I dropped off my tray on the way out and headed to the cargo bay, forcing myself to eat the food as I went. The sausage was even grosser than I’d expected. It was slimy and chewy and chunky—which made eating it a chore—but seeing Santiago had been kind of awesome.

If I was looking for bright spots here, at least I had Santiago and Ahiga. Two people I could count on. I tried to keep that in mind as I walked down the deserted, hot hallways to my work duty. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen out there on the surface, but my plan hadn’t changed. I was going to survive until someone got me off this hell planet. End of story.

Chapter Eighteen

I followed the map on my wrist unit and ended up at Cargo Bay One. From what the map said, there were seven cargo bays on the base. My heart was pounding, and sweat dripped down my temples, and I wanted to believe that it was from walking through so many sweltering hallways, but I wasn’t sure I could lie to myself well enough to make it believable.

This was it. I was about to endure the hell that Jason dreamed up, but I was going to do it with my head held high. I glanced at the camera hanging in the hallway. He probably wasn’t watching, but I was sure someone was. I wouldn’t let them see me squirm. I wouldn’t give them that pleasure.

Before I could think any more about it, I slapped my hand on the door’s scanner—ignoring the energy ripping through my system—and the door opened.

Stepping into the cargo bay was like entering a yawning cavern with stacks of containers climbing their way to the ceiling. I couldn’t tell exactly how tall the room was because of all the piles. They seemed to tower impossibly high, and I couldn’t help but hunch down a little.

It didn’t seem safe for them to be placed like that, but if it wasn’t then SpaceTech wouldn’t allow it, especially if anything valuable was in the containers.

I forced my shoulders back and my chin high, and looked up at the stacks. The squat, round tubs towered easily twenty floors above me, ending in a black abyss overhead. Bots zoomed in and out between them at various heights, scanning barcodes on the sides and moving containers through the air to different spots. I wasn’t sure what was happening exactly with the bots or the containers, but I was here and on time, and there was no one in sight.

Getting in trouble for being late wasn’t on my agenda. Not on my first day. “Hello?” I called out. “Anyone here?”