Chapter 9
RAIN PEERED THROUGH the grillwork. Below her were at least a dozen muscular men, loaded for dragon hunting. They were dirty, bloody, and exhausted, but they were still Marines. And with them standing directly under her escape route, there was no way out of the base. Maybe she could wait until they’d gone.
“Damn, I’m wrecked.” One of the Marines slumped against the wall, his face lined with exhaustion.
“At least we’re not on Humvee duty. Sarge is pissed enough we lost one. Shit, they’ll be in there cleaning the fuckers for hours.”
Well, that settled that. Even once these Marines disappeared into the base, the parking bay was still full of them. There was no way she was sitting around in the stupid air duct for hours.
A new Marine strode into view. The string of cuss words out of his mouth was enough to startle even Rain who was well used to cussing a blue streak.
“What are you fucking idiots doing standing there? You need me to wipe your fucking asses?”
“No, Sarge. Just protocol, you know.” One of the Marines piped up.
The Sarge glared at him. “When I want your opinion, I’ll ask for it. Got that, Marine?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Don’t know why my Warrior had to go and get himself fucked along with half a fucking platoon. What do I got left? A bunch of damn pussies...“ His voice trailed off as he punched in the door code and strode through down the hall, the rest of the Marines on his tail.
So, they’d lost men out there. Even a Dragon Warrior, from the sounds of it. Like most people, Rain had never been entirely sure they existed, though Sutter had claimed he’d seen one a few years back. Complete with diamond-edged blade, the only thing that could slice through dragon hide.
Rain shoved thoughts of Sutter aside. She felt guilty enough she had to leave his body behind for Barnes to do god knew what with it. She did a little silent cussing of her own.
Back to the subject at hand. Escape.
She couldn’t get out through the bay, but she figured there had to be another way out of the base. They had to pump air in from somewhere. That meant there must be a vent to the surface.
Turning around she headed back down the duct until she came to the next junction. Without knowledge of the layout, she could easily spend all day wandering around lost. She needed a plan. She needed to be smart.
She licked her finger and held it up at the junction. There was the faintest of breezes. Right. It came from the right.
Continuing down the right duct, Rain wormed her way through the system. It was slow work. The duct was so low she could only squirm on her belly using her arms to pull herself forward. And she was constantly aware of the need for silence. The slightest sound could give her position away. She’d have a Marine platoon on her ass in seconds.
She continued through the ductwork, stopping at each junction for the finger test. Slowly she worked her way deeper and deeper into the base. Maybe this hadn’t been such a good idea after all.
At last she came to a dead end. A grate lay straight in front of her. And on the other side of the grate?
Nothing.
All she could see was immense blackness, but she could feel wind on her face, smell fresh air. There must be some sort of air shaft on the other side of that grate. And an air shaft had to lead to the surface.
Rain tested the grate. It was screwed down tight. Not a bit of give. No amount of pushing with her hands made any difference and she didn’t have any tools. The Marines had taken her screwdriver.
Her legs were far more powerful than her arms, but there was no way she could turn around in the tight duct. Only one option left.
She wormed her way backward down the way she’d come until she reached the closest junction. It took some doing, but she managed to get herself flipped around so she was headed back down the duct feet first.
It seemed to take hours and by the time she got back to the grate, her muscles were burning and sweat was dripping off her body. Maybe she should have just waited for the Marines to leave the bay. It was too late now. And anyway, they most likely would have left someone guarding the bay. She’d have never gotten out unseen. Rain allowed herself to rest for a few minutes before turning her attention to the grate.
The first kick did nothing. She just didn’t have enough leverage. She needed to get the grate off quick. There was no telling how far the sound traveled. The Marines could be on their way already, for all she knew.
Rain scooted forward a bit more, curled her legs up, and then kicked out as hard as she could. This time the grate loosened. Another kick and one of the screws snapped off. A couple more kicks and the grate fell away into the darkness. She didn’t even hear a clank which meant the bottom was a long way down.
Now she had a problem. She’d gotten the grate off, but since she was feet first, she had no way of knowing what was in the shaft. It wasn’t like she could use her hands to feel around for a ladder or whatever yet scooting back down to the junction would take ages. Not to mention energy she didn’t have.
Logic dictated that there was some way to climb up and down the shaft. Whoever built the place had to have a way in and out. Not to mention a way to conduct maintenance.
Rain carefully scooted forward until she could get her feet and
