She watched the men around her but could see the light of Gunner’s eyes flaring brighter in her periphery. “Some of the crew will join us when we arrive. There’s unrest above and I’m sure those who were in the brig prior to being recruited will join us. Like Chesnik here.” Gunner nodded his head at him, eyes ablaze, singling her dad out. “There’s no loyalty owed to a captain who shuts himself away behind walls to let his crew fend for themselves, especially when they’re dying. We’re not outnumbered.”
“The androids? What about them?”
“Will be ours once I get near them.”
“And we’re supposed to trust that you can do that?”
“What choice do you have?” Gunner shoved the sleeve down and the map disappeared. “I commanded during the war against far worse odds than this. Feel free to join the cowards that refused to leave the brig. I won’t stop you, but I have a stake in keeping you alive. So you can choose to join me, or you can choose to leave. I don’t give a fuck whether or not you want my protection but you’ll have it if you follow my orders.”
A thunderous noise filled her ears as Gunner’s fist hit the wall. The men startled back around her from the violent impact. Gunner’s expression was wild and pissed. It was frightening in its intensity, even more so as the red glow died back into the grey.
He made a slow show of pulling his hand away from the indent his violence had created, popping his metal joints, and jerking fingers that and been wrenched at odd angles back into place. Some of the metal inside his hand had pierced through his skin. A hush fell over the group. He showed no pain.
Elodie knew a punch like that would’ve drilled right through a person, obliterating every atom in its path. She understood why he did it but she hated that he hurt himself on her account. She wanted to go to him, but something kept her feet rooted to the spot. It wouldn’t help anyone if she went to him now and took his hands in hers.
“I’ll go first and clear our pathway. When the elevator comes back down, that’s your cue to follow. I’ll be waiting for you above. It won’t be long.” Gunner looked at her and no one else. She nodded.
No one else said a word.
He turned away and shoved the crate into the elevator.
And then he was out of sight.
Elodie took a step forward before she could stop herself.
Chapter Twenty
***
THEzingof laser fire sounded right as the door shot open. Gunner plastered his back to the side wall and kicked the crate forward to stop the doors from closing.
He dove down and ducked behind it as more shots blasted his way.
Androids.He scanned the periphery and triangulated the energy signatures. They assaulted him from further down the hallway; the robots had been programmed to fight him off. He channeled his way through the space and counted at least two dozen. There could be more that were still powered off and waiting as reinforcements.
He quickly overpowered those closest to him and scrambled their coding. He searched through their transmitters, rearranged them to connect his own, and took control. Those in his power stopped abruptly, turned around by his will, and shot down the other androids at the end of the hall.
