Page 136 of Shellshock

Her old life was dead, but the accusing stares they shot her summoned up old, obedient impulses. It took serious willpower to look Ryan dead in the eye as she betrayed him.

“Everyone calm the fuck down,” she said, channeling her confident voice. These humans couldn’t hurt her, anymore. They didn’t matter. “Don’t do anything stupid and no one has to die.”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Ryan shouted. A vein protruded from his forehead. “With—with them?” His eyes moved wildly before landing back on her gun. “Withthat?”

She’d never particularly gotten along with him. He’d neverwantedher there and he’d always made it obvious. So this power reversal brought her a particularly evil sort of pleasure.

The control room itself was a cramped, stinky mess. Male body odor permeated the air and the wires looked like shit. Detritus caked the surfaces that hadn’t been sanitized since the day the ship left Earth.

It snapped certain things into perspective. Lucca was grateful she hadn’t spent her precious spacefaring years trapped inside this room, working around the clock with a team who shunned her.

Every stare was pinned on her, waiting. She scanned the servers nestled behind the cage. They ran a little hotter, a little harsher, coughing up half a decade’s worth of dust.

Notching her gun through the protective cage, she shot at the weapons server. The pulse of the laser weapon in her hands startled her, making her miss. It wasn’t bullets that came out, but energy, leaving a dark crater hissing on the far wall. Another few attempts—it grew uncomfortably quiet in the room as she missed and missed and missed—and she finally hit her target.

Task #1 Complete.

Shouts filled the air as the constant pulse of external guns was put to rest. For a delusional moment, she imagined this to be the end.

But the firing resumed.

Dammit.

And Lucca still hadn’t found Caligher.

Where the hell was he?

Ignoring the hostility pouring off the others, she sat in her old chair and stared at the computer screen, thoughts roaring with single-minded purpose. The pirate leaned close and said quietly, “That was it, right?”

“Mmhm.”

“We can move on?” He looked around nervously. Her mind circled back.

“In a minute.”

Her desperation crystallized and she couldn’t stop herself from putting out a bid to find Caligher. It wasn’t like she’d kept her presence a secret. She leaned over the microphone and tapped it.

“Human, what are youdoing?” Astyanax hissed.

“Control room to all.”

Her voice reverberated through the warship. Revealing their position could cost them, but if there was any chance of finding Caligher—this was it. No one on this godforsaken ship was going to do it for her.

“Cal. Please report to the control room. If you are unable to do so, please get off the ship.” Her voice was so much calmer than the storm inside her chest.

Find Caligher.

Get him out.

Please just be alive.

Half a minute later, the screens in the room were overtaken by an image of Commander Collins.

“Miss Watts. Good evening.” Her equipment had gone dead. The commander peered calmly at her through the screens. “What a pleasure it is to have you with us again.”

“Is it really?” she snapped. “For some reason, I feel like you’re lying.”

The pleasant smile slipped off his face like liquid. What remained made her insides freeze.

---