Page 72 of Jude

Jude was stunned. Sophia was usually so sharp. He’d never heard her give out beauty advice before. Why was she in such a good mood?

“Was anyone else injured?” asked Sophia.

“It was just the three of us,” said Jude. “I left Tobias in the vehicle bay.”

“And he’s... unharmed?”

Jude grinned. Now he knew why Sophia was not so snappy. There was something going on between her and Tobias. Everyone thought it, even though they both denied it. “My brother is fine. I can ask him to drop by so you can check him over yourself, if you’re worried about him.”

“I’m not worried.” Sophia glared at Jude. “Stop hovering around me like an anxious bee. Your scan results are worse than Octavia’s. You should be resting, not loitering in my personal space.”

Jude shifted from foot to foot. “I feel—”

“If you say fine, I shall be the person landing the next punch on you.” Sophia arched an eyebrow. “Wait here. I’ll have Daisy administer serum to you both. Then you need bed rest.”

Jude loved the idea of bed rest with Octavia. His hand strayed to her back, and he ran his fingers down it.

Sophia frowned and shook her head. “I mean rest.” She stalked away.

Jude took hold of Octavia’s hand and grasped it between both of his. “Everything will be fine.”

The smile on Octavia’s face faded. “Will it, though? We lost the equipment. They took everything I had in my backpack. They’ve probably destroyed it.”

“They didn’t take mine,” said Jude. “When I came to, I was still carrying the backpack. The equipment you need is intact. That was how I made contact with the bunker; I used an old receiver.”

Octavia swung her legs off the bed. “We need to get to work.”

“No. You need to rest.”

“No way!”

“Doctor’s orders,” said Jude.

“You don’t understand. When I was in the interrogation center, I accessed their mainframe server.”

Jude’s eyebrows rose. “What did you find?”

“I couldn’t get a complete lock on the messages going backwards and forwards, not without the equipment. But I accessed logs and previous data. I found a pattern. I know the sequence they will use for future comms.”

This woman was something else. “We can use the equipment to track what they’re saying?”

Octavia nodded, determination on her face. “Then we’ll find out exactly what they’re doing and stop them.”

***

OCTAVIA FORCED HERSELFto stay on the bed in the medical bay, her fingers drumming against her arm. Jude had insisted she stay there, and he’d bring her the equipment she needed. But it was hard to resist grabbing a port screen and getting to work.

Daisy walked over with a full bag of serum in one hand. Her dark hair was pulled back in a scruffy ponytail. “Are you ready for your treatment?”

She eyed the bag and wrinkled her nose. “Can I just have an injection and get out of here?”

Daisy shook her head as she hooked up the fluids and inserted an IV line into Octavia’s right arm. “This is the best way. We only give those shots in emergency situations. Sophia insists you rest, so you’d better do as she says. You don’t want to get on her blacklist.”

Octavia nodded, her gaze shifting to the tiny office Sophia used. She liked her. She didn’t know Sophia well, but she was a no-nonsense woman and as smart as hell.

Daisy checked the line and smiled at Octavia. “You’re all set to go. I’ll come check on you in fifteen minutes. In the meantime, get some rest.”

The medical bay room door opened. Jude strode in with a port screen in his hand, along with the comms tracking device and two data chips she’d asked him to bring.