Jack lowered his weapon. His expression communicated utter defeat. His eyes found the ground, and then snapped back up to meet Hector’s.
“You’d betray the Union for her.”
It wasn’t a question, but something in Jack’s tone begged for clarity. Hector shook his head. “I don’t have a choice.”
“Falko won’t negotiate.”
“He gets the power core. I get my sister back—or at least a second chance.”
The loudspeaker interrupted their discourse. “Threat level red! Evacuate the facility immediately! Attention! Evacuate the premises immediately!”
Jack ground his teeth together. Time was running out. If the XLS had managed to set the spider nuke, it could go off any second. He engaged his communicator, turned its speaker up, and held it out so that Hector could hear. “I need to speak with General Falko.”
“He’s not available,” Taylor’s voice came through. “The spider nuke has been set. Get back here!”
“Sir,” Jack stared across the subassembly room at Hector. “We’re not bringing the power core back until you release Alexandra.”
“Can’t. She’s gone. Transferred out less than a minute ago.”
Hector took a step forward. “What!? Where’d she go?”
“We have a set of coordinates, that’s it.”
The alarm continued to wail with growing intensity. The evacuation warning played on a loop, disorienting them and setting nerves on edge.
“Come on, Hector! This is–”
“No.” Hector clutched the power core tighter to his chest. He spat his words, “I need more than that. I need immunity. For both of us.”
“Colonel?” Jack pleaded. “We’ve got to get out of here now!”
“Fine. Immunity. Now, get back here!”
Jack stuffed the datapad in his pocket, took a cautious step toward Hector and held out the teleportation drive Taylor had supplied. Hector accepted it. “Thank you, Jack.”
