Ethan was half listening to Chief as he pored over the 3D map of the habitat. He was glad Becca was still in the infirmary checking Em over. It gave him much needed time to get his head on straight. His mind was still stuck on the china cat. How the hell did she still have it? And why, when they’d been apart for so long? He rubbed the skin across his nose, unanswered questions making his sinuses ache. He needed to focus on the job. Not Becca.

The holo-map of the entire base was detailed in lines of pale blue light. Ethan focused on it, seeking distraction. Before him, the star-shaped design of the habitat was laid out with Operations in the center surrounded by the spokes of the docking bay, living quarters, engineering, and research labs. Tom Preacher had asked Aimee to highlight the air ventilation system and supply conduits over the basic structure. After Aimee had run a scan, motion sensors indicated Redd was somewhere in the air supply conduits but the signal was unstable.

“Right now, he doesn’t appear to be moving, but he was earlier. This is where we last tracked him.” Betty pointed to the small red dot deep in the heart of the habitat’s air ventilation system.

Chief looked thoughtful. “We’ll have to go in after him.”

“Remind me why we can’t just leave him there after all the trouble he’s caused?” Nik’s face was washed out in the light from the map. Combined with the stitched gash on his forehead, the look was ghoulish. Luca fidgeted beside him, patched up by Becca who’d pronounced him fit for duty despite Luca’s protestations to the contrary.

Chief glared across the digital map. “Nikolai.”

“Still think it’s a waste of company time and money,” Luca grumbled, fiddling with the dressing on the back of his neck.

Preacher glared at Luca from the other side of the map. “Grunts aren’t paid to think.”

“You—” Luca lunged forward, his arms thrusting through the illuminated map. He swiped but Preacher dodged, swearing and laughing simultaneously.

Ethan grabbed Luca’s collar and dragged him off the display console. “That is not helping.”

“Fucking let go of me.” Luca wrestled Ethan off and glared at Preacher, his jaw set.

“Luca. We’re all fucking stuck down here and we need to work together, whether we like it or not.” Chief chewed his pencil. “You understand? Am I clear?”

Luca rolled his shoulders. “Crystal, Chief.” But his gaze was locked on Preacher.

“We don’t have time to starve him out, as attractive a proposition as that is,” Chief said.

“I’ll go.”

Everyone turned to look at Shaw. His chin was high, his jaw set.

Chief grinned and rolled the pencil in his mouth. “You sure?”

“He’s our boss. I want to help.”

Ethan couldn’t help but admire Shaw. No shirking there. “Chief, if he’s sure…”

Shaw thrust his chest out and ignored the litany of expletives emanating from Preacher. “Yes. I’m sure.”

Ethan tapped the glass top with his knuckles. Every extra minute he spent here was a torment. “Let’s do this then and go home.”

Ten minutes later, Ethan was standing in front of the open ventilation shaft in Engineering. Blood had dried to a crumbly trail that disappeared with a brush of his fingers.

He’d stripped out of his protective armor, down to his cargos and t-shirt. There just wasn’t room for any heavy protection in the limited space. It was going to be a tight squeeze just to get his body in the damn thing. Chief patted him on the back with a thump of reassurance, but Ethan didn’t acknowledge it, working on keeping his breathing under control.

He straightened, glad that no one could see the beads of anxiety pooling in the small of his back. On his wrist, a motion sensor showed the location of Nik, Luca, and Shaw. One man for each main entry point into the ventilation system. If they all converged at a central location in Operations, they’d be able to flush Redd out.

Ethan cleared his mind, bent and climbed into the ventilation shaft.

“You cozy in there?” Nik’s voice buzzed in his ear.

“Like a bug in a rug. Moving into the air vent now.” Ethan bent his knees and dropped down, rocking his hips to fit the angles of his body into the narrow shaft.

He wormed his way forward on his elbows and hips. Sheet metal pressed at his sides and his head kept bumping off the roof as he inched forward. His breath was hot in his own face as he focused on the weapon in his sweaty palm. When he stopped to wipe his hand because his grip was sliding, he left a damp smear that gleamed in the yellow light from his headlight. His vision blurred, the metal appearing to contract around his body, forcing his elbows to dig into his ribs.

Ethan closed his eyes and drew a shaky breath as his mind tumbled ten years back in time. Trapped again, but in a smoldering car wreck with his wife unconscious next to him, blood soaking her body. The brisk efficient voices of the fire brigade’s cutting team were almost drowned out by the crunch of metal cutters on the roof of their car. He took a slow breath. These memories had been buried deep for so long, but now they were clamoring on the edge of his mind. Tripping him at every corner.

Becca. She was the only connection to his past. The reason for this resurgence.

Fuck.

His comms unit crackled.

“Ethan? It’s me.”

Her voice was a cool balm. “I’ve got you on the monitor. Nik and the others are on the move. Redd’s not moving right now, so we’re not sure where he is.”

“Great. He’s probably taken an escape pod and gone for a beer.”

Nik laughed over the comms system. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

“Because I have all the best ideas.” Ethan grunted as he rotated onto his side to navigate a ninety-degree turn. His body was not designed to fit around corners like a bloody snake. Numbers were stenciled in white paint above his head. “Entering section 1.1.”

He paused, aimed his headlight down the interconnecting tunnels that linked to sections two, three, and four. Left and right, empty metal panels winked back at him. Smooth sheet steel and rivets. No signs of a mad scientist. “Section 1.1 is clear.”

He rested his head on the cool metal and took several slow breaths. The air was thick and treacly, resisting his efforts to pull it into his lungs.

“Come on,” he muttered and inched forward again.

His comms unit sprang to life “Anyone else feeling like the inside of a tube of fucking toothpaste?” Nik complained.

Chief’s acerbic tones were quick to retort, “Nikolai, stop complaining. Your ass is being paid to do this shit. Get a move on.”

“Becca, any movement yet?” Ethan asked as he got close to the next intersection. “Section 1.2 is clear.” He twisted his headlight in both directions. Something glinted to his right, and he blinked as sweat blurred his vision. His t-shirt was stuck to his back. He looked again, but there was nothing there. Now he was imagining things.

“Becca, still no movement on the sensors?”

“No.” She swore. “Hang on.”

Ethan twisted and rolled onto his back to allow his arms some release. His biceps throbbed from crawling. There wasn’t room to move them below his waistline, the shaft was too tight. So he extended them over his head, flexing his fingers in an attempt to dispel smarting pins and needles.

Becca’s speech was rapid. “Ethan, I’ve got movement. Closest to you.”

“Me?” He pivoted in the world’s slowest rotation back onto his front and pulled his arms close to his body, his face only an inch from the metal beneath him. Condensation from his breath fogged the metal. His heart was doing its best to explode. Surely it must make dents in the metal when it hammered like that? “Becca, what direction?”

Her voice raised a few notches. “Behind you. Approaching from section 1.2. Ethan, he’s closing in on you. Start moving.”

“How the hell did he get behind me?” Panic seized his arms, locking them in place.

Ethan? Her voice was so far away. It seemed to echo down the long shaft and disappear, to be replaced by the rasp of his breathing. The metal resisted the rise and fall of his ribcage, compressing his lungs. His stomach convulsed in a knot and he panted, his vision fuzzing at the edges. Voices were raised in the background on his comms unit. Arguing. He ripped the comms set from his body, threw it ahead of him and rested his head on the warm metal.

He was going to die in here and there was nothing he could do about it. “I can’t do this. Training tested us for this shit too long ago.”

“Ethan.” Becca’s voice cut through the fuzz. She was distant. He peered ahead. His fingers were shaking as he closed them around the comms unit. He dragged it close, laid his head on the metal so he could hear her.

“Hey,” he wheezed. He was numb from the waist down, as if his legs were disconnected.

“Ethan, You think the rest of us aren’t falling apart?” Even through the comms line, there was a tremor in her voice. “Dammit. You’ve got this. I know you’ve dealt with worse shit than this.”

“My legs. I can’t move my legs.”

Her breathing whispered in his ear. “Switching you to single comms.” A loud click. “Ethan, it’s just you and me now. Understand?”

“Mmm.” His tongue stuck thick and useless in his mouth. He squeezed his eyes shut, blocking out the darkness.

“You’re in a conduit, Ethan. It’s not the car. You were trapped in the car, but you’re not stuck now. You can move. I know you can do this.”

“I couldn’t help you then, Becca, and now…” His voice cracked, his throat contracting. Shit.

“I know. I know you couldn’t get to me. I know you would’ve done anything possible. You were crushed under a door.”

His voice was small. “I would’ve died instead.”

Silence filled his ears and more than anything, he wanted to hold Becca in his arms.

A hiccup echoed in the earpiece. “Of course. I know that. I never doubted you, Ethan.”

His chest eased a little. He opened his eyes and blinked.

She cleared her throat. “Ethan, Redd’s still moving. I need you to pull yourself forward again. Slowly is fine, but you’ve got to move. Please. For me.”

He rolled his shoulders, his bones bumping metal. The pressure in his chest eased as practiced calm locked back into place. “Okay.” For you, baby.

“Returning to group comms.”

“Yes.” He inched back up onto his arms and tucked the comms unit into the collar of his t-shirt. Becca was waiting at the end of this fucking tube, and he was damn well going to make it back to her.

Angry voices battered his eardrum, dominated by Becca telling everyone else to shut the hell up. Energy returned to his legs and his feet moved again, the rubber of his boots squeaking on the smooth walls. He pulled. Inch by inch, and at God-damned-last the shaft opened up again. White paint: Section 1.3. No sign of any mad scientist. Ethan sagged, breathing hard.

Becca spoke again. “Ethan, check the access points.”

He strained left then right. “Clear.” He shifted, angled the beam between his legs as best he could. “Nothing behind me.” Where the hell is he?

“His signal stopped moving but he was close. Are you sure you can’t see anything?”

Ethan looked again, squinted upward into the ascending vent. The light beam reflected off polished metal. “Yes. Clear.”

He wormed around. Up ahead, the glow of a tiny yellow square called to him. The end of a pipe had never looked so good. He inched forward again on bruised and complaining elbows. “I can see section 1.4 and the light from Operations.”

A thud vibrated through the metal. Something heavy had dropped into the shaft from above.

Behind me.

Powerful fingers tightened around one ankle. Shit. Ethan kicked but the grip was dogged.

He rolled onto his back, aimed his headlight between his legs. Stretched out behind him like a possessed snake was Redd, snarling. He reached for Ethan’s free leg, his eyes glaring.

How the fuck did Redd get behind me?

Ethan stomped forcefully, grinding the edge of his boot down his shin to dislodge his assailant. Redd howled, his fingers releasing, his feet hammering against the metal lining. Ethan struggled to aim his gun below his waist. The space was so damn tight, his elbows and wrists kept jamming against unforgiving metal.

He fired anyway. Redd ducked and the bolt of energy scorched metal instead of flesh. Ethan fired again, and this time, the laser punched into Redd’s shoulder. Blood exploded into the enclosed space, soaking Ethan’s leg. He thrust away from the injured scientist, but strong fingers grabbed his leg just above his boot, sharp nails digging painfully into his calf muscle.

Bastard isn’t giving up.

Ethan wriggled frantically, the conduit now slick with blood as he twisted onto his front. He gasped, wiped at his eyes with his cuff. Yellow light ahead called to him.

The only way out of this was forward.

He scrabbled, no longer caring about the pain ricocheting from his joints, intent only on fighting against the metal constraints and determined fingers gouging the backs of his knees.

A stream of obscenities burned across his lips.

“Ethan?”

“He’s behind me. He’s fucking right behind me…”

Ethan kicked his leg free again, but his energy was ebbing, adrenalin burning out his muscles.

Ahead of him brightened, flashlights aimed into the narrow space. “Coming,” he grunted, reaching with bloody digits for the light.

“Ethan!” Becca was waiting for him, but leaden weight pinned his lower legs, trapping him.

Ethan hissed as arms tightened around his knees and a cackle erupted behind him. Something hard bumped his thighs, firing agony through the meat of his calf.

“He’s fucking biting me.” Sharp pain lanced his flesh higher. Closer to his groin.

Ethan kicked and tried to twist sideways to dislodge the crackpot, but Redd hung on, a throaty chuckle rattling in the space around them. Ethan squirmed, dragged his thigh against a rough edge of metal. Hot blood soaked his thigh in a warm gush as his skin tore.

“Fuck this.” He wasn’t going to die at the bottom of the ocean at the hands of a mad scientist.

“Get. Me. Out,” Ethan hollered.

He thrashed as much as the narrow tube would allow, anything to dislodge the insane grip on his lower body. A howl cut through the air, and Redd’s grasp on his legs loosened. It was enough. Ethan clawed the last few inches to safety. Arms yanked him out of the air vent like a cork out a bottle. Ethan slammed to the floor in a tangle of limbs, air rushing from his lungs, Redd clamped to him like a biting limpet.

Chief lunged over Ethan and smashed Redd efficiently on the side of the head with his handgun. Redd gurgled and slumped in a bloody heap.

Ethan collapsed on his back, his world spinning. He sucked the cooler air of Operations into his grateful lungs and let the others peel Redd from his legs.

Becca dropped to her knees and cradled his head in her hands. “You okay?”

He nodded, still working on finding his ability to speak.

She wiped his cheek with the pad of her thumb. “God, I thought…”

He caught her palm and pressed it to his cheek and watched the worry melt from her face. He didn’t want to pretend anymore. He didn’t know if he had the strength to lock his heart away again. And he didn’t want to keep pretending she was dead to him when she was the one person who made him feel alive.

Now he just needed to tell her.