He rubbed a hand down his face. “I know we’ve been over this, but I still say I could sign up for mining runs on Abaddon. With the bonus I get from finishing all five runs, I could buy your—”

“Not happening.” My outrage at the idiocy of what he was saying burned through my panic. “Mining lucole is a death sentence and I—”

“It’s the best shot we have! You hide while I clear the five mining runs to Apollyon, get the money, and go to Tellus 5. I’d have more than enough cash to get some legit files made for you then. You get off this rock. Meet me there. Once we’re away from here, we can find a way to reach Declan without his brother knowing, and you can finally be safe.”

He was nuts if he really believed that was an actual possibility. “You make it sound easy when none of it is. Let’s just put aside the idea that I’d be able to successfully hide long enough for you to sign up for duty and actually clear all five runs because, with all the surveillance that SpaceTech has, that’s going to be impossible. It would take you at least a couple months to get to Abaddon, train, and finish all five runs. I can’t hide from them for months. Days, maybe. Weeks, probably not. And months? You’re delusional.”

“It won’t—”

“Yes. It will take you that long. Say you sign up tomorrow and leave the same day, which isn’t happening, but for the sake of argument, let’s just think of the best case scenario. Once you take off, you’ll be in cryo for at least a couple weeks to get to Abaddon. I’m sure once you get there you’ll have to do some sort of training. Add a week for that. And then you’ll complete all five runs to Apollyon.”

I got up and started pacing. White bits on the ground cracked under my feet. With every noise, my chest grew tighter. This place was a reminder of how many had failed to outrun SpaceTech. I wasn’t sure how I could possibly fare any better than them.

“Are you okay?”

I spun to Roan. Was he crazy? Of course, I wasn’t okay.

He held up his hands. “Don’t get pissed at me. You’ve been quiet for like the last couple minutes, pacing around here.”

“I’m just thinking. This place. This situation. SpaceTech. And now you’re thinking about signing up for mining runs? It’s all so iced. All of it. But you can’t do this. Not for me. Not ever. It’s way too dangerous. You’ll die trying to mine fuel for SpaceTech—the most evil company in the known universe. Is that really how you want to end your life?”