explain to you how no one on this ship innocent. Not the soldiers and airmen. Not the mates. Not their grubby mix breed kids.”
Behind him, Terror raised his arm to strike—and Reckless unexpectedly spun and sprayed him right in the face with a small vial of fluid. Worried it was deathly gas, Brook screamed, “No!”
Wiping at his stinging face and slinging the fluid from his fingers, Terror pointed at Reckless with one scarred finger and laughed, sending a chill down her spine. “Riot gas? Tor and I used to spray each other in the face with that as a prank at the academy.”
Reckless’s arrogance seemed to falter. “You won’t get out of here alive.”
“Maybe not,” Terror agreed. “But she will.” He held her gaze. “And she knows exactly what to do.”
Instinctively, she backed up and gave the two men space. Something terrible and violent was about to happen.
I should have stayed home.
Chapter Nineteen
“What was so damn important you had to drag us away from dinner?” Vicious demanded as they filed into Torment’s domain.
“If I miss out on cake because of some bullshit, I’m putting you in a headlock,” Raze warned Torment.
Torment actually rolled his eyes. “Is proving Reckless has the stolen gas canisters bullshit?”
Cipher exchanged a look with Venom before asking, “How?”
Savage walked out of his office with Orion following closely behind. “The admiral sent Risk and Stinger over to the Mercy to look through the pulmonary unit. The cargo crash patients were there.” Savage grimaced. “They were basically being used as human suitcases .”
“For what?” Vicious asked.
“This.” Orion held up a dummy gas canister exactly like the ones taken from the mine. “The bodies had depressions in them the exact same size as these.” He shook his head in disgust. “He got some of the gas off the planet and onto the Mercy by implanting them in those patients.”
Cipher recoiled at the depravity of it. His mind raced, and he remembered something from the logs he had checked the day they were informed about the missing gas. “One of our medical mission ships was on the planet’s surface the day that Brook was in the mine doing recon. It was offering vaccines and medical care to a rural area.”
“And guess who was leading it?” Torment asked dryly. “Our very own xenophobic asshole.”
“That cargo ship had to have been brought down purposely.” Raze pulled the pieces together. “It dropped down right near where Reckless and that medical mission were posted. He was the first on scene. He triaged the patients and performed emergency surgery, right?”
“Yes,” Torment confirmed.
“Who were his medics?” Venom asked.
“Talon, Blitz and Rake.” Savage tapped the massive screen on the wall and displayed their files. “Talon was killed in the pulmonary unit.”
Raze crossed his arms. “The other two?”
“Blitz is dead.” Savage pointed to an image of his body hanging in his quarters. “Rake went missing.”
“After he killed Blitz,” Cipher remarked, stepping closer to the screen. It was easy enough to see the angles of his supposed suicide were all wrong. “There’s no way he hanged himself. Look at his boots.” He gestured to the dead soldier’s hands. “And his fingers.”
Vicious winced. “He must have been clawing at his neck trying to get loose.”
“Probably,” Cipher agreed.
“Rake either fled, or he’s come here,” Raze said, his voice tight. “We have a real fucking problem on our hands.”
“Brig to SFHQ. Brig to SFHQ. Code Red. I say again, ‘Code Red.’”
Savage glanced at the radio unit across the room. “Is that Pierce?”
“Yes.” Torment rushed over and pulled up the feed. “SFHQ to Brig. Go ahead.”
Pierce appeared on the screen. He was covered in blood, sweating and panting. “We need HAZMAT to the brig immediately. Medical, too. Get SRU spun up and shut down the ship.”
“What the hell happened to you?” Torment asked.
“I got stabbed,” Pierce snapped. “Six fucking times.” He groaned and moved his hand to his belly. “By Reckless,” he added, wincing. “He requested a medic for stomach pain. Brig officer let him have one. The medic was his accomplice. He had gas. Killed all of the guards. I came out of the interrogation room when I heard the coughing and choking. Reckless got me with a scalpel.” Pierce groaned again. “I’m locked in the interrogation room. It’s sealed, but I don’t know how long it will hold or how far the gas has gotten.”
“Hold tight, Pierce. We’re coming to get you,” Torment assured him.
Raze was already headed to the nearest communication console. He opened a line to the SRU and