Page 63 of Rupture

The scratchy hum of the swarm raked across Rose’s eardrums like metal on glass. She shook her head, trying to dislodge the malevolent sound burrowing into her skull.

Liev grabbed her arm. “Rose?—”

Luca screamed. His spine arched impossibly, tendons bulging on his neck as the darkness consumed him.

Liev’s hold on her arm was painful as he hauled her backward, rattling off calls for help on the comms.

“We have to help…” Her mind raced. Empty of solutions.

Finn remained kneeling, unwilling to abandon his teammate. But they were all at risk.

Luca gasped, his body jerking violently as the swarm flowed over his face seeking his mouth, nose and eyes.

Rose staggered backward, breaking Liev’s hold, her hands flying to her mouth.

This can’t be happening.

Luca’s eyes flew open, his bloodshot whites stark against the hungry darkness. “Get. Her. Out. Only…one who can stop…”

Darkness engulfed his arms, moving from shoulder to elbow, inches from Finn’s hand.

Luca released his grip on Finn’s wrist, his voice strangled. “Go.”

The swarm gloved his hand, his fingers disappearing into a buzzing restless mitten.

Rose’s back hit the wall. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Her control teetered on a precipice as the nanobots continued to consume him.

“Rose.”Someone called her name from far away.

Breathe.

When her parents died, her breath had been the only thing that brought her back to herself. She closed her eyes. One exhale. She was a robotics engineer. Problems like this had solutions—they just needed the right sequence of actions.

When she opened her eyes, her mind was clear. “Remy.The locks—are they electromagnetically actuated?”

“Affirmative.”

“Divert all available power to the locks. Immediately.”

The swarm shrouded Luca.Was she too late?

She met Liev’s questioning eyes. “A strong enough electromagnetic pulse through the habitat locks should disable the nanobots. Not permanently, but long enough to give us options.”

Could Luca survive it?There’s no alternative.

She rubbed her knuckles against the pain banding her chest. “Remy, hurry?—”

“Rerouting power now. Surge duration, twenty seconds. Systems will return to normal parameters in ten seconds.”

“Execute, Remy.Now.”

“Initiating.”

The hit of copper flooded her mouth. The surrounding air crackled with static, the building electromagnetic surge raising the fine hairs on her arms. Was this what electrocution felt like in that fraction of a second before?—

The blast hit.

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