Page 18 of Downfall

This was going well… With any luck, he might just be able to demand a Raptor when they got up to the station dock. They didn’t seem to be willing to sacrifice their own pilot—at least not yet. Was she worth more than a ship?

We’ll find out.

His gut twisted at the thought of parting ways like this, leaving her feeling tricked and betrayed after everything. But it was for the best. He couldn’t risk her blowing her entire life up now that she’d actually have one any more than he could risk letting her people use her against him. Without anyone else in the picture, Stag knew he wouldn’t tell the Company shit. But if they hurt her to get to him, he couldn’t trust himself not to break.

He probably could’ve talked it through with her—thought through the plan, so that both of them could go into it with their eyes open. It’s just that he didn’t even think they’d be alive at this point. Besides, while Tessa had a good head on her shoulders, he wasn’t sure she’d use it this time. The best option was to take the last-minute decision upon himself alone.

The air was flowing into his helmet now, but his head still weighed thick and unstable, vision blurred through heavy lids. That must have been why he fucked it all up soon as they exited the airlock, with Tessa pressed against him like a shield. Immediately after stepping onto the rocky ground of Arvex, a barrel jabbed against the temple of his helmet. Of course they’d be waiting.

Fuck.

“Drop it,” a voice piped into his ear said. “Or I’ll blow your goddamn brains out.”

* * *

That gun remained pointed at him for the duration of their liftoff and ascent, except now with cuffs for good measure. Tessa had an IV in her arm and a bandage around her swollen knee, a medic fussing over her vitals. Each time her face tilted in his direction, he stared down at the floor. He couldn’t afford to give her a kind glance—all eyes were on them. And he didn’t think he could bear to see the pain in her eyes if he’d kept up his mask of indifference the way he knew he had to. So the only option was not to look.

It took an hour to maneuver to the station and dock. Stag was flanked by four armed guards, and she by two medics. As they led him onward, he couldn’t help himself. He twisted back to steal a final look at the stretcher they had her in. Their eyes locked for a split second, and he realized he’d been wrong. There was nothing there as she turned away to stare at the ceiling. A firm nudge with the barrel of a gun sent him stumbling forward.

“Keep moving,” one of the guards commanded.

Stag’s mind raced with the possibilities of what they would do with him next. Interrogate him and then space him, probably. There was no reason for them to keep him alive now that they were up here. He’d just be another mouth to feed otherwise, another waste of resources.

CHAPTER11

TEZ

Tez stared at the ceiling in her bunk. She’d been on med leave since the rescue two weeks ago. According to the original withdrawal plan, the station should’ve been deconstructed by now and she should’ve been either at home base or on another job somewhere.

Of course, that had all been canceled after the quake exposed new water under Arvex’s surface. Now instead of being picked apart, the company was shuttling equipment back in with great urgency. The quakes had increased in frequency, and the planet was becoming less and less stable to mine. They needed to siphon off all they could before it became too dangerous to remain in orbit.

The station swarmed with newcomers. Having always been part of a skeleton crew, Tez had never experienced anything quite like this—teeming with freshly arrived researchers and mechanics getting it in shape to restart operations.

“Bet they’ll care about the damn intruders now,” Reana said from the lower bunk, where she sat leaning against the wall. “Shoulda listened to us earlier. Now they’re having to do extra patrols to make sure no one comes for all this fancy new gear they’re carting in.”

“Yeah.” Tez sighed.

“Kinda cool, though, huh? All the commotion. And we were here before any of them. Think we might get a bonus? You damn well should. You weredown therewhen it happened.”

Tez traced the line of her collarbone with the pad of her index finger over and over. A weird habit she’d picked up since her return. “Can you tell me again? What was the delay in getting down there?”

“Shit, I don’t know, Tez. I suited up and prepped right away, but they kept saying to wait for the rescue team. Then they said something was wrong with the shuttle. Shit, you should’ve seen Tristan—he was acting like he might just try to go down there himself. I’m really sorry, Tez.”

“No.” She shook her head even though Reana wouldn’t see. “It’s not your fault. I was just wondering.”

Tez wished they’d put her back on duty, because she hated having all this free time to wonder. Working would be a thousand times better than haunting the halls or her bunk, trying to forget what happened. Stag was being kept in the brig. To what ends, she didn’t know. Stag had thought the company might kill him, and in the bustle of a rescue, sure, maybe—but surely if they’d brought him up to the station, they wouldn’t just execute him in cold blood now.

Tez pushed the thought out of her head, or tried to. He wasn’t the man she thought he was. Down on Arvex, they were both just pretending. In the end, he did with her exactly what he’d planned from the beginning, what he’d told her he’d do: use her as a shield to keep himself alive. What was meant to come next, she wondered? How long was he going to keep that gun against her temple? Tez rubbed the spot where it had jammed into the thin skin.

He was smart about it too. No doubt seeing how close to passing out she was, he gave her the first oxpack. She’d be no good to him dead down there while manipulating the rescue team. Can’t have a hostage situation without a hostage.

She’d had to see a psych—two prescribed visits. Tez had been nervous at first, but when the line of questioning strafed in the direction of what Stag had “done to her” down there, she wriggled around it in a way that she was sure the old woman saw right through. She’d expected her to keep pushing, find out all she could to report to superiors. Instead, Tez was put on leave and sent to spend her days chewing on her guilt, anger, and hurt.

Tez glanced at her watch on the ceiling and jumped off her top bunk.

“Back in a bit.” She waved to Reana.

She’d been summoned, and it was time to go.

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