That was why none of the previous captains of the Hive had gone down there to start over belowground. It was suicide.
In her final years, Captain Ash had gone from single-minded determination to delusion. Jordan had not only decided to contravene her orders; he had decided to keep them a secret.
But he could keep them secret for only so long before curious people such as Janet Gardner started to ask questions. He could feel his control of the ship slipping away, like water dripping from a clenched fist.
A rap sounded on the hatchway. He hurriedly shut off his computer and straightened his uniform.
“Come in,” he said.
Katrina walked in. She had that look again, the one that told him he would be sleeping on the floor tonight.
“Have you heard from the divers yet?” he asked.
Avoiding his gaze, she took a seat in front of his desk. He shut off his monitor and turned to face her.
“What?” Jordan asked, anxious. Whatever she had to say, it wasn’t about the mission on the surface. She wiped her eyes and sniffed. Had she been crying? That wasn’t like her, either. Katrina was a strong woman who rarely displayed emotion. It was one of the things he admired most about her. But he had seen her cry twice in one day now.
He got up and walked over to kneel in front of her. He put a hand on her calf and said quietly, “What’s wrong?”
She put her hand on her stomach. “The baby. I think…”
Jordan sprang up. “What? Is there something wrong? Are you not feeling well? Have you been to Dr. Free?”
Her sharp eyes met his. He couldn’t read them.
“Katrina, what aren’t you telling me?”
She glanced down at her stomach as tears streamed from her eyes.
“I’m not sure I want to have this child,” she choked out. “I’m not sure I want to bring it into this doomed world.”
Magnolia and Weaver followed the trail at a fast clip. Andrew had lost a lot of blood already, but he was strong—probably the strongest, toughest man on the Hive.
He was still alive; she could feel it. But he needed their help.
Flashbacks from the massacre of her team back in Hades surfaced in her mind. Those images had haunted her for a decade, and she was damned if she would let the creatures do the same to Andrew.
What a crazy-ass day, she mused as her flashlight beam swept over Weaver’s back. His armored shoulders were covered in dust and the plant goo that she had accidentally smeared on him. She hoped the shit wasn’t toxic, but down here, anything was possible.
He hugged the shadows, back hunched, scope at eye level, sweeping the darkness for contacts. Magnolia had never mastered the combat skills of divers such as Weaver, but she made up for it in speed and stealth.
“Hey, Mags,” Rodger said. He was walking beside her with his rifle cradled, looking almost relaxed.
“What?” she snapped.
He leaned over, his arm brushing hers. “Most everyone up there pegged you for dead, but I knew you weren’t. That’s why I insisted on coming. I figured you needed my help.”
She snorted. “I’m very much not dead. Not for lack of effort, though. Somebody up there must be feeling pretty disappointed right now.”
“What? Why would anyone want you to die?”
Before she could explain, Weaver raised a fist as they neared the first junction. They all halted.
“Shut the hell up, you two,” he said.
Magnolia thought about blaming the conversation on Rodger, but she kept silent. She still hadn’t had the opportunity to tell Weaver about her sabotaged chute, and this wasn’t the time for that conversation, either. She wasn’t even sure she should tell Weaver. What if he had been in on it?
He saved your life back there. You can trust him.
She shook off the paranoia and swept her rifle over the hallway while Weaver raised his wrist computer. A screech sounded from deep inside the facility, echoing down the narrow passages, its source impossible to determine.
“This place is immense,” Weaver said. He tapped his monitor. “I don’t even understand what I’m looking at. The tunnels look like a network of veins, but I can’t find an access point for the actual facility.”
He moved the monitor from side to side and cursed. “We’re never going to find Pipe unless we split up.”
Rodger nodded. “Good call, Commander. That will give me a chance to complete my other mission.”
Weaver tilted his helmet ever so slightly. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
Rodger pulled something out of his vest and trained his flashlight on the square of plastic bearing the ITC logo.
“The only way Captain Jordan would agree to let me come look for Magnolia was if I did something for him on the surface. He wants me to find a cryogenics chamber. He gave me this card and said it would access the room.”
“I got that,” Weaver said. “But why? What the hell are you supposed to do there?”
Rodger shrugged. “He said to locate it and go inside, and that’s it.”
Weaver exchanged a glance with Magnolia. She didn’t know a lot about cryogenics, only what she had discovered in the archives, but she knew enough to form a theory about the “survivors” they were looking for.
“Maybe the people who sought refuge here after the war froze themselves,” she said. “Maybe they’re still sleeping down here, waiting for the radiation to fade and the skies to clear.”
Weaver let out a huff that crackled over the comm channel. “You’re both crazy, you know that?”
Another nonhuman screech rang out, followed by a human scream that pierced Magnolia’s heart. Weaver walked to the junction and looked left and right. He returned with a coin in his palm.
“Heads for right and tails for left,” he said. “You call it, Magnolia.”
She stared back incredulously. “Really? You flip a coin to make up your mind?”
“Superstition. Now, call it. We’re running out of time.”
Weaver flipped the coin, and Magnolia watched it spin upward in the air.
“Heads,” she said.
He caught it in his palm. “Heads it is. You and Rodger take a right. I’ll follow the trail left and keep searching for Pipe. Stay on the comms and report anything you find. But like I said, I doubt we’ll find anyone down here, frozen or otherwise. Our best hope is to get Pipe out alive and maybe locate some fuel cells or other supplies.”
“Aye, aye, Commander,” Rodger said, throwing a lazy salute.
Magnolia wanted to insist on going with Weaver, but she wouldn’t complain about getting stuck with Rodger on a wild-goose chase. Nope, she nodded like a good girl and patted Weaver on the back.
“Thanks again,” she said. “You saved me. I won’t forget that.”
Weaver nodded slightly and brought his wrist monitor back up. “We rally outside in three hours, with or without Pipe. Understood?”
Magnolia and Rodger both nodded. She wondered what was going through Rodger’s mind, but decided she didn’t want to know. He’d been giving her a weird vibe lately, and she wasn’t sure how to respond. Usually, when a guy was interested in her, he would buy her a mug of shine and then invite her back to his quarters for a little fun. Rodger was different, and she didn’t know how to behave around him.
Get it together, she told herself. You’re on a mission, not a date.
“Good.” Weaver lowered his monitor and nestled the butt of his rifle against his shoulder. He strode toward the junction, then stopped just as he was about to round the corner. He looked back at Magnolia.
“You’re welcome about saving your ass, princess, but I still ain’t giving you two hundred credits when we get back to the ship. Now, move out!”