Becca headed for Operations after she’d cleaned up. Her hands were pink from scrubbing Chief’s blood off. She kept them rammed in her pants pocket unable to look at them and what they represented.

Ethan had called a meeting. By the sound of it, it had already gotten off to a good start. Voices were raised, and Luca’s angry words echoed down the corridor. She paused on the threshold, reluctant to enter the room. Chaotic emotions swirled inside her, unleashed by her conversation with Ethan. God, he’d tasted so good. Kissing him had unlocked the past she’d locked down and now she was adrift, unsure what was best for either of them. She didn’t know what to do with the knowledge that he’d come after her. Everything she’d believed for the past ten years was shifting beneath her feet, eroding her focus.

She rubbed her eyes with a shaky hand as hot tears threatened.

There was no time to think about any of this. Her team needed her. Shit. Owen, Redd, and Chief, all dead. The only priority she could allow herself was getting everyone out of the habitat and back to the surface.

But it wasn’t going to be easy. Divisions brought on by Redd’s actions were evident as soon as she entered the room.

Ethan’s men were grouped on the far side, Luca scowling at the front of the group, his leg twitching in rapid agitation, his face twisted in anger. Nik and Cade stood behind him, their hands resting on their weapons far too comfortably for Becca’s liking. Only Finn was absent, completing repairs on the Lady. Tension hummed in the air, almost palpable.

The remains of her team were on the opposite side of the room, where Ethan also paced. Preacher was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed, face expressionless. Em sat next to him, but it was Betts that drew Becca’s attention. She was crunched in one of the seats, her knees tucked up to her chin, her eyes vacant and unreadable as Ethan came to a halt in front of her, hands on his hips. He looked pissed.

He spotted Becca in the doorway. “Becca, I was just discussing with Dr. Soh how Redd got out of his restraints. He was tied down pretty tight.” Ethan’s words were clipped and abrupt. Grief etched harsh lines on his face.

Becca crossed the room and touched his arm. “Ethan, I’m so sorry about Chief.”

He acknowledged her words with a nod, but shrugged her off, his expression pinched. “And Shaw. He seemed like a good man.”

Becca swallowed, her throat tight. “He was. He was gentle. A peacemaker, not a fighter.”

“It wasn’t me.”

Becca turned.

Betts was staring at Ethan, her gaze uncharacteristically blatant and challenging.

Becca laid a reassuring hand on Betty’s forearm. “No one said it was you, Betts.”

“He did.” Betty stabbed a finger at Ethan.

Em nodded at Becca confirming Betty’s accusation.

Ethan stared back, impassive.

Shit. “Ethan?”

“Dr. Soh is under arrest until we’re ready to leave the habitat.”

Betty straightened abruptly, her chair tipping to the floor. “What?”

“Ethan, Dr. Soh would never endanger anyone here.”

Ethan’s tone was clipped. “You secured him, Becca?”

“Yes, but what—”

“Locked him down tight?”

“Yes, Ethan—”

“So how did Redd get his hands free?”

“I…” Becca was desperate to find an explanation that would absolve the colleague she’d shared six months of her life with, but there was no easy solution to this. She’d triple-checked Redd’s restraints herself. He’d been locked down, every buckle threaded and secured. “I don’t know,” Becca admitted as she rubbed at a muscle pulsing at her temple.

“Cade, Nik, can you escort Dr. Soh to the docking bay? That way she’s ready to go when we are.”

Luca tapped his boot on the floor in agitation. “We should all be leaving now. Hard drives are on the Lady and ready to go.”

Ethan gave a minute head shake. “The Lady isn’t ready yet and we need both mini subs to evacuate all personnel. We wait till Finn gives us the say so. Clear?”

Luca shot Ethan a grudging nod, but his mouth remained a thin line of disagreement.

Becca watched, speechless and frustrated, as Cade and Nik hustled Betty from the room. “Ethan, Betty wouldn’t hurt a fly. None of this makes any sense.”

Em came and wrapped her arm around Becca. “Let’s just keep our heads down and get through the next few hours,” she muttered.

No. That was the last thing she was going to do.

Becca glanced at Aimee’s console, blue and white swirls looping lazily around the Triton logo. What secrets was Aimee withholding? Her jaw clenched. She was damned if some AI was going to decide what she should or shouldn’t know. “Ethan, how long till the Lady’s ready?”

“A few hours. Maybe four.”

Becca forced a smile and tugged her hand through her hair. “I’m not going to sit back and wait for Triton to give me some watered-down explanation once they’ve pulled all the hard drives apart. I’ve lost two of my team members. I want to know what’s going on now.”

“How are you going to do that?” Em released Becca and wrapped her arms around herself as if she was cold, even though the air was stuffy and warm.

“I’m going find the answers myself.”