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"Get your hand off my gun." Kane's fingers closed over my wrist before I could fire.
The rifle kicked against my shoulder. The shot went wide, smashing a fist-sized chunk out of the bunker wall instead of the armored soldier climbing through the smoke.
Kane twisted my wrist until my fingers went numb. His chest pressed against my back, hard and hot through two layers of tactical gear. The linked HUD flashed red across my vision.
SHARED PAIN RESPONSE: 38% NEURAL DESYNC: 7% CORE TEMPERATURE: CRITICAL
"You were aiming at the wrong target," he said against my ear.
"I was aiming at the one shooting at us. Let go."
"Not until you stop trying to kill the only person keeping you alive."
A heavy round punched through the bunker entrance. Concrete burst over our heads. Kane dragged me down as the ceiling spat dust across my hair and shoulders.
The rifle stayed trapped between us. So did his arm. His grip was brutal, precise, and annoyingly steady.
I drove my elbow backward.
He caught it.
"Cute," he muttered.
"I wasn't trying to be cute."
"That makes it worse."
I slammed my heel into his shin. Kane grunted, loosened his hold for half a second, and I ripped my wrist free. I rolled behind a support pillar, snatched the rifle with both hands, and fired through the smoke.
The muzzle flash lit the chamber. One armored figure staggered outside. The round hit the shoulder plate and sparked away.
"See?" I shouted. "Wrong target my ass."
"You hit armor."
"Then stop giving me armor to shoot at."
Another blast shook the bunker. The floor jumped beneath my boots. A row of dead monitors dropped from the wall and shattered around my ankles.
Kane crossed the space in three strides. He grabbed the back of my jacket and hauled me behind a concrete divider just as a burst of machine-gun fire chewed through the pillar where my head had been.
"You want to live?" he asked.
"I want you to stop dragging me around like luggage."
"Then keep up."
He leaned around the divider and fired twice. His pistol cracked in the tight room. Outside, something heavy slammed into the barricade.
The HUD stuttered.
SHARED MOTOR COMMAND DETECTED HOST A: KANE CROSS HOST B: VERA VANCE CONFLICTING INPUT
My left arm jerked without permission.
The rifle swung toward the entrance.
Kane's left arm moved at the same time, trying to shove the barrel down.
Our shoulders collided. His grip found my forearm. My fingers tightened around the rifle.
"Did you do that?" I snapped.
"No."
"Your system is moving me."
"Our system is moving you."
"I hate the word our."
"Get used to it."
The rifle fired.
The shot tore into the ceiling. A shower of concrete dust dropped over us. My ears rang, and Kane's pain flashed through my nerves before I even felt my own shoulder burn.
The link had learned his body faster than mine.
That was the worst part.
Not the gunfire. Not the armor outside. Not the military core welded into my spine and cooking my nervous system one percentage point at a time.
Kane knew when I flinched before I did.
And I could feel every time his body prepared to strike.
"You're bleeding again," he said.
"You're distracting me."
"Your side."
I looked down. Blood had soaked through the torn edge of my jacket, running in a thin line toward my belt.
"It's not bad."
"You said that before you collapsed in the clinic."
"I didn't collapse. I took a tactical pause."
Kane stared at me.
Even with dust on his face and a cut along his jaw, he looked unfairly calm. His eyes moved over my side, then my hands, then stopped on my mouth for one sharp second.
The HUD pulsed.
HEART RATE MATCH: 91%
His gaze snapped back to mine.
"Don't," I warned.
"I didn't say anything."
"You were thinking loudly."
"You can't read my thoughts."
"No. But I can feel your pulse trying to punch through my ribs."
The next impact hit before he could answer. The bunker door folded inward. A black armored drone rolled through the opening, its six legs locking into place as a rotary cannon rose from its back.
Kane shoved me down.
I hit the floor hard enough to bite my tongue. His body covered mine a second later, one forearm braced beside my head, the other reaching for a grenade on his vest.
"Move," he ordered.
"You're on top of me."
"I know."
"That usually means move less."
His mouth tightened. "Vera."
The drone opened fire.
Kane pulled the grenade, thumbed the release, and shoved it under the machine. Then he dragged me by the waist toward the rear tunnel.
The grenade detonated with a hard, ugly thump. The blast lifted the drone, flipped it onto its back, and sent hot metal fragments across the entrance.
Kane kept pulling.
I dug my boots into the floor. "My rifle."
"Leave it."
"I paid for it."
"It wasn't worth dying for."
"You don't get to decide what my things are worth."
"I get to decide what keeps you alive."
"You really love that excuse."
He stopped so fast I slammed into his back. Kane turned, caught my shoulders, and pinned me against the tunnel wall.
The concrete pressed cold through my jacket. His hands were warm against my arms. The distance between our faces disappeared.
Outside, the armored squad shouted over the smoke.
"Cross! Drop your weapon and step away from the carrier!"
Kane's eyes stayed on mine.
"They called me by name," I whispered.
"They know who I am."
"They know who we are."
"No. They know what we are carrying."
"That core is inside my spine. Kind of hard to miss."
His thumb shifted against my sleeve. A small movement. Careful. Almost gentle.
The HUD flashed again.
PROXIMITY STABILIZATION DETECTED LINK NOISE REDUCED
I felt his breath brush my cheek. He felt mine. Neither of us moved.
Then I smiled without meaning to.
"You should be careful, Kane. The machine likes you close."
"The machine likes a stable signal."
"Sure. That's why you're staring at my mouth."
His jaw tightened.
"I'm checking for blood."
"With your eyes?"
"You want me to use my fingers?"
The words dropped between us, rougher than they needed to be.
My pulse kicked. So did his.
The HUD screamed.
HEART RATE MATCH: 99% NEURAL OVERLAP: 43%
Kane's hands tightened on my arms.
"Don't push the link," he said.
"I didn't push anything."
"You keep provoking me."
"Maybe you're easy to provoke."
"Maybe you're running out of time."
That killed the smile.
He glanced at the display projected across my vision. The core temperature had climbed another two points. Seven hours had been the estimate when Dex first forced the military core into my spine.
The number had been six hours and thirty-two minutes when the corporate gunships found us.
Now it said five hours and fifty-one minutes.
Kane saw it.
"Your temperature is climbing."
"I noticed."
"The core is using your motor cortex to compensate for the damage."
"Try saying that like a person."
"It's burning your nerves to keep your reflexes online."
"Better."
"When it reaches ninety degrees, you won't be able to control your hands."
"And when it reaches a hundred?"
He did not answer.
I pushed against his chest. He barely moved. The armor under my palm was rigid, but heat came through it. So did the steady thump of his heart.
"When it reaches a hundred?" I repeated.
"You die."
"There it is. Nice and simple."
"You wanted a person."
"I wanted a solution."
"Then stop wasting time fighting me."
"You broke into my bunker, pointed a gun at me, and called me a carrier."
"You stole classified hardware."
"I stole a chance to keep my brother alive."
His expression changed. Barely. A hard blink. A slight pull at the corner of his mouth.
"Your brother isn't in this bunker."
"No. He's in a clinic with a debt marker on his bed. If I don't pay, they shut down his support rig."
"The corporation knows that."
"You know that?"
"I know everything about the people I'm sent to retrieve."
"Retrieve. That's a nice word for kill."
"If I wanted you dead, you would be dead."
"You tried to shoot me in the transit yard."
"I shot the man behind you."
"You missed his head by three inches."
"I didn't miss."
The tunnel shook again. A blast boomed at the entrance. The armored squad was pushing in.
Kane released me and turned toward the service passage.
"Move."
"Where?"
"Lower level."
"The lower level is sealed."
"Not anymore."
He slapped a palm against a dead access panel. The scanner flickered, rejected him, then turned green. The door split open with a grinding shriek.
I stared at him.
"You said you weren't corporate."
"I said I wasn't theirs anymore."
"That is not the same thing."
"Vera."
"You expect me to follow a man who keeps secrets while my nervous system is chained to his?"
"I expect you to follow the man who knows where the coolant is."
That hit harder than the gunfire.
I stepped into the passage. Kane came after me and locked the door behind us. The heavy impact of boots struck the other side almost at once.
"How much coolant?" I asked.
"Enough for one stabilizing dose."
"And then?"
"Then we find more."
"Where?"
"The squad commander has a canister."
I stopped. "The people shooting at us have the medicine?"
"Military-grade coolant. They brought it for the core."
"To keep it intact."
"To keep you intact long enough to remove it."
"You said removing it would kill me."
"It will."
"So their plan is to cool me down, cut me open, and pull out the thing they want."
"Yes."
"And your plan is what?"
Kane turned under the flickering emergency lights. "Take the canister."
"That is not a plan. That's a shopping list."
"You want to live?"
"I want my brother to live."
"Then stay close and shoot when I tell you."
"You don't give orders to me."
He stepped closer. The narrow passage forced our shoulders almost together. His hand closed around the back of my neck, not squeezing, just holding me in place while the link steadied.
The static in my skull dropped.
My vision cleared.
"I give orders when bullets are coming," he said. "You can complain after."
His palm was warm against my skin. I could feel the rough edge of his glove, the controlled pressure of his fingers, the way he kept his face close enough that I had to tilt my chin up to meet his eyes.
"And if I don't listen?" I asked.
"I make you listen."
"You keep saying things like that."
"You keep making them necessary."
The link surged.
A sharp pulse ran from his hand down my spine. My knees weakened. Kane caught my waist before I hit the wall.
His breath stopped.
Mine did too.
"That wasn't me," I said.
"I know."
"Then why did it feel like—"
"Because the core is forcing a shared trigger response."
"Use normal words."
"When one of us reacts, the other gets dragged with them. Pain. Reflexes. Adrenaline."
"So if you panic, I panic."
"I don't panic."
"Everybody panics."
"Not me."
"You say that like you practiced it in a mirror."
His eyes dropped to my lips again.
This time I caught it.
"There," I said softly. "You did it again."
"You're injured."
"Still using your eyes?"
"Keep talking and I'll find another way to check."
"That sounded almost like flirting."
"It wasn't."
"Shame. You could use the practice."
A muscle jumped in his cheek. His hand stayed at my waist one second too long before he let go.
The bunker doors behind us screamed. Metal bent inward.
Kane looked toward the sound. "Run."
"Now you ask nicely?"
"Run, Vera."
We moved.
The lower level had been built under the clinic's old foundation. Pipes crossed the ceiling. Thick cables hung from open conduits. Red emergency lights blinked across puddles of coolant and oil.
Kane moved like he had memorized the place. I followed because the alternative was getting captured and carved open.
A burst of gunfire chased us through the passage.
Kane shoved me through a maintenance hatch, then threw himself in after me. We landed shoulder to shoulder inside a narrow equipment room.
The door slammed shut.
His body pinned mine between a stack of crates and the metal wall.
"You're doing that a lot," I whispered.
"Keeping you alive?"
"Pinning me to walls."
"You keep standing where the bullets are."
"Maybe I like the view."
His gaze held mine in the red light.
For half a second, the gunfire outside seemed far away. His face was inches from mine. Dust clung to his lashes. There was a thin cut at his temple, and a drop of blood slid toward his cheek.
I lifted my hand before I could stop myself.
My thumb brushed it away.
Kane went still.
The link jumped.
HEART RATE MATCH: 100%
"Don't touch me," he said.
His voice had gone low.
I let my hand fall. "You didn't move."
"I told you not to."
"You could've stopped me."
"I could've."
The space got smaller. His arm was beside my head. His other hand rested near my hip, not touching now, but close enough for heat to reach through my jacket.
I swallowed. His eyes followed the movement.
"Kane."
"What?"
"If the system logs this, I'm blaming you."
"For what?"
"The part where you forget we're enemies."
"I haven't forgotten."
"Then why are you looking at me like that?"
"Because you're about to do something stupid."
"I do lots of stupid things. Be specific."
"You're thinking about opening that door."
I glanced at the latch.
Kane's fingers closed around my wrist again. This time the contact sent a clean line of heat through the link.
"You really can feel me thinking," I said.
"No. I can feel you tense before you move."
"Same difference."
"Not even close."
The equipment room shook. A metal crate tipped from the stack and crashed beside my boots.
Kane's grip tightened.
Pain struck both of us.
It came from nowhere. A white-hot spike through my spine, then a crushing pressure in my chest. I gasped. Kane's forehead hit mine as his knees buckled.
The HUD filled with warnings.
SHARED AGONY EVENT NEURAL OVERLAP: 62% MOTOR CONTROL: UNSTABLE CORE TEMPERATURE: 82%
"What the hell was that?" I forced out.
Kane's face had gone pale. His hand clamped around my shoulder.
"The core's under attack."
"By who?"
"The squad outside. They have a signal jammer."
"You said the jammer would only break the link."
"I was wrong."
"You? Wrong? That's going in the history books."
He tried to straighten. His legs failed again, and he dragged me down with him.
We hit the floor hard. My back struck the metal grate. Kane landed beside me, one arm trapped under his body.
The pain did not stop.
It pulsed through both of us in the same rhythm. My teeth clenched. His breath came out in short, controlled bursts, but I could feel the panic he refused to show.
"Talk to me," I said.
"Why?"
"Because if you stop talking, I might assume you're dead."
"You'd be disappointed."
"I have a long list of things that disappoint me. Get on it later."
He turned his head toward me. His pupils were wide in the red light.
"Count backward from ten."
"Seriously?"
"Do it."
"Ten. Nine. Eight."
The pain surged.
Kane's hand found mine on the floor. His fingers locked around mine before either of us could argue.
"Seven," he said.
I squeezed his hand. "Six."
"Five."
"Four."
A burst of gunfire rattled the other side of the door.
"Three," Kane said.
"Two."
The pain snapped off.
We stayed there, hands locked, breathing hard.
The silence lasted less than a second.
I pulled my hand away. "Never do that again."
"You were shaking."
"I was counting."
"Your fingers were blue."
"Your hands are cold."
"My hands are not cold."
"They are when you're scared."
Kane pushed himself upright. "I wasn't scared."
"You grabbed my hand."
"To stabilize the signal."
"You could've grabbed the wall."
"The wall doesn't have a pulse."
His answer landed too cleanly.
For one dangerous beat, neither of us spoke.
Then the equipment room door blew inward.
Kane rolled over me and fired through the gap. The first armored soldier dropped. The second raised a compact cannon and fired from the hall.
Kane shoved me flat. The round punched through the crate above us and showered us with metal shards.
I grabbed the fallen soldier's sidearm, rolled onto my stomach, and shot under Kane's arm.
The second soldier staggered.
"You could warn me," Kane snapped.
"You were blocking my shot."
"I was protecting you."
"Protect from the side next time."
Kane kicked the door closed and dragged the body inside.
The soldier was still breathing. A red command strip blinked on his chest plate.
Kane ripped it free.
"Where's the coolant?" he demanded.
The soldier spat blood through his mask. "Go to hell."
Kane pressed the pistol against the soldier's helmet.
I caught his forearm. "Wait."
His head turned toward me. "Why?"
"Because killing him won't make the answer appear."
"It might improve my mood."
"You're already unbearable. Don't get worse."
The soldier laughed weakly. "You think he cares if you live? He was ordered to bring back the core, not you."
Kane's gun did not move.
"Who gave the order?" I asked.
The soldier looked at me. "You don't know?"
"Know what?"
"The retrieval order was canceled."
Kane's eyes hardened. "Explain."
"No extraction. No recovery team. The whole site gets erased."
The soldier's hand twitched near a belt pouch.
I saw it first.
"Kane, move."
I shoved him aside as the soldier pulled a flash charge. Kane struck the man's wrist against the floor. The charge skittered beneath the crates.
A white burst filled the room.
My ears went dead. My knees gave out. Kane's arm hooked around my waist and kept me from falling against the exposed cables.
The link turned the flash into a second scream inside my skull.
I felt his pain. His vision. His hand slipping on my jacket.
"Vera!" he shouted, though I heard him through the link before the sound reached me. "Stay with me."
"Stop yelling."
"You can't hear me."
"I can hear you in my head. You're annoying in there too."
His grip shifted under my ribs. "Look at me."
"I'm looking."
"No, you're not."
"Your face is right there. Hard to miss."
"Then tell me what color my eyes are."
"Gray."
"They're green."
"They're gray when you're lying."
He froze.
The flash cleared enough for me to see his face. His eyes were green. Bright, sharp, and furious.
"You lied to me," I said.
"About what?"
"You said you weren't afraid."
"I wasn't."
"The link says you were."
"The link is defective."
"The link is inside me. Don't insult it."
Kane's thumb pressed against my side. His touch was firm, checking the wound. I felt his breath catch when he found the blood.
"Your bleeding is worse."
"You keep saying that like repeating it will make me care."
"It will make me carry you."
"Try it and I shoot you."
"Your hand is shaking."
"Your face is annoying."
"You don't have enough strength to shoot me."
"Then don't test me."
He slipped one arm beneath my knees.
I grabbed the collar of his armor. "Kane. Put me down."
"No."
"I swear, if you throw me over your shoulder—"
"I'm carrying you like a person."
"That is not better."
He lifted me anyway.
My chest pressed against his. The motion pulled my jacket tight across my ribs. His hold was secure, but the proximity made the shared signal spike again.
HEART RATE MATCH: 96%
"The system is going to fry us," I said.
"Then stop staring at me."
"I wasn't staring."
"You were."
"I was looking for the coolant."
"On my face?"
"Maybe you keep it under your nose."
A rough sound escaped him. Not quite a laugh, but close.
I felt it in his chest.
That was worse than the pain.
Kane carried me through the lower level while the squad forced open the equipment room. We reached a wide maintenance bay filled with abandoned machinery. A service elevator sat at the far end, its doors locked and its controls smashed.
He set me on a steel worktable.
"Stay here."
"You say that like I have a choice."
"You don't."
"Good. We agree on something."
Kane stepped away. The instant his hand left my back, the HUD stuttered. The room tilted.
I grabbed the edge of the table.
"Don't go far," I said.
He looked over his shoulder. "You just told me not to touch you."
"I changed my mind. Don't make a big deal out of it."
His eyes held mine for a beat. Then he crossed to the elevator controls.
"Can you open that?" I asked.
"I can bypass it."
"That's corporate for yes?"
"That's military for stop talking."
"Same personality, then."
Kane pulled a narrow tool from his belt and opened the control panel. Blue sparks snapped across his gloves.
The maintenance bay shook. Dust rained from the ceiling.
A voice boomed through the overhead speakers.
"Kane Cross. Your neural signature is active on the carrier. Step away from her and submit to deactivation."
I looked at him. "They can hear us?"
"They can hear the bunker."
"Answer them."
"Why?"
"I want to know if you sound as charming over a speaker."
Kane pressed two wires together. "You have thirty seconds before they breach the bay."
"Then answer fast."
He glanced at the speaker. "Go to hell."
The voice replied at once. "Your unit went there first."
Kane went perfectly still.
The tool slipped from his hand.
I felt the shock move through the link before I saw it in his face.
"What did they say?" I asked.
"Nothing."
"Don't lie."
"Stay out of my head."
"I don't know how. You keep broadcasting."
The speaker crackled again. "Cross, you were never cleared for independent command. The purge was necessary. Your team compromised the core before the incident. You are contaminated."
Kane's hand closed into a fist.
"Purge?" I asked.
"Ignore them."
"They killed your unit."
"Ignore them."
"And now they're killing everyone in this clinic."
"I said ignore them."
He slammed his palm into the control panel. The elevator lights came on, but the doors stayed closed.
The squad hit the maintenance bay entrance.
Kane turned toward me. "Can you stand?"
"Ask me a nicer question."
"Can you stand?"
"Yes."
"Can you shoot?"
"Better than you."
"Good."
He crossed the bay and pulled me off the table. My legs wobbled. Kane caught my waist and braced me against him.
The link steadied instantly.
His mouth was near my ear. "When the door opens, you take the left side."
"You take the right?"
"I take the center."
"Because you're stupid?"
"Because they expect me to run."
"You are running."
"I'm changing sides."
I looked at him. "Are you saying that because you mean it, or because you need me to keep shooting?"
His fingers tightened against my waist.
"Both."
The answer hit harder than it should have.
I pushed away from him, forcing my knees to lock. "Fine. But if you betray me—"
"You kill me."
"I was going to say I'll make you regret it."
"Same result."
The bay doors buckled.
Kane drew his pistol. I raised the stolen sidearm.
"On three," he said.
"I hate counting."
"One."
"You skipped two."
"Three."
The doors blew inward.
We fired together.
The linked system took over both our arms. My pistol tracked left. Kane's tracked right. Two soldiers fell before they could clear the doorway.
The third fired a plasma burst. Kane stepped in front of me and took the edge of it across his shoulder.
His pain ripped through my body.
I screamed and shot the soldier through the chest plate.
Kane staggered.
"You idiot," I snapped.
"You're welcome."
"You just made me feel that."
"Then remember it."
He dropped to one knee.
The HUD flashed red.
SHARED AGONY EVENT CORE TEMPERATURE: 86% MOTOR CONTROL: 61%
His shoulder armor smoked. Beneath it, the suit had sealed the burn, but the pain kept traveling through the link in hard waves.
I grabbed his collar and hauled him toward the service elevator.
"Move," I said.
"You can't carry me."
"I'm not carrying you. I'm dragging your arrogant corpse."
"I can walk."
"Then walk."
He forced himself up. We staggered together, my hand locked around his belt, his arm hooked over my shoulder.
The squad advanced through the smoke.
Their commander came last.
He was bigger than the others, wearing a black exosuit with a red visor and a coolant canister locked against his back. A silver tube ran from the canister to a injector rig at his hip.
My body reacted before my mind did.
The core temperature display dropped half a point just looking at it.
"There," I said. "That's ours."
Kane's eyes narrowed. "Stay behind me."
"No."
"Vera."
"You take the commander. I take the injector."
"You won't get close."
"Then make me an opening."
The commander raised a heavy rifle. "Cross, kneel. The carrier is property of Helix Command."
Kane stepped in front of me.
"She isn't property."
"You sound compromised."
"I am compromised."
The commander hesitated.
Kane fired first.
The commander brought up his shield. The bullets sparked away. Two soldiers moved to flank him.
I ran.
Kane shouted my name, but I was already sliding under the first soldier's rifle. I drove the stolen sidearm into his knee joint and fired. The armor locked. He crashed forward.
The second soldier swung his weapon toward me.
Kane's hand seized my wrist through the link.
My arm snapped up and fired over my shoulder.
The soldier dropped.
"I told you to stay behind me," Kane barked.
"I heard you."
"Then why didn't you listen?"
"Because your plan sucked."
The commander charged Kane.
Their armor collided with a heavy metal boom. Kane blocked the first strike, but the commander drove him backward into the elevator doors.
I saw the injector rig swing loose at the commander's hip.
I moved toward it.
The commander caught me with his free hand and threw me across the bay.
My back slammed into a support beam. Pain flashed through the link from Kane at the same time as my own. We both grunted.
"Vera!" Kane shouted.
The commander raised his rifle at me.
Kane grabbed the barrel and forced it aside. The plasma burst tore through the ceiling instead of my chest.
Kane drove his forehead into the commander's visor.
The commander staggered. Kane ripped the injector hose from his hip.
The coolant canister tore free of the mount.
For one beautiful second, it was in Kane's hand.
Then the commander slammed his elbow into Kane's ribs.
The canister flew.
I lunged and caught it against my chest.
Cold flooded through the metal shell. The core in my spine reacted so hard my legs nearly folded.
"Vera!" Kane yelled. "Don't open it!"
"Why not?"
"The stabilizer isn't connected."
"Then connect it."
"You need the needle."
"Where is it?"
His eyes dropped to the commander's belt.
A long injector needle sat inside a sealed case. The commander saw us looking and ripped it free.
"Give me the canister," he ordered.
"Come take it."
"I will."
He charged.
Kane stepped between us and fired until his pistol clicked empty. The commander barely slowed.
I backed toward the elevator, clutching the coolant canister with both hands.
The commander swung at Kane. Kane blocked, but the impact drove him down to one knee.
"Kane!"
"Don't move!"
"You don't get to order me while you're losing."
"I'm not losing."
The commander grabbed Kane by the throat and lifted him off the floor.
The link carried the pressure into my own neck. I choked and dropped to one knee.
"Put him down," I said.
The commander looked at me through the red visor. "You feel that?"
"I feel enough to know you have terrible manners."
He tightened his grip.
Kane's pain punched through me. His vision blurred. His heart rate shot up, dragging mine with it.
HEART RATE MATCH: 100% CORE TEMPERATURE: 89% SHARED TRIGGER LIMIT: EXCEEDED
Kane's free hand clawed at the commander's wrist.
I lifted the coolant canister.
"Let him go," I said, "or I crush this."
The commander laughed. "You need that more than he does."
"Maybe. But you need it intact."
I slammed the canister against the floor.
The metal dented.
Kane's eyes snapped toward me.
"Vera, don't."
"You said we had five hours."
"Not if you rupture it."
"Then keep him busy."
I hit the canister again.
The commander threw Kane aside.
Kane crashed into a row of machinery. Through the link, I felt his shoulder burn and his ribs twist. My own body folded with his.
The commander came for me.
Kane rose behind him, grabbed the commander by the back of the helmet, and drove him into the elevator doors.
I ran for the injector case.
The commander caught my ankle.
I hit the floor face-first. The coolant canister slid from my hands.
His armored fingers closed around my boot and dragged me backward.
"You should have stayed in the street," he said.
"You should have worn a less stupid helmet."
I twisted, drew the stolen pistol, and fired into the joint above his wrist.
The armor sparked. His grip loosened.
I kicked free and rolled toward the canister.
Kane reached it first.
He snatched it up and threw it to me.
"Open the seal!"
"The injector!"
"I have it!"
He had ripped the needle case from the commander's belt. The casing split in his hand. A long, cold steel needle slid free.
He crossed the distance between us as the commander recovered.
"Turn around," Kane said.
I stared at the needle. "Absolutely not."
"The access port is at the base of your spine."
"I know where my spine is."
"Then turn around."
"You are not putting that thing in me."
"If I don't, the core cooks your motor cortex."
"Find another way."
"There isn't one."
The commander raised his rifle behind Kane.
I saw the red targeting beam settle across Kane's back.
"Kane," I said.
He didn't turn. "What?"
"Duck."
He dropped.
I fired over him. The shot struck the commander's visor and knocked his aim wide. His plasma burst tore across the ceiling.
Kane rolled to my side.
"Now," he said.
"You have got to be kidding."
"Turn around."
"If you hurt me—"
"I won't."
"If you try anything—"
"You shoot me."
"I will."
"I know."
The commander roared and charged again.
Kane grabbed my shoulder and spun me around. My back hit his chest. His arm locked across my ribs, holding me steady.
The needle hovered near my spine.
I could feel the cold point through my jacket.
His breath touched the side of my neck.
"Don't move," he said.
"You're holding me too tight."
"I'm keeping you still."
"Your hands are shaking."
"They're not."
"The link says they are."
The commander slammed into us.
Kane twisted, taking the hit across his back. The needle stayed in his hand. His other arm locked harder around me.
Our hearts hammered together.
The HUD began to count down.
CORE TEMPERATURE: 91% BRAIN-SAFE WINDOW: 00:47
"Kane," I whispered.
"I know."
"If this goes wrong—"
"It won't."
"You don't know that."
"I know exactly how it works."
"You said you weren't cleared for independent command."
"I was the one who designed the emergency bypass."
I turned my head enough to see his face. "You designed this thing?"
"Not this version."
"You built the weapon in my spine?"
"I built the system that can stop it from killing you."
The commander struck Kane again. His armor slammed into mine. Pain tore through both our bodies.
Kane's grip slipped.
The needle point pressed against my back.
"Do it!" I shouted.
"Hold still!"
"I am holding still!"
"You're fighting me."
"You're stabbing me!"
"Not yet."
The commander reached around Kane and grabbed my shoulder. He pulled me backward, wrenching me out of Kane's hold.
Kane's hand caught the front of my jacket.
For one second, the three of us were locked together. The coolant canister crushed between my ribs. The commander pulling one way. Kane pulling the other.
The core surged.
SHARED AGONY EVENT NEURAL OVERLAP: 88% CORE TEMPERATURE: 94%
Pain dropped us both.
Kane's knees hit the floor. Mine folded with him. The commander staggered as the link shock reached through the neural jammer.
The needle fell from Kane's hand.
It landed beside my palm.
The commander recovered first.
He raised his boot over Kane's head.
I grabbed the needle.
"Touch him," I said, "and I put this through your visor."
The commander looked down at me. "You won't."
"Try me."
Kane's hand closed around my ankle. His voice came rough through the link. "Vera, the port."
"I know."
"Now."
"You put it in."
His eyes found mine. "What?"
"Your hand is steadier."
"You don't trust me."
"I trust you to keep me alive. I don't trust myself not to stab you."
For the first time, something almost warm crossed his face.
"Fair."
He reached for the needle.
The commander kicked it from my hand.
It spun across the floor and struck the wall.
Kane surged up, drove his shoulder into the commander's legs, and took him down. The two men crashed beside the elevator.
I crawled for the needle.
My arms barely worked. The HUD flickered. The core temperature climbed past ninety-five.
"Vera!" Kane shouted. "Get the needle!"
"I heard you!"
"Move!"
"Stop yelling!"
"I'm not yelling."
"You're yelling inside my skull!"
The commander shoved Kane away and reached for his rifle.
I closed my fingers around the needle.
Kane saw it. He also saw the commander reaching for the weapon.
"Turn around!" he ordered.
I did.
My back pressed into his chest again. He wrapped one arm around me and seized the needle with the other.
The commander raised his rifle.
Kane pulled me backward, setting my spine against his chest to hold me still.
The needle hovered at the access port.
"Breathe," he said.
"I am breathing."
"Not like that."
"You want to criticize my breathing now?"
"I want you alive."
The commander took aim.
The core temperature flashed ninety-seven.
Kane's mouth brushed my ear as he lined up the needle.
"Vera," he said, "if you move, I miss."
"If you miss, I kill you."
"I know."
His fingers tightened.
The needle drove through the access port at the base of my spine.
Cold exploded through me.
I screamed. Kane screamed with me as the shared trigger dumped both our pain into the same nervous system. The commander fired. The plasma shot tore past my cheek and blew apart the elevator controls.
Kane forced the needle deeper.
"Hold still!" he shouted.
"Get it out!"
"Not yet!"
"Kane!"
"Three seconds!"
"I hate you!"
"Lie better!"
The coolant canister hissed open.
A freezing rush hit the core. The temperature display dropped from ninety-eight to ninety-four, then ninety, then eighty-six.
The pain broke.
Kane's arm stayed locked around me. His breath shook against my neck.
The commander rose through the clearing vapor, rifle damaged but still aimed at us.
His finger tightened on the trigger.
Kane pulled the needle free and shoved me behind him.
The coolant hiss grew louder, fog filling the maintenance bay. I heard the commander shout. I heard Kane chamber another round.
Then the hiss cleared.
A thin red targeting line appeared on the floor between our boots.
Kane looked down.
"That isn't a rifle," he said.
The concrete beneath us clicked.
I grabbed his sleeve. "What is it?"
His eyes locked on mine.
"Bunker-buster drill."
The floor split open under our feet—