Sera's POV
"Run where?" I gasp as Kael pulls me through a side corridor.
"Anywhere but here." His grip on my hand is iron-strong. "They'll lock you in a lab and dissect you piece by piece to understand your integration level."
Boots pound behind us. Voices shout commands in the Aelarian language.
"Stop!" A guard rounds the corner, weapon raised. "Commander Zenthar, step away from the subject!"
Kael doesn't slow down. He fires his weapon backward without looking. The shot is perfect—hitting the wall near the guard, forcing him to dive for cover.
"That's your own soldier!" I yell.
"And he's following orders I disagree with." Kael yanks me around another corner. "Can you run faster? Use your enhanced speed?"
"I don't know how!"
"Figure it out quickly."
More guards ahead. We're trapped between two groups. Kael curses in his language—it sounds harsh and beautiful at the same time.
"There." He points to a ventilation shaft above us. "Can you jump that high?"
I look up. It's at least fifteen feet. "No way—"
"Your legs are enhanced. Trust your body." He lifts his weapon. "I'll hold them off. Go!"
"What about you?"
"I'll follow. JUMP!"
I don't think. Just bend my knees and leap.
My body launches upward like I'm made of springs. I sail past the shaft opening, slam into the ceiling, and crash back down in a heap.
"That was pathetic," Kael mutters, firing at the approaching guards. "Again! This time don't overshoot!"
I try again. This time I control it better, grabbing the edge of the shaft and pulling myself up. My new strength makes it easy—I barely feel the strain.
"Move deeper inside!" Kael orders.
I crawl forward. The shaft is narrow and dark. Behind me, I hear Kael jump—he makes it look effortless, pulling himself up one-handed while still firing at the guards.
He lands beside me in the shaft. "Go. Fast."
We crawl through the ventilation system. My enhanced hearing picks up voices throughout the Academy.
"—Priority One target—"
"—73% integration, extremely dangerous—"
"—Commander Zenthar has gone rogue—"
"—shoot on sight if necessary—"
My chest tightens. "They're going to kill us."
"They're going to try." Kael keeps moving forward. "Take the next left turn."
"How do you know where we're going?"
"I've been stationed here for five years. I know every escape route." He pauses at an intersection in the shafts. "But they know I know them. We need to be unpredictable."
An idea hits me. "My enhancement. Can they track it?"
Kael's silence is answer enough.
"They can, can't they? The metal in my body—it's sending a signal."
"The nano-machines emit a low-frequency pulse for medical monitoring." He won't meet my eyes. "Yes. They can track you anywhere on this station."
"Then we can't escape. They'll always know where I am."
"Unless we disable the tracking." Kael finally looks at me. "But it would require shutting down your enhancement temporarily. The pain would be—"
"Worse than what I just went through?"
"Possibly."
I laugh bitterly. "Then it's just another Tuesday for me. How do we do it?"
Something shifts in Kael's expression. Respect, maybe. "There's an EMP device in the engineering bay. Small enough to target just you. It would fry the tracking systems in your nano-machines without damaging the enhancement itself."
"Where's engineering?"
"Three levels down. Through heavily guarded corridors." He pulls out his tablet, showing me a map. "And we have maybe ten minutes before they seal the entire station."
"Then we'd better hurry."
We drop out of the ventilation shaft into an empty corridor. Alarms still blare. Red lights flash everywhere.
"Stay behind me," Kael orders. "Your combat training is literally zero. If we encounter resistance—"
"I know. Don't be a hero. Got it." I grip my weapon tighter. "But Kael? Why are you doing this? You barely know me. You could lose everything."
He's quiet for a moment as we move through the shadows.
"I had a unit once," he finally says. "Fifty warriors under my command. The best fighters in the Empire. We were deployed to the Outer Colonies during a rebellion." His voice goes hollow. "Command ordered us to trust the local governor. To share our tactical plans with him. I knew something was wrong. Every instinct screamed it was a trap. But orders are orders."
I stay silent, sensing he needs to finish.
"The governor sold us out to the rebels. All fifty of my warriors were slaughtered in an ambush. I only survived because I was away securing supplies." He stops walking, stares at nothing. "I followed orders when I should have trusted my instincts. Fifty good people died because I was too much of a coward to disobey."
"That wasn't your fault—"
"It was entirely my fault." His violet eyes finally meet mine. "I swore I'd never make that mistake again. Never follow orders I know are wrong. And everything in me says locking you up would be wrong."
My throat tightens. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet. We're not out of this." He starts moving again. "If we survive the next hour, you can thank me then."
We reach the engineering bay. The door is locked with a biometric scanner.
Kael presses his hand to it. "Commander Kael Zenthar. Override code Alpha-Seven-Niner."
ACCESS DENIED. SECURITY LOCKDOWN IN EFFECT.
"Of course." Kael examines the door. "They've locked me out of all systems. We need another way—"
"Move." I step forward, placing my glowing hand on the door. "My enhanced strength. Maybe I can—"
"That's reinforced titanium. Even with enhancement, you can't—"
I rip the door off its hinges.
The metal screams as it tears free. I throw it aside like cardboard. My hands are shaking from the effort but I did it.
Kael stares at me. "73% integration," he mutters. "I keep forgetting what that means."
We rush inside. The engineering bay is full of equipment I don't understand. Kael moves quickly, pulling a small device from a cabinet.
"This is it. The EMP generator." He holds up something the size of a phone. "When I activate it, you'll feel your nano-machines shut down temporarily. It will hurt. Your enhancement will restart after a few seconds, but the tracking systems will be fried permanently."
"Do it."
"Sera—"
"I said do it!" I'm shouting now. "Every second we waste, they get closer. Just do it!"
Kael activates the device.
Lightning shoots through my body. Every nerve ending screams. The golden glow in my eyes flickers. I fall to my knees, gasping.
It feels like dying again.
Then the pain fades. The glow returns. I'm still enhanced but I feel different. Lighter somehow.
"It worked," Kael checks his tablet. "Your signal just disappeared from their tracking. They'll think the EMP killed you."
"Good." I force myself to stand. "Now what?"
"Now we get to the escape pods before—"
The door explodes inward.
Not the door I tore off. The OTHER door.
Twenty guards pour in, weapons raised. And leading them is an Aelarian woman in a commander's uniform. She's beautiful in a cruel way, with platinum hair and eyes like blue ice.
"Kael," she says, her voice dripping with false sweetness. "I heard you'd gone soft. But betraying the Empire for a human pet? That's low even for you."
"Commander Lyssa." Kael's voice is pure ice. "Still compensating for your lack of actual combat skill with excessive force, I see."
Her smile is poisonous. "The Council wants the human alive for study. But you? You're expendable. Kill the traitor."
The guards raise their weapons.
Everything happens at once.
Kael fires, taking down three guards before they can react. I dive sideways—my enhanced reflexes are faster now, more controlled. I take down two more with shots that surprise even me.
But there are too many. A blast catches Kael in the shoulder. He spins, falling.
"NO!" I'm moving before I think, putting myself between him and the next shot.
The energy blast hits my chest. It should kill me. Instead, it disperses across my enhanced skin, the metal beneath absorbing most of the impact. It hurts like hell but I'm still standing.
The guards stare in shock.
"What is she?" one whispers.
"She's mine," Commander Lyssa says, her eyes gleaming with greed. "Capture her. NOW!"
They rush forward. I fight like a cornered animal—messy, desperate, but effective. My enhanced strength sends guards flying. My speed keeps me ahead of their attacks.
But I'm untrained. Raw power only goes so far.
One of them gets a restraint collar around my neck. Electricity floods my system. I scream, falling.
"Sera!" Kael tries to reach me, blood streaming from his shoulder wound.
Commander Lyssa kicks him back down. "Stay there, traitor. Watch while I take your pet to the labs." She kneels beside me, gripping my chin. "73% integration. You're going to make me famous when I present you to the Council."
My vision blurs. The collar is draining my strength.
"Leave her alone," Kael gasps. "Lyssa, please. She's just—"
"Just a weapon waiting to be controlled." Lyssa smiles at me. "Don't worry, human. We'll take very good care of you. Cut you open slowly. Learn all your secrets."
My hand twitches. I can still move slightly.
The weapon. I dropped it when they collared me. It's three feet away.
"Take them both to containment," Lyssa orders. "Separate cells. I want—"
I lunge for the weapon. My fingers close around it. I swing it up and fire point-blank into the control panel on the wall.
The entire bay explodes in sparks. Emergency systems activate. The floor beneath us opens—emergency evacuation protocol.
We're all falling into darkness.
Lyssa screams. Guards scramble for handholds.
Kael grabs my hand as we plummet.
"That was insane!" he yells over the rushing air.
"I'm tired of playing defense!" I yell back.
We fall through darkness toward an unknown destination. Above us, Commander Lyssa's furious screams fade away.
Below us, emergency lights reveal an escape pod bay.
And standing in the bay, waiting like he knew we'd come, is my father.
With an entire Resistance strike team behind him.