When he joined Velda, he heard the thumps and the high whine of laz fire, and moved in front of her, facing the door.
She made a sound behind him. “You keep doing that. It’s my turn.”
He looked over at her, frowning.
“My turn. Come on.” She made a come here gesture with her fingers. “I get to stand in front, protecting you this time.”
“Velda.” He shook his head, amused despite the situation.
“Fine. We’ll share.” She nudged him over, standing shoulder to shoulder with him.
Heavy footsteps sounded from the passageway outside, but they didn’t stop, and eventually they both sat down, eyes still on the door, until at least a half hour had passed.
Things had quietened down by then, which Ethan found ominous. Whatever had happened, someone had won. He resented the Caruso for making him hope it was the Cores, rather than them.
The footsteps came back, more than one set, and the door opened.
It was disappointing, but not surprising, to be faced with two Caruson soldiers, both pointing their massive laz weapons at them. They each had a long bladed weapon strapped to their back, as well.
Neither one of them had moved, they were still seated, one on each bench, and one of the soldiers shouted to someone down the passage.
A third Caruson arrived, but his weapon was slung over his back, and it was the blade that was in his hand. “Get up.” He gestured with his hand. “Who’re you?”
His standard Verdant String was stilted, but Ethan was just vastly relieved to have someone who could communicate.
They both rose to their feet.
“Velda and Ethan,” Velda said, indicating between them.
“Why’re you here?”
Ethan guessed he wanted to know why they were prisoners.
“We were hiking in the mountains, and we came across their illegal mine,” he said. “So they took us prisoner.”
The Caruson pulled a screen out of a bag Ethan had only just noticed was hanging at his side, and studied it. He made a sound, and lifted his gaze. “Why didn’t they kill you? You take up space.”
“They needed someone to experiment on.” Velda lifted her shoulders.
Again, the soldier grunted, and Ethan bet he had already asked these questions of someone—Brink, the captain, even Ritter—and already had the answers.
“Show me.” The soldier stood back, and Ethan walked out first, then waited for Velda. They were each assigned their own personal guard.
“It’s in the med bay,” Velda said.
The Caruson shot her a look, then led the way.
Ethan saw two Cores crew dead in rooms off the passage as they walked past.
They reached the med bay, and found it empty, even though Ethan was sure there would be injured crew after a violent takeover.
“There’re no injuries?” Velda asked, as surprised at the lack of patients as he was.
“Injuries are inconvenient,” the soldier said, and Ethan felt a chill in his gut.
Was he saying they’d killed everyone who was injured, to limit the inconvenience?
Shit.
