but he was too strong.
“Yes, I’m a liar, Char. I have to be. The truth is Sky and the others can never come out of the vault. She doesn’t know it. I let her think plans are being made to bring them up. It’s a kindness, Char.”
“Oh, my god.” He was a monster, and he didn’t even know it. “Why did you bring me up here?”
“You’re the closest thing to Sky I’ll ever have. Beautiful, intelligent. Naïve, but that can work to one’s advantage. Chemical-free. You have many good qualities, Char. The rabble will love you. And a man in my position needs an official wife.”
A monster, and insane. “I don’t love you.”
He laughed as if she’d uttered a non sequitur. “I really wish you hadn’t heard any of this.”
“What, that you’re going to be ruler of the world? And you were so broken-hearted over your Emperor. For all I know, you worked with the DOGs to engineer the whole thing.”
Mighty Asherah , she had stumbled onto the truth. She saw it on his face.
“He was useless. And more corrupt than all the CEOs combined. Even your precious Jake couldn’t stand him.”
In the next instant she watched him consider what to do. He looked at her strangely and reached for her throat. He would kill her. She’d become collateral damage, like Tyler and everyone else at the airport. Like the tens of millions who died in the first nuclear strikes and the billions killed after that.
Like Sky. He had sent her into the vault knowing she was being buried alive.
And he was going to be the leader of the world.
Above his head the Mind the Gap sign jumped out at her. He was standing at the edge of the galley lift.
“Shíb dài!” She ducked and shot her foot across his kneecap. He yelped and grabbed his leg. With a surge of adrenaline, she shoved him onto the lift so hard his head hit the wall. She slammed the door shut and enabled the airlock.
Her heart pounded so hard she thought she was going to die. She knew exactly what she was doing.
Mike looked stunned as the seal took hold. His eyes grew wide, and he pounded on the door. She set the platform to descend.
The rage on his face turned to terror as he realized he was a dead man. She couldn’t hear him, but she could read his lips. Don’t do this! His eyes went dull and a look of cold hatred swept over him. Then a smirk. Mike punched the cargo bay button in the split second before he disappeared.
Jake.
Now she understood the smirk. Mike knew Jake was in the cargo bay. In his final act, Mike meant to once again rob her of someone she loved.
Asherah help me! She frantically retracted the galley lift. Please, please, let Jake not be in the cargo bay.
It took less than thirty seconds. She opened door and pounded the button. It felt like everything she did was in slow motion. She couldn’t see anything out the cockpit window.
She tore through the passenger cabin and raced down to the cargo bay.
“Jake!” She screamed into the emptiness. Even the orbit runner had been lost. The cargo bin where the medical supplies had been stowed was wide open and empty.
What had she done?
Space Junk
The journey back to the dining room was like stumbling through a waking nightmare. Char was battered by conflicting emotions. Jake was dead. Mike was gone—no loss. Sky was alive.
The drive with the subnet had gone out the airlock with Mike, but that didn’t matter. Sky was alive. Even if Char couldn’t talk to her right away, the team could come up. There was no reason to hide now. The worst monster was gone.
In the dining room, Durga was still on the floor beside Rani, and the matriarch was trying to comfort the other girls. How was Char going to tell them what she’d done?
Durga’s eyes were nearly as red as her hair. She met Char a few steps inside the door and whispered, “I think Rani is dead.”
Char wanted to scream. What was the point of all this? Why had Asherah come to them if everyone was just going to die?
There was another problem, a
“Yes, I’m a liar, Char. I have to be. The truth is Sky and the others can never come out of the vault. She doesn’t know it. I let her think plans are being made to bring them up. It’s a kindness, Char.”
“Oh, my god.” He was a monster, and he didn’t even know it. “Why did you bring me up here?”
“You’re the closest thing to Sky I’ll ever have. Beautiful, intelligent. Naïve, but that can work to one’s advantage. Chemical-free. You have many good qualities, Char. The rabble will love you. And a man in my position needs an official wife.”
A monster, and insane. “I don’t love you.”
He laughed as if she’d uttered a non sequitur. “I really wish you hadn’t heard any of this.”
“What, that you’re going to be ruler of the world? And you were so broken-hearted over your Emperor. For all I know, you worked with the DOGs to engineer the whole thing.”
Mighty Asherah , she had stumbled onto the truth. She saw it on his face.
“He was useless. And more corrupt than all the CEOs combined. Even your precious Jake couldn’t stand him.”
In the next instant she watched him consider what to do. He looked at her strangely and reached for her throat. He would kill her. She’d become collateral damage, like Tyler and everyone else at the airport. Like the tens of millions who died in the first nuclear strikes and the billions killed after that.
Like Sky. He had sent her into the vault knowing she was being buried alive.
And he was going to be the leader of the world.
Above his head the Mind the Gap sign jumped out at her. He was standing at the edge of the galley lift.
“Shíb dài!” She ducked and shot her foot across his kneecap. He yelped and grabbed his leg. With a surge of adrenaline, she shoved him onto the lift so hard his head hit the wall. She slammed the door shut and enabled the airlock.
Her heart pounded so hard she thought she was going to die. She knew exactly what she was doing.
Mike looked stunned as the seal took hold. His eyes grew wide, and he pounded on the door. She set the platform to descend.
The rage on his face turned to terror as he realized he was a dead man. She couldn’t hear him, but she could read his lips. Don’t do this! His eyes went dull and a look of cold hatred swept over him. Then a smirk. Mike punched the cargo bay button in the split second before he disappeared.
Jake.
Now she understood the smirk. Mike knew Jake was in the cargo bay. In his final act, Mike meant to once again rob her of someone she loved.
Asherah help me! She frantically retracted the galley lift. Please, please, let Jake not be in the cargo bay.
It took less than thirty seconds. She opened door and pounded the button. It felt like everything she did was in slow motion. She couldn’t see anything out the cockpit window.
She tore through the passenger cabin and raced down to the cargo bay.
“Jake!” She screamed into the emptiness. Even the orbit runner had been lost. The cargo bin where the medical supplies had been stowed was wide open and empty.
What had she done?
Space Junk
The journey back to the dining room was like stumbling through a waking nightmare. Char was battered by conflicting emotions. Jake was dead. Mike was gone—no loss. Sky was alive.
The drive with the subnet had gone out the airlock with Mike, but that didn’t matter. Sky was alive. Even if Char couldn’t talk to her right away, the team could come up. There was no reason to hide now. The worst monster was gone.
In the dining room, Durga was still on the floor beside Rani, and the matriarch was trying to comfort the other girls. How was Char going to tell them what she’d done?
Durga’s eyes were nearly as red as her hair. She met Char a few steps inside the door and whispered, “I think Rani is dead.”
Char wanted to scream. What was the point of all this? Why had Asherah come to them if everyone was just going to die?
There was another problem, a
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