Of Smoke and Stardust [[COMPLETE]]]

CHAPTER 20- PARKER

Parker gave a quick look to Alya before they headed back to bridge. When they got through the doorway, Parker's heart slammed into his throat.

Plastered across the large screens was a familiar face-Jayden's.

The floor slipped under Parker's feet as his brother's features flashed in front of his eyes. He looked a little older, with a serious frown tugging at his lips, and steel, piercing eyes identical to hos own. His usual messy brown hair was cropped in a military style that made his cheekbones look server in the camera's flash. It was Jayden, but different. Jayden; who was always told he looked so much like Parker, but now he didn't even look related. His brother liked to smile, and laugh, the stranger up on the screens looked like he had no soul.

"What's going on?" Parker finally managed to ask, ripping his gaze away from the screens and looking to Zion. "What is that?" He swallowed the dryness in his throat.

"It's a registry of the units in the TitanX program." Jorrit said, turning in his chair to face the group. He blinked rapidly as his glasses filled up with text, and then flashed away.

It took longer than it should have for the information to sink in. Jayden, the cheerful brother with a wicked smile, was taken and experimented on to become a soldier-a soldier that would fight for the corporation he was rebelling against. It was another cruel joke in Parker's life, and he was so sick of being the butt of the universe's amusement.

"We have to get him out." Parker ground out, trying to keep his cool, trying not to lash out and punch the nearest thing to him. But his knuckles were screaming for release, his chest pounding for a breathless fight. His head spun, dizzy and anxious.

Rowan snorted from his spot at the weapons navigation screen on the other side of the bridge. Parker ignored him, his gaze boring into Zion. His was the only word that mattered.

"Are you out of your mind?" Zion pointed to the other screens that showed lists of other names, labs, and specs. "There are thousands of people taken for the TitanX program. That means there will be thousands there to kill us if we try anything. We don't even have half the files decrypted yet, or the exact coordinates."

Parker knew Zion was being logical; that it would be a suicide mission. But he didn't care. Not anymore. He'd do it all alone if he had to. He planned it that way anyway.

Zion continued on, flipping a hand up into the air. "Not to mention their high security surveillance. We'd get caught in their radar while trying to land unauthorized, then they'll probably shoot us down if they don't capture us and turns us in since we're now fugitives. Word travels fast, Parker. We'll have bounty hunters after us within the week-within a day."

"I gave you your information." Parker kept his tone even, despite his mind screaming and flailing withint the confines of his skull.

Alya shifted beside Parker, a little hesitant, as if she was somehow torn between giving her support to Parker or following Zion. Rowan was trying to keep a straight face, while Nyx looked confused and Kizer continued to focus on the navigation screen as if there wasn't an argument going on. Jorrit fidgeted awkwardly, half turning back to his screen, and then turning back to face the conversation. No one said anything.

Zion frowned, more in a confused way than an angry one. "That's the end of the bargain. I didn't agree to anything more than giving you refuge."

"True, but it also means our agreement is over. I don't need to stay here anymore." Parker heard Alya suck in a breath, but the sharp sound wouldn't make him waver. "I'll go on my own." As soon as he said the words, it was already decided. He could use an emergency pod to get to the closest dock, steal a ship and head from there. It wasn't a good plan, but it was a start. He couldn't just do nothing. Even as he stood there, the anxious feeling intensified, and his feet itched to run.