Page 74 of The Darkest Parts of Me

“They know nothing,” Renn begs. It kills him to do it for these monsters, but he will beg if he has to.

“Unfortunately, your life is of very little value to me now, and the same goes for your word,” Grey responds.

“Target is locked, Admiral. Ready to fire on your command,” Officer Green flatly announces, like they aren’t all about to witness the destruction of an association ship and an entire crew. They are supposed to be allies to the galaxy. This is so very wrong. It makes bile rise in Renn’s throat. They are helpless—it’s going to happen, and he can’t stop it.

“Get up.” Locke drags him to his feet. “Say goodbye, Captain,” he hisses into his ear. Aldrenn could look away or shut his eyes, but he can’t bring himself to do it. He wants to watch and remember it all, that this is his fault. Somehow, some way, they will all pay for what they have done.

“Fire.”

There is no sound, or if there is, Aldrenn can’t hear it as the beams of lasers and missiles hit the Seraphim again and again and again. He feels like he stands there for an eternity, but it must only be a few minutes before the ship is nothing but floating debris scattering through space. If it weren’t for the sudden blaring alarms and lights flashing, he isn’t sure if he would have been able to look away.

“What’s happening?” Grey shouts over the noise. The admiral’s crew starts typing frantically on their consoles and screens.

“Sir! There seems to be some kind of virus taking over all our systems,” an officer calls out. Renn meets Nate’s eyes full of fire and revenge.

“The drive!” Locke exclaims. He lets go of Renn and walks over to the screen where the files were moments before, but now, nothing is there. “They’re gone! What the fuck did you do?” Locke screams at Renn, and he isn’t sure what happens first, his head colliding with Locke’s face, or someone firing a gun, but all at once, utter chaos erupts on the bridge.

He doesn’t need to wait for a signal from Nate to understand what is going on. This is their one and only chance to escape. They run toward the doors. Nate has somehow gotten out of his cuffs and picks up a photon gun.

Lasers start blasting for a moment until the admiral screams over the noise. “Don’t shoot! We need them alive!” It’s all a blur, but somehow, they both end up in the lift, hitting the button to move down. Lights and alarms are still echoing throughout the ship.

“That was genius,” Renn says through heavy breaths while Nate releases the cuff still around his wrists, making a loud clang as they fall onto the floor.

“I figured we were dead anyway, so I wasn’t going to let them have all the information, but I didn’t . . .” Their chests heave in and out from the effort of fleeing and the devastation they just witnessed. “I didn’t think he would do that, Renn. I am . . . I am so sorry.” His eyes well up, but Renn grabs him roughly by the shoulder.

“Don’t you dare say sorry. None of this is on you. This is on me.”

Nate gulps down his emotion. “Renn, you can’t—”

“Stop.” Renn cuts him off. “We don’t have time for that right now. We need to get out of here.”

“Here, take this.” Nate bends down, removing something from his boot, then stands with two small photon drives and hands one to Renn. “I removed all the data from their servers, obviously, and split all the data from the report onto these. I also erased traces of the planets we mapped over this year and placed them in here. We have to split up, and if one of us is caught, then at least they won’t get all of the data.”

“You’re brilliant,” Renn says, taking one of the drives and placing it inside his pocket. “This is our responsibility—to make sure this gets to the right people.”

Nate nods. “Agreed. But first, we need to get off this ship.” The lift slows as the door starts to open, placing them in the engine bay that houses the ship’s generators and other mechanical systems. They exit cautiously, Nate has his gun raised. “There should be weapons near the docking bays. If we can make it there, we should be able to get some supplies and find a ship to steal.”

“Let’s go,” is Renn’s only response as they make their way through the corridors. They see some crew members running about, but they don't notice them. Clearly, the ship is still in disarray, helping them stay undetected as they gather additional guns and other supplies.

“How much longer do we have until they fix this?” Renn asks, checking around a corner.

“I estimate two more minutes at the most.” They turn the last corner, heading toward a set of large blaster doors leading into the docking bay. The moment the door slides open, they are met with blasts.

“Shit!” Nate shouts, lasers shooting toward them. They duck inside the doors, making attempts to fire at the group when they can.

“Damn it. I should have known they would have guessed we would come here,” Renn shouts over the noise. Nate pulls out a smoke detonator from his pocket that Renn didn’t notice before.

“We only have one shot. We need to get you out of here.” Nate adds.

“Hold your fire!” Locke’s voice rings out. “Haven’t you learned your lesson yet, Aldrenn? You don’t stand a chance. Hand over the files!”

Renn holds up a hand, signaling Nate to pause. “You really think the rest of the association is going to stand for this?” he calls out.

“Not everyone will, of course, but we have enough at our disposal to take care of those who don’t want to follow. We control so many planets already, and this is only the beginning.”

They have to buy more time, so Renn keeps him talking. “And how are you going to explain how the crew of the Seraphim died?”

“A tragic accident.”

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