“Then tell me.”
“There’s too much.” He jerked back as Ponife peered around the comer.
“What is problem?”
“I’m dizzy. The air is too thin up here,” I said, placing my hand on the wall as if to regain my balance.
“It will be thinner in the transport,” Ponife said. “You will get used to it. Unless…”
“Unless I’m not brave? Or do I need to be smart and strong as well?”
“No. Unless we decide to keep you.”
It felt as creepy as it sounded. “Keep me?”
“On this ship. We will need…” He glanced at Bubba Boom. “Workers.”
“You mean like scrubs?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Why did you change your mind?”
Annoyed, he removed the X from a pocket. I had asked one question too many. Encouraged by my conversation with Bubba Boom, I rushed Ponife, hoping to surprise him.
I grabbed his wrist just as he twisted the X. The pain rolled through me. I clung to his hand for a moment longer, before dropping to the floor. Even with the deafening sound of my heart slamming in my chest, Bubba Boom’s boots thumped as he ran past me.
“You’re enjoying this. You’re a sick bastard, Ponife,” Bubba Boom said.
A thud followed a yelp. The pain stopped. Once I recovered, I glanced up. Ponife sprawled on the floor next to me. Bubba Boom crouched over him. He had my X.
We locked gazes. For a second, I thought he’d keep it, but he handed it to me.
“How do I--?”
“I’ll show you later. Put it in a safe place for now,” he said.
I tucked it into my tool belt. “Thanks. How did you knock him out?”
He showed me the used syringe. “The doctor was very helpful with finding a way to free you. I just needed to find the proper motivation. It was a difficult decision.”
“Why did you help me?”
“When I saw how you and Doctor Lamont tried so hard to save their people and treated them not as an enemy, but as a person in need, I knew you were right. They’d planned to sendallof us out to die.”
“Now what?”
“You’re the boss. You tell me.”
“Can we rescue Logan, Anne-Jade, Jacy, and Riley?”
He flinched a bit when I’d said Riley’s name. “Not Jacy. He’s been collared and Fosord holds his key. Anne-Jade isn’t in the brig. She’s been helping us…them. It’ll be dangerous to free the other two. Why do you need them?”
“Logan for his computer expertise and Riley for his knife fighting skills.”
“Knives, huh?”
“All we have besides a few noise makers. Should we look for something else?”
