What would Tek and Ari think if they knew there was a way to kill immortals after all?
Captain Weston’s unit dropped in from the sky in under five minutes. In seconds, a swarm of QEC commandos seized the alley, barking orders and shoving me out of the way. I backed away toward the dumpster and watched as they processed the old man.
When they moved on to handle Ry, Captain Weston ordered them away. He picked her up in his arms and gently placed her in a body bag. With tears brimming his eyes, he fixed her hands over her chest. I knelt next to her and arranged her hair so it would frame her face. She looked so peaceful and beautiful, like a fallen angel.
He rose to his feet and nodded to his men. One of the commandos rammed his shoulder into mine and moved into position to load Ry’s body onto a gurney. With two QEC commandos guarding either side of the wheeled stretcher, they rolled her onto the pod and were gone in a blink.
An odd silence blanketed the alley. I hugged myself, rubbing my cold arms. My entire life had been turned upside down on this very spot. The surrounding buildings, plastered with soot and blue-green algae, loomed over us the same as before. Beyond the pier, boats swayed in the wind as they had earlier. Everything was as if nothing had ever happened.
How did we get here? Just a few hours ago, I’d been sailing on the bay, talking to Ry about boys and worrying about how I would survive three months in solitary. Captain Weston could punish me however he saw fit. I didn’t care, but this? This was too much. Ry didn’t deserve this. She didn’t deserve to die like a common human, a mortal.
I didn’t know how long I’d sat on the curb before Captain Weston tapped my shoulder. “Time to go.”
I nodded and stuck my hand in my pocket to feel Ry’s locket between my fingers. “Wait. The necklace is gone.”
“What?”
I rummaged through the small pocket again and then the others, but came back empty. Someone stole the chip. I turned to Captain Weston. “The locket Ry gave me with a chip in it. It was in my pocket. And now it’s gone.”
His eyes burned a bright purple. “Are you sure?” He took a step deeper into the alley.
“Yes, I’m sure.” I rubbed my temple, trying to remember what I’d done in the last half hour. “I need that chip. She wanted me to have it.”
“Lower your voice.” Captain Weston put up his hands as he glanced left and right. Cursing under his breath, he shrugged out of his jacket and draped it around my shoulders. “Come on. We have to go before someone sees you. We’ll take my pod.”
“She wanted me to have it.”
“I know. We’ll worry about that later. For now, we have to get you out of here.” He placed the silver, elongated bullet casing in my hand.
“Someone on this planet or ours has figured out how to kill immortals,” I said under my breath.
“Don’t ever repeat that again.” He seemed composed, and back in commando mode as he ushered me through the empty alley. “When we get back to the Epoch, you will be placed in solitary. You talk to no one but me. Do you understand?” His tone reminded me that he was still my captain. He’d given me a moment to deal with Ry’s murder, but now it was business as usual.
“Yes, sir. What about Ry’s utility vehicle and—” I swallowed. “—and my comm?”
His jaw clenched as he glanced upward. “This is why first-years are not allowed to download to the planet. My unit already took care of Ry’s car. Where’s your goddamn comm?”
“I left it hidden in someone’s side yard, inside a wooden crate.”
“For fuck’s sake.” He tapped on his wristband, and a hologram map of Wharf District popped up. “I’ll get someone I trust to fetch it. Show me where.”
I tapped on the location and chose not to mention that I had powered off the device. Captain Weston was right to be pissed at me. Asking Ry to bring me along on her mission had been childish and reckless on my part.
By the intense look in his eyes, Captain Weston already had a plan to deal with the aftermath of Ry’s death. The way he hovered near me as we darted back to his pod told me I was part of whatever scheme he had come up with.
9
You Really Are a Full-Time Job
Catita
Captain Weston’s pod was a smaller transport ship meant for only a handful of passengers. I sat next to him while he maneuvered the vessel past the blue sky and white, fluffy clouds. When we broke through, the now familiar black space greeted us.
What would happen to me now? How was I supposed to move on? More and more questions swirled around my head. I didn’t have an answer for any of them. Mainly because I didn’t want to imagine a life without Ry. I wasn’t ready for that.
Captain Weston’s pod though smaller, it was definitely faster than any of the freight ships. The twinkling lights of the Epoch appeared in the distance ten minutes after we broke the Earth’s atmo. As we got closer, Captain Weston bypassed the entrance to the cargo bay and flew us around and over to the top tier.
“Sir?” I shifted my body to face him.
“We have our own private access on tier twenty.” He shot a glance toward me. “As soon as we get in, I’ll walk you over to solitary. You’ll stay there until we decide what to do with you.”
“I didn’t do anything wrong.” Technically, I had left the mothership without permission, but at this point, did that even matter anymore?
“Without Ry to back your story, your little trip to the Old Planet looks bad. For
