Chapter 27

"No! Chigs!" Emmy cried out again, terror consuming her. She reached out and slapped her hand against the control panel, disabling the energy shield pulsing around his fallen body. The air stank of electricity and sweat.

Chigs lay sprawled and lifeless on the gray metal deck. The restraint cuffs he'd been wearing had released themselves, shorted out by the massive flow of energy.

Dropping to her knees, Emmy cupped his cheeks, staring in horror at the bruised hollows surrounding his eyes. She couldn't tell if he was breathing or not. "Don't be dead. Please!"

He is of no consequence. The unwelcome voice boomed through her thoughts, trying to regain control. We have the others. Her vision spun, and it felt as if the room had lost gravity. Grabbing hold of him like an anchor, she yelled, "Chigs is mine!"

Warmth surrounded her, stilling the confusion of thoughts. She looked down to see her mate's copper eyes open and focused on hers. Her soul thrummed with the vibrant connection of their bond. She sucked in a breath and threw her arms around him, pressing her forehead against his chest. "You're alive!"

His arms circled her shoulders, pulling her closer. "Emmy." His voice was rough as he cradled the back of her head, his hand threading through her hair. "You did it. You broke his control."

"I don't know what happened," she choked, regret seeping into every word. "I'm so sorry. I should have?—"

"No apologies," Chigs said sternly and kissed the top of her head.

An insistent voice cut through their reunion. "Emmy!" Tovik yelled. "Open our cells."

She looked up at her friends, lit by the sickly green glow of the energy shields. The entire mission had been undermined because of her weakness. She'd delivered her friends straight to their enemy's hands. Then she remembered what she'd done to Rust. "Rust! Are you okay?"

She started to stand, but Chigs grabbed her arm. "You need to stay in physical contact with me. Dollard's mind control will find you once you're out of my ionic shield, and I'm not strong enough to extend it very far."

Her throat tightened, fear once again swelling within her. This really was all her fault. "Right."

She helped Chigs struggle to his feet. He had to lean on her, his muscles still twitching, but they hobbled to the nearby control panel and dropped the cell barriers. Everyone except Rust came rushing out. While Noatak and Qaiyaan checked on Rust, Tovik offered Emmy a pendant on a silver chain. "Here, put this on."

"What is it?" An oblong silver bauble the size of her thumb glowed with tiny green and blue lights that sparkled like gems.

"The device Rashana and I were working on to block her mind control. Sorry I didn't have it ready before you and Chigs left the Icarus."

She took the pendant, expecting to feel a low buzz or other sensation that something was happening, but there was nothing. "Are you sure it works?"

"I think so. Marlis and Rust are wearing them and are still themselves."

Just then, Rust stumbled from his cell, head clutched in both cybernetic hands. "Fuck! Emmy?—"

Chigs angled his body protectively between her and the cyborg. "Don't blame her."

"I ain't gonna hurt her," Rust grumbled, but stopped in his tracks. "You okay Emmy?"

"I… yes." She peered around Chigs to examine Rust's hard face. "Are you?"

He shrugged. "Dollard's done worse to me." Then he scowled at Chigs. "You were supposed to keep Emmy inside your shielding to protect her. What happened?"

"It was a mistake. The test subjects all looked like normal denaidans." Chigs said. "My guard was down." He stood with his back against the wall, his face still creased with residual pain.

Emmy squeezed his hand, leaning her shoulder against his to lend her support. "I think Dollard is controlling their minds, too."

She quickly explained what she knew about the test subjects, including Dollard's assertion that the women had joined the project voluntarily.

"Uminaq!" Kashatok swore. "Those bastards really were taking women off Denaida-daru!"

"You knew about this?" asked Noatak.

Kashatok's features were dark with fury. "In my younger days, I... knew a female who fell for Syndicorp's lies. She wanted to travel the stars." His voice sounded strained, and Emmy sensed there was likely more to the story. "But Ayana died before Syndicorp got her off the planet."

Qaiyaan put a hand on Kashatok's shoulder. "Now is not the time for self-recrimination, iluq. Now is the time for revenge."

"How?" asked Chigs. "Doug must've lost control over the security systems, or he'd have freed us."

"At least he got us inside," said Qaiyaan. "We can handle it from here."

"I personally volunteer to pound every Syndicorp puppet on this base to a pulp." Rust flexed his cybernetic arms. At least he looked none the worse for wear after being knocked out.

Tovik held up his hands. "Hold on. The test subjects are under mind control like Emmy. We need to find a way to free them, not hurt them."

"We were told that there are sixteen test subjects," said Chigs. "There aren't enough of us here to provide ionic shielding for that many."

"You won't need to." Tovik's eyes were alight with excitement. "If we can reach the mainframe, I can try to splice one of the pendants in and boost the broadcast. That should free anyone in the compound still under Dollard's control. I might even be able to get Doug back into the system."

"That's a pretty big set of ifs," said Qaiyaan.

"And what if we run into more females before we reach the mainframe?" asked Rust. "The ones we met were surprisingly efficient at disarming us."

"We've all been trained in using non-lethal force," said Marlis, casting a meaningful glance toward Rust.

Everyone else nodded. Rust grunted noncommittally before shrugging. "Sure."

"Good. Let's get moving," said Qaiyaan. "Dollard's probably already regrouping after losing control of Emmy. Take out any surveillance equipment you see."

At Qaiyaan's signal, Emmy touched the control panel and opened the door to the brig, bracing herself for an onslaught of armed guards. But the hall outside was completely empty. With a sigh of relief, she took Chigs's hand and motioned for everyone to follow her as she tiptoed down the corridor, her footsteps barely making a sound. As they approached the elevator, the doors opened. Out stepped half a dozen guards in full battle gear, followed by one test subject in her simple blue tunic and pants. They all held pulse rifles.

Rust charged forward.

Tovik bolted after him, shouting, "Non-lethal!"

The guard Rust was targeting sidestepped, using Rust's momentum to send him sprawling onto the floor. A bright blue light lit the air as another guard fired at the cyborg. Rust rolled out of the way, barely escaping the blast. A charred patch marred the deck where he'd been less than a heartbeat earlier.

Tovik tackled another guard, driving him against the wall, while Kashatok swept the legs out from under a third. The guard's pulse rifle clattered to the floor, skidding back into the open elevator.

Marlis and Noatak moved in as Kashatok used his ionic shielding to deflect pulse fire, while Qaiyaan followed just behind, sending shockwaves of ionic energy at the enemies with a force that made the hallway sound like the nexus of a thunderstorm. The air reeked of ozone and hot metal.

A bolt from one rifle zinged off Chigs's shielding and punched a hole through a wall panel overhead, making Emmy cringe.

"We need to find cover!" Chigs shouted, pulling her toward a nearby door in the hall.

Emmy pressed her palm to the control, relieved when the door slid open to reveal an empty office. Chigs pushed her inside and pointed to the solitary desk in the middle of the room. "Hide behind that."

"Wait!" she shouted as he rushed back to the hallway.

She edged toward the door and chanced a look around the corner. Nearby, Chigs grappled with one guard, knocking the rifle from the man's grip. Marlis and Noatak were near the elevator, fighting back-to-back in a flurry of kicks and punches. Kashatok blocked blows from a combat knife, blue blood coating his arm. Pulse fire strafed past the doorway, forcing Emmy to duck back inside.

Frustrated by her lack of usefulness, she frantically searched the office for a weapon, but came up empty-handed. The desk and shelves were bare, not even an abandoned paperweight. Sounds of pulse blasts and grunts of pain continued outside.

Returning to the door, she peeked outside again. Tovik struggled with the denaidan woman, trying to twist her rifle from her grip. She brought her knee to his groin, doubling him over, then crashed the butt of the gun against his head. Tovik stumbled and fell to his knees.

Two guards were now forcing Chigs backward. A bolt of light whizzed dangerously close to his ear, and he bared his teeth, crossing his forearms in front of him as if it was taking all his strength to keep his shield in place.

Her gaze snagged on an abandoned pulse rifle on the floor near the other side of the hallway. If she was lucky, she might reach it and get back to the office in one piece. She glanced toward the fight again just as a pulse bolt hit Qaiyaan square in the chest, sending him flying past her doorway. He skidded down the hall in a crumpled heap.

The guard who'd shot him looked up and spotted her standing there. He swung his barrel in her direction. Emmy's heart thudded a rapid pace inside her. If she retreated, she'd be trapped and helpless.

Drawing on all her courage, she dove for the rifle across the hall, sliding on her belly, hands outstretched to clasp the barrel. Her fingers found the trigger, and she swiveled, aiming back toward the door of the office. With no time to second-guess herself, she fired.

A pulse of light zinged from the rifle's barrel, missing the guard but causing him to duck.

Emmy rolled onto her side and took aim again. Her heart pounded in her chest as she lined up the crosshairs on the attacker. She squeezed the trigger again, this time hitting her mark squarely in the chest. The guard dropped his weapon and staggered back against the wall before crumpling to the floor.

Emmy pushed herself to a kneeling position, heartbeat drowning out the sounds of battle. I killed someone. Blinking back hot tears, she gripped the rifle tighter and quickly took aim at the guards closing in on Chigs. Her body shook with adrenaline and terror as she waited for a clear shot. She fired, hitting one guard in the back and sending him sprawling.

Chigs took the opening to deliver a killing blow to the last guard before glancing in Emmy's direction. His eyes widened in surprise and something akin to approval as he spotted her.

Then, to her horror, she saw the denaidan female charge him from behind, a blood-coated blade in her hands. In less than a second, that blade would drive straight into Chigs's back. Fuck this non-lethal bullshit.

Gritting her teeth, she raised the rifle and took aim.