“After. You’ll just have to trust me.” Valerie’s smile grew. “How you do it is up to you. But you better hurry. Every minute means another few deaths, doesn’t it? Earth’s waiting.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

129 Days After Launch

2 Days to Mars

1.5 Hours to Change Trajectory

120 Days to Cavendish

Naomi climbed the spoke. Valerie followed. Her captain had plucked the pepper spray and put it in her coverall pocket.

Naomi desperately hoped this was some sort of bluff. That if she seemed willing enough to do it, Valerie would consider the test passed. When she glanced behind her, Valerie’s upturned face was pale against the dark blue of her stolen uniform, the commander of a stolen ship.

Work the problem. Find the solution.

Even if she managed to somehow surprise Valerie and subdue her, Valerie wouldn’t give up the formula unless she damn well wanted to. She would probably even hold up under torture, though no one on the ship would have the guts for that.

Valerie was willing to turn on a woman who had served her loyally until she realised billions of lives was too high a price to pay. Even if Naomi did this, she had to hope that Valerie’s past as a woman who kept her promises continued. That Naomi wasn’t simply being used, yet again a tool for her mentor’s whims.

Gravity took hold, making Naomi’s limbs heavier. Their footsteps echoed down the spoke. Naomi’s ankles were swollen from the pregnancy, her chest tight with stress. Every step was bringing them nearer to Lebedeva and Naomi still didn’t know what she’d do.

Valerie stayed close. In the hallway that pulsed with warning lights, she loaded the map on the nearest comms panel. “Lebedeva’s outside Hart and Hixon’s door still. She won’t be getting through any time soon. Time’s ticking, Nomi.”

“Valerie—I will do this, if you ask. But it’s a waste of good intellect and skill. She’ll come back to our side.”

Lebedeva was not replaceable, whatever Valerie said. The others’ engineering skills weren’t nearly as sophisticated, and on a ship that had already faltered twice, they’d need her, notably if Lockwood’s cut corners continued to jeopardise the craft’s systems. And what about once they landed on Cavendish?

“I’ve laid it out, Naomi. It’s up to you whether you’re brave enough to follow through. If you do this, I know you’ll do anything. And Hart and Hixon will know that, too.”

There were so many things Naomi wanted to say. That loyalty through force was not loyalty at all. That by forcing Naomi to do this, Valerie was breaking any chance at true allegiance for any of them. Perhaps Valerie knew that, and simply wanted to hurt Naomi, break her down into a tractable mould. Her mentor’s eyes were blazing with fervour.