Our ship won’t be able to tether safely for some time.” He nodded his head gracefully. “Our captain is working on other plans. And I am certain that a peaceful solution to this situation can still be achieved.”
I scoffed. “How certain?”
He watched the circus of Serrup and Alcyon playing out in front of us. “Moderately. If necessary, I can assist Mr. Alcyon in sedating Commander Serrup.”
The screens flashed on again.
Same view.
Old man, young man. Mercs in the back.
And Jenke.
No doubt about it.
“Is this room set up for a two-way holo-broadcast?” I whispered to Thalcorr.
“Yes,” he said dryly. “I’m certain you’re about to see our host’s negotiation skills shortly.”
“The clock is ticking, gentlemen,” the old man said. “Have you come to a decision?”
Serrup moved closer to the screen, hands waving wildly. “I don’t understand why you’re doing this,” he whined. “I know ExaTek already has manufacturing centers that can do everything we can here.”
Alcyon moved next to the babbling Serrup, edged slightly in front of him.
“Greetings, Chancellor Denau.” He bowed slightly.
Quietly, I moved behind the pair, far enough back to be unnoticed, but close enough that the cams would catch me.
“I am afraid that we are unable to comply with your request on such short notice,” Alcyon continued blandly.
I knew the moment Jenke saw me.
His eyes met mine, widened slightly.
But as I was about to try to signal him, his lips pressed tightly together and he looked away.
Alcyon was still droning on. “With more time, I’m sure that we can come to an arrangement that would be to the mutual benefit of both of our corporations. Perhaps we could — “
The old man, Denau, cut in. “The arrangement will be exactly as I stated. As you are obviously unsure of my seriousness in this matter, I’ll have to give you a token of my good faith.” A flicker of a smile. “I’ll start with the bottom of your station. From the specs I’ve seen, directly above that are your worker capsules. Unless they’re willing to reassign their contracts to my corporation, they’re no good to me anyway. If I keep working my way up the spindle of your station, how far do you think I can get before you have a critical failure?”
He gestured to someone off screen. “The clock is now accelerated. Five minutes until you start losing parts of your facility.”
The screen cut off.
I fell back, mind whirling.
The bottom of the station.
Where I’d left Yasmin.
Who’d turned the comm screens off.
Jenke would have to wait.
I fell back, next to Thalcorr.
“You certain you’ve got this handled?” I asked.
“I believe so,” he said as we watched Alcyon’s security team filling the bridge, slowly circling Serrup, who was too hysterical to notice them.
“I am confident that Mr. Alcyon will see reason.”
“That’s good. I need to get back down to that dome.”
One elegant eyebrow rose. “I had understood that your team had a tendency to rush into danger, but that seems extreme.”
“There’s someone down there,” I grunted.
Thalcorr’s face changed, for once a deep line wrinkling his forehead. “Then what are you waiting for, young man? Go!”
Tearing back to the lift, I waved the access card. “Observation Dome, Priority!” I snapped.
If anything, the car moved even slower this trip, as if willfully distracting me.
Maybe it was just in my head, knowing the countdown until the dome was shattered, until Yasmin was cast into the Void.
But it didn’t really matter.
“Void take it!” I snarled, and ripped open the control panel. “Stupid safety overrides…”
That was more like it. I held tightly to the wall as the lift screamed through the track, coming to a jarring stop at the lowest level.
And the clock in my head kept ticking.
“Yasmin!” I roared as I dashed through the short corridor. “You better be done with whatever you’re doing!”
The crash of the ceiling panels falling to the floor with the next impact drowned out my shouts, sparks flying as the volley began.
Throwing panels out of the way, I ducked under a tangle of loose wires blocking the entrance to the control room.
“Yasmin!”
She stood over the console, back hunched, legs braced against the buckling of the deck. “I’ve almost got it!” she yelled over her shoulder. “I just need a minute more.”
“We don’t have a minute!” I dodged forward, grabbing her by the waist.
“Wait!” she yelled, bashing at the panel until a datachip popped out. She grabbed it, sealing it in the side pocket of her coverall pants.
“We’re going now!” I growled, pulling her with me as we headed back to the lift.