Avalon

Bodies pressed around Jeth, panic descending. He felt that panic clawing at him, trying to freeze him in place. He fought it off, desperate to save his sisters. A soldier appeared in front of him and threw a wild punch. Jeth ducked it easily and then struck the man in the back of the head with the butt of the gun. The soldier went down, and Jeth leaped over him, moving on.

“Get them out of here!” he heard Renford shouting.

Jeth ran toward the voice. He pushed and punched people out of his way, but resisted the urge to start shooting. It was too risky.

“Lizzie!” Jeth screamed.

There was too much noise for him to make out an answer. Smoke burned his lungs, and a coughing fit racked his body.

Someone appeared in front of him. Jeth moved to strike, but held back when he realized it was Dax. He didn’t understand how the man had recovered from the stunner already, but there he was.

“Come on.” Dax pushed his way through the fighting, and Jeth stumbled after him. A moment later they broke free of the smoke. Jeth wiped his eyes. They were in the rear of the cargo bay, near the exit.

Lizzie.

A soldier was pulling her through the door.

Jeth lunged forward, but Dax grabbed his arm, stopping him.

“Wait,” Dax said. Then he pointed a small, strange-looking gun and fired once. The shot made an odd whizzing noise as it left the chamber. Jeth turned, expecting to see the soldier fall. Dax’s aim was legendary.

The man kept moving.

Dax had missed. Jeth couldn’t believe it. He pulled away from Dax. “Let go of me.” Jeth broke into a run, but he only made it a few steps before a stunner bolt struck him in the side of the head and everything went black.

“Do you think it scrambled his brain?”

“Dunno. Guess we’ll find out when he comes around.”

“You mean if he comes around.”

“Oh, he will. He’s too stubborn to die. Besides, Milton said he’d be all right.”

Jeth wished the voices would stop. Each word was like a pickax striking him between the eyes. But the speakers were Flynn and Shady, two people who rarely descended into silence by choice.

“Hey, I think his eyelids are moving. You awake, Jeth?” Shady shouted. Jeth groaned and then wished he hadn’t as the pickax turned into a hot poker.

“He’s awake,” said Flynn.

Jeth opened his eyes and glared at the two faces staring down at him. “Shut up, already.”

Both of them grinned.

“Welcome back, Boss.” Shady held out a hand. Jeth took it and sat up. The world spun around him for a moment. What the hell happened? Then he remembered being shot in the head with a stunner. And before that . . .

Lizzie . . . and Cora.

Fighting back panic, Jeth focused his gaze on Flynn. “What happened?”

Flynn began to fidget with his shirt collar. “Um, Renford and his men got away. They took Lizzie and Cora with them. But everybody else is okay. Even Dax and Sergei. Well, everybody except for Vince. He got shot, but Milton’s working on him right now.”

Terror needled over Jeth’s skin. Where had Renford taken the girls? With an effort, Jeth pushed himself to his feet. He swayed once he got there, but Shady and Flynn steadied him. He looked around, realizing they were still in the cargo bay. The dead bodies of the old man and four guards had been removed, but blood smears remained on the floor.

“Don’t worry, Boss,” Shady said. “Milton and Sierra are working on a plan to go after them.”

“What?”

A wary expression crossed Shady’s face. “Now don’t go losing your crap about it. She’s on our side.”

Jeth shot him a glare.

“It’s true,” Flynn said. “Milton told us we should trust her. Says he knows everything about what’s going on with your mom and your sisters and stuff.”

The world has gone insane.

Ignoring them both, Jeth charged toward the ladder. He headed up to the passenger deck and then to sick bay, where he knew he’d find Sierra. If Vince was hurt that was where she would be.

He froze in the doorway when he spotted her. She stood with her back to him, bent over Vince, who was lying unconscious on the operating table. Milton stood on the other side of the table, holding a jet injector against Vince’s bare shoulder. He squeezed the trigger, and it made a loud pop as it shot whatever medicine it contained into Vince’s bloodstream.

Jeth charged in, grabbed Sierra by one arm, and spun her around hard enough she fell into the table. “This is all your fault.” He grabbed her by the shoulders.

She twisted out from his grasp with remarkable ease and shoved him. “I had no choice! You were going to hand us over to Renford!”

“Stop it, both of you,” Milton said, glaring between them. “We can assign blame for what happened later. There’re more important things to do right now.”

Jeth blinked, some of the anger going out of him at the command in Milton’s voice. He caught a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye and saw Viggo walking across one of the counters, stepping in between medical equipment without a care in the world. Jeth lowered his hands. At least they’d taken care of Lizzie’s stupid cat. That was something, he supposed.

“Fine,” Jeth said. “But somebody better tell me what the hell is going on.”

Sierra took a deep breath. “It all has to do with the Aether Project, just like Renford said.”

Jeth swung his gaze back to her. “What—”