Page 45 of Marked By the Bounty Hunter

“Doctor-”

“I let this happen.” Her skin darkened with emotion. “I saw the signs. Asked questions. But I didn’t act fast enough. Told myself they couldn’t really be planning what I suspected.” Her hands clenched on her bag. “Children died because I was too cautious, too willing to believe their excuses.”

“My research was meant to help people,” she continued. “Instead, they used it to twist children into weapons. To break families apart. Every person they’ve corrupted, every mind they’ve stolen - it started with my work.” Her skin rippled with determination. “I’m going to end it. Properly this time.”

Through the security feeds, I watched the teams regrouping, adapting to the steam. “They’re rerouting through section 44,” I warned. “Three minutes at most.”

“The distribution nodes are prepped,” Dr. Gondon explained quickly. “You’ll need to override environmental controls, then trigger dispersal in the exact sequence I showed you. Too fast or too slow-”

“I remember.” I pulled up the maintenance schematics again. “Wait - if you take the service shaft through hydroponics, you can bypass their security checkpoints. The old access codes should still work.”

She nodded, already moving. At the entrance to the tunnel, she paused. “Nalina.”

“Yes?”

“When this is over, when you’ve healed... live the life they tried to steal from all of us.” Her skin shifted through complex patterns of emotion. “Be free.”

Before I could respond, she was gone.

“We need to go.” Tyrix’s hand found mine. “Environmental control is-”

“Wait.” I forced my trembling fingers to cooperate, accessing one final system. “The backup power couplings... if I overload them here and here...”

Sparks cascaded from the ceiling as specific junctions overloaded, plunging sections of the approach corridors into darkness.

“That’ll split their forces,” I explained. “Some will have to divert to restore power before-”

My legs gave out. Tyrix caught me, his arms solid and warm.

“I’ve got you,” he murmured. “That was brilliant, but we need to go. Now.”

He was right. We had our own mission - getting the compound into the environmental systems before Dr. Gondon triggered the lab’s destruction.

We made it halfway to the access tunnel before the first security team broke through. Their movements were wrong - jerky, mechanical, like puppets on tangled strings. The neural control devices at their necks pulsed with sickly purple light.

Tyrix moved to engage them, but I caught his arm. “The ceiling supports - they’re original installation. One good hit...”

He understood immediately, shifting his aim upward. The metal groaned, then gave way with a thunderous crash. Not enough to kill, but plenty to block pursuit.

“Maintenance knowledge is handy,” he commented as we ran.

“Lots of practice breaking things.” I managed a weak smile. “And sometimes fixing them too.”

We reached the maintenance shaft that would bring us to environmental control. As I forced my shaking body to climb, I tried not to focus on Dr. Gondon facing the lab alone. About the price she’d chosen to pay for her redemption.

The station shuddered again, and this time I welcomed the pain that shot through my body. It meant I was still here. Still fighting.

Still had a chance to finish this.

For all of us.

Through the station’s walls, I heard the deep mechanical groaning of systems pushing beyond their limits. Somewhere in the darkness ahead lay environmental control, and our last chance to make this right.

“Ready?” Tyrix asked softly.

I nodded, forcing my trembling legs to cooperate. “Let’s end this.”

TYRIX

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