Aymeric paced around the bridge’s console.

  Erika not only made off with the bomb, but she had the sass to ask for a cease fire. Well, Aymeric expected it. Sort of. Erika was too bold to go down without swinging.

  But she will go down in the end, I promise you that.

  Theo and Mi-Cha stood in the corner of Aymeric’s vision. He turned his full attention to the pair. Mi-Cha kept her eyes on the floor. Theo stared at Aymeric with his usual stupid, impassive face. Aymeric had always wanted to see the big man smile, or do something to indicate any human emotion flickered beneath that stone face. It pissed Aymeric off to see Theo so calm all the fucking time.

  So Aymeric had an idea.

  He marched up to Theo.

  “What are you doing?” Mi-Cha demanded.

  Aymeric grabbed Theo arm, and thrust the gun under his jaw.

  “Fuck!” Mi-Cha reeled.

  Theo’s face didn’t even twitch.

  “Erika, you hear me!?” Aymeric snarled. “Actually, Theo, you talk to her. Tell her what’s happening.”

  “Aymeric has a gun pointed at my head,” Theo stated.

  “Understatement!” Aymeric shouted. “I have a gun pressed under Theo’s jaw and if you don’t get your ass back here right now I’m gonna shower his brains all over the fucking bridge!”

  ? ? ?

  Erika’s first instinct was to answer her comm. Her second was to not answer the comm.

  Aymeric was on edge, he had a gun, and he had Theo and Mi-Cha captive. If Erika said the wrong thing, she knew that Aymeric would pull the trigger. He might pull the trigger, even if Erika said the right thing.

  Erika stared at the lab equipment. The beakers didn’t give her a solution.

  ? ? ?

  Mi-Cha stood in the corner, watched events unfold, and was happy as fuck that she wasn’t involved. Except for the part where she knew someone was going to die.

  Aymeric stood next to the console, gun planted under Theo’s chin. His finger was on the trigger. One slip, and Theo was dead.

  Mi-Cha couldn’t say she ever really bonded with the mechanic, but they’d flown together for years. There was some connection between them. Hell, there was even a connection with Erika, despite everything. Mi-Cha didn’t want either of them to get hurt.

  What about Aymeric? Shit, now that one was complicated.

  “Erika, you better start talking,” Aymeric sung. “Or do you not care about Theo?”

  Well, Mi-Cha did care about Theo. She also liked staying away from guns.

  But she knew what she had to do.

  “Why don’t you cut it the fuck out?” Mi-Cha marched forward. Her hands trembled.

  Aymeric frowned at her.

  “You realize that we’re, maybe, ten minutes away from an asteroid field, right?” Mi-Cha continued. “S-so unless you wanna get fucked by some big space rocks, you drop the gun!”

  “I don’t need you to fly this thing,” Aymeric said.

  “What, you gonna shoot the controls? That gun don’t make you any bigger!” Spittle flew from Mi-Cha’s mouth and into Aymeric’s face. She hadn’t meant to spit on him, but yeah, it felt good.

  “Go back to your corner,” Aymeric said.

  “Make me, bitch!”

  Aymeric’s gun hand shifted. The barrel was away from Theo’s head.

  That’s because he wants to aim at you.

  Mi-Cha slammed into Aymeric. She wasn’t very big, but she had surprise on her side.

  Aymeric stumbled into the console.

  Mi-Cha grabbed Theo’s hand, and yanked him to the ladder. Theo followed without missing a beat.

  “No!” Aymeric roared.

  Mi-Cha slipped down the ladder first. She cared about Theo, sure, but self preservation always took priority.

  She and Theo made it to the second floor. It was dark, but that didn’t matter; Mi-Cha could navigate the Ark blindfolded and blackout drunk.

  Aymeric roared from above.

  Mi-Cha and Theo ran for the cabins.

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  ? ? ?

  Erika took a deep breath. She couldn’t stay silent. That would all but guarantee Theo’s death.

  “Aymeric, are you there?” Erika tried to keep the charge out of her voice. It was still there, just below the skin. Erika could hear it. Hopefully Aymeric couldn’t.

  “Let us talk. We can figure this out without Theo needing to die,” Erika said.

  No reply.

  Erika took a deep, shaky breath.

  Maybe she waited too long. Maybe Aymeric already killed Theo and Mi-Cha, and now…now what?

  “Aymeric, please, talk to me,” Erika said.

  The airlock to the lab hissed open. Aymeric stepped into the room, face red and twisted in fury. His eyes locked with Erika. He rose Ryder’s pistol.

  Erika dropped behind a desk.

  The pistol barked.

  The gunshot left Erika’s ears ringing.

  “Come on out! Let’s make this easy!” Aymeric shouted.

  Erika crawled on the ground. Erika snatched up her shock spear, and kept moving.

  Aymeric’s footsteps approached.

  Erika scrambled to her feet and ran for the airlock.

  Aymeric stood at the center of the lab. He aimed the gun.

  Erika scrambled out of the lab, and shut the airlock doors. Aymeric could get through, of course, but shutting the doors would buy Erika some time.

  The Lamia banged around the shuttle bay. A pair of eyes watched Erika next to the elevator–the Carnifex.

  Erika pushed harder.

  She reached the ladder, and climbed. Erika didn’t stop until she reached the bridge. Neither Theo or Mi-Cha were there. Either they had fled, or Aymeric tossed them out the airlock. Erika hoped they were okay. She wished she could contact them over the IRIS, but Aymeric could probably monitor the calls.

  Someone was coming up the ladder.

  A hand appeared on the top rung. It held a gun.

  Erika ducked behind the console, and gripped her shock spear in both hands.

  “Erika!” Aymeric called. “This doesn’t have to be painful for you!”

  His footsteps thudded against the floor.

  Erika’s breaths were loud. She stopped breathing, and listened.

  Aymeric stepped around the console.

  Erika’s finger hovered near the shock spear’s switch. Aymeric would hear the hum when she turned it on, so she would keep it off until she really needed it.

  Aymeric passed the console. He went through the airlock on the other side of the room.

  Erika peeked her head over the console. Aymeric’s back was to the bridge; he faced away from Erika.

  She picked herself up, and padded forward.

  Aymeric braced himself, then darted into the airlock.

  Into the airlock!

  Erika hurried forward. Aymeric was trapped, and his back was turned. If she was fast enough–

  Aymeric turned around. His eyes widened at Erika.

  She hurried back to the airlock door, and ducked behind it.

  A gunshot shattered the world.

  “You stay right there!” Aymeric shouted.

  “Aymeric, this is insane!”

  “If anyone approaches I’ll blow their goddamned head off! Mi-Cha included!”

  Erika didn’t know what to say, so instead she focused on finding a new solution.

  Erika couldn’t call on Theo or Mi-Cha, and Aymeric was too far away to jab with a shock spear.

  What if you threw the spear?

  There was a button within the airlock, one that would shut the doors. Aymeric wouldn’t be able to shoot through the glass, or at least Erika didn’t think he could. If Erika managed to hit the button and trap Aymeric, she could meander up to the outer button, press it, and vent the saboteur into the void.

  Erika thought about all the times Aymeric made her laugh, about the times she’d opened up to him. She’d even shared an embarrassing story from high school with him. And now she was planning to kill him.

  You don’t have to really vent him; just scare him into dropping the gun.

  Okay, that was a better plan.

  Erika took a deep breath, and stepped around the corner.

  The button waited in the back, right where Erika imagined it to be.

  Aymeric was halfway in an EVA suit. When he saw Erika, he rose the pistol.

  Erika pulled her arm back. She stared at the button, and forced the rest of the world to disappear. She threw the spear.

  The weapon soared in an arc.

  A gunshot rang out.

  Pain exploded through Erika’s shoulder. It was so intense that she lost control of her entire body.

  She slammed onto the ground.

  The pain, already intense, grew worse.

  Erika screamed.

  The pain took up her entire right side. There was blood. It soaked through Erika’s shirt and ran down her exposed arm.

  Tears ran down her cheeks. She didn’t remember crying.

  I’m shot. I’m shot.

  Erika couldn’t tell where the bullet hit or how much damage it did. Her body was mostly out of her control. She writhed, but it didn’t do anything to stop the pain.

  Oh god, the pain!

  “Son of a bitch!” Aymeric’s voice was muffled.

  The airlock door was shut, and he was behind the glass.

  Erika managed to laugh.

  She managed her throw.

  That’s just the first part of the plan. You got to make it to the second.

  Erika clawed her way back to her feet. Her shoulder throbbed. She’d been hit just below her collarbone.

  Erika shuffled forward. Rivulets of blood ran down to her fingertips, then dripped onto the floor.

  “Hey! What are you doing!?” Aymeric demanded.

  Erika kept moving toward the console. It was only a few meters away.

  “Stop, dammit!” Aymeric rose his gun. If the bullet went through the glass, it would hit Erika.

  Her feet moved better. The gray surrounding her vision didn’t leave, but it stopped creeping in.

  Aymeric fired.

  The bullet ricocheted around the airlock.

  He ducked to avoid the stray bullet.

  A crack splintered the glass.

  Erika reached the console.

  Aymeric rose his pistol again.

  “Don’t fucking do it!” He shouted. “This next bullet is gonna make it through the glass, you hear! You’ll be dead!”

  “Drop the gun or I’ll vent you.” Erika’s tongue was heavy in her mouth, and it was hard to form words.

  Aymeric’s nostrils flared.

  He rose the pistol again and pulled the trigger.

  Half of Aymeric’s head disappeared in a shower of blood and brains.

  Erika yelped.

  Aymeric collapsed against the glass, showing off his exposed, pulsing brain. He slid down, leaving a smear of blood on the cracked glass.

  Erika stared with wide eyes. She wanted to step closer, look in through the bloodied glass, and see what became of Aymeric, but the thought made her guts shift and she knew she’d vomit if she saw the body. Instead, she pieced together the logic of what happened.

  The bullet must have ricocheted into Aymeric. The gun looked like a high caliber model, something that shot massive bullets, so when it hit Aymeric…

  The gray moved in.

  Erika squeezed her eyes shut, then turned away from the airlock.

  Don’t think about the details. It’s over.

  A noise came from down the hall.

  Erika opened her eyes. She was prepared to see Theo or Mi-Cha, or the both of them waiting down the hall. Now that this nightmare was over, it was time for everyone to regroup and figure out their next step.

  Instead, Erika saw the Carnifex, tail high and ready to strike.