She’d have to be perfect. There was no room for mistakes.
Movement to her right caught her eye and she could see the alien advancing her way again. There was movement under his cloak as if he was rubbing something and the thought made her want to vomit.
Right. She’d rather take her one chance than stay in here and let them do whatever was in their twisted minds.
Gripping the pebble, she focused on the yellow button.
The pebble felt heavy between her fingers, and she only hoped that it was heavy enough to depress the button when she threw it.
It was her only hope.
F = ma. Newton’s first law of motion.
Goddamnit, she should have paid more attention in physics class.
“You first or me?” one of the aliens asked.
Yea, he wasn’t speaking to her, but she wasn’t waiting to hear the other alien’s answer.
Stretching her arm through the bars of the cage, Nia aimed. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at her target and, for a second, the thought that she might miss was prominent in her mind.
She wasn’t going to miss.
With a singular movement, the muscles in her arms primed and she threw the pebble, and the moment it left her fingers, her heart thumped in her chest.
It was dim in the room. She couldn’t actually see the little rock sail through the air, but she knew she couldn’t have missed.
She couldn’t have.
The pebble hit something, the sound almost drowned out by the hum of the ship’s engine, before she heard it land on the floor and roll away.
Nia’s heart sank.
Well, at least she’d tried.
“What was that?” The alien to her right spoke.
There was a hiss then, and the cage shuddered a little before it opened. At the same time, the door opened as well.
Wait. Nia paused for only a second. She’d done it.
This was it. This was her chance.
Without a backward glance. Nia grabbed the hem of her cloak, lifting it to free her legs, and rushed forward. She barely heard the surprised cries of the aliens behind her as she reached the hallway.
She turned and caught movement in the room.
They were coming after her but they weren’t going to be fast enough.
“Bye, motherfuckers.”
A feeling of triumph shot through her as she slammed her hand on the red button outside the door.
An alarm blared immediately as the door hissed shut.
“Upper sector lockdown in progress.” It sounded like it came from the ship’s intercom.
“Upper sector lockdown in progress.”
Shit. Had she done that? She hadn’t expected an alarm.
Nia turned just in time to see the doors at the end of the hallway closing.
Shit.
There was a corridor to her right, but she had no idea where that led to.
Better go the way she came.
She didn’t think twice. She made a mad dash toward the closing door, hoping she would be fast enough.
She made it just in time, or, at least, most of her did. Her cloak caught in the door just as it closed behind her, and she had to pull it hard enough for it to rip.
She was heaving now, trying to catch her breath from the sudden exertion, and she paused, hands on her knees as her breath came hard and fast.
She’d done it.
She’d frickin’ done it.
She shuddered to think what would have happened if she hadn’t even tried.
She’d paused to catch a breath for only a few seconds, but she soon realized something was wrong.
She could hardly see anything.
There was smoke everywhere.
She was in that long corridor with all the levers and stuff. At least, that’s where she should be, from her memory.
Just to make sure, she reached forward with one hand, to brush it against the wall.
Her fingers moved over buttons, wires, and what she assumed was a lever.
She was right.
This corridor should lead back to that lower section with the huge room and the ramp that led outside the ship.
But where was the smoke coming from?
Her heart beat fast in her chest as she struggled to see even her hand in front of her.
It couldn’t have been the lockdown that had caused it. Right?
Definitely not.
Shit.
It dawned on her then.
The ship was on fire.
And she was still stuck on it.
10
Her steps were light and cautious as she advanced down the corridor.
She’d covered her nose with one thick sleeve of her cloak and was feeling her way forward by hand.
The smoke was so thick, it was unnatural, and it wasn’t burning her eyes, only making it nearly impossible to see ahead.
Shit. If there was a fire, why was it so quiet?
The alarm that had blared when she’d locked down the sector had stopped a few seconds ago, and apart from distant clanks and muffled sounds, she couldn’t hear anything else.
Damn it.
But maybe she could use this to her advantage.
With the chaos of the fire, she would have a better chance of escaping undetected. She just had to hope the two henchmen who’d been guarding her didn’t get out and raise an alarm before she managed to get off the ship.
With that thought in mind, she glanced behind her as she hastened her steps—not as if that helped because the smoke was like a thick grey wall.
She couldn’t see if she was being followed.
She was just turning back around when she collided with a wall.
Her hand shot out and hit something firm.
No, not a wall.
Cold, hard, muscle.
Her insides withered.
She’d been found.
Oh fuck.
She hadn’t even heard the henchman approach. He’d been so silent and with the smoke she hadn’t seen him either.
A whimper escaped her as she spun to run in the other direction, knowing there was nowhere to go. Her only thought was to run. To get away.
She’d figure it out after she put distance between herself and the enemy.
But she was too late, or he was too fast.
A hand closed around her arm, the
