Once the light of the Nexus faded, Alexa felt her body form back together from the disassembled atoms. This felt even worse than regular teleportation. She had to fight the urge to vomit, and even had to keep herself from removing her helmet to breathe easier.

  After regaining her bearings, she took stock of her surroundings. She was surrounded by a lot of strange machinery that looked foreign to her. Not as if she were ever a whiz with machines to begin with, but even these looked far more alien than her limited knowledge could account for.

  She was also alone. Alexa tried to open up comms with the rest of the team, but her HUD showed that no other Knights were in communication range. No way for her to know the exact reason for that. Alexa hoped it just meant there was some interference from the Dreadnought as opposed to the Nexus missing the target. And she didn’t want to even entertain the possibility that she was the only one who made it onboard.

  Seemed likely this was some sort of engine room. Alexa was tempted to just lay waste to everything in here, then teleport out. She still hadn’t been convinced just blowing up the Dreadnought wasn’t the best solution. Even if there were innocents onboard, maybe some collateral damage was to be expected. And wasn’t like she knew anything about interdimensional teleportation equipment. Blowing the ship could possibly be her only option.

  No, have to at least try to find the others first, she told herself.

  She spotted a door across from where she stood. Alexa went over to it, but saw there wasn’t any handle. She slapped the door a few times, but it didn’t respond. Then she noticed a small button right next to the frame. Alexa pushed it, and the door slid open.

  Smooth one, Monroe.

  Alexa stepped into the hall, and was immediately greeted with three prongs rushing at her face. She recoiled, and the prongs stopped, frozen in front of her. Alexa then noticed they were attached to a long, green staff, and she visibly groaned.

  Of course, he had to be the first one she found.

  Ethan retracted the Aquatrident and tipped his head. “Sorry, didn’t know it was you.”

  “Maybe try looking first and stabbing second.” Behind her helmet, she rolled her eyes. “Is it just you?”

  Ethan tilted his head. “Why did you say it like that?”

  “Like what?”

  “Like you’re disgusted to be alone with me.”

  Alexa shook her head. “You’re imagining things. Do you know where the others are or not?”

  He paused, then said, “No, you’re the first one I’ve found. Can’t seem to make contact with anyone else.”

  “Me neither.”

  “Well…we should go find them.”

  Ethan turned away from her and walked back down the hallway he’d come from. Alexa kept some distance from him, not wanting to get too close. He glanced over his shoulder at her.

  “I don’t have cooties or anything.”

  “Who knows what you have…” she muttered under her breath.

  “Okay…” Ethan stopped, then turned and walked right up to Alexa. “You wanna tell me what’s going on with you?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Then maybe you can explain why you’re acting like a jealous ex-girlfriend?”

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  Alexa scoffed and stormed past him. “Oh, get over yourself.”

  “Don’t think I’m out of line for thinking that. Ever since you found out that I’d spoken to Sylva—”

  “You what?” Alexa spun on him. “You think I’m jealous of that bitch?”

  Ethan held up his hands. “I’m just trying to clear the air.”

  “We slept together, that’s it. Like I told you the next day, it was fun, but don’t make a thing out of it,” said Alexa.

  “Okay, so if it’s not jealousy, then what?”

  “Exactly what I said—I can’t believe you were stupid enough to buy into her bullshit.” Alexa jabbed a finger in Ethan’s face. “You’re smart enough to know better—or at least I thought you were. And it pisses me off to see how fucking gullible you are. I might expect that from Liv, but not—”

  “You would, huh?”

  Alexa’s entire body froze. She groaned, and her anger immediately sank into regret. Slowly, she turned around and saw Olivia standing just ahead of them, shoulders slumped. Even without the benefit of seeing her eyes, Alexa could almost feel the pain in her teammate’s body language.

  “Liv…I didn’t know…I mean…”

  “Whatever,” said Olivia. “You’re both so damn loud, it was easy to follow the voices. Nice stealth work, Alexa.” She turned and walked down an intersecting corridor. “Follow me, I found something you need to see.”

  As Ethan walked past Alexa to catch up to Olivia, Alexa almost barely heard him whisper, “Nice one.”

  Alexa froze for a moment. Once she was able to pry her foot from her mouth, she ran after the others. Olivia led the pair to a staircase and up a level. They came to a corridor with windows on either side. Olivia walked only halfway down, then stopped in the center and turned to one set of windows.

  “Have a look.”

  Alexa and Ethan both came up beside her and looked through the glass. The corridor was an enclosed walkway and below, they saw a large holding area. The open spaces had makeshift dividers and cots set up, and they saw what had to be thousands of people. Some looked more human, while others had very obvious alien characteristics. But one thing they all had in common was how desperate their situation seemed.

  “She was telling the truth,” said Ethan. “These people, they’re all victims of the Quantum Group.”

  “Still think we should blow the ship?” asked Olivia.

  Alexa felt both sets of eyes boring into her. The judgmental stares almost made her want to dig in even more. But she couldn’t deny her own sympathy for those people down there.

  “Let’s just find Tom and Rachel, and figure out how to get out of this place,” she said as she pried herself away from the glass and continued down the corridor.

  The door ahead of Alexa opened before she could even reach it. She blinked in confusion, but then she saw the figure on the other side. The lithe, black shadow used Alexa’s surprise as an opportunity to deliver a swift roundhouse that threw Alexa tumbling back to the floor.

  “You see now, I hope?” asked Sylva as she stepped into the corridor. She gestured to the windows on either side. “Did I not tell the truth, Ethan?”

  Alexa felt her rage building as soon as she laid eyes on Sylva. She summoned her Zephyrwhip, not wasting another word. Alexa twirled the weapon’s tail above her, then cracked it against the floor to create hard wind shears.

  Sylva moved fast, but still not fast enough to dodge the shears. One of them cut right into her arm just as Sylva was about to draw her blades. The injury made her pause, and that then gave Olivia an opportunity to slam her Terra staff against the ground and send tremors through the floor.

  The Shadowblade’s footing collapsed beneath her, and she fell. Alexa came in next and threw the whip’s tail in Sylva’s direction. The tail weaved its way through the air, like a snake crawling through the earth, and wrapped itself around Sylva’s throat. Alexa tugged on the whip, and the tail responded by shortening its length, dragging Sylva closer to her enemy.

  “Hold on, don’t kill her!” Ethan pleaded.

  Alexa snapped her head at him. She almost retracted her helmet so he could see the anger on her face, but she resisted that urge. “Are you kidding? Even now?”

  “Those people down there,” Ethan began, addressing Sylva and ignoring Alexa’s protest. “They’re looking to you for leadership. Do they know that you’re going to do to my world what was done to theirs?”

  “It’s a just cause, we deserve to be made whole,” said Sylva.

  “At what cost?” asked Olivia.

  “Whatever the cost, we pay it gladly.” Sylva turned her gaze on Alexa. “Go on, puppet. Kill away.”

  Alexa tightened her grip on the whip, clenching it around Sylva’s throat. The alien woman’s eyes bulged and she began to struggle for breath.

  Ethan and even Olivia protested, but Alexa ignored their pleas. At the very least, she’d ensure that this bitch died today. But before she could strangle the life out of Sylva, the entire Obsidian Dreadnought quaked. Alexa lost her grip on her weapon, and was brought to her knees. So was Ethan, and even Olivia.

  “Are you doing this?” Ethan asked Olivia.

  Olivia shook her head. “It’s not me!”

  Sylva drew one of her blades and was able to cut through the whip. The strand that remained around her neck fell to the ground, and she stood and ran.

  “Dammit, she’s getting away!” Alexa got back to her feet, then chased after Sylva. In the background, she heard Ethan calling her name, but she ignored him.