Darker Space (12 page)

“If he’s in my head again, then all he sees is
you.”

I backed toward the door. “Then make it stop! Wake up, and make it stop!” I heard laughter behind me. Lucy’s. I spun around, but the passageway was empty. “Lucy!
Lucy
!”

“Brady… Brady…”

“Brady… Brady, wake up.” Cam was kneeling over me, his hands on my shoulders. “Please wake up.”

I blinked up at him. My heart was pounding. I stank of sweat, despite the cold. “Am I awake?”

Cam rocked back and forward slightly on his knees. His face was pale in the darkness. “I don’t know. Fuck, I don’t know!”

“What do you—” Movement outside our glass cage caught my eye.

A shape in the darkness. A tall, looming shape.

“Cam-ren. Bray-dee.”

Impossible.

No no no no no.

I tried to say Cam’s name, but I didn’t have the breath. He pulled me up into his embrace. I buried my face in his neck. I could feel him shaking just as badly as I was.

“It’s not real.”
He didn’t know that, though. His uncertainty and fear bled through.
“It’s okay. It’s not real.”

Kai-Ren circled us in the darkness.

I could feel his stare as he moved.

I kept my eyes squeezed shut and my face hidden. I held on to Cam tightly.

“It’s not real. It’s not real. It’s not—”

A dull crash against the side of the cage. Kai-Ren’s fists? My heart seized, then stuttered. Any second now…

Nothing.

I was gripping the back of Cam’s T-shirt so tightly that my fingers hurt. Every breath sounded a little like a sob as I clung to him. My knees ached. My feet were cold. My senses, crippled by fear, were slowly coming back to themselves.

Cam’s breath shuddered out of him. He slid a hand down my spine and straightened up. “He’s gone.”

He released me before I was ready. I grabbed for the blanket and pulled it around myself.

“He’s gone,”
he repeated in my head.

We sat together in the middle of our cage and stared out into the gloom. There was nothing moving there now but our imaginations.

Chapter Seven

In the morning— Well, it was probably the morning. There was no way to tell for sure. The lights got turned up at some point, but it could still have been the middle of the night for all we knew. Anyway, at some point the lights came on and the lift doors rolled open, and four MPs marched down toward us. Left right, left right, like they were on the parade ground and the brass was watching.

Static crackled, and then one of them spoke. “You have medical testing today. Lieutenant Rushton, step forward, sir.”

Cam rubbed a hand over his eyes and climbed slowly to his feet. He held his hand down for me.

“No,” the MP said. “Crewman Garrett, stay down. Hands on the floor.”

“What the fuck? Seriously? What do they think I am, LT? A ninja?”
I flipped them the bird before I obeyed.

We’d talked about this last night. It had been impossible to get back to sleep after our shared nightmare, or hallucination, or whatever the hell that was. We knew they’d separate us and try to get us to reveal our connection somehow. We wouldn’t. And then, hopefully, they’d have to release us. They couldn’t keep us here forever, right?

We were strong enough to do this, to handle whatever they threw at us, for ourselves and for Lucy. We promised each other we wouldn’t break. We promised each other that we’d protect Lucy from the military.

The MPs opened the door. A rush of warmer air flowed into our cell.

“Hey, LT, ask them to turn the heat up!”

“Sure,” Cam said, flashing me a smile. “I’ll do that right after my champagne breakfast, shall I?”

The MPs cuffed his hands behind his back.

I showed Cam my middle finger as well.

“Good luck, Cam.”

“You too, Brady.”

“Love you.”
I think we both thought that at the exact same time.

The cell door slammed shut again. I bundled up Cam’s blanket to use as a pillow and curled up again. A couple of minutes later, the MPs were back. Cam wasn’t with them. When they opened the door for me, I thought about making them come in and drag me out, but I couldn’t see how getting punched in the head would improve my situation.

I could play nice.

If I really had to.

It felt good to be out of that cold cell. Even with my hands cuffed and no idea where I was going, it felt good. The MPs shoved me into the back corner of the lift, and I stood there, trying to get a look at the panel to see how far down we were. I couldn’t tell, but it took a while before the doors opened again and I saw natural light.

We were in an administration block. Offices lined either side of the wide corridor. Not the shiny, large offices belonging to the shiny, large officers, but poky little rooms where clerks pushed paper back and forth all day. We rounded a corner, and things got more familiar: this was intel. And right behind door 2F was the room where Cam and I had spent countless hours trying to guess what flash cards we were each looking it.

Which meant 2G was the room with the treadmills where the doctors came and did stress tests on us, 2H was the interview room with the lie detector and the gap where one of the ceiling panels didn’t fit flush against the wall, and 2I was where I’d sat and watched a whole bunch of footage about the Faceless with electrodes stuck to my temples and my chest while a camera recorded every expression on my face and replayed it for the shrinks later.

“You here, Cam?”

“I’m here.”

I wasn’t sure which room, but he was close.
“Did you get that breakfast yet?”

“Not even a coffee.”

He didn’t sound worried, so I figured we were okay.

My mistake.

The MPs took me around another corner and knocked on the door. Major Hanron opened it and stood back so I could walk inside.

“Garrett. How did you sleep?”

“It’s cold down there.” I rolled my stiff shoulders. “Sir.”

“That’s unfortunate.”

Really? Because I got the impression it was completely intentional, and he was one human-rights violation away from blasting god-awful fucking music at us for hours on end until we couldn’t even hear ourselves scream.

“Take a seat, Garrett.”

The chair was comfortable, at least. It was also in the center of the room, which felt a little bit creepy. Like he’d be able to sit behind his desk and stare at me as though I was something on display for him.

One of the MPs remained inside. The door was closed.

“Nothing to worry about,” Hanron said. He picked up a small plastic case from his desk and flipped it open. “We’re just going to have a little chat.”

Sure. I’ll sit here in my underwear in the middle of your office, and we’ll chat.

Hanron lifted a syringe out of the case.

“What the fuck is that?” I tried to stand, but my hands were still cuffed, and the MP was behind me, fingers digging into my shoulders, pushing me down again. Then Hanron was right in front of me, and the sudden sharp stab of the needle brought tears to my eyes. “What…what is that?”

Hanron put the syringe back in the case. “Don’t panic, Garrett. It won’t hurt you.”

I twisted my neck to stare at the blood welling from the tiny wound.

“Brady? What happened?”

I tried to keep a lid on my panic.
“Hanron injected me with something.”

I listened for his answer, but nothing came.

The MP moved back at last.

Major Hanron was watching me intently. He perched on the edge of his desk like a smarmy schoolteacher about to address the class. “I’ve read your file, Garrett.” His thin mouth turned up in a humorless smile. “Interesting things, files. You have to learn how to read them. Sometimes it’s not what’s in them that tells the story, but what isn’t.”

I stared at him.

He picked up his notes and flicked through them. “A month after you arrived on Defender Three, you were put on a course of antibiotics, but there’s no mention of the reason. Hold on. You were training to be a medic, weren’t you? Can you tell me what’s so special about…” He squinted. “Benfacil.”

I shook my head, my stomach twisting.

“Oh, surely you can, Garrett.” He folded his arms over his chest. “Shall I tell you? It’s not just an antibiotic, is it? It’s also a postexposure prophylactic.”

I drew a deep breath and held it until my heart stopped racing. Met his gaze and nodded.

I wasn’t ashamed of what had happened. At least, I tried not to be. I’d been sixteen, and Wade had been bigger than me and stronger than me, so I knew it wasn’t my fault, but logic’s got no voice when it comes to shame, does it? But if Hanron thought he’d break me using that, he was wrong.

“What do you want, sir? A big congratulations for reading between the lines of my medical records?”

He regarded me quietly for a moment, and then shook his head. “Well. Something you and Rushton have in common, I suppose.”

A sour taste flooded my mouth. I bristled. Rolled my shoulders again in a futile attempt to loosen them and stared at the floor. I tried not to think about what drug was swimming in my blood, and what it was going to do to me.

“You’re a troublemaker, Garrett,” Hanron said, tapping his fingers on my closed file. “Just some reffo brat from Kopa who thinks the world owes him a living.”

Seriously? World’s worst fucking psychologist here, if that was what he thought my problem was. I narrowed my eyes.

“He’s just trying to get a reaction,”
Cam told me.

“I
know
that.”

Hanron stood up and stretched. Walked around behind me, and I twisted my neck to watch him. He slid one hand into his pocket and winked at me. Put his other hand on my shoulder. I did my best not to flinch away.

“Well, it doesn’t matter where you’re from,” Hanron said. “What matters is where you’re going. Or not.”

“What do you mean, sir?”

He leaned closer and dug his fingers in. “I mean, Garrett, that Rushton is
useful
. He looks good in uniform and smiles for the cameras. He knows how to behave, here and in public. He’s not some snarling, feral piece of shit like you.”

Okay. Yeah.

His breath was hot on the back of my neck. “You, Garrett, are a fluke. Rushton picked you up like a parasite. You’re not important. You think, whatever happens from here, that anyone gives a fuck about you? You want to spend the next ten years in a cage underground? Or the next
twenty
?”

The blood hummed in my skull. He couldn’t do that. Surely he couldn’t. Except what if he could? What if this fucking asshole actually could keep me locked up underground for years?

“You think you’ve got any leverage here? Do you think you can outsmart the tests?” He shifted his hand. Curled it around my neck. “Can he hear me, now?”

“We’re not linked,” I lied, my heart racing a little.

“You’re okay,”
Cam told me.
“You’re okay.”

Except I was starting to feel like I really wasn’t. Hanron swiped his thumb up the back of my neck. I jerked forward, out of his grasp. My skin crawled. “Why the
fuck
are you touching me like that?”

“He’s trying to get a reaction out of you, Brady.”

“Is that all? Because it feels like he’s trying to get his dick up my ass!”

“I wonder how long you’d last in solitary, Garrett. Of course, you’d never be really alone, would you? Not with Rushton in your head.” Hanron let go and moved around in front of me. “He
is
in your head, isn’t he?”

“No, sir.” I didn’t like the way my voice rasped. I felt a little dizzy now, and I didn’t know if it was the drug or my fear.

“Liar.” His mouth turned up in a thin, sharp smile.

I glared at him.
Prove it.

“The Faceless are coming again.” His smile vanished. His face was drawn. He looked tired, suddenly. More than that, he looked afraid. “Years, Garrett. I could keep you down there for years. You wouldn’t see Rushton again. Wouldn’t see your sister again. You’d be alone down there, in the dark. Does the thought of that scare you?”

Yes, Fuck, yes.

His voice softened. “It’d scare me too.”

I swallowed. “Why…why are you threatening me? Sir.”

“I’m not threatening you, Garrett.” His smile was back, but it wasn’t as sharp at the edges anymore. “I just want an assurance that you won’t lie to me.”

“I won’t, sir,” I said. “I haven’t!”

But we both knew that was total bullshit.

Hanron tapped the spot on my arm where he’d shoved the needle. “Sodium amytal.”

It took a little while for me to place it. “Are you kidding me? A fucking truth serum?”

Hanron laughed softly. “Not a truth serum. Just something that helps lower resistance. And you, Garrett, are nothing but resistance.”

“You want to hear some truth? You’re a fucking asshole.”

“I’m not the one keeping secrets about the Faceless.”

“I don’t know anything!”

Hanron checked his watch. “You had a nightmare last night, didn’t you?”

“Yeah.” The truth slipped out, but that didn’t have to mean the drug was responsible. What was the harm in telling Hanron that the truth about last night? Nightmares were nothing worth hiding.

“So did Rushton.”

“Yeah.”

“What happened, Brady?”

I shifted in my seat. My limbs felt a little heavier than they should. I didn’t like that he called me by my first name instead of my surname. Hanron wasn’t my friend. Hanron was an asshole. But it suddenly seemed like too much effort to fight him. “Was on the ship.”

“The Faceless ship?”

“Yeah. Always go back there.”

“What happens there?”

“Cam is there. And Lucy. It’s real bad. I don’t like it there. Kai-Ren says my name.”

“Are you still connected to the Faceless?” Hanron’s voice was soft, but his eyes didn’t match it. They were too sharp for that, too keen.

“I don’t know. I don’t understand any of it.” A wave of dizziness caught me, and I swayed in my chair. I felt drunk. Hadn’t been drunk in so long. “What’d you…what’d you do?”