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 want to do this. I don’t want to betray anybody. We all win if they let her go. They get 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 was likely to go off any second.
He engaged his communicator, turned on its speaker, and held out the datapad so that Hector could hear. “Colonel! We have the power core.”
“Good. Get back here! Everything is prepped–”
“Sir,” Jack cut him off. “We’re not coming back unless you release Alexandra.”
A brief moment of silence. “She’s already gone. She escaped.”
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’m not going back until I have full assurance that you will send me after her! She needs immunity! I need immunity!”
“Colonel?” Jack pleaded. “We’ve got to get out of here now!”
“Yes, fine! Immunity! For both of you! But get back here right now! I’m losing my window to make this happen!”
Jack stuffed the datapad in his pocket, took a cautious step toward Hector and held out the teleportation drive Taylor had supplied. His eyes begged Hector to accept it.
Hector grabbed it. “Thank you.”
