“Out of uniform. And out of place.” Captain Weston gripped my arm.
“Sir,” Ry said. Shattered glass crunched under her boots as she rushed to my side. We stood together surrounded by broken chairs and tables.
“Stay out of this, Lieutenant.” He tightened his hold on me. “Take a look outside, first-year.” Captain Weston pointed at the wide window behind him where the sunrays sparkled over the water near the docks. “You’re going to spend the remainder of your tour in solitary. I hope it was worth it.”
I kept my gaze forward, biting my tongue to keep from telling him the truth. Of course this entire night had been worth it. Tek and Ari showed me there was life outside of immortality. Being mortal didn’t make me weak. I didn’t have to be afraid of everything like Ry and Wela wanted me to be.
“Where were you from midnight until oh-six-hundred? Who helped you escape?”
Escape? I shot him a glance, then focused straight ahead. “Sir, after we downloaded, I came to this bar. Then borrowed a ship from the marina and sailed to the middle of the bay. I stayed there until sunrise, sir.”
“How did you get from the fields to here?” His breath brushed my cheek, and a cold spasm gripped my spine.
Why the interrogation tactics? Leaving the orbiter without authorization wasn’t exactly a crime of the highest order. “I never made it to the fields, sir.”
“Don’t lie. Who did you meet there? How did you get back after you set off the explosives?”
My throat swelled up and made it hard to breath. “I never made it to the fields, sir,” I repeated with as much conviction as I could.
“Who was with you?”
Tears brimmed my eyes as gory images of Tek covered in blood flipped through my mind. I opened my mouth to say no one, but in my mind a commando picked up Tek off the ground and dragged him toward the flames. This wasn’t real. Captain Weston was using influence to put fear in me. He knew my brain would fill in the rest.
I fought the urge to say Tek’s name. If Captain Weston found out Tek helped me, he might go after him and Ari. I couldn’t do that to him. The flitting thoughts continued as Tek was shoved forward into the fire. The screams felt like someone had punched a hole through me.
“Answer now.”
Tek’s scream intensified. As if I were in a waking nightmare, I saw blood everywhere, I saw him dying. I saw him taking my hand in the storage room right before we took off together.
“Tek Dar. He’s a local.” I squeezed my eyes shut to ease the burn from my unshed tears.
“Is he the one who set the explosives?” The cries of burn victims played in my mind, so vivid and real I could smell the burned flesh. Had that happened?
“I don’t know, sir. He didn’t say.” I focused all my strength on that one truth. Tek never told me he had been involved with the fire. He never said it. I repeated the words over and over in my head.
Please make it stop.
“Eli, please. Let her go. She had nothing to do with the fire. Why would you even think that?” Ry laced her arm through mine, her irises glinted with the usual luminescent purple. “I’m sorry, Catita.” Her words felt as if someone had poured cool water over my sweaty body.
“How could I think that?” Captain Weston turned his deadly glare toward Ry. “She’s inexperienced. She doesn’t know how the townspeople operate. Anyone could have talked her into doing them a favor, carrying something for them, relaying a message. Use your head, Ry. Don’t let your relationship to her cloud your instincts.”
I stood very still. If Captain Weston asked me about our small mission to save Ari, I wouldn’t be able to bend the truth. No doubt the QEC would find a way to link Ari’s fishing trip to the incident out on the fields. Her entire family would be implicated.
“We’ll continue this conversation back on the Epoch,” Captain Weston said.
In the same breath, the tight hold on my spine released, as if a heavy weight had been lifted. I clung to Ry’s arm, welcoming the serenity she offered. I tasted salty ocean water and saw myself swimming next to Tek. Just as we’d done when we jumped into the water to go help Ari. I held on to that memory until my body relaxed and the pain from Captain Weston’s interrogation subsided.
“This was my idea. I talked her into coming down with me. I thought the experience might help with her training. When the explosion out in the fields happened, I sent her to this bar to stay out of trouble.” Ry met the captain’s gaze, not at all affected by the anger in his eyes.
After several seconds, her features soften, and she released a breath. Captain Weston shot a glance toward the window before he stepped toward Ry. “Do you realize what this looks like for her, you, and your entire family?”
“This isn’t the first time a cadet leaves the orbiter to have a drink at the local bar.” She raised an eyebrow at him. “It doesn’t mean anything.”
“The sneaking out alone doesn’t. But the timing is questionable. Don’t you think?”
“What? You’re seriously thinking my sister had anything to do with the assault? That’s insane.”
“Not really. Put yourself in Lady Sonja’s shoes. The incident at the fields wasn’t something the locals could’ve pulled off on their own. Lady Sonja believes this was an inside job. What do you think is gonna happen when she finds out you brought your sister here without authorization?” He raked a hand through his hair. “Of all the first-years, Ry, you bring her? She can’t be trusted. She shouldn’t even be here.”
I gritted my teeth. Captain Weston didn’t mean here as in Earth. He meant here, as in alive. I couldn’t be trusted because I was never supposed to have been
