Page 105 of Bound By Stars
Asha relaxes in my arms like she’s relieved by the sound of her dad’s voice. She tries to pull my hand off her face and stand, but I hold on tighter. There’s something not right about this.
“Zone four blew early, sir. Herded the first-class population in different directions. Part of them made it down the main stairway before it was blocked. The other half ran for the central stairs and were trapped in the corridor on the opposite side of the arboretum as planned.” Another unfamiliar voice. Urgent and rough.
Captain Nazari goes so quiet I can barely make out his words. “This is a complete disaster. Our message is entirely lost.”
“It could still work. There are a lot of prominent figures trapped in the corridor,” another crew member says.
A softer but confident voice chimes in. “The casualties were supposed to be limited. That is no longer possible.”
The captain lets out a deep sigh. “How many crew did we lose?”
“Only the five loyalists, sir.”
My eyes shift to the dead crew member next to Asha. Darkened by our shadows, I can barely make out her white star badge emblem splattered with blood.
Captain Nazari is the one behind this. But…he’s such a central figure in society. He’s at every event. People love him, trust him. Even my mother reveres him.
One of them, tall and slender, descends a few steps into the amphitheater, in direct view of me and Asha.
I hold my breath. Both of us stay completely still, hidden only by shadow.
“The system could reset any minute. We need to keep moving.” He turns and jogs back up the stairs.
“What’s the status of my family?” Captain Nazari asks.
“Your wife was escorted to your escape pod, but we’re having trouble locating your kids.”
“Find them!” Captain Nazari snaps, sending two of them jogging back to the hall. “Get everyone into the pod. What about the girl?”
“Escaped,” the soft-voiced crew member says.
The remaining group marches back out the open bridge door, their footsteps receding in different directions.
On the other side of the aisle, Curran helps Tar stand. His voice is hollow.“Two more bodies over here.”
“Another back here,” Weslie calls, appearing from her hiding spot.
I pull Asha off the floor as tears stream down her face and her breath hitches between soft sobs.
Tar blinks slowly, shaking his head and meeting my eyes across the aisle. “I had no idea he—”
“You all need to come see this.” Skye waves up to the surveillance station.
When I get Asha up the steps behind Tar and Curran, a soft banging makes us all jump.
Weslie opens a supply closet door.
ILSA rolls out, following her to meet us at the wall of screens.
A third of the camera feeds are black with the word OFFLINE flashing in white. Half of the remaining first-class areas are sealed off by emergency doors. Elysian passengers roam past the cameras in the living quarter halls, wandering like they’re searching for a porter to explain the flashing lights and blaring alarms.
On one screen, the main stairway sits abandoned and useless, a steel door blocking the top of the steps. The clock still counting down the time to arrival. In the feed from the dining room, draped tablecloths on empty tables sway with a mild jolt that rolls through the ship, while down the hall outside, another camera shows a herd of first-class passengers jamming the stairwell to the lower levels. Everyone pushing and fighting to get to the remaining escape pods, but in their panic, getting nowhere.
Most of the first-class passengers are trapped, funneled into a single overcrowded corridor as more cameras go black.
Skye points at the feed packed with familiar faces.
I scan the screen. “Where is that?”
