Page 63 of Sy

“I need section leaders coordinating their teams now,” she ordered. “Medical, secure your supplies. Engineering, lock down any volatile materials. Everyone else, grab your emergency packs and move to your designated evacuation points.”

More hands shot up, voices calling out questions, but she shook her head. “There’s no time for a Q&A. Thompson, start the shutdown sequence for the primary systems. Roberts, get communications online with the transport ship?—”

Her tablet buzzed. The sensor readings had updated, showing the warship’s trajectory. Her stomach clenched, but her voice remained steady as she continued issuing orders.

“Listen to me,” she pressed, infusing her voice with all the authority she could muster. Sy might think humans were weak, but he hadn’t seen her people in a crisis. “This is not a debate. This is not a discussion. This is adirectevacuation order. Wehave incoming hostiles who won’t hesitate to destroy anything in their path to get to the Izaeans. I need everyone moving.Now.”

“With respect, boss, fuck that.”

She’d expected argument, but she hadn’t expected Michelle’s voice cutting through the chaos like a plasma torch through steel. Michelle stepped forward, her spine straight as a rod, and the cast still on her lower leg.

“The Izaeans saved us during the earthquake. They pulled our people from the rubble. Treated our injured. Protected us.” Michelle’s words carried to every corner of the hall, and heads nodded in agreement. “And now you want us to abandon them?”

“And what exactly do you think you can do against the Lathar? They’re super-warriors, and you’ve got construction tools.” Thompson scoffed from his position near the door, his pristine safety vest a stark contrast to Michelle’s work-worn one. “Yeah, sure. That’ll work.”

Michelle turned on him. “We might be human now, but the way I see it, we’ve got the same blood. Our ancestors were Lathar, just like the Izaeans.”

She gestured in the vague direction of the work site. “Have you ever seen what construction equipment can do? It breaks rocks, so it sure as fuck can break asshole aliens.”

A rumble of agreement swept through the crowd. More people moved to stand near Michelle—most of them survivors from the earthquake, the ones who’d spent days being treated by Izaean medics.

Thompson’s face darkened. “This is insane. I’ll make sure the company knows all about this. About you, about your irresponsibility with the equipment, about everything.”

Michelle barked out a laugh, the sound sharp and challenging. “Go ahead, dickwad. Tell them how we used their precious equipment to save lives.Again.”

She turned back to Ashley, her expression softening slightly. “Boss, I know you’re trying to protect us. But some of us? We’re not running. Not this time.”

Thompson pushed away from the wall, his face twisted with spite. “You’re all insane.” His gaze swept across the group gathering around Michelle before landing on Ashley. “The company isn’t going to stand for this.”

“Oh shut the fuck up, Thompson,” someone called from the crowd.

“No, I won’t shut up.”

He stepped forward, straightening his safety vest like it was a company exec’s suit. “I’ve watched you people break protocol after protocol. But this?”

He jabbed a finger toward the defiant group. “This is going too far. I’m logging a formal complaint. About all of you. Especially you two.” His eyes narrowed at Ashley and Michelle. “Attempting to shut down operations without authorization, spreading panic, disrupting productivity?—”

“You go ahead and do that,” Ashley cut him off, her voice arctic. “The rest of us will be busy staying alive.”

Thompson grinned like a maniac, tapping away at his tablet.

“I’ve documented everything.” He held up his tablet like a shield. “Every breach of protocol since this shift began. Every violation of company policy. Every instance of you undermining proper corporate authority with these ridiculous claims about alien threats.”

The garrison’s warning system pulsed once more, longer this time, its deep tone a stark contrast to Thompson’s bureaucratic threats.

“Oh, and Ms. Jackson?” He looked up from his screen. “Expect to hear from the legal department about your breach of executive protocols. The company takes hierarchical violations very seriously.”

The tablet at Ashley’s hip buzzed again. She didn’t need to look to know the warship was moving into position. Time was running out, and she had to make a decision. Sy’s words about human weakness flickered through her mind again, but this time, something else came with it—the sight of her crews working through exhaustion during the earthquake, refusing to give up until the last person was saved.

“All right. Here’s how this is going to work.” She turned to Thompson first, letting ice fill her tone. “You want to file your reports? Fine. But you’ll do it from the evacuation shuttle, where I can be sure you’re not going to get anyone killed with your corporate bullshit.”

The room erupted into movement. Thompson spluttered something about regulations, but nobody paid him any attention.

She watched as people made their choices—some hurrying to the evacuation points while others moved to Michelle’s side. Each face that passed her carried the weight of their decision, and she honored every one of them with a nod.

“Right… Evacuees, you have ten minutes to clear the area. Michelle, get your people to cover and wait for my signal.” She turned to her own tablet, her fingers flying across the screen. “I’m transferring emergency protocols and communication channels to both groups. Stay in contact. Stay alive.”

The garrison’s warning system pulsed again, and she looked up, searching for Lila in the crowd. She’d done her duty to her people. Now her duty was to her daughter.

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