Chapter 17

Rhys woke up.

He blinked, disoriented. The room was dimly lit, the light filtering in from narrow windows set into thick concrete walls. He was tied to a chair, and the sight of the thick, reinforced walls sent a chill down his spine.

And so did the people that were watching him.

He was back with the crew.

They"d betrayed him. They"d left him to die. They"d torn him away from Taryn and dragged him back to their base.

Now, they sat in front of him, watching him with hard eyes.

Cilian. Lila. The others who had operated the mine site. Rhys hadn"t got to learn their names, busy being worked to the bone in the mine shafts.

And then there was the clear ringleader. Jak. He"d been the one to lie to Rhys"s face, promising that the work on Vasz was more than enough to pay off all of Rhys"s debts. All Rhys had to do was think of the better future that was waiting for him…

Back then, Rhys had believed them. He"d been a fool.

"You"re lucky we found you when we did, kid," Jak sneered, leaning forward in his chair. "Who knows what those monsters would"ve done to you."

It was stunningly insincere. Rhys glared at him. "Give it a rest. You"re just trying to get me on your side again."

Bingo. Jak cut a glance to Lila. Lila narrowed her eyes.

Rhys continued. "I know what you"re planning to do. The bombs, the attack on their city..."

"You should be happy to be part of this. It"s all to keep those barbarian scum from overrunning space," Jak growled. "They"re the real monsters here."

Rhys shook his head vehemently. "You"re wrong. They"re not—"

"Not what?" Jak cut him off. "Not vicious, bloodthirsty aliens? Wake up, Rhys. That"s exactly what they are."

Shit. This was bad. Rhys"s mind raced, searching for a way to make them see reason. "If you"d take the time to actually get to know them—"

"Know them?" Lila"s eyes narrowed dangerously. "We"ve seen enough of them on the battlefield. That"s why we"re here. It"s too late for words."

Rhys"s eyes darted to the containers stacked against the far wall, their dull metallic surfaces glinting ominously in the dim light. He recognised them — after all, he"d helped fill them.

A shudder coursed through him. "You can"t be serious. Those explosives will level the entire city."

Jak grinned brightly. It was clear that that was music to his ears. "Exactly. More than enough firepower to wipe plenty of those alien scum off the face of the planet."

Rhys recoiled, sickened by the casual cruelty in the other man"s tone. "But there are civilians there. Families, innocents who have nothing to do with the war..."

"You really bought into their propaganda, didn"t you?" Lila sighed. "They"re all the same: vicious, savage beasts who won"t stop until they"ve wiped us out."

"That"s not true!" Rhys insisted, his heart pounding. "They have honor, culture… Look, if we just stopped freaking out and just talked to each other—"

"Honor? Is that what you call that barbarian taking you as a prisoner of war?"

Rhys shook his head vehemently. "I"m not his prisoner! He saved my life when you all abandoned me!"

The words hung heavy in the air, a damning accusation that caused the crew to shift uncomfortably. For a moment, Rhys thought he saw a flicker of doubt cross the mechanic"s face, but it was quickly extinguished.

"We did what we had to do to survive," Jak said coldly. "You should be thanking us for coming back for you."

Rhys strained against his bindings, his eyes blazing with defiance. "You left me to die out there!" he shouted, his voice echoing off the bunker"s walls. "All that talk about paying off my debts, giving me a better life: it was all lies. You were just using me for my labor in those mines."

There was no reason why the humans should have come back for him. They"d left him for dead once — it was clear exactly how much they valued his life. Coming back for him, trying to get him out from under Taryn"s nose…

It was a risk. Why take it?

Rhys had an idea.

He glared at them. "The only reason you want me to work with you now is because you"ve lost too many people, and need more people to carry the explosives. Right? I saw that container you left behind in the cave — you lost too many people, you couldn"t carry it. Now you"ve lost Mal, too, and I can see that you"ve lost others… The jungle chew you up, huh?"

A silence fell over the room as the remaining crew exchanged glances, their expressions a mix of anger and unease.

Yeah, jackpot. Rhys sat back, narrowing his eyes. "You need more people to help you bomb the city. That"s the only reason you grabbed me."

Jak burst into bitter laughter. "You"re sharper than I thought you were, kid. Damn, I should"ve picked someone stupider."

He grinned savagely. "Yeah, we lost two people yesterday. Those damn snakes…" He jerked his chin towards the containers of explosives. "It was all we could do to drag their portions all the way to this here bunker, and now we need someone to help us haul them to the finish line. Then we saw your bootprints…"

"Well, get bent. I"m not helping you commit war crimes."

Jak leaned forward, his eyes boring into Rhys. "We"re giving you a last chance to redeem yourself, Rhys. To prove your loyalty to your own kind. To spend your last days on this damn hellhole planet doing what"s right — hitting the bastards where they hurt."

"Slaughtering innocent people, you mean? I won"t do it."

Lila"s hand twitched, as if she was itching to strike him. "Those "innocents" are the enemy, you stupid boy. They"d kill us all without a second thought if given the chance."

"You"re the stupid one here," Rhys countered. "And the sad thing is that you"re too dumb to know it. This whole stunt makes you feel like a big deal, huh? That"s why you"re doing this. If you were actually good at what you did, you"d be on the front lines with the real heroes, instead of skulking around trying to pretending to be a strike force—"

That pushed Lila across a line. Rhys tensed as she stood in a blur of motion, fist clenched. Then, Lila raised her hand to slap him.

Rhys saw his opening.

Leaning back, he brought his legs up in a vicious kick, catching her square in the chest. Lila stumbled backwards with a pained grunt, eyes wide in surprise.

Before the others could react, Rhys was already in motion.

Jak lurched forward, but Rhys was ready. He spun, slamming the chair into the man"s midsection. It broke, sending Jak and the chair crumpling to the floor. Lila ran at him, fumbling for her stun gun. Rhys met her with a savage kick to the knee, dropping her with a howl of pain.

Jak was staggering to his feet, fury in his eyes. Rhys raced for the door, flinging it open to reveal a dimly lit corridor.

Where the hell were they? Narrow corridors… Some kind of bunker? Rhys pelted down the hall, his boots pounding on the metal grating as he searched frantically for a sign of where to run — and hopefully for an exit.

The bunker was a maze of identical passages, lit only by low bulbs. Rhys"s heart thundered as he ran, panic rising with every turn that led to another dead end. He was trapped, a rat in a metal cage with his captors in pursuit, their yelling echoing off the metal walls.

Rhys"s heart pounded in his ears as he raced down the murky corridors. The sound of Jak"s boots echoed behind him, spurring him on. He couldn"t let them catch him, not after everything he"d seen.

"You can"t run forever, kid!" Jak"s voice boomed, laced with menace. "There"s nowhere to go!"

Fuck that. Rhys pushed himself harder, his lungs burning. He rounded a corner and spotted a door up ahead. Without hesitation, he darted through it into yet another bunker room, then spun around, slamming it shut behind him.

Jak"s footsteps thundered closer. Rhys slammed the door"s latch into place just as Jak"s body slammed against the other side.

The door shuddered violently, but it held. Rhys stumbled back, his chest heaving.

"Open this door, you traitor!" Jak roared, pounding his fists against the metal. "You"re only making it worse for yourself!"

Rhys remained silent, his heart hammering. He could hear Jak cursing, then the sound of retreating footsteps as the man went in search of another way around.

Rhys had bought himself a brief reprieve, but he knew it wouldn"t last. He had to keep moving.

He ran down another corridor.

At last, a faint breeze caressed his face — the sweet promise of freedom. Rhys followed it, shoving open a heavy blast door and out into the open air.

He skidded to a halt, blinking in the harsh sunlight. The bunker stood in the shadow of towering rock formations, their craggy peaks scraping the clouds.

And nearby, he saw the unmistakable walls of the Borraq city.

The one Taryn had gone to.

The humans were right by it! They"d brought him close to Taryn.

Rhys"s heart leapt — and then plummeted.

If he tried to get to Taryn to warn him about the humans, Rhys would be seen by the Borraq.

He was a human in Borraq space. The Borraq would kill him.

But if Rhys didn"t go...

Rhys"s gaze drifted back towards the bunker"s entrance. If he ran away, waiting for Taryn to get back… the others knew he was against them, now. They"d move out — them, and whatever explosives they could carry.

And this close to the target, there"d be no time to stop them.

By the time that Taryn managed to get back and find Rhys, it would be too late.

There was no choice.

Gritting his teeth, Rhys broke into a sprint towards the city"s gate, the wind whipping his hair as he ran full tilt across the uneven terrain. Rhys pushed himself harder, his lungs burning, a single thought driving him forward.

He had to warn Taryn. No matter the cost.

For the first time in his life, Rhys ran towards danger.