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So why didn’t she feel assured?
* * *
Tez did take her up on the shower. They got some minuscule water rations for drinking as a perk of the job, but washing was unheard of. Tez had spent her whole life cleaning herself with disinfectant powder. The one and only time she’d been washed with water was when being admitted for Hydra Company training—they wanted to start the recruits off with a literal clean slate and some pesticide agent.
The one-minute lukewarm shower was the greatest luxury Tez had ever experienced, and she would be lying if she didn’t admit to fantasizing about even more of these as she continued to climb the company ranks. The door seemed open to her now, or at least a little ajar.
It took some effort to feel that pit of excitement growing in her chest. She had to coax it out, make it glow. Shewasexcited; it came slower just because she’d resigned herself to the fact that this would never happen.Level III.She’d been jumped two full levels! Technically, she could take a Raptor out for a joyride and nobody would bat an eye.
Well, okay… they’d probably bat, but they’d still have to let her doit.
She tried not to think about him, but with one night left on the station, the question that had been gnawing at her for the past weeks only began chewing her bones with even more urgency.Why?
Was it all fake the whole time? Just a plot to make her cooperate until someone came, to make it easier for him to use her in the end? What about all the stories ofOlympusand of discovering a New Earth together? Of course, they were willful delusions, notplans, but did Stag ever want any of the things he was describing, or was it all a lie?
The more she thought about it, the angrier she grew. He just dumped all this shit on her, all thesefantasies, and then shattered it all in a single instant. At first, she’d resolved to forget him and not care what happened to him. Let him rot in the brig, or wherever they ended up sending him. But now that she was about to leave and start this new path for herself, didn’t she deserve some closure?
It was with those thoughts that Tez found herself trudging down to the brig, where Peron finally had someone to guard.
Peron reclined behind the counter in the entry area, heels kicked up on the edge. Tez resisted snapping at him to get his feet off the counter. There were important people on board, and he had an actual prisoner now. He needed to start taking his job seriously.
“Is he still here?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Peron mumbled through a toothpick between his teeth.
“Can I see him?”
“Why? It ain’t pretty, Tez.”
“Wanna have some words with the jerk. Bit of therapy.” She had no reason to lie. Everyone knew what he’d done to her, how he held her at gunpoint. They all imagined whatelsehe might have done too—she knew they did. Her reasons for wanting “words” with the man were perfectly valid, even if not by the book.
Peron glanced at the door. “All right, man. But they come for him at 22.00, so you got about an hour.”
“Come for him?”
“Yeah… you’ll see. I almost felt bad for the guy, ‘cept then I remember what he did to you down there.”
You don’t know the half of it.
“Grab the prod.” Peron reached down with a grunt and extended a metal stick with a silver end over the counter toward her. “I’ll give you auth to unlock the unit, in case you wanna take out some frustration.”
Tez frowned. The prod? Taking out frustration? All she wanted were some answers. Nevertheless, she took it, feeling the smooth surface slide against her palm. She knew firsthand how dangerous Stag could be, and some self-defense wouldn’t hurt.
The secure door to the brig clicked open, and Tez paused at the entrance, preparing herself for whatever she was about to see.
CHAPTER12
STAG
It had been one day since the last interrogation, and the swelling in his ribs was in full stinging swing. He lay his left side on his bunk—it was the right that was yellow and blue. Beneath the gray sweatpants they’d given him, his legs were covered with electric marks.
Hydra Company didn’t fuck around apparently, especially not when it came to hunting down a dead colony ship salvaged without appropriate permission—whose permission they’d have needed, he still didn’t know.
He hadn’t snitched, of course. Turned out they’d already known there was a rogue colony ship out there, and he didn’t divulge anything further. There was only one thing they could use to make him talk, and it was right under their noses. Luckily, both he and Tessa had kept their mouths shut.
“Holy shit.” He opened his eyes at the voice. She had an electric baton hanging from her hand, threatening to slip to the floor. Her gaze jumped from one mark to the next, scanning the colorful landscape his interrogators had painted on his skin.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” He groaned, pushing himself into a sitting position.
