Page 53 of Legend of Scorpio
“Will we make it in time?”
He’d grinned. “It will be tight, but don’t worry, I’ll get you there.”
And he had, exceeding speed limits, whipping them down single-lane roads that had her fearing for her life. If anything had wandered out in front of them…
They didn’t hit anything or crash, and she knew they neared the place when she saw a distant explosion in the sky.
Her mouth rounded. “They did it. They took down the plane.”
“That wasn’t a plane,” was Capricorn’s grim prognosis.
When he’d skidded to a stop, she’d tumbled from the car, recognizing Scorpio’s distinctive bulk against the backdrop of a burning wreck.
She’d run for him. Happy to see him alive. Then scared because he barked they had to go.
Only they didn’t escape.
A net fell upon them, Scorpio couldn’t beam them out, and next thing she knew, she woke in the back of a cargo truck, hands tied together in her lap. Ankles tethered too. Across from her, a scowling Scorpio. Between them, the orb.
“Hey, Doc. How you feeling?”
“Groggy. Dumb. So much for Sage’s prediction you needed my help,” she grumbled.
“I can’t believe she told you to come after me.”
“I had to. She said you’d fail without me. Guess I got there too late.”
“I doubt it would have mattered. The entire thing was a trap.” He leaned his head back. “Cetus knew we’d be there and came prepared. The net they used on me was threaded with meteorite and impeded my ability to beam. The cuffs appear to be made of the same shit.”
“Everyone else escaped at least.” She tried to inject something positive, despite her own fear.
“Not really. They caught you.” His lips twisted.
“Caughtus. And it’s my fault. You would have escaped if I’d not distracted you.”
“Maybe.”
“Where do you think they’re taking us?”
“Nowhere good, I imagine.” He inclined his head at the glass box. “Nothing like the enemy taunting you.”
“At least we know where it is.”
He uttered a short barking laugh. “True. Problem being, how we can escape and take it with us?”
The truck slowed and stopped. A rattle at the rear doors had them opening to reveal four mercenaries wearing helmets and holding guns.
“Get up,” barked the burly fellow with a green stripe on his arm.
They had to shuffle to reach the door, and then Rebecca was grabbed and placed on the ground. Not Scorpio. He scowled and leaped, despite his tied ankles. He bent his knees as he landed before standing and towering over the men.
“Move.” The guy in charge pointed with his weapon at a steel door flanked by a facial-recognition scanner. He had to raise his visor for it to read his features.
They were prodded inside and led along a corridor with plenty of closed doors to an elevator, which took them down a level. From there, they were placed in cages.
Actual cages.
For some reason, this more than anything that had happened thus far had her trembling. It didn’t help they appeared to be in a pristine lab. Gleaming counters, spotless floors. Machines waiting to be activated.