She had an unpleasant thought. “Hey, so you’re saying this whole treatment thing is actually reproduction? Please tell me I’m not about to have sex with an alien.”
He laughed so she could feel the rumbling in his chest against her cheek. “No. Any sex you have will be with me.”
“Oh.”
“And soon.”
She closed her eyes and just concentrated on getting through the next minutes. Callum came to a halt, and her lids flickered open.
“Are we there?” She didn’t think they could be. Her mind might be a blur, but no way had they been going for half an hour.
“No.” His brows drew together in a frown.
“What is it?”
“Skylar. She’s trying to get through to me. The comm units don’t work down here—it must be the only way they can get in touch.”
“Well, answer her.”
“Maybe we should wait. After the treatment.”
Unease shivered through her. Why would El Cazador try to contact them now? What had gone wrong? Tannis struggled in his arms. “Put me down.”
His grip tightened for a moment, and then he gently lowered her to her feet. She leaned against the wall and stared at him. “See what she wants. Now. It must be important.”
For a second, she thought he would refuse. Then he closed his lids, though she could see the rapid movement of his eyes. His mouth tightened, and his fists clenched at his side.
“What is it?” she asked.
“They have El Cazador.”
Shock hit her in the gut. “Who has El Cazador?”
“The Church. They were waiting in ambush at the rendezvous point.”
“What’s happening? What do they want?” Frustration welled up inside her. She needed to know what was going on.
He closed his eyes again. “They want you to destroy Trakis Seven.”
“What?”
“They want you to use the weapon on the ship we took and destroy the planet. If you do that, then they will release El Cazador and her crew.
“And if we don’t.”
“Then they’ll execute them one at a time.”
Her mind whirled. She needed to think this through, but her brain refused to function properly.
“We can finish this, Tannis. Half an hour, that’s all we need. The Church isn’t going to do anything in that time. Your crew will be safe for that long. And they’d want you to do this. They know how much it means to you.
She licked her lips. Was he right? She had to decide, and now.
Callum looked at her face, must have seen her inner turmoil. “Let me decide. You’re not up to this.” He picked her up and hurried in the direction they had been going. Tannis tried to relax, but fear was a tight knot inside her.
He was right. Another half an hour and this would be done. Her dream realized, they could leave the Trakis Seven forever, destroy it from Orbit. The Church would never know of the delay.
Callum stumbled. “Shit.”
She looked up and saw the blood drain from his face.
Dread filled her mind, coating her nerve endings. “What is it?”
“Janey.”
For a moment, her mind refused to process the words. Then her mind filled with a scream of denial. “Tell me.”
Callum’s face leached of color. “She’s dead. They’re monitoring the beacon on the weapon ship. When the ship didn’t take off, they executed her. Jon will be next. We have half an hour.”
“Oh, God, Janey.” Tannis bit her lip, tasted blood as she almost suffocated under the wave of guilt that washed over her. “We have to go back.”
“We don’t. You’re what matters. We can still do this. I’ll tell Skylar we’re on our way. That will buy us some time.” His eyes were wild, mesmerizing as he stared into hers as though he could somehow convince her. His arms tightened around her, and she knew he meant to continue on. That he would ignore her wishes if she didn’t convince him.
“Not enough. Not if they’re monitoring the ship. If you do this and Jon dies, I will never forgive you.”
“Why? Why do they mean so much? More than the chance of living forever. Living with me, forever?”
His words tore into her, but she didn’t have to think about the answer. “Yes—they’re my family. We have to go back.”
“Do we?” He sounded bitter but resigned.
“How could I exist if I bought my life at the price of my friends? You must understand that, because whatever else you are, you’re still at least part human.” She reached up and cupped his cheek. “Take me back, please. Help me save my friends.”
“You’ll die. You’ve been exposed. Without the treatment, you’ll die.”
“I know.” She forced her lips into a smile. “But we all have to have something that’s worth dying for. Even you.”
He nodded once, and then he whirled around in the opposite direction. He ran up the tunnel, and she held on, her fingers digging into the flesh of his shoulders, her face buried against his chest as she tried to fight down the waves of panic that clawed at her guts.
“It’s too far. It will take too long. We can’t let him die.”