you and your First Officer. I know he’s involved in the disappearance of the files.”

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