32
Darren
Darren’s mind raced, turninginto a mess as Aiden dragged him through the hordes of people crowding Reikhei’s central section.
Marcus was here. Now. So close.
Darren shuddered, replaying that single heartbeat in which their eyes had met. The icy blue had paralyzed him, the resentment and loathing in it so profound, so deep, it had coiled around him like a snake, squeezing and squishing and suffocating him until he’d felt about to pass out.
But he hadn’t. Because Aiden had saved him, dragging him through the confused onlookers and away from the enemy.
Darren inhaled sharply. He was both scared shitless of Marcus, and reeling, wanting to hurt him. To end the man and end this. He was reliving the torture and his first days in prison, the chase, Claudia’s confrontation, the night his family had been murdered. It all mixed together and he couldn’t tell what was what anymore. His body vibrated, his ears hissed.
Should he go back or should he run?Could he even fight?Was there any point in running?
He wanted to do both and neither at the same time.
“Darren, you’re fine! Stay with me!” Aiden screamed, squeezing Darren’s wrist.
That knocked Darren back to the present, pulling him out of his thoughts. He couldn’t lose it now. Marcus was here. It didn’t matter how, not right now. They needed to get off the station or they were all dead.
Alarms went off all around Darren, blaring and painting the surroundings in red.
[Attention. Emergency lockdown initiated. Please remain in your quarters or head to the assembly points.]
“No, no, no, no. Guys, where are you? You need to get here right now! They are grounding all ships!”Nyle spoke in Darren’s earpiece, his voice agitated and shaky.
“We are five minutes away!” Kristen said, crashing into George as the older man abruptly stopped after rounding the corner. “Fuck! The doors to Arrivals are down!”
“Bea! They’ve been cut off!”
“Fuck!”Bea groaned.“By the time they bypass that, this place will be swarming with guards. I need to get the Maine out of here!”
Commotion behind them as the door started closing had them scrambling back so they wouldn’t get trapped in this section of corridors. They slipped back into the entertainment zone, using the panicking crowd for cover.
[Attention. Please head to the closest assembly point. All personnel must present a valid station ID. If you don’t have an ID, you will be detained until your credentials are checked.]
Holographic billboards with the station layout flashed to life, outlining the routes to the closest assembly point.
“Guys, there is an emergency airlock on the other side of the entertainment zone. Just past the green park, in one of the maintenance tunnels. I’m pingingyou the route,”Bea said, her voice clear in Darren’s ear even with the noise and screams around him.
He was still holding Aiden’s hand, clasping it as hard as he could because it felt like he’d collapse the moment he let go.
“Bea, the tunnel entrance is right by one of the checkpoints!” Kristen said, panting as he slowed down to a jog.
He stopped by a lamppost and so did George, the two of them waiting for Darren and Aiden to catch up.
“I think they have jammers,” Kristen said, his eyes darting left and right as people ran past them. “Bea’s not answering.”
Darren tried to contact her or Nyle, but got only static. “We need to make it to that airlock.”
“We’ll need to get past the checkpoint first,” Aiden said, scrunching his eyebrows. “Marcus probably already has people there.”
Darren ground his teeth. They had no choice. If they wanted to get off the station, the airlock was their only chance. “George, are there any other routes that can get us to those maintenance tunnels?”
“I’m afraid not on this level.”
The crowd started to thin, making it easier for anyone looking for them to spot where they were. Darren scanned the surroundings, his eyes zeroing in on the ramp along the deck overlooking the lower levels of the station. Marcus and his armed bodyguards were standing there, flicking through the surveillance feeds via the control terminal.
