“Let’s focus on the test,” Ahiga said. “You pass that, you’ll get thrown into training. Usually takes a day or two before you have to do your first run. Maybe more. It could buy us some time to get you out of here without another dose of nanos.”

“Okay.” I had to make this work. I had to pass the test. Ahiga had managed to get me a copy of a practice test, but it wasn’t the version that was given here. So the fact that I did fine on the practice test didn’t necessarily mean anything.

“I’ll be around. Watching, as always.” He pulled me against his chest.

I held onto the sheet with one hand and leaned into him. The fact that Ahiga was hugging me told me how bad it’d gotten. I didn’t remember the last time I’d been really hugged hard like this.

“You scared me this time.”

I patted his back. “I scared me, too.” It was something I didn’t want to repeat.

He leaned back. “All else fails, I’m not opposed to stealing a SpaceTech ship and trying to make a run for it.”

That was an incredibly dumb idea, and we both knew it. “We wouldn’t make it far.”

“No. But at least we’d go down with a fight. An honorable death, instead of this shit Jason is pulling.”

I almost laughed, but the look on his face was too fierce.

He was out of his mind.

Audrey’s eyes were wide, and her face was deathly pale as she looked back and forth between us. “It can’t come to that. You… That’s just…”

“We’ll see.” Ahiga stood from his stool and gave my leg a barely there pat. “I’ll let you know if there’s an update.”

“Ahiga?” I asked before he could open the door.

“What?”

“Why are you helping me? Why would you give up your life to help me run?” Stealing a ship from SpaceTech? That was massively insane.

His jaw ticced a few times, and then he let out a long, slow breath. “When you’re safely away from here, I’ll tell you my story.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

The door closed behind him, and I looked at Audrey. “Holy shit.”

She ran a hand down her face. “Holy shit is right. That was intense. The look he just gave you?”

She was right. The look in Ahiga’s eyes was equal parts sorrow, hope, and determination. At least that’s what it looked like to me. I wasn’t sure I knew him well enough to fully understand him or why he was helping me.