Page 140 of Shellshock

“It’s trapped.”

“But I thought you wanted to kill the commander.”

“Walking into his hands is not the way to do it.”

It still didn’t matter to her. She’d scoured the ship from bottom to top and found no sign of Caligher. He had to be inside that room.

If he wasn’t… she was going to break.

“Lucca,” Astyanax hissed.

She stepped forward and felt his fingers digging into her shoulder. His voice hardened. “If you walk through there, you are not making it out.”

Oh, she agreed with him.

“Some things are bigger than me,” she said, riding that eerie, near-manic calm. Going down the hall was inevitable. She’d been walking toward that door her entire life.

Astyanax watched her, showing signs of fear.

“This is as far as I go,” he said quietly, and her spirit sank, imagining going it alone. “You might survive. If I walk in there, I’ll never make it out.”

With those words and no further argument, Astyanax retreated. He had his freedom. She couldn’t blame him for tapping out.

Lucca closed the distance on trembling legs.

There the panel was. Just a small, unassuming patch of metal on the wall that she would open to find an array of circuit boards. She knew exactly where to look and what to press to bring the weapons down forever.

Not even ten feet away, the door ahead opened and her breath evaporated from her lungs in a disbelieving puff. Two men walked out with their weapons aimed at her torso, flanking the door.

Commander Collins stepped out between them. Time stopped as his gaze cut to hers.

“Miss Watts,” he said, gesturing at his open door as if to say ‘after you.’

Her muscles felt wooden. Her stare flickered between his face and the panel, catching his notice.

“Ah.” He beamed a polite smile. “Right.That. Let’s see…”

He pivoted to the wall and opened the metal hatch himself, rubbing his jaw and looking it over. He scrutinized the electronics with a nearly comedic level of sincerity.

“What did you come here to do, Miss Watts?”

She stared at him blankly, wishing she could have a do-over of her entire life. She often wished for that. She’d learned it was futile.

From the corner of his mouth, he shot a comment to the men behind him. “These IT folks have no sense for priorities. This is just like that time I got a forced update in the middle of a hostage negotiation. Can you believe it? I swear, they pick the worst times.”

Hollow chuckles bounced from the men, unnerving her deeply. She was having a little trouble finding humor in the situation.

Collins stepped back and turned his eyes to her. “Well, come on, better do what you came here to do.”

She walked forward, not quite feeling anything as she stopped in front of the panel and located the button. Collins watched her closely.

Immediately, she noticed that changes had been made. There was no remaining possibility that pressing the button would lead to the desired result. She felt the sensation of hope folding in on itself, right in her hollow chest.

Collins was prepared for this day.

On the microscopic chance that it wasn’t for nothing, she pressed the button and held her breath. Eternity condensed down into one distorted second as she waited…

Then the weapons outside resumed their pulsing and blasting. Collins appeared quietly ravenous for whatever was about to happen.

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