Manny looked at the locked doors and screamed with terror, slamming the full weight of his hips against the bulletproof glass to break free. “Are you crazy? That’ll kill those in cryo!” he screamed.
“The cryo chambers will remain in full working order,” she reiterated. “I want to remind everyone that this is just a twenty-four hour precautionary action. There is no reason to put us in full emergency shutdown mode. I’m certain that we are not in danger. Our mission will continue as planned. Now, let’s do a headcount real fast to make sure everyone is here. Mia—do you want to help me out with the right side of the room?”
“Sure. Why not?”
Full emergency shutdown mode. AKA: Permanent Black. The center was built with detonators in case of a hijack or moment just like this one. I prayed it wouldn’t come to that.
I counted the men and women on my side, and it didn’t take very long to notice that somebody was missing. “Cade,” I said. “He was right here...”
My skin felt clammy and cold all at once. I sat down and tried to breathe. There was no sign of struggle, and no sign of a rough escape. The only way he could have gotten out was through the ceiling, but someone would have seen it.
“Manny, where’s he at?” I asked.
He laughed. I pulled out my bolt stunner and asked him again. This time, I could see the honesty in his eyes. “I don’t fucking know, Mia. I swear to you.”
Spinning. One by one, questioning the opposition. “Red, you must have seen where—”
“I haven’t seen shit, lady,” he said.
Oh, fuck me.
The animal side of my brain wanted me to lash out and blame Juliana for not paying attention. “Hit the remote,” I muttered, angry tears filling my eyes.
She hit the button, over and over again, but I caught sight of the red splatter of something on the ground.
“He demagnetized himself,” I said. “He cut them out with the knife. Juliana, we have another code red.”
“I-I—” Juliana was shaking. A captain stuttering was never a good sign, and it was only going to strengthen the tides of a rebe
llion.
Manny scoffed and threw his hands into the air dramatically. “Great. We have two monsters on the loose, and you got us locked up in here.”
The crowd was gathering, and their voices were rising.
He was right. We had no control anymore. We weren’t leaders. We were just a group of desperate people.
It was so easy for him to slip outside into the main network of hallways. I thought of all my studies. The test tubes, the precious frozen semen, and the machines meant to help with the process – everything could be destroyed, in a matter of seconds.
I was certain all of my work would be destroyed. Perhaps human life in the outside universe just wasn’t meant to be, but I had worked too hard to let it all go to waste.
Juliana was forced to make a choice. She muttered, “Right now, you’re the only one I can trust.”
“Juliana, they’re both out there,” I argued. “We can’t leave. You know the rules.”
“I’m tired of playing by the rules.” Juliana marched toward the locking mechanisms. It scanned her retinae, allowing her and I to pass through.
The prisoners were in the dead heat of their arguments, but their attention hadn’t waned away from us entirely. I was worried about the coming insurrection that could turn into our complete and total annihilation.
As soon as Juliana and I walked toward those doors, the others barreled toward us. I wished I could have done something different, but I couldn’t. I had to act, and everyone on the ship knew the protocol.
Once more, Juliana hit the remote. Their wrists locked to the floor, to the tables, to the metal walls, leaving them unable to move despite their primal instincts driving them to break away.
“Don’t you fucking dare leave!” Manny yelled. “Don’t you—”
We had to close the doors on them.
We had to do it in order to survive.