Page 134 of Star Claimed Omega
Zev entered with his usual half-scowl, dragging a chair into place with a grunt.
Boaz limped in next, arm in a temporary sling, his leg regenerated after the compound fracture.
He nodded to Santi, not with resentment, but camaraderie.
Miral was last, silent until she reached the central console.
Her fingers flew over the interface with precision as holo-screens bloomed into light above the desk.
‘Repair teams have sealed the breach on Deck Nine and rerouted oxygen through secondary ducts,’ she intoned. ‘Hull integrity at ninety percent and climbing. All prisoners in the isolation block have been transferred to secure orbitals.’
At the head of the table with arms folded, the returned CO radiated quiet control as he jerked his chin. ‘What about the wounded?’ he asked.
Miral blinked in acknowledgment. ‘We lost two maintenance crew. Six more injured. Of those, three are stable and in recovery. Boaz is the worst off of the pack, but healing well.’
Boaz raised his hand in a sardonic salute. ‘Being a freakin’ spectral lycan is not overrated, folks, itfokkin’ saved my life.’
Silence settled until Santi broke it.
‘I apologize for this shitshow. I take full responsibility as I’m the reason this happened, I let her into our world,’ he uttered, rough and raw. ‘Worse, I hesitated to vet her. If I’d asked Miral to conduct a thorough sweep on her, we might have found out sooner what her mission was.’
He hung his head and pursed his lips.
‘Fokk, I should’ve seen it.’
‘Santi,’ Zev rasped. ‘Stop it, brother.’
Kaal leaned forward, tapping a scarred knuckle on the table. ‘She fooled us all. Not just you. I’m the head of security, and I didn’t pick her up.’
‘Nor did I,’ Miral added, her gaze locking on his.
‘She used me.’ Santi’s jaw flexed, anguish bleeding through. ‘And still, part of me wants to believe she didn’t want to, that her uncle was using a mind and pain control apparatus to direct her actions. I need to find her and confirm this device was indeed why she committed her heinous acts.’
The implicit aspect of his statement is that he had to seek the truth.
Had she responded to him with the same pure passion he felt for her because she cared for him? Or had she used him as a puppet to get to what she needed?
No one spoke.
They didn’t have to; their gaze was solemn as they witnessed the grief, betrayal, rage swimming in Santi’s glowing eyes.
Yet underneath it, a fire burned with purpose.
Kaal met his gaze across the table. ‘The only way to get justice is to chase them all down, bring them back tothe Sombra, conduct a trial, and thenfokkin’ space her uncle and father. As for what to do withher, CO, XO, it’s on you.’
Xander finally spoke again, voice quiet but ironclad. ‘Santi, Kaal, Miral. You’re cleared to go after her.’
All three straightened and nodded, accepting their mission.
‘I want them found,’ he continued. ‘I want them all to answer for this shitshow.’
Dead or alive, that part went unsaid, but every one of them caught it.
22
Chapter 22
SANTIAGO
