“You stay,” she said. Then to the woman, “You have something to subdue him? An electrical prod?”
“Yes,” the woman said.
Teresa held out her hand, and the woman drew a black, shining weapon with a grip all along its length. It looked like an ear of burned corn. The female guard showed Teresa where the safety was and how to trigger it.
“That’s really not called for,” Holden said. “Whatever this is? I’m not going to fight it. You won’t need those.”
“I’ll decide that,” Teresa said. She nodded the female guard out. Then it was just the three of them: Teresa, Holden, and the male guard. It was the last chance to turn back. She could still change her mind…
Teresa flipped the safety clear.
Holden flinched, prepared for the pain and shock, and Teresa drove the weapon into the guard’s belly and pulled the trigger. He went down hard, not even trying to catch himself.
“Okay,” Holden said after a long, stunned moment. “That was weird.”
“We don’t have much time. Come with me.”
“Um… no? I mean, I think I’m going to need a little more explanation about what’s… ah…”
Teresa felt a burst of anger, but there wasn’t time for it. She started stripping the male guard’s uniform off, undoing zippers and buttons, tugging at his sleeves.
“Your people are coming. Your old ship. The whole invasion was a ruse get them close.”
“There’s an invasion?” Holden said. And then, “They don’t tell me much. But you’re saving me?”
“I’m using you. I need to leave. You’re my ticket onto those ships. Now hurry. We don’t have time.”
Holden pulled the uniform over his prisoner’s jumpsuit. Confinement had left him thin enough that the extra cloth just about filled out the difference. Teresa took the stunner from the fallen guard’s belt and his access key, and opened the door. They marched out together. The woman at the guard’s station had time to look confused before Teresa put her down.
“This is actually happening, right?” Holden said as she led him down the hall toward the forensics lab. “Because this is a very realistic dream if it’s not happening.”
“This is happening,” Teresa said. And she meant, I’m really doing this. “I have an implanted tracking device. They’re going to be after us as soon as we go.”
“Okay,” Holden said.
“Here,” Teresa said. The door was locked, but the access key opened it. She stepped into the dim room. Timothy’s belongings had been moved around in the weeks since she’d been there, but they hadn’t been taken away. She walked from table to table, her fingertips brushing each container they passed. It was here. Someplace. It was right here.
“Hey,” Holden said. “This is… the pocket nuke? The one Amos had?”
“Yes,” Teresa said.
“And I’m standing right here next to it.”
“You are.”
“And you’re comfortable with that,” he said. “This is a really weird night.”
She found what she was looking for. The screen glowed as it powered up. She felt the seconds slipping away. Somewhere far above the planet, the rebel ships were already coming close. Already engaging with planetary defense. The files came up, lockouts and protections broken weeks ago. She looked for the file for evacuation protocol and, without hesitating, shifted the call to active.
“What was that?” Holden asked.
“I called for evac,” Teresa said, liking how adult the word felt in her mouth. Not evacuation. Evac. “All we have to do is get to the pickup.”
“Sure,” Holden said. “Sounds easy.”
Chapter Forty-Six: Elvi
Going through Cortázar’s hidden files was the work of days. It was horrifying. Winston Duarte had believed in Cortázar’s ability, but more than that, he’d assumed that he had the man’s loyalty. And that the things Cortázar told him were true. The experiment to change Duarte’s body using the tamed protomolecule had been the worst kind of science—uncontrolled, unethical, speculative, and risky. He had overstated his certainty to Duarte, underplayed the risks, moved ahead on therapies based on best-guess understandings of Cara and Xan, and collected data obsessively. His notes and records read like a horror story.