Page 61 of Jude

She hesitated, expecting to find a guard outside the door.

The corridor she stepped into was empty, simply a row of closed doors and the faint stench of human waste. She checked both ways in the corridor before turning right and heading toward a door at the end.

She reached the door and ducked back against the wall. Through the glass panel, she’d spotted a guard approaching.

A small smile curved her lips. He was just what she needed. He would be her way out.

The door lock clicked as the guard unlocked it.

As he pushed the door open, Octavia launched herself at him. She slammed her elbow into his mouth, and her knee found his groin.

The guard staggered back, his hands grabbing his groin. She was on him in an instant. Octavia yanked the weapon from his holster, jammed it into his guts, and fired.

Dropping to her knees, Octavia grabbed the comms device from the guard’s lifeless wrist. She opened a link to Jude’s message box and sent a second message.

I’m alive. I’m in a holding facility. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.

She let out a sigh as the message went through. At least he now knew she was okay.

Checking the corridor was still empty and no one had heard the muffled blast of the pulse laser, Octavia grabbed the guard’s body and dragged him to her cell. She slung him in and shut the door.

She headed back along the corridor, the guard’s pass card in one hand and his pulse laser in the other.

The place was a frickin’ maze. She turned down several corridors, hoping to find a way out, but there was nothing to give her any clue that she was heading in the right direction.

She eased open a door, checked the room was empty, and slid through. Octavia’s eyes widened as she saw where she was. In front of her was a bank of computers alongside an enormous mainframe server.

“Holy dragons,” she whispered. It was like all of her birthdays had come at once.

Octavia pulled out a chair and sat. If she couldn’t get out of here, the least she could do was help finish what she’d started. She could monitor the States comms from here, see what they were sending out, and maybe even decipher the rest of their language. She could also find out what happened to Jude and the others.

Her fingers skimmed over the keyboard as she opened a private dark website and scanned for messages about them.

She’d find Jude, and find out where he was. Octavia didn’t believe he was dead. He was out there. She could feel it. If she couldn’t get herself free, she’d make sure he had everything he needed to stop the State.