“I’m ready,” my father answered. “Meet me at the dock in ten minutes sharp. Don’t be late.” There was a pause, and another sound, this one like a half-laugh. “Charlotte. Welcome back. It’s good to hear your voice again. It really is.”
“You too, Dad,” I said. “We’ll be right there.”
“Turner out,” he said, and the mic turned black again.
I stared at the empty panel. My father was alive. We were going to be together. I took a deep breath.
My father hadn’t left me.
I angled toward the door, catching Eren’s eye. “Let’s go.”
“Yeah,” he said slowly. “We should go.”
I followed his frowning gaze to the Lieutenant. She was peacefully asleep, mere feet away from the most dangerous person I’d ever known. “I mean, it’s not the worst idea, you know? Leaving. Escaping. Staying alive.” I bit a lip. After all, she had chosen to work for Adam, hadn’t she?
“We have no antidote,” Eren said. “She’s gonna stay in stasis until he comes around. Although, he is tied up.”
“I guarantee that’s not gonna hold him once he’s awake. We could try to give her someplace to hide.”
“There is no hiding on this ship, Char.” Eren sounded irritated. “Certainly not on the Guardian Level. Besides, she’s barely conscious.”
“She’ll slow us down,” I said, but Eren just stood there, waiting.
Finally, I sighed. “You’re not going to leave her, are you.” It wasn’t a question.
He shook his head.
I smiled in spite of myself. Maybe he hadn’t changed as much as I’d thought.
“You get this side,” he said, putting her left arm around my shoulders. He ducked to lift her the rest of the way to her feet. “Perhaps it won’t be so bad.”
I stood, supporting her. “Or perhaps she was acting on some kind of stasis-induced hallucination, and as soon as she snaps out of it, she’ll kill us all.”
“Ever the optimist.” He returned the smile. “Let’s go. Watch the doorframe.”
But something held me back. I stood there for a moment, trying to think, then slowly let go of her arm. “Hang on. We need a better plan.”
“How did you put it? Escaping? Staying alive? This is a very good plan.” Eren made a face from the hallway. “Brilliant, even.”
“No, it leaves us open. We need protection, Eren.”
“Char—” he said softly.
“Here’s the thing. If we take her—” I waved at the Lieutenant—“we save one person. It’s the wrong play.”
Eren looked from corridor, to me, to Adam’s chair. “Oh, no you don’t. Now that is a bad plan.”
“Hear me out,” I said hastily. “We can’t kill him. Not yet. And he controls everything on this Ark. So we can’t lock him up. Not here. It’s the right move, Eren. It’s checkmate.”
“No, it’s stalemate at best. It’s nuts, is what it is. Do you have any idea how strong he is?”
I swallowed. “None of us does. That’s the problem.”
I waited while he considered that. A moment passed, and he laid the Lieutenant down with a pointed sigh.
“Good. You get that side,” I said, popping the cuffs off Adam’s wrists and shoving them into my pocket. As soon as they clicked open, Eren was at my side, ready to fight again. But Adam didn’t move. I pulled his arm over my shoulder.
“This is insane.” He made an angry grunt and hefted Adam’s remaining weight off the chair.
“Your objection is noted,” I said cheerfully. It was about time we got the upper hand around here. “Come on. Let’s do this.”
We stumbled into the dock with about a minute to spare. “Dad?” I called around the room in a half-whisper. I had never taken the Guardian entrance to the hangar before. It was imposing even when sealed shut. I turned to Eren. “You got the control stick-thingy?”
“Yes.” Eren looked around. “Did you feel that?”
“Feel what? Do you think he’s on the other side already?”
“Your dad? No. He couldn’t be. He’s got the skins—the suits. I think the Ark just moved.”
“It’s your imagination,” I said. Eren looked pale. Well, paler than usual. “The skins?”
“They never repaired the seal in the hangar. Without skins, we die.”
I swallowed against the dizzying feeling that the only thing separating me from the vast vacuum of space was a sheet of glass. “Dad!”
“Hey, keep it down. He has ears everywhere.” Eren laid a hand on the window, as though steadying himself, and laid his half of Adam gently on the floor. He looked sick.
I nodded. “Yeah, but be careful with the glass, okay? I’m not looking to take the quick way out.”
Eren stared down at Adam’s limp form, then looked back at me. “It’s fused silica,” he said.
What did that have to do with anything? “Silica. Great. Congrats on reading the pre-flight materials.”
Eren made a face like he wanted to laugh, but couldn’t, and slid down to sit next to Adam. “Fused. With titanium, too. Like the k-bands.” He waved a wrist at me, and his kuang band glinted in the bright light coming from the hangar. He had a strange look on his face.
“Hey. You okay?”
He looked down. “Char. I’m sorry.” His hand closed around the metal band on his wrist, and it hit me that he’d been wearing it for the last five years. I guess life hadn’t been so great for either of us.
“For what? Hey, get up. You’re kinda scaring me. Eren. We gotta find my dad.”
“Sorry it took five years. Sorry I couldn’t get you out of this any sooner.” He slumped forward. “No matter what, you leave. Don’t stay here.” His forehead touched the concrete, and his shoulders relaxed.
“Eren. Eren. Get up. Please get up. Wake up.” I shook him as hard as I could, but he only flopped onto his back, eyes closed.
“Charlotte?”
The sound jolted through me, and I whirled around. “Dad? Help! He’s—”