Page 66 of Honor Bound

Julia’s eyes glinted with mischief. “Who says I can’t do that with those?”

“Are they flirting?” Bantu asked, his eyes darting between them with a glimmer of confusion in them before he looked up at Cassa.

Cassa chuckled softly, peering down at them. “Yes, Squeals, and I hope they’re enjoying every second of it.”

Bantu shook his head, a bemused grin tugging at his lips. “I never thought I’d see iron-balls Landais flirting.”

* * *

Time seemed to slow down as Roan turned, leading Julia deeper into the heart of the space lab. Every step took them closer to the deadliest secret the Legion had ever created. The air was cold and stale, the walls of the conduit pressing in around them as they moved silently through the ship. Roan’s footsteps were deliberate, each step measured to avoid making noise.

Julia stepped up beside him, her eyes on the dim glow of Roan’s wrist-mounted holographic map. Her thoughts raced as she mentally mapped out the containment units and calculated the best way to reach the control panels once they reached the lab. The endless bright tubes seemed to stretch on forever. The air was thick with the faint scent of chemicals used for sterilizing. It reminded Julia of the disinfectant the airlines use back on Earth.

They stopped at an intersection where the conduit split in three directions. Roan glanced at her, his eyes searching hers with a worried expression. Julia exhaled slowly, steeling herself, and smiled back at him, letting him know that she was good.

“Left,” Roan whispered, his voice barely audible. “That’ll take us to the first containment unit.”

Julia nodded, her fingers brushing against the bulkhead to steady herself as they turned. Her senses were on high alert, every sound magnified—the faint hum of the ventilation system, the soft scrape of their boots against metal.

Suddenly, her eyes caught something—a faint shimmer in the air ahead. A sensor, nearly invisible, pulsed faintly as it scanned the corridor.

“Roan,” she whispered, pointing.

He froze, his eyes narrowing. “Bantu hasn’t disabled this one yet. We can’t wait. I’ll have to disable it manually.”

Roan studied the remote sensor. It must have been wired to replace a faulty one or as an added precaution. He wondered how many more there would be. His scanned the corridor for the control panel. There wasn’t one.

Frustration burned through him. He could see the opening that led down to the first lab just on the other side. His mind considered ways to disable the sensor without triggering it. The beam needed to be reflected across to the other side. If the beam was broken, it would trigger the alarm. His hands went to his jacket and he patted them.

“What are you looking for?” Julia asked.

He glanced at her. “I need something to reflect the beam.”

Julia frowned, looking at where the beam pulsed. Every second, it would send out a thin red light that would strike a mirrored disk across from it and bounce back. The beams were a little like playing Pong in the old video games. The only one that was constant was the one at the bottom. If that one was steady, they could roll under it. There was no way to reflect the entire row.

“The watch on your arm. It has a polished silver backing, doesn’t it?” she asked.

Roan removed the miniature computer he had been using to guide them. Turning it over, he noticed it had a flat, reflective back. Julia took it from him, blew a heated breath to fog the back, and cleaned it as best she could with the end of her shirt.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

She glanced up at him before turning the shiny disk back and forth in the light. “Body oils and lasers don’t work well together. I’ll reflect the beam while you go under. Then, we’ll trade.”

He opened his mouth to protest that it was too dangerous, but that would be a moot point. They had passed the danger part a long time ago. He stepped to the side, slide the bag containing their remaining explosives off his shoulder, and positioned himself horizontally with the beam of light.

Julia’s head bobbed with the pulse of the laser beam, counting. He realized that there was a pattern. The beams rotated in opposing waves. The bottom one was the only one to remain constant… except that every fifteen seconds it went off.

Julia counted, holding the shiny part of his wrist map by the straps, and placing it in front of the beam the second it went off. Roan slid the bag of explosives under the upper beam and scooted under it. He breathed out a shaky breath when he realized Julia’s plan had worked.

She looked up at him. Her eyes narrowed on his face when a flash of indecision swept through him. He looked at the opening to the lab.

“Don’t even think of it. I will follow you. You need me to figure out the sequence,” she said.

Roan’s lips curved in a rueful smile and walked over to take the straps from her. “It was just a thought,” he murmured.

“A very bad one,” she retorted with an inelegant snort.

Seconds later, she was standing beside him as he replaced the map on his wrist. She bent and picked up the satchel, slipping it over her head. Roan reached up and tenderly caressed her cheek.

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