He didn’t wait for an answer. He ran.
He slapped the emergency override. The massive door groaned open. 41 unblocked
“That was a lie.” Her honey eyes glistened. “I’ve never hurt anyone. I just wanted to stop hurting. And you… you needed to stop running.” He didn’t wait for an answer
“Jay,” she said without moving her lips. “You came.” The massive door groaned open
“Because you’d have destroyed the fleet!” Jay’s voice cracked. “You said if I didn’t help you disappear, you’d broadcast every admiral’s secret to the entire galaxy.”
The air in the cell turned to ice. Jay’s memories—the ones he’d paid a neural surgeon to bury—rose unbidden: rain on asphalt, a red coat, the thump that ended a life.
“This one was set for three years. By me.” A faint, sad smile. “I needed time to think. To forgive.”