In an instant it was done. Blood poured down the front of the man's suit in a red river. It splashed on Jess, and to his surprise he felt a slight twinge of remorse.

Ruthlessly he pushed the emotion back. This man deserved whatever happened to him.

He dispatched the second guard with ease. It was almost too simple…they were completely unprepared for anything like this. They hadn't even had a chance to try the wand on him. In a way that was unfortunate. Bragan hadn't been able to say with 100 percent certainty that the wands wouldn't somehow activate the remaining filaments still in his spinal cord. He'd find out soon enough, though. During the course of the revolt a wand was bound to be activated…

Toggling his radio on, he spoke quickly.

"Logan, things are going well in this sector," he said. Hopefully any Pilgrims who might hear them would think they were simply two slaves talking about their work. That was the theory, at least. "I'm ready to move on to the next blast site.”

"I've got that," Logan replied, his voice casual. "I'll see you there in a minute."

"I'll be waiting," Jess replied. He turned to the elevator controls, pressing the button to send the car down to Logan's level. It took two trips to get all the men who had had their implants removed to the shaft head. Bragan came up top, too. He would be in charge of the elevator, allowing the slaves who still had their implants to come to the surface. They would barricade themselves on the mine-side of the airlock until they knew whether the revolt was a success. No one wanted to risk being trapped down in the mine. A quick death from a wand was infinitely preferable.

Jess, Logan, and the first eight men went through the airlock together. They stayed silent as it cycled, unwilling to risk being overheard on their radios. Then the light was turning green and they stepped out into the corridor leading to the slave quarters. As soon as they were out, the door slid shut. It would take two more cycles to bring the others through.

Logan pulled off his helmet, speaking for the first time. There was a wild, almost primitive look in his eyes.

"How did it go?" he asked.

"Good so far," Jess replied, wishing he felt as confident as Logan looked. "The guard change was just like normal. Bethany's tied up in the storage room. I haven't tried getting into the blasters' lockers yet, though. Figured we'd do better to try it together, once we have something to open them with."

"Makes sense," Logan grunted. He signaled all but one of the men to follow him, and they took off down the tunnel toward the main complex.

“Remember,” Jess reminded them as they pulled off their helmets. “No radio talk unless the station loses pressure. Keep you helmets attached, ready to pull closed. Anything can happen at this point.”

The men nodded. They’d been over the drill a thousand times already. The locker room was blessedly empty when they arrived. Logan and Jess went over to the Pilgrims' lockers and studied them. They were made of thick metal imbedded in plast-crete. The locks were forged from heavy steel, but they narrowed at one point.

"I think we could get this open with a blaster," Logan said. Jess nodded.

"If we do this right, we'll be able to get one off the guards outside the tunnel.”

"Go get the girl," Logan said. "It's time.”

Things started to seem a bit surreal to Jess as he walked toward the storage room. He hadn't been entirely sure they'd make it this far. He had left her knowing there was a good chance he might fail at the mine-shaft. He would get to see her again. A feeling of fierce, possessive joy came over him, tempered immediately with fear for her safety. He stopped at the door and turned to the others.

"Remember," he said coldly. "Not matter what happens, she's mine. Any of you touch her, you're dead.

Understand?"

The men nodded, although it was small comfort. Jess was less worried about this hand-picked group then he was about the remaining slaves in the mine. There were some rough characters. Life could get ugly for the women of the station if they weren't very careful.

He opened the door slowly. She was still tied and gagged, although her eyes shot hate-filled beams in his direction. He knew without a doubt that if she had a weapon, he'd be dead.

"Calm down and you won't get hurt," he said softly. "I'm going to untie your legs and help you out into the main room. There are some other men out there. Don't do anything stupid."

She continued glaring at him as he freed her legs. He pulled her to her feet and she stumbled. He must have cut the circulation off in her feet.

They hobbled into the main room together, and he felt her body stiffen as she saw the other men. For the first time he saw them as they appeared to her. Tall, muscular. Their eyes were filled with hate, and their hair was shaggy. Some of the men no longer bothered with such niceties as removing facial hair.

They were terrifying.

"I'm going to pull off your gag," he said quietly. "If you make any noise, they'll kill you. Do you understand?"

She nodded, not taking her eyes off the men before her. He could feel her heart racing, and a part of him wanted to cuddle her close, comfort her. He pushed it down. They needed her fear; it was their ticket out of the mine.

Slowly he pulled off the gag. She spoke, her words hardly more than a whisper.

"Are you crazy?" she asked. “Don't you realize that all they have to do is activate the wand and you'll be dead?"

"That's not your problem," Logan said roughly. He started toward her, and she shrank back against Jess in fear. Logan raised an eyebrow at Jess, who shook his head in warning.

"In a minute you're going to walk through the tunnel to the door with me and Logan," Jess said. “He and I are going to stand to either side of the door. You are going to tell the guards that you need their help inside. Then you're going to get out of the way. Do you understand?"

"What are you going to do to the people on the station?" she asked in a low voice. "You're going to kill them, aren't you?"

"We're only going to kill those we have to kill," Logan replied coolly. "If they give up, we'll spare their lives."

"What about the women?" she asked, voice quavering. "What will happen to them, and the children?"

"We'll try to keep them safe," Jess said.

"And if they get in the way?"

"We'll kill them," Logan said, his voice icy. "Just like we'll kill you if you don't help us. We will take control of this asteroid. What you have to help choose is how we'll take it. If you help us get out quietly, we can disable the men and take control peacefully. If you don't help us, we'll use explosives from the mine to blow the whole place up. Believe me when I tell you I'd rather kill everyone on this Goddess-forsaken hellhole then go back to the mine."




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