Chapter Eight
Alt: Part IV

Zane ran across the dusty lot to the ship as fast as he could without drawing attention to himself. There was still no sign that an explosion was imminent and no sign of Jo at all.

Nothing looked out of the ordinary and that worried him more for some reason. As best he could tell, Carter had entered the ship about three minutes ago and it seemed like an eternity. The only solace he could think of was that Carter more than likely didn't know where Jo was headed and taking the time to locate her would buy some time. As he passed by Carter's jeep, he felt for the sheriff's gun that still sat snug in his pocket where Jo had placed it earlier. He'd pull it out once he was inside the ship to avoid anyone seeing what he was up to.

Walking up the ramp, he noted that if he was overreacting and Jo had set off the ionic resonator, there was a good chance that he'd be toast soon. It was a risk worth taking to him though. He wasn't going to leave her in there without backup and if it turned out that she needed him then all the better. It would give him plenty to gloat about later. Besides, he was taking the same route she would for the fastest get-away off the ship. If the resonator had been detonated, he'd run right into her and follow her out.

Everything seemed business as usual inside as well. No one spared him a second glance. He tried to avoid any security personnel as best he could. From what Grace had told him, this area was now classified—even she didn't have access to the ship or its data. With the NPCs possibly in the know about his newfound awareness, there was no telling what kind of extreme reaction he might get from them. He had no interest in finding out either.

Zane walked straight to the access ramp for Pod Five and stopped. This was where the central network was located. He was usually a spontaneous, go-with-the-flow kind of guy—it drove Jo crazy while simultaneously turning her on, or so he liked to think. However, with the stakes so high, now was one of the few times he was willing to opt for caution. Listening through the opening for some kind of indicator that Jo was okay, all he heard was silence. She should be almost right below him. He frowned and quietly backed away. He decided that instead of entering the engine core corridor from above as was the usual practice, he would take a right and approach the area below from the side stairwell, further away from the main access hatch. It was a risk deviating from the best possible escape route but the growing tension in his gut told him that something wasn't right. On the now unlikely chance that Jo had set off the resonator, he was a goner anyway.

But he hadn't heard anything except the very faint sound of retreating footsteps that weren't going fast enough to be Jo trying to escape a bomb. That meant that she wasn't where she should be—or that she had been somehow compromised.

Quickly bypassing the entrance to the crew quarters, he continued to listen for anything out of the ordinary. Still nothing. There weren't even any personnel around but Zane was going to happily take that bit of luck. It did make sense. There wasn't much scientific information to be gleaned from the crew's empty personal space.

Silently circling back to the engine core from the side stairwell, he could see the light shining down through the open hatch from where he had just come. As he inched slowly ahead, the first sounds from that general area reached him. It was a voice; a deep voice that definitely wasn't Jo's. Taking a few more tentative steps closer, he stopped to listen again and his blood ran cold.

Carter.

He slid the gun from his pocket and held it at his side. Creeping closer, he could definitely confirm that it was Carter talking. And from the few words he could pick up, he was absolutely on to Jo's deception.

"… trying … ionic resonator …"

"… run in with … Fargo poor …. Fargo …"

"… stupid and reckless … inside … engine core …"

"… my Jo …"

Zane grimaced hearing those last words and his temper flared up once again. It surprised him how fiercely he hated the man. This maniac had chased him and practically threatened to kill him just a few hours ago. He had been the NPC responsible for murdering Holly according to Beverly Barlowe's intel. He'd been a jerk to Allison; a callous douchebag to Fargo.

And no matter what anyone said, this dick had stolen his girl. As far as Zane was concerned, it was on. He quietly pulled the hammer back on Carter's gun and snuck the remaining distance down the corridor. There was no backing down now.

The actual engine core was still a ways away but he could now see the edges of Carter's shoulder from where he stood; the man was only a few feet in front of him and slightly to the left. And he was definitely blocking any chance of Jo making the safest exit from the Astraeus. Frustrated, Zane realized he needed to get nearer to make sure Jo was okay. He glanced over to the area by the metal stairs that provided the primary access to this section. It was partly lit through the open hatch so he didn't want to get too close but he also wanted a good shot at Carter.

Thankfully, the sheriff was so busy having his Scooby Doo moment with Jo that he was completely oblivious to his presence behind him in the shadows.

When Zane positioned himself almost directly behind Carter, he smiled at the vision that greeted him. Holding herself tall like the ex-Special Forces badass that she was, stood his Josefina. She had the resonator in both hands—so no easy access to her gun—and it was lit up indicating that she'd activated it but hadn't flipped the detonator switch yet.

Even with the distance between them, he had no problem picking up on the coldness she directed at this version of Carter. Oblivious to the man sneaking up behind him, Carter was still talking to Jo, or mocking, rather. This time, Zane picked up every word.

"It looks like Zane did have back up." Zane didn't miss the quiet anger in the other man's voice. "And you're not my Jo. You're his Jo."

'Damn straight, lawdog,' Zane thought to himself.

Jo's expression held that icy steel that she hadn't broken since he'd walked up on them. There was a determination to her. One way or another, that ionic resonator was going to go off and she would give their friends out in the real world a chance to rescue them. He could tell her wheels were turning though: should she make a run for it? Should she stay and sacrifice herself? There was no way in hell, he was letting her take option number two.

The silence between the two enforcers held, that is, until he saw a tentative movement from Jo. She cocked her head slightly to the side and took in the figure standing in the way of her escape. She was sizing up her situation. In doing so, she narrowed her eyes in his direction and he could see her mouth tighten slightly.

She had spotted him. And she was pissed.

But she could yell at him about following her later after they both got out of there safely. He raised his gun up behind Carter's head, still a few feet away, and nodded to her. She nodded slightly right back and fixed her stare at Carter. Everything was set. All she had to do was flip the switch.

"See, it's a funny, funny thing," she said casually as if she didn't have a bomb in her hands, a crew to save and ten seconds to keep herself, and now him, alive. It wasn't the time or the place for distractions but he found that incredibly hot. She licked those luscious lips of hers before looking down at the ionic resonator and shrugging.

"Actually, I got nothing."

As if in slow motion, he watched Carter's arm move to his gun just as she activated the resonator and chucked it into the engine core hard enough to ensure that there would be no retrieving it before it went off. The next moment, the corridor was filled with a series of piercing explosions. But Zane hardly heard these loud blasts from his gun when they hit Carter point blank and brought him to his knees.

He wasted no time feeling anything but satisfaction over it.

"Let's move," he shouted to Jo who had already pushed past the downed Carter to take the hand he extended towards her. He couldn't find words to describe the relief of feeling her skin against his. The imminent danger, the adrenaline, the short-lived relief of enjoying her warm and alive next to him; even if it was only a few simulated synapses in his brain telling him so, it was better than sex, better than anything. And it would be his last thought if they didn't run as fast as they could out of the ship.

Of more concern was that even with a series of bullets to the back of the head, the bad guy he just shot wasn't dead. As they climbed the hatch staircase, Zane caught sight of the Carter NPC on his hands and knees, blood gushing down his back. But he was rising to his feet as if he'd only had the wind knocked out of him instead of a clip-full of bullets projected into his virtual brain. He was also flickering and de-resing all while struggling to stand.

As she followed behind him at full speed, Jo must have seen it too judging by how her grip on his hand tightened. "You've gotta be kidding me," she muttered loudly.

"Yeah, just what we needed, a fucking Terminator in the Matrix," Zane shouted back to her as they sprinted out of the ship. He smirked morbidly, imagining how he could pitch that to Hollywood when they got out of this stupid virtual reality. Such nonsense had to be his stress talking. Whatever had happened with Carter didn't matter anyway; that particular NPC was about to get a front row seat for a Matrix-busting thermal explosion. Hopefully, they'd get a partial cascade failure to finish him off right.

About three seconds after clearing the shuttle, he felt the massive explosion at his back. The momentum lifted him into the air yet he refused to let go of Jo's hand still gripping his tightly. As his shoulder hit hard on the ground, he immediately slammed against the softness of Jo rolling with him as they landed, kicking up dust and dirt along the way but never breaking apart. Once their forward momentum ceased, in unison, they scurried away a few more feet from the massive fireball forming where the ship once existed.

He rolled over and stared in shock as the fireball explosion slowed almost to a halt. Instead of spreading, the scene in front of them shimmered, shattered and broke way to…nothingness. It was like watching the world splinter off into a black hole. Zane scrutinized this for a few seconds and then forgot about it. Instead his gaze immediately turned to the woman underneath him as he moved to cradle her lovely face in his hand. She loosely grasped his wrist, holding him to her and caressing his scratched up skin with her thumb.

"Are you okay?" he asked softly.

She blinked up at him and smiled before nodding. "You are in so much trouble for following me." He laughed at her amused annoyance. Of course, he had predicted her displeasure over that. "But thanks for the back-up," she added.

"My pleasure." They both grinned at the memory of themselves in a similar position but back before they were willing to commit to their attraction. "Anytime." And then he leaned down to kiss her soundly, relishing the virtual feel and taste of her that had been so close to getting obliterated only thirty seconds ago.

A moment later, he heard a throat clearing awkwardly above them. "Uh, I guess you guys are okay then?" they heard coming from Fargo. He and Allison had run down to help as soon as they saw them racing from the ship's explosion. Allison stood next to Fargo trying not to grin at their private celebration. Zane reluctantly pulled away from Jo and allowed the two to help them to their feet and check for any injuries.

"We're good, thanks." Jo smiled sheepishly as she dusted herself off, finally focusing on the rapidly expanding damage they'd caused with the explosion. She turned to Zane. "You think we got our heat spike?"

He assured himself that she was okay and then turned to the dire looking hole in the program's simulated interface. "You bet we did."

"We broke the Matrix," Fargo exclaimed in wonder.

Jo scrutinized the blast zone and then assessed the perimeter of the general area from which they ran. "Did you see what happened with Carter? Those bullets definitely didn't keep him down for long. Did he follow us out?"

Zane looked worriedly back to the area where the Astraeus once sat, now coming apart at the seams. "Well, I was a little busy but the last I saw, he could hardly stand much less make a run for it. I didn't see him behind us and there's no way he could have survived that, Terminator or not. Any virtual component within that blast zone would instantly de-res. And by the looks of it, the explosion must have created a cascade failure."

Fargo nervously considered the slowly expanding explosion. "Actually, I think the entire program is starting to de-res—with us inside! We need to run or we're dead!"

"Let's just hope Carter and Henry picked up that signature." Jo said as they turned to escape the approaching abyss. "We'll get you guys out of here soon."

TBC...

AN: Apologies for that last cliffhanger—that's not usually my thing but this chapter wasn't quite ready for the world yet. I'm not totally satisfied with how the pacing turned out but any further tinkering will just drive me bonkers.

Thanks all for reading and for continuing the feedback. The encouragement has been so lovely and, yes, still very helpful.