him off and ran for where the guards wrestled with EJ. It didn’t matter who attacked the ship or why, so long as he could get to her and they could escape together.
Chapter 33
EJ
It felt like a nightmare she couldn’t awaken from: the Xaravians casually marching her back onto the Hollbrd like it didn’t mean her imminent death. Then, Nokx appearing, and—instead of helping her—standing by silently. Watching them turn her over. He didn’t even try to help her, to save her. He didn’t argue with the guards or that damn Slasu ‘manager.’ Nokx didn’t do anything. And all he said, the entire time, was how the Earthers weren’t suited for any real purpose at all. How deficient they were as a species.
It made her blood boil but that wasn’t enough to tamp down the terror that gripped her insides. Heisenberg and Clerk-Maxell help her, she wouldn’t be able to escape if they managed to put her in the cell again. The restraints were bad enough, though she’d figure out a way to jiggle them off if she could get some tools and a little privacy. She’d managed to avoid the hood the Horgut tried to slip over her head, and made it just difficult enough that he dropped the thing.
When something slammed into the gen ship, she took the opportunity and launched her escape. The guards dragged her toward the corridor that led to the cells, though it also led to an engineering bay and access tunnels throughout the ship. She stumbled in the confusion and lifted a security pass from the guard’s pocket, though she missed the key for the restraints. Another shock shuddered all around them, and the Xaravians shouted.
EJ looked back for a split second, hoping they at least got back to the Sraibur safely and weren’t adrift in space, and found Nokx standing in the middle of chaos as his crewmates escaped. The fool wasn’t even wearing a survival suit. Her heart cracked. He didn’t want her. He’d let his captain turn her over to her jailers, all because she couldn’t admit some of the things she’d done. After everything they’d shared, with everything she’d felt... it wasn’t enough for him.
It was one of the few things she’d regret for the rest of her life—giving a piece of her heart to him. But there wasn’t any going back. EJ dragged her concentration to the most pressing issue of avoiding another cage.
She’d never been much of a fighter; she didn’t have enough mass or a long enough reach, but she knew a few dirty tricks. One of those, in addition to the blaring alarms and flashing lights causing disorientation, gave her enough room to steal a stunner and zap both of her guards. She fell down with them, acting like it was the pitching of the ship that caused them to fall, and grabbed another weapon as the chief guard called out to the ones who couldn’t answer.
EJ didn’t waste time coming up with an explanation. She bolted. Stunner fire blasted down the corridor and zinged off the walls and deck. She zigged and zagged, dodging what she could, and made it to the engineering access point with the Horguts only a few meters behind. EJ ducked into the room, clambered on top of a cooling stack, and hauled herself into the ceiling panels with just enough time to replace the vent before the guards slammed into the door.
She bit her hand to keep from panting and giving away her location as the guards prowled through the small room. One of them grunted, “Must have been a mistake, the Earther is not here,” and then they were gone, already shouting at each other to track her and prepare the rest of the ship for takeover.
For takeover? EJ braced her hands and knees against the side of the vent, waiting for her heart to calm. She didn’t want to make any decisions while she was panicking or hopped up on adrenaline. A cool head was necessary to make smart decisions, even if the excitement improved vision and hearing and reflexes. Thinking required more time and space.
And a ship under attack wasn’t a place conducive to thinking, particularly if the guards expected a takeover.
She paused, forehead wrinkling. Could it be the Sraibur taking over the gen ship? Was it some fucked-up plan of Faros’s? But if the guards expected it, instead of defending against it, it sounded like...
Her breath caught as she stared into the darkness of the