“That’s the spirit. You get the highest honor in your next task. You are going to sacrifice yourself for the greater cause.”
“Me? What can I bring to a task like that?”
“Ah, you don’t need to bring anything you don’t already have. Cunning. Guile. Determination. I need you to paint a message on the wall of the Imperial Palace. Then I want you to take some fuel and set yourself on fire on the steps.”
I felt sick. He wanted me to dowhat?No chance. I couldn’t die like that. I didn’t think there was a single cause I believed in enough to do that foranything.I censored myself before I told him to fuck off. Maybe I could just get out of here quietly, still. “I’m not doing that.”
“Think of how much it will advance our cause. Your brother and sister betas will know your name forever. They will be forever in your debt.”
I shook my head. “I’m out. No. You ask too much.” I took a step backwards.
Oriel moved forward. “I thought you might refuse. Do you know why?” He was inches from me, now. I shook my head silently. “Your cover is blown, filthy omega.”
He pulled out the vaporizer and aimed it at me. The blood ran out of my arms and legs. I managed to tap the screen of my watch three times, to signal that I needed a quick exit.
He pulled the trigger. I screamed and threw myself to the floor. Behind where I’d been standing, the beam from the vaporizer hit the elevator door and it disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
He threw the weapon aside. “The problem with vaporizers is their long recharge time. Oh well, I’ll have to make do with a normal disruptor.” He pointed a second weapon at me and shot again. He hit my calf. Searing pain cut straight through it. I screamed. Then the scenery around me changed, and instead of being at the top of a high-rise building, I was on the ship. The pain in my leg was agonizing. Unbearable. I gasped for air.