The Dead Fleet (Juggernaut #3)

Twenty Seven

Malachi sealed the bulkhead and dropped to his knees, horrified at what he had just done. A hundred light years away Tila was speaking.

'Mal? Mal? What did you do!?' Tila pushed him aside, he offered no resistance, and she punched the door control. Nothing happened. She hit the door with one hand and hit the control again with the other. It refused to open. 'Mal, open it. Now.'

Malachi turned his face to Tila and in it she read the enormity of his decision.

'What did you do, Mal?' she said quietly.

'I had to.'

'Ellie?'

'I saw her, she fell.'

'Mal, the grenade... The pirates'

'I think she's okay. She fell. If she got behind the other door....'

'Open the door, Mal.'

Malachi looked at the door control. He remembered closing it. He was sure he would never forget that moment, never forget the frightened face opposite him as he sealed the lock.

'I locked it.'

Tila slapped him. One hard, stinging crack across his face. 'Mal. Open it. Ellie needs me.'

Malachi blinked. His eyes focused. Ellie fell. She might be okay. If Ellie got behind the door she would be okay, he told himself. He pressed the unlock control and activated the door release.

'Mal?'

Malachi repeated the sequence. Still nothing. 'I can't open it.'

'I need it open, Mal. Ellie needs me.'

He tried once more, punching the buttons with urgency. The door remained locked.

'It won't unlock. The grenade must have damaged the controls on the other side.'

Tila banged her fist on the door. 'Open it!' she screamed.

'Tila, I can't!'

'But Ellie's out there. She might be hurt.'

'She fell. The blast missed her.'

Tila's question was a growl. 'Are you sure?'

Malachi said nothing.

'Can you promise me she's okay, Mal?'

'She fell,' he repeated and hung all his hope on those two words.

Tila punched the door one more time and turned on Malachi. She whispered fiercely, 'Promise me, Mal. Promise me she's not hurt.'

'Tila, we have to go. The pirates are coming. Agents are on aboard too. We need to get out of here.'

'We all need to get out of here.'

'She'll meet us back at the ships.'

'She doesn't know the way.'

'She's smart. She'll find a way.'

'She's alone in the dark, Mal. How will she do that? She can't do it alone. She needs us. She needs me.'

'We can't—'

'No, we can't. Not anymore. You saw to that when you locked the door.'

'Tila, please, I had to.'

'I had to look after her. That was my job, Mal. That's why I wanted to leave her behind. I can't protect her everywhere.'

'It's not your job to protect her, Tila. It's not your fault.'

Tila turned away from him in disgust and picked up her staff and struck her hardest blow.

'No,' she agreed. 'It's yours.'