12.
REDEK
Redek stood poised and ready for whoever walked through the door—if anyone did walk through the door. There had been multiple doors on the corridor. Perhaps they would be left alone.
He channeled all the intensity he'd been about to put into fucking Maddie into defending her.
If someone walked through the door and tried to make a move against them, he was ready to go down fighting.
"Rest up," a voice said from outside the door. "Tomorrow we strike, and you're going to need all your energy."
There was a chorus of "Yes, sir," from the corridor, and then the door was opened.
The first man through stopped in surprise when he saw Redek, armed to the teeth and on the brink of falling into a rage. "Boss?" he said, unsurely. "There are people in here."
"What do you mean people?" he demanded, shoving through. He looked Redek and Maddie up and down. "Oh." He didn't go for his weapon, though. "You're with me," he told them, offering no room for argument. "Get some sleep," he reiterated to his men.
Redek hesitated, but there was a whole battalion down there and fighting them wasn't an option, especially not when no threat of violence had been made against them. He picked up their backpacks and then nodding to Maddie, who stood up and followed close behind him.
"I'm Tisya," the man said, not looking over his shoulder as they walked down the corridor. "You are?"
"Redek and Maddie," he replied. "We were hiding from the IU troops."
"Because you're the two they're after. We've all seen the photos."
Redek stiffened. "Yes."
"What did you do?"
"Escaped from a powerful madman."
Tisya tutted. "The IU are disgusting."
Redek had no idea where to place him. He'd expected condemnation for having brought the forces to Tisya's planet in the first place. "We didn't know he had IU contacts," he explained anyway. "We thought we were just running from private security firms."
"The IU is full of corruption. Always expect them to have their hands in the nastiest pies."
Redek was naturally skeptical of powerful people, but the IU’s reputation wasn’t a bad one. "Where are you taking us?"
"To my boss. He'll want to speak to you."
Redek laced his fingers through Maddie's and squeezed, hoping to comfort her, but realizing it was for him just as much. He was out of his depth. Fighting he could do, but diplomacy? Negotiating their freedom?
That was a skill in neither of their playbooks.
"And what will he want to say to us?" Redek pushed.
Tisya didn't respond.
It didn't take them long to stop outside a door. Tisya knocked then opened it without waiting for a response. "Boss," he nodded. "I found the people the troops are after."
Tisya's boss sat cross-legged on the metal floor of a mostly empty room, a tablet in front of him, scrolling the same forums he'd seen Maddie looking at earlier.
He looked up at Tisya's entry, and then assessed Redek and Maddie. His gaze lingered on Redek's many weapons. "I see." He beckoned for them to come in. "Leave us, Tisya. I want to speak to them."
Tisya nodded and shut the door behind himself. Redek and Maddie stood close together. She was squinting to see if she could read what was on his tablet, and Redek was assessing the room. The door behind them was the only exit, though. They were still underground.
"I'm Fitan. You are?"
"Redek," he gestured to himself. "And Maddie."
“How did you get into the tunnels?" Fitan asked. "And sit down. I'm not your enemy."
There were no seats in the room, but Redek did as he was told, walking a few paces away from Fitan then gracefully lowering himself to the floor, mirroring Fitan’s position. Maddie sat with her knees to her chest, and left him to do the speaking. "I threatened the office worker in the hangar into telling us where we could hide."
"I see. And that was your plan? To wait and see what happened?"
"I'm one man. I can't fight an army."
"You can join one, though."
Redek quirked a brow. This wasn't where he'd expected the meeting to be going. He'd thought they were going to be offered up as sacrifice to get the IU forces to leave. "What's your plan? I heard they hadn't used force yet."
"I would never hand over a prisoner to the IU," Fitan said with a curled lip and clenched fists. "No one deserves such a fate. They are terrorists, and I won’t negotiate with them."
Redek nodded his thanks. "They plan to kill us if they find us," he confirmed.
"It would be a kind fate compared to what I've seen them do to people. Our plan is to kill as many as we can."
He didn't know whether that was a good plan or not. Waiting until the IU forces got bored of searching, or giving up someone he had no allegiance to for the sake of his citizens, seemed like a safer plan. Fighting the IU was more likely to get them targeted by harsher campaigns in the future even if they won today.
He certainly wasn't about to say that, though.
It sounded like Fitan had bad blood with the IU, and if he was going to make a bad decision because of that, Redek wasn't going to stop him. Not if it meant he had a chance of keeping Maddie safe.
"I would be honored to join you in your attack," Redek said.
Maddie made a small noise of protest beside him, fixing him with a concerned gaze. He ignored her, for now.
Fitan nodded. "I'm glad to hear it. Our attack will take place tomorrow at sun-up. We work in coordination with the leaders of other boroughs to take out as many ships and people as possible. We are outnumbered, but we out-skill them and our passion is fierce. Their forces will be gone by the end of the day. Report to Tisya. He will assign you. Can the girl fight?" He nodded at Maddie without looking at her.
Redek fought the urge to push her behind him and completely block her from view. His, "No," was emphatic. "She's never even held a weapon before. A condition of me fighting with you is that you keep her as safe as you can."
"You are in no place to be issuing demands." Fitan's voice changed from personal to harsh in a second. "But this is one that I would have followed anyway. She will be kept safe."
Scolded, Redek bowed his head. "Thank you."
Fitan made a shooing motion. "Turn right and enter the second door on your left. Tisya will explain more."
Redek stood effortlessly and offered Maddie a hand up. The moment they were out of the door, she pressed a hand to his chest to stop them from following Fitan's instructions. "You can't fight," she said. "You heard him. We're outnumbered. You might get hurt."
"If I don't fight, we'll both be dead."
"But what if you die and I'm left here with no one?" she whispered. "You can't do that to me."
"I would happily lay down my life to protect you." It wouldn't even require a second thought.
Her eyebrows pinched. "What if I wouldn't want you to?"
"That's not a choice you can make."
"I wouldn't be able to just keep going if you died. It wouldn't work like that."
"Of course it would. Eventually." He was a hypocrite. If their roles were reversed, he knew he wouldn't be able to deal with her death.
"But I love you." It was a whisper, said with glassy eyes.
"I love you, too." He rested his forehead against hers. "Which is why you'll never be able to talk me out of sacrificing my life for you if it came down to it. I have to fight with these people. I have no choice. But I'll come back to you."
Maddie was stopped from responding by a door opening down the corridor and Tisya sticking his head out. "Fitan said you were coming here." He was making sure they hadn't tried to flee.
Redek gave a final look to Maddie, warning her to keep her protests to herself, and hopefully conveying even an inch of the emotion he felt toward her. "Come on," he said.