“They won’t,” I told him. “I know exactly how to take it out of their reach. And a captain doesn’t abandon ship.”
Something in his eyes glinted, as though he might have approved.
With that, I thought we’d reached an understanding, but as I turned to leave, he leaped forward and snatched the medical bag from my hand. He’d moved fast. Super soldier fast.
I swung around with a glare. “I need that.” If Fiona opted for a pod and actually managed to escape, I had no doubt she could eventually figure out how to use the samples for something good, like helping invalids left crippled by the war.
Shaking his head, he tossed the bag onto the metal lab table behind him, blocking my access to it with his huge body. I tried twice to grab it again, but he was incredibly quick and like a freaking building—impossible to get around.
“You’re wasting time,” I ground out, unable to ignore the screeching that was coming from the starboard door. It was getting louder. They were probably most of the way through.
“Get it later…if there is one.” He jerked his hairy chin toward the exit in a get-the-hell-out-of-here type of way.
Metal cried out as though in pain, and the Endeavor gave a sickening groan. Later seemed entirely unlikely right now, especially given my plans.
To hell with it. I didn’t reach for the bag again.
“Let’s go,” Big Guy said, herding me toward the door.
I was pretty sure that was my line, but we were headed in the same direction anyway.
We worked our way through the vacuum seal and air lock, closing them behind us again before hurrying toward the bridge, our footsteps accompanied by a deafening chorus of ship-wide alerts, hammers, and saws. The bridge doors slid open at my voice command, and all four of my crew members looked over at Big Guy and me—even Shiori, who couldn’t see.
Emotion lodged in my chest. This was it—and not one of them was positioned over a pod hatch, let alone setting up for a scrambled, last-hope escape in one. They’d chosen, and I couldn’t tell if my heart soared or sank. It definitely swelled.
“Where are the samples?” Fiona asked.
“Still in the lab.” I strode to my console and silenced the blaring alarms, leaving only the visual readouts.
I looked pointedly at Fiona again. “And they don’t matter if you’re not gearing up an escape pod right now.”
She opened her mouth to argue but then shut it. I’d announced that it was a pod or death, and my crew knew I always meant what I said. The two were likely synonymous anyway.
“I won’t let the military take back the serum. They’ve been working on that enhancer since I was a kid, and if we stole their secret lab and their only batch, there’s a good chance it’ll take them years to create it again.” And if my freakish blood really was the base ingredient, and they’d used their entire supply to produce those thousands of fake cure-alls, which my gut feeling told me they had, then they were about to be shit out of luck.
Fiona’s brow furrowed. “How do you know they’ve been working on that serum since you were a kid?”
Ignoring her question, I informed them of my decision. “I’m taking the Endeavor and the false vaccines into the Black Widow. If you don’t want to come with me, you need to get out right now.”
The crew all looked at me with little surprise. In addition to categorically needing to keep the enhancer out of the Overseer’s hands, we were out of time, and we’d run out of chances to get away. Capital punishment or, if someone was feeling very generous, life in jail were our only future options. It was really a no-brainer, at least for me.
The ship groaned again, and my console flashed to indicate a breach at the starboard door. Dark Watch goons were inside the air lock. They still had to break through the safety entrance, but that door was nothing compared to the outer wall.
Bridgebane’s voice barked over the com. “I’m taking the Overseer’s lab back, and you’re all going to be court-martialed in Sector 12.”
“Tell him who you are, Tess,” Jax whispered, the scar on his cheek whitening from the tension in his jaw. “It’ll stop him. Your father…”
I laughed. It burst out of me, awful. Then I squared my shoulders and told my best friend and first mate the one thing he still didn’t