Dominic's heart pounded in his chest as he crouched in the maintenance closet, listening to the muffled footsteps outside. He could hear Sera's voice through the comms, giving orders to the guards. They were getting closer, and he didn't have much time.
His mind raced. Sera's betrayal had been a sharp blow, but it hadn't stopped him—at least, not entirely. She had been working with the CMC all along, and now they were both hunting him. But he had a plan.
He carefully retrieved the small portable terminal from his jacket pocket and began tapping through the ship's schematics. The ship's systems were heavily encrypted, but he had hacked into them before. It would be difficult, but not impossible.
Dominic's fingers danced over the keys as he accessed the central control grid. He needed to lock down the ship's systems, disable the tracking, and cut off communication. Without that, Sera and her team would lose their advantage.
The door of the closet creaked open. His breath caught in his throat. A guard was standing there, weapon raised.
Before the guard could react, Dominic slammed the terminal into his stomach, pushing him back with all his strength. The man stumbled, his grip on the weapon faltering. In a swift motion, Dominic kicked the gun from his hand and followed up with a well-placed blow to the guard's throat.
The man gasped for air, unable to call for help, and crumpled to the floor.
Dominic didn't hesitate. He grabbed the guard's weapon, quickly scanning the hallway for any other threats. There were none. He had mere moments before the other guards would be on him.
He sprinted down the corridor, turning sharply to avoid detection. The ship's control room was just ahead. He knew that once he got there, he could initiate a lockdown and force Sera into a corner. She wouldn't be able to stop him if he had control.
As he neared the control room, Dominic's mind was already calculating his next move. He couldn't trust anyone on this ship now—not even the crew. He'd have to take drastic action to survive.
He reached the door, pulling out a small plasma cutter from his belt. The door was reinforced, but he knew how to bypass it. The cutter's beam sliced through the lock, and the door slid open with a quiet hiss.
The control room was dimly lit, a large holographic interface covering the central console. The crew was gone—probably alerted to the situation and retreating to more secure areas. Perfect.
Dominic made his way to the main terminal, quickly accessing the ship's security system. His hands flew over the controls, overriding the access restrictions.
Just as he was about to lock down the systems, a voice crackled over the comms.
"Dominic, I know what you're doing," Sera's voice was calm, calculated. "You won't get away with this. I've already contacted backup. You're outnumbered."
Dominic's eyes narrowed as he continued his work, ignoring the threat. He had come too far to turn back now. The data he had taken from Graves was too valuable, and he was too close to exposing the truth.
"I'll take my chances," he muttered under his breath as the lockdown sequence began.
The entire ship began to hum as the systems engaged, locking doors, sealing off corridors, and cutting off communication channels. Sera wouldn't be able to coordinate anything now.
Dominic moved to the secondary console, decrypting the data he had stolen. The encrypted file labeled Project Dread was still locked, but he had a plan for that too. He began using his own neural interface to extract the key.
The room was silent except for the faint whirring of machinery. Seconds ticked by. Finally, with a soft beep, the file unlocked. Dominic's heart skipped a beat as he opened the document, his eyes scanning the first few lines of data.
It wasn't just a weapons project. It wasn't even just a military operation. Project Dread was a plan to develop a new type of mech—one powered by dark matter. But the real horror was what the project's leaders had done to the pilots. The tests they'd run. The mind control implants.
Dominic's blood ran cold. This wasn't just about profit or power. This was about creating a weapon that could control entire fleets of soldiers, enslaving their minds, using their bodies as tools for destruction.
He could feel the weight of the truth settling in. This wasn't just a job anymore. This was personal.
Sera was in on it. She had to be. She'd been part of the operation all along, pulling the strings from the shadows. She had lied to him, used him, and now she had turned the CMC against him.
But Dominic wasn't finished. Not yet. He had what he needed. He had the proof.
And now it was time to make sure the world would know what the CMC was hiding.
Dominic powered up the ship's secondary engines, bypassing the normal navigation systems. He wasn't heading back to any station—not yet. There was one last stop he needed to make.
The CMC wouldn't see him coming.