Chapter 7
Niva Lon Tilas ducked instinctively as sparks showered over her. Some made contact with the back of her neck making her suck a quick breath through her teeth. She aimed her pistol behind her, laying down several quick shots. The weapon barked each time, high-pitched squeaks coupled with a vibration from the coils discharging.
She ran along a circular corridor aboard a Kahl space station. Three guards pursued her, down from five. The first two were taken out of the equation before the chase began. The moment they discovered her in the computer closet, she opened fire. Apparently, they hadn’t expected to find anyone because they definitely had their guard down.
Now I try to get back to the ship without being pinned down in a corridor or cut off.
“Come on, Griel,” Niva said. She picked up the pace, ensuring the enemy didn’t have a clean shot on her by moving further along the curve, sticking close to the inner wall. “I had to leave the path we set earlier. Do you have an alternate route yet or what?” Doors lined the walls on either side but she had no idea where any of them led.
Each could’ve been a dead end or the way back to the Brekka. Running meant she couldn’t create a map for herself. And so she had to rely on her commander… who seemed to be sitting on his hands for all the help he managed to provide. Maybe I should’ve brought someone with me.
Niva preferred to perform infiltration missions alone. She disliked taking responsibility for the lives of others. The risks tended to be worth it and most of the time, she didn’t have such problems. This situation came down to bad luck. The patrol happened to come in when they hadn’t bothered for the last hour and a half.
I know I was quiet too. Damn it!
Another couple shots came her way. She glanced back this time, blasting one of the men in the face. No one wore armor on the station. The beam burnt half his jaw off before dropping him dead to the floor. A surge of hope was dashed a second later when she noticed they had picked up an additional three soldiers.
Oh, fabulous. I love it.
“Hey,” Griel said, “how’re you doing?”
“You must be joking!” Niva shouted. “Come on, Griel!”
“Settle down, I know you’re doing okay. You’ve only got…” He paused. “What, five guys on you now? They’re converging on the level above you. I’m thinking they’re taking the stairs so you’re going to want to take the first left coming up. That’ll lead you to a broken elevator shaft. I’m buzzing the door now.”
“And what exactly am I doing with that?”
“Go down to the floor below via the access ladder. Then run to the opposite side of the station where we are. Easy as can be.”
“I love your definition of easy,” Niva muttered. She threw herself at the door. It opened as she approached. A series of blasts narrowly missed, cutting into the floor and frame as she passed through. She landed on the hard metal paneled floor, gritting her teeth against a shock of pain through her joint. “Ouch…”
“You okay?” Griel asked. “Take a spill?”
“I might have to punch you in the groin when I get back.” Niva groaned as she crawled to her feet. “Did you lock the door behind me?”
“Yep. You’re good for at least one minute. Better get moving.”
Yeah, just get moving!
Niva shook her head as she picked up the pace, jogging toward the elevator at the far end of the corridor. As promised the doors were open. The dark shaft yawned ahead of her. A cool breeze came up from it from, life support blasting air all over the structure.
And now climbing. My favorite.
Niva glanced inside. She had to stretch to reach the ladder and even when her hand caught the rung, she could only barely get a good grip. Plunging her weapon back into its holster, she leaned out to get two points of contact with her way out. Her stomach did a flip as she pulled herself completely out of the corridor… a sense of vertigo washing over her.
The darkness below her was absolute. However far it was… a hundred feet or five, she couldn’t tell. It went on forever, an abyss for all she knew. Clinging to the ladder, she struggled to catch her breath… to reclaim some sense of calm before attempting to descend. Partly, she knew she’d have to lean to get out… and if she was going to fall, that would be the moment.
“You’d better get moving,” Griel said. “They’ll be through that door in a second. I’m closing the elevator now.”
Niva bit her tongue from saying anything as the hiss of the doors plunged her into total darkness. She couldn’t see an inch in front of her face. Panic compelled her to move. Fear made her take the next few rungs… moving ever downward toward the next level though she had no idea how far that would be.
Above her, she heard people banging at the metal, shouts at one another that didn’t resemble language in her mind. She focused on escape, ignoring them as best she could. When Griel spoke again, his voice made her jump. She white knuckled the ladder for a moment before continuing.
“You’re almost there. I’m opening your means out now.”
Two doors opened less than five feet below her. That was the good part. The bad came down to her prediction that she’d be too far away to get out easily.
I hate being short!
