Athena's Ashes (10 page)

The crew scrambled to complete her orders, and Jayla turned to her pilot. “I’m headed to the comm room. Patch Major Dallas through, Tevsi.”

The pilot nodded, but the commander had already spun on her heel and marched toward the back of the ship. Renna exchanged a worried glance with Blake, and they followed close behind.

Jayla took her place in front of a console in the comm room in parade rest, but every line of her body sung with tension.

Dread gnawed through Renna’s gut, nervous energy making her muscles twitch. If she’d been alone, she would have paced back and forth in the small space, but Jayla looked like she was about to crack. Setting the woman off would not help the situation. Instead, Renna played with the ends of her hair and stared at the smooth, chrome walls. Pallas had to be behind the attack. But why had he finally struck?

Renna’s fingers froze, wrapped around her dark strands. Sherle’s files. Dammit. She hadn’t even thought to check for a tracer. Fucking rookie mistake. What the hell was wrong with her?

The image of Major Dallas filled the screen as the hologram shimmered to life. Renna tried to focus instead of cursing at herself.

“Commander, where the hell have you been?” he demanded. Behind him, the air was hazy, as if filled with smoke.

Jayla saluted. “Sir, we were following a lead on the
Athena
. We returned to the ship as soon as we got word. What happened?” She stood stiffly, her spine locked into perfect military posture, but one boot tapped against the metal floor.

Dallas’s lips thinned. “Our facility has been attacked. The place is in chaos. Major Larson is missing, along with several high-ranking officials.” He paused, and his gaze finally steadied on Renna. “As well as the entire medical team.”

Renna’s lungs clenched as all of the oxygen was sucked out of the room. “Dr. Samil?”

“Gone. Along with all of the experimental drugs she was working on. Including yours.”

Renna sat down heavily on the chair beside her as her knees gave out. Pallas knew. This was retaliation for Renna’s investigation. Could she risk telling Dallas the truth now, too? Could he help them stop the traitor?

But the thought still haunted her—what if he was the traitor himself? What if this was all an act to get her to slip up and show her hand? She’d already told Jayla and Blake. That had to be enough.

Jayla flashed Renna a look of worry but turned back to Dallas. “What’s going on there? What do you need?”

“I need you to get to the bottom of this. I’m starting to wonder if it’s connected to Finn and the
Athena
. What did you find out on Crius Beta?”

The commander glanced between Renna and the holocomm. Waiting for Renna to tell him the truth.

Fear stroked its icy fingers against her neck, and Renna shivered. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t have those lives on her head if Dallas was the traitor. She’d have to stall him somehow.

“Sir,” she started. “We discovered Titan Industries, a manufacturing company, is a MYTH front for scientific research. They’re developing a communication device that will allow instant communications across the galaxy.”

Dallas eyebrows furrowed. “What does that have to do with Captain Finn?”

Renna stood up, forcing herself to remain calm. “Nothing as far as we know, but it may have something to do with the hybrid army Dr. Navang was building.”

“I thought that was finished,” Dallas protested. “Navang is dead, and his facility is destroyed. There are no more hybrids.” He paused. “Other than you and the boy.”

“But what if he was working with someone else? Someone who’s not ready to let the plan go?” Renna suggested. It was as close to the truth as she could get without spilling everything to him.

Jayla frowned at her but stayed silent, thank the gods.

Major Dallas sighed noisily. “Whatever the hell is going on, we need to figure it out now. Before another facility is attacked.”

“Do you have any leads on who could have done this?” Renna asked.

“It had to be an inside job, I’m afraid. No one else could have gotten past our defenses.” His forehead wrinkled with a frown. “But it doesn’t make sense. Why? Who?”

Lieutenant Blake met her gaze across the room and nodded at her imperceptibly. Relief flooded through Renna. They were going to play along for now.

“Perhaps they’re all connected,” the lieutenant suggested. “If someone inside MYTH was working for Navang, it would explain why they were able to get a hold of Myka Aldani in the first place and how they knew about his…alterations.”

Dallas was silent, and Renna glanced at Blake in surprise. The guy was hot
and
smart.

“You may be right, Lieutenant,” Dallas finally continued. “But while we try to uncover what’s really going on here, I have a different mission for you. Find and rescue the medical team. It’s the only thing we have a lead on right now and the only thing that will keep Renna alive long enough to help us figure out the rest of this.”

“A lead, sir?” Jayla asked.

“Yes, this came in a few minutes ago.” The holoscreen flickered as Dallas typed something into the controls. The image solidified into a woman with blonde hair sitting in front of a screen. Her features were blurred enough that Renna couldn’t quite make her out, but as soon as she opened her mouth, Renna sucked in a sharp breath.

“This is Dr. Thana Samil. I am issuing distress code VANI. Please rendezvous at the following coordinates as soon as you can.” In a trembling voice, she rattled off a series of coordinates, then shifted closer to the camera. A dark bruise marred the left side of her face, and her eyes looked bloodshot and exhausted as they flicked to someone off camera. “It’s a matter of life and death,” she whispered before the screen went black.

“How did she get this out to you?” Renna asked. “If she was kidnapped, why would they have let her near a comm device?”

Jayla chewed her bottom lip. “I don’t know, but I don’t like it. It feels like someone is setting a trap.”

“Damn straight it does.” Dallas’s image reappeared on screen. “But that’s a chance we have to take. Samil is too important to MYTH. And she’s the only one with the formula for Renna’s drugs. Retrieving her is our number one priority right now.”

Renna’s whole body twitched with unease, but he was right. And maybe with a little luck she could turn the trap around on Pallas.

Even better, maybe Major Larson would be there. Kicking his ass would totally make her day.

“What’s your plan?” Renna asked.

“Samil used code VANI in her message. That code is only used when there’s no other option. It means search and destroy. Scorched earth. Whatever it takes.”

She sucked in a breath. The doc’s bright eyes and warm smile flashed through her memory. Pallas had gone too far. This woman had done nothing but help Renna, and now she was going to die?

“Dr. Samil just signed her own death warrant? No. There has to be some way to get her out of there.”

“That’s what I’m counting on you for, Renna,” Dallas said, leaning closer to the screen. “And if Blake is right and there’s a traitor inside MYTH, the three of you are going to have to do it alone. Top secret. I’ll try to hold off the destroy order as long as I can, but you’re running out of time.” His voice quavered, and he glanced away from the camera. “The most I can give you is twelve hours. Please do whatever you can.”

Fear formed a lump in her throat, but Renna swallowed past it. “I’m the only girl for the job. I won’t let you down, Major.” She paused. “I’m going to need all the intel you have on that planet and any facilities near those coordinates.”

“I’ll get you anything you need, Renna. Just ask.”

She smiled at him. “I’m going to hold you to that.”

TWELVE

Renna sat at the small round table in her room, reading through the data Dallas had sent to her tablet. She took another sip of scorching coffee and held the liquid in her mouth for a fraction of a second—until her tongue started to burn—before swallowing. Sometime in the past few days, she’d started doing stuff like that, letting herself experience feelings she’d normally ignore. Like each time might be her last.

She shoved the coffee cup away, brown liquid sloshing onto the table.

Stop that
.

But the haunting possibility was always there in the background. She might not make it through this. She’d thought that plenty of times before, when a job had gone tits up or she’d found herself faced with an angry merc, but she’d never really believed it.

Seeing that strange metallic reflection in her eyes had changed everything.

Even if she did find a way to stop the implant from completely taking over her body, it would still change everything. She’d be different in some very fundamental ways. How the hell did you deal with something like that?

Renna buried her head in her hands, rubbing her temples. She’d dealt with becoming a different person before. When she’d left the Izan tenements, she’d created a new persona, changed herself to survive. She could do it again.

But first she had to save Dr. Samil, and sitting here feeling sorry for herself wasn’t going to help. She straightened her shoulders. So. First order of business: rescue Dr. Samil and her team. Second: destroy Pallas. Third: find Finn and live happily ever after.

Totally doable.

And if she was lucky, she might be able to take care of step one and two at the same time. Obviously letting Samil get a message out to MYTH was a trap, but Renna had a few of her own tricks to play. If Pallas and Major Larson had kidnapped the med team, maybe she could take them both down.

She studied the dossier. New Angeles was the smallest planet in the Vorti system. Its only claim to fame was the small scientific community that had sprung up around a series of ancient ruins. The mystery of who’d built them and why sent thousands of archaeologists and university students there every year. Small towns had popped up near each site to provide support services, goods, and food. But the rest of the planet was wild and empty. The perfect place for a hideout.

According to the holomap, the surface terrain looked rocky, with low jagged hills and gray dirt. The biggest outpost was the Tholi spaceport, crouched in a valley between two large hills. It served as the central base for most of the excavation operations in the area and had a bustling warehouse district for storing food, supplies, and ships.

Renna typed in the coordinates Dr. Samil had given, and a glowing holomap of the city sprang to life over the table. She pinched her fingers together, zooming in on what appeared to be some sort of squat bunker with a rounded roof. She changed the angle, but her heart sank. She’d seen these before. One door. No windows. No other way in.

If this was where they were keeping the med team, she was completely screwed.

Renna threw her tablet down on the table and got to her feet. The frantic drumbeat in her head picked up strength as she paced her cabin. She’d only get one shot at this. But how could she break into an impenetrable building without getting the hostages killed instantly? Frontal attack was a no-go. They didn’t have a big enough team. And the clock was already ticking. The MYTH bombers could show up at any time.

Did she say screwed? More like completely and utterly fucked.

Renna rubbed the back of her neck.
Godsdammit
. She hated working without a safety net or an escape plan. Especially with whatever was going on in her head. Things could go wrong in a freaking hurry if she wasn’t perfect. And if her implant chose the wrong moment to go haywire? She could get all of them killed.

Jayla’s voice came over the intercom, jerking her out of her thoughts. “Renna, ETA on Tholi is twenty-three minutes.”

Shit. She’d officially run out of time
and
ideas. Renna rubbed her sweating palms on her thighs.

Time for plan B: making it up as she went.

She slipped into a pair of tight leather pants and a black sweater and pulled on her knee-high boots. She strapped a holster around her shoulder and another around her waist before grabbing her leather military jacket from the chair where she’d dropped it earlier.

She paused, staring at her fingers curled around the smooth black leather.

She’d gotten it from MYTH when she’d first joined Finn’s team. The special coat, given only to MYTH agents, was made of reinforced leather that was bulletproof but moved like a dream.

And only a few people in the entire galaxy had access to one.

She smiled as the beginnings of plan formed in her mind.