And maybe the young man did, too.
It didn't matter; the Vindicator coasted through space, dead as an asteroid with its engines disabled, while the Last Stand's three-burst laser array and pinpoint accuracy, high rate of fire single-burst array both pounded into its tail section. Even though it was an enemy vessel, Aiden still couldn't help but wince at the damage it was taking.
Or more accurately, had taken; there was blinding flash as the Deek cruiser's reactor took a direct hit, and with shocking speed the resultant explosion blew the ship to scrap.
Unfortunately, Aiden barely had time to celebrate the win before another warning blared on his display. “Hull breach in the shields room,” Barix reported sourly.
How? He hadn't seen an incoming shot headed anywhere near that part of the ship. “One last gift from the Vindicator?” he asked.
The gunner shook his head grimly. “It came from inside. Small arms fire. Only . . . the intruders are still out in the corridors battling the Fixes.”
Aiden frantically looked over sensor readouts from the shields room. Lana was stationary in the room, life signs stable, while Ali's sensor reading had disappeared entirely. “Ali?” he demanded frantically.
“Here, my love,” the Caretaker replied.
Relief swept through him, and he nearly gave himself whiplash yanking his head to one side to activate a private channel with her. “Are you okay? Where are you?”
“In space, waiting for retrieval. I'm afraid I'll be of little further use this battle. Please do not hesitate to abandon me if necessary.”
“The void I wi-” Aiden started angrily. He was cut off as the ship shuddered again, and on his display the icon for the disabled shields went red as they were destroyed, apparently by more small arms fire.
Ali spoke, tone urgent. “My love, Lana betrayed us. She has a cauterizer and used it to cause a hull breach and facilitate my evacuation into space. I believe it's safe to surmise she sabotaged the shields in the first place.”
Aiden stared at nothing, feeling like he'd been punched in the gut.
Off to one side the gunner swore bitterly. “I don't believe you!” he snapped. “Why would she do that? More likely you're the traitor, Caretaker!”
“Likely or not, Lana betrayed us,” Ali responded with cool finality. “Behavioral indicators suggest she is a Dormant.”
It was Barix's turn to swear in disbelief. “Unreclaimed waste, she is! Even if she had been brainwashed, how could she still be through a mind wipe?”
“Unknown. Perhaps layers of brainwashing in a way we have not previously seen.”
“It's not possible,” the gunner insisted heatedly. “I've had intense training in spotting the signifying indicators of Dormants encoded into my DNA. She couldn't have fooled me. She didn't. You must be wrong.”
“I'm aware it must be painful for you,” Ali said, voice gentle in spite of the urgency of the situation, “but you of all people should be able to put emotion aside and see the truth of the matter.”
A sudden thought chilled Aiden. “What about Belix? What did Lana do to her?” The thought of harm coming to the elfin woman troubled him more than he'd expected. A surprising amount, considering the animosity between them.
“She was merely unconscious when I checked her, and I dragged her out into the corridor before the Dormant betrayed us. I can't speak to her status now, however.” The Caretaker made an impatient noise. “We're wasting time we don't have talking, my love . . . if Lana is a Dormant assigned to sabotage the Last Stand, she will not stop with the shields. She must be stopped, and I'm not available to do so.”
“Um, guys?” Barix said, face pale. “Good news and bad news. Good news is our last two Fixes just finished off the enemy boarders. Bad news is a very cute little murderous sleeper agent is headed for the bridge.”
Chapter Sixteen
Ruin
With a soft hiss and rattle, armored plating rose up around the bridge's workstations. A last resort defense against intruders.
Although as Aiden ducked behind the protective barrier, gripping his trusty cauterizer in one hand, he very much hoped they wouldn't be needed.
“Lock down the ship!” he snapped at Barix, who was cowering behind his own plating. “Get the Fixes back here to defend us.”
It seemed absurd to think of going to all this trouble, just to defend against an innocent strawberry blond girl who'd never shown the slightest sign she could hurt a fly, let alone would. And yet Dormants didn't have such a terrifying reputation for just the shock of being betrayed by a trusted loved one, although they were certainly reviled for that.
The Ishivi cursed. “Lockdown procedures aren't working. She's got an open path right to us, and there's nothing I can do to stop her!”
Aiden whipped his head around to stare at the man. “She hacked our computers?”
“There's no sign of it,” Barix snapped. “And no way she could've, with Ali watching our systems like a hawk. She must've directly hardwired these systems at some point, planned this in advance.”
“That explains where she disappeared to all those nights,” the gunner said grimly.
And the man had never bothered to mention such suspicious behavior? Aiden glanced over at his weapons officer, who was situated behind his own protective barrier with his cauterizer in one hand and his KFM in the other. But in spite of being poised for action, the gunner looked, well . . . he looked like a complete wreck. There was almost no sign of his usual blank stoicism, the professionalism that was almost his trademark.
To be fair, he looked like a lovesick boy who'd just discovered his girlfriend was a traitor.
That wasn't what Aiden needed at the moment. “Focus!” he growled, eyes on his display. The space around the ship was clear, thankfully, with just the disintegrated remains of the Vindicator drifting away in all directions. No debris that presented an immediate threat to the Last Stand; that would've been all he needed at the moment.
More importantly, the readout of the
