Criminal Oaths (Accidental Conscript Book 5) by John Walker

Author:John Walker [Walker, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-08-09T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Caden made his way to the edge of the station until he found a window. He tried his comm, reaching out to Jenna. The connection proved spotty. He gave up, moving on from his position. What little he remembered about Borealis suggested he’d be coming upon one of the station’s storage rooms soon enough.

Nate needed such a place to undo the bindings. He might even find some weapons in the area. What he did afterward was anyone’s guess. It seemed unlikely he’d try to destroy the station, thus killing himself in the process, but it wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility either. No matter where he went, Security Corps would hunt him down.

Why would he care so much about Helmut that he’d throw his life away to save him? Getting rid of the evidence might prolong an investigation. It could even distract the authorities for a long while. But the traitors had to know they wouldn’t live normal lives. They’d be looking over their shoulders until they died.

Unless they think the Gorlans will somehow wipe the slate clean.

That suggested they knew about Jenna’s old friends and what they were up to. Were they aware of the attempt to forge a treaty with the Talmar? If so, and they didn’t tell anyone, that wouldn’t have gone over with the authorities either. Then again, Helmut and Nate showed no signs they cared about the opinions of their superiors.

Until they were on the verge of being caught.

The storage room had been ransacked at least a day before Caden stepped inside. If Nate found something to help him, it couldn’t have been substantial. Empty shelves lined the small room. A nearby closet was ajar, though nothing seemed to be inside their either. The light flashed on something metal.

Caden crouched to investigate. The bindings. Nate freed himself, but there were no signs of useful weapons in the vicinity. He might not have needed one though. He had a head start and could be going anywhere from the memory core to the reactor, depending on what mischief he wanted to commit.

Destroy the place or the data… what’s more important to him? Which one’s easier with limited resources? The former. Overloading the reactor didn’t take all that much work, but deleting data required account access. He might have had it, but that seemed unlikely since he’d been working on Constance for so long.

So I go to the reactor and pray I can stop him before he incinerates us both. Caden let out a heavy sigh. This seems like a really bad idea. He hesitated, considering an alternative path. I go back for Sarina, we find a way to reach Jenna, and get the hell out of here. Nate wasn’t worth it. Nor was the data they might preserve.

But maybe I’m wrong. The extent of Helmut’s betrayal needed to be realized. Security Corps might have more corrupt officials working out on the frontier. Though a lot of us died here. That hadn’t been allowed to sink in yet.

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