Page 75 of Honor Bound

Julia barely caught her balance, her hands slick with sweat as she pushed away from the containment unit. She grabbed Josh’s hand and let him pull her out of the cubicle. He sealed the door with a quick charge from his staff.

The corridor outside flickered with red emergency lights. The bulkheads trembled, metal panels beginning to buckle in places.

“Back to the conduit,” Sergi called, already sprinting ahead. “Go! Go! Go!”

Julia darted after them, her pulse roaring in her ears. They reached the conduit access point, and Josh swung the grate open.

“After you,” Sergi said with a dramatic bow.

Julia didn’t hesitate. She climbed into the narrow space, the air thick with smoke and ozone from the explosions below. Sergi and Josh followed, closing the grate behind them.

“Wait,” Julia said, pointing to the sensor she and Josh had to bypass.

“What’s wrong?” Josh asked, confused.

Sergi chuckled and shook his head. “I’d say the chicken’s out of the bag now.”

Julia shot him a look, her lips twitching despite the tension. “It’scatout of the bag.”

Josh nodded, his eyes sharp and alert. “Definitely cat.”

They were three levels below the shuttle when a rumbling explosion roared through the conduit. Sergi grabbed her arm, pulling her back as the metal flooring in front of them twisted and split open. Super-heated steam poured out of the opening, driving them back.

“The level below is collapsing!” Josh hissed, his eyes scanning the section ahead. “We’ve got to find another way.”

Another explosion rocked the space lab, nearly knocking Julia off her feet as the ship began to list. Josh caught her around the waist, steadying her.

“Thanks,” she breathed, her voice tight.

“Don’t thank me yet.” His eyes were grim as he looked at the collapsing tunnel ahead.

Julia pulled up the holographic map, her fingers trembling. “Bantu, we need a new route. Now.”

Bantu’s voice crackled over the comm. “Head to the lift on your left. You’ll need to cut through the corridor wall once you reach the top. Hurry. The explosives are chain-reacting faster than we estimated.”

“What about Roan?” Julia asked, her voice catching.

There was a long pause.

Cassa’s voice crackled in her ear. “We lost contact with Roan.”

Julia’s breath caught, her pulse hammering against her ribs.No. No, not again.

Smoke curled through the air, the alarms blaring in her ears—so much a repetition of before. The Gliese 581g mission. The moment when everything had shattered.

Josh ordering them to the escape pods as the Gliese tore apart...

Her father’s helicopter spinning out of control?—

Not again.

“Julia?” Josh’s voice yanked her back to the present.

She forced herself to breathe, swallowing the panic clawing up her throat. “We have to find him.”

Cassa’s voice was soft but steady. “We lost contact with him after the explosions started. We’re still trying to re-establish a connection.”

Julia’s chest tightened, fear curling in her gut. Roan was out there—alone in the crumbling space lab, surrounded by Legion soldiers. Her fingers curled into fists, the image of him flashing in her mind.

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