Perhaps, I thought, perhaps this was an outcome he had foreseen from the first moment he set eyes on House of Wisdom through the shuttle window. Not Adam’s cruelty, not SPEC’s powerlessness, but the span of his life cut down to hours that could be counted on one hand, and this magnificent mausoleum, these dead, the same who had been with him all along, with him still, in these final moments. I had always hated the boy in the news reports for not crying at his parents’ funerals, when I had felt like I would never be finished shedding tears of rage and grief for my father. But I had seen now what had been in that boy’s mind. I wondered if anybody had ever told him it was not his fault he survived when so many hadn’t.

I walked along the curve of the bridge again. I glanced over my shoulder. Jas was watching the display. I asked, “It’s still working? The hydrogen?”

He answered without turning. “In the lower levels, at least, the concentration is well above where the fail-safes should be triggered, and the automatic filtering system hasn’t switched itself back on.”

He pointed to a display with a scrolling series of letters and numbers.

LV 0 H2 4% O2 18% N2 76%

LV 1 H2 5% O2 18% N2 75%

LV 2 H2 3% O2 20% N2 77%

“The concentrations are changing slowly now, but the recycling system is ramping up electrolysis,” he said.

I bent to pick up the suppression weapon and tucked it into the back of my belt. “Good,” I said.

“It’s flammable at four percent,” he went on. “We just have to hope nothing sparks early. Right now we should reach flammable concentrations on every level before—” His voice caught. “Impact.”

He didn’t sound relieved, or proud. Only tired.

“And this level will be last,” I said.

I stopped behind his chair. I reached around to my back and took hold of the weapon. It wasn’t the same design as the ones Adam’s guards had used at the homestead, but it was similar enough that I understood the settings. Deter and subdue. Shock and sedation.

He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “Yeah. By the time we open the doors, the whole ship will be ready to go up.”

“Okay,” I said. “Good.”

I switched the weapon to Subdue and pressed it to the back of his neck. He sucked in a short, sharp breath, and every muscle in his body tensed. I pulled the trigger. The hum was quick, soft. Jas slapped his hand to his neck and twisted around to look up at me.

“What the fuck? What did you do?”

But already his words were slurring, his eyes fluttering.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I’ll finish it.”

He slumped in the chair. I caught him before he could fall. At this acceleration even the slightest bump on the head might cause injury. My hands were shaking.

•   •   •