Page 62 of Honor Bound

Packu released a low whistle. “Damn, Roan. You’ve been holding out on us. This place is a maze.”

“When I realized what my father and uncle were doing with the space lab, I added a backdoor code into the mainframe,” Roan explained. “If they haven’t found it, Bantu can use it to access the system and reconfigure the sensors.”

Josh’s eyes narrowed in thought. “Once Bantu does that, Packu, can you set charges along the ventilation system so we can take the lab out?”

Packu grinned.“Oh, absolutely. We can make this place go boom in all the right places.”

Josh assessed those assembled in the room. “Here’s the plan. Once Bantu reconfigures the sensors, he can access the security system and keep us moving through the ship. Packu will plant charges throughout the ventilation system. Worst-case scenario, we can blow it—hopefully after we get out. Roan and Julia will neutralize the containment units. Sergi and I will take out the sonic cannons to prevent them from firing on Tesla Terra.”

“Cassa can provide security for the shuttle,” Josh continued, “while La’Rue waits inside the shuttle, ready for a fast extraction. Natta’s fighters will create a distraction and draw the Legion’s battle cruisers away from the planet once we’re ready to leave.”

The room buzzed with renewed energy as the team absorbed the plan. It was audacious, dangerous—but it just might work.

“It’ll be tight,” Bantu said, his fingers drumming on the table. “We’ll need precise timing to pull this off.”

“We’ll make it work,” Roan said, his voice calm and steady. He glanced at Julia. “We don’t have a choice.”

“But… won’t they know what is going on? It isn’t like we can just fly up to the space lab. The Legion will destroy any vessel that comes near it,” Sergi mused, rubbing his chin.

“What about if we painted it with the reflective paint I used on theStarRunner? Would that work?” La’Rue crossed her arms, her eyes sharp and calculating.

“Sensors would pick up the heat signature and ion trails from the shuttle,” Roan said.

Julia frowned. “What if we were already there—hidden in plain sight when the Legion passes by? Would the heat signature be camouflaged by all the other vessels?”

“That would work,” Cassa stated, nodding and smiling at Julia. “We don’t go to them, but let them come to us.”

Sergi laughed, his eyes gleaming with delight. “Yes. I love it. They will not know what hit them.”

La’Rue grinned. “I’ll get the shuttle painted and prepped. Packu and Bantu can help. It’s going to be close, but we’ll be ready, come hell or highwater.”

Josh nodded, a sense of calm sweeping through him as he replayed their plans. This was their shot. A chance to destroy the space lab, save Tesla Terra, and strike a devastating blow to the Legion.

“Let’s move,” he said, his voice cutting through the tension. “We’ve got a galaxy to save.”

CHAPTERSEVENTEEN

The rumble of the shuttle’s engine thrummed softly through the deck beneath Roan’s boots. The cabin air carried the lingering scent of drying paint and the faintly acrid smell of soldering fumes, evidence of the hasty work done in preparation for their mission. His fingers worked steadily, connecting the final wires on the console. Sparks flickered as he tightened a connection.

“Any minute now, we’ll know if La’Rue’s miracle paint will save our asses or leave us floating in space like shiny, reflective corpses,” Sergi quipped from across the cramped cabin, his tone laced with forced nonchalance. “Nothing like testing an unproven system during a suicide mission. Did I mention the paint might not be dry yet?”

Roan didn’t look up. “It’ll work.”

Sergi chuckled, his eyes glinting with humor. “You sound like Julia. Calm in the face of imminent doom. Fortunately, I was pretty out of it when she and Mei stuffed me into the escape pod on the Gliese before it broke apart.” He leaned against the bulkhead, folding his arms. “I wasn’t always so calm. I used to thrive on chaos—until I met her.”

Roan continued working, but he felt the weight of Sergi’s scrutiny, the unspoken question hanging in the air between them.

“If you’ve got something you want to know, just ask,” Roan muttered, not pausing in his work.

Sergi straightened. “You sure? It’s not exactly a light conversation.”

Roan glanced at him, raising an eyebrow. “We’re about to fly an invisible shuttle into the center of a Legion battalion. How much worse could it get?”

Sergi gave a wry smile and began talking, his voice steady and clinical, as if recounting a routine mission. “I was sent to the Gliese 581g mission by the FSB—the Russian Federal Security Bureau. My orders were clear: infiltrate the mission, document everything about the alien object, especially if there were advanced weapons… and if necessary, eliminate the crew.”

Roan’s jaw tightened, but he said nothing, letting Sergi continue.

“The plan was simple.” Sergi’s inflection didn’t waver, though his eyes darkened with old memories. “If the alien tech was too valuable, I was to take control of an escape pod, destroy the Gliese, and return to Earth with the data.” He paused, his lips quirking in dry humor. “I had even mapped out where my escape pod would land.”

---