“Move your ass! Got places to be," Andy spat. "On a bit of a tight schedule here thanks to you sticking your fat face where it doesn’t belong. Seriously, if you could just have been anything other than the most annoying person in the solar system for a day, this could have all been so much more painless.”

  Andy gave Zed’s shoulder a shove. He stumbled forward, nearly tripping over his cast. He braced himself for a wave of pain, more out of habit than anything, but it didn’t come. He realized he was actually overdue to have it removed.

  A little late for that, Zed thought.

  If not for the cast, he might have had a chance to make a run for it. It’s not like Andy had a gun. He was just bigger and had a large wrench, which he'd certainly take far too much pleasure in swinging at the first excuse.

  The only reason Andy hadn’t beaten Zed to a pulp as soon as he came through the office door had to be Johns. As much as Johns had lied, and as angry as Zed was, it seemed there had been at least a sliver of something real in their relationship.

  Then Unen reminded him of a reason that made even more sense—a reason Zed would have rather not had brought to his attention by his overzealous brain.

  They’re stealing me along with the samples.

  The thought struck at deep horrors buried in Zed’s psyche. The idea of being treated as a science experiment, of being poked and studied without the humanity that even Isaac Roth had shown him, was more than he wanted to consider.

  Come on, Unen, Zed thought. Don’t just feed me horrifying problems; give me some answers!

  As if in direct response, a clear map of all the areas Zed had set up virtual overlay traps in popped into his mind. A glance at the corridor they were walking down revealed walls gradually turning blue as they went. Zed thought back to the map in his head. He’d never had a photographic memory, but this mental image felt shockingly sharp. Was Unen still evolving?

  No time to worry about that now. Just a few more steps. Three, two, one…

  Zed made a few CIG gestures with his hands held where, hopefully, Andy wouldn’t see them. There was a deep crunching sound above them. Zed whirled on his heel and faced Andy.

  “What did you guys blow up now?” he hissed with all the aggression he could muster. Andy stopped short and looked up at the ceiling, where dust was starting to fall. “We didn’t blow up anyt—”

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Andy’s reply was cut short as a torso-sized chunk of the ceiling broke free and cratered the floor between them. Andy stumbled back, his eyes fixed on the virtual debris that, as far as he knew, had nearly killed him.

  Zed saw his chance and broke into a lopsided run. He cursed himself for not having gotten the cast off sooner. The leg was healed; he just hadn’t felt like going back to medical to get it off after spending so many weeks there. It was costing him precious time now—time that might mean the difference between escape and life as a lab rat.

  Zed heard another chunk of the corridor collapse behind him, followed by Andy shouting after him.

  “Wait, what the…” was the last thing Zed heard Andy say before he turned a corner and vanished from sight. It wouldn’t make much difference if Andy had already realized his ruse. There was nothing he could do about it now except keep limping down the hallway and hope he found what he was looking for before Andy found him.

  He had nearly reached the next turn when he heard footsteps pounding after him. Zed risked a glance over his shoulder. More than ever, Andy looked like he was done trying to capture Zed and was more than happy to just end him.

  Andy was only a few meters away when Zed turned the corner and ran headlong into someone, knocking both of them to the ground. As Zed's head cleared from the impact, he heard shouting. He recognized the voice of Commander Jones. When Zed was finally able to untangle himself from the captive mutineer he’d run into, he looked up to see Commander Jones staring at Andy, who had apparently just rounded the corner. The moment seemed to slow as both Andy and the Commander realized what was happening.

  The red-faced mechanic reacted first and threw his shoulder into Commander Jones with all the force he could muster. At the same time, he shouted at the two colonists that Bao and Jones had been escorting, who immediately sprang into action as they realized they’d just received reinforcements.

  There was a flurry of motion as everyone still standing started shoving and throwing punches. Commander Jones had gotten the wind knocked out of her in Andy’s initial assault, leaving Bao to contend with the two mutineers still standing. This gave the one that Zed had run into more than enough time to get up and break into a run down the corridor.

  Andy shouted after him but was ignored. Realizing they were now outnumbered, Andy and the other mutineer took off after their retreating comrade, but not before Andy stole one last rage-filled glance at Zed.

  “Are you OK, Thabisa?” Commander Bao asked, helping her to her feet.

  “I’m fine,” she wheezed. “Check on the kid.”

  Commander Jones bent over to catch her breath, and Bao lifted Zed to his feet.

  “Well, that was unexpected,” was all he said.

  Zed nodded. “Yeah, sorry about that. Andy showed up not long after you guys left. I knew running your way was my only shot, but—”

  “But you lost us our best chance at finding out what the hell is going on,” Thabisa finished for him. She put her hands on her hips and hung her head, eyes closed. She took a slow, centering breath. “Any other great plans you haven’t mentioned yet?”

  “There is one last thing I prepared, but I didn’t think we’d have to use it, and you’re definitely not gonna like it.”