Again, she struggled to put her thoughts into words that would make sense. “You can’t make your life about revenge. Maybe Kinross needs to die—but do we need to do the killing? Maybe we can just walk away. Have a life.” God, she wanted that life so badly. Had never really believed she could have one and now it beckoned to her. Just put the whole thing behind her. They could go and explore this new world together.
He frowned. “You don’t want him dead? I thought that would be the first thing you wanted. Because, sweetheart, right now, he is the number one threat to humanity.”
And all her life, she’d been told that she had a role to play in the survival of humanity. “Before I met you, I was so idealistic. But only people who are totally isolated from the real world can stay idealistic like that. As soon as you come into contact with real people—or even fictional people in books—the charade of humanity as a whole being something worthy of saving falls apart.”
“They’re not all bad.”
“But why should I stand up for them? Why can’t they stand up for themselves?” She shook her head. “Perhaps I am a bad person. After all, I am Kinross. I am everything that makes him who he is. His genetic code is mine. We are the same.”
“No, you’re not. You’re you. Unique.” He scrubbed a hand over his head. “Christ, I don’t know if God exists. Whether he does or not, there’s something in us all. Call it a soul or something else, but it’s there, and it’s real, and you are not just some offshoot of fucking Kinross. He’s evil, and you’re the best person I’ve ever come across.” He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. When he opened them, he gave her a small smile. “Sorry. I fucking hate him. I’d rip his fucking heart from his chest if I got the chance.”
“Okay, if we get the chance, we rip his heart out. What else?”
“We have to deactivate the nukes. That’s nonnegotiable. He’s already threatened to destroy Trakis Two.”
“I can do that. I researched it. Though we need to take them as well. Otherwise there’s always a chance they could get them functional again.”
“So we take them to the shuttle and you deactivate them. We can always ditch them in deep space.” He sat back. “Rico and Dylan are meeting us in the tunnels in”—he glanced at his comm unit—“thirty-two minutes. We just have to blow the lab—”
At that moment, a figure appeared in the doorway. Destiny went still as she recognized Dr. Yang. She waited for hatred to stir inside her, but it didn’t come. Milo got to his feet and she swung her legs over the edge of the cot. She was feeling stronger already, and she pushed herself up. She took a few steps toward the doctor. “I’m sorry about your family,” she said. “You must have loved them very much.”
Shock flared in Dr. Yang’s eyes, then her face seemed to crumple. “I’m sorry about everything.”
She could see now that much of Dr. Yang’s coldness had been guilt. She couldn’t allow herself to care for Destiny, because then she wouldn’t have been able to hand her over to Kinross, and her family would have paid the price.
She smiled. “If you hadn’t done as Kinross asked, then I wouldn’t exist. And I’m very glad to be alive. So thank you.”
Dr. Yang gave a small nod and stood up straighter. “I’ve set the explosives,” she said. She turned to Destiny. “No one will be able to duplicate my work. This will end now. Kinross’s heart will give out very soon. He’s dying.”
“Not quickly enough,” Milo growled.
“It won’t damage the rest of the ship, will it?” Destiny asked. All those people still in cryo. She couldn’t bear the thought.
“No. Just the lab. Though the systems might take a hit.”
“I think we should wake everyone up,” Destiny said. “Just in case.”
“And they’ll create a distraction,” Milo said. “Kinross will have to deal with them as well as us.” He turned to Dr. Yang. “Can you do it?”
“Yes. I’ll need to go to the tech center to access the systems, but that should be no problem.”
“How long?”
“Ten minutes.” She thought for a moment. “Go wait outside. I’m less likely to be questioned if I’m alone.”
He nodded.
She placed her hands on Destiny’s shoulders. “I always thought of you