“Dad run!” cried out Ryann, and he saw his father look up in alarm.
A wave of energy poured down the walls of the shaft, racing towards them. As it swept downwards it left a trail behind it of pristine white walls, as though the ship were somehow instantly repairing itself. But the force of the energy wave was dislodging everything in its path, and already small piece of debris were beginning to rain down upon them.
“Run!” screamed Ryann once more, and this time he saw his father sprinting over the bridge towards them.
Ryann felt Eve pulling him back into the safety of the corridor as more and more chunks of wreckage rained down upon them. But all he could do was stand and stare, willing his father closer.
With a great boom, the wave of energy reached the hanging girder, smashing it aside. It plummeted down, slicing straight through the centre of the bridge, sending up a huge plume of dust and debris.
With a final effort, Grayell leapt to safety, even as the walkway fell away from beneath his feet. He crashed to the floor as pieces of wreckage bounced off the armoured plates of his suit.
“Ryann! Get to cover!” he yelled, pulling himself back to his feet and charging for the safety of the corridor. He grabbed Ryann as he went, shielding him with his arm as debris fell all about.
They made it into the corridor only moments before the wave of energy swept past them, engulfing the shaft in a blinding show of light. The team stood there gasping for breath as electricity crackled and played out before them.
And then, in an instant, the light went out and they were left back in that ghostly silence.
Ryann peered out of the corridor. Where moments before the walls had been restored, now they were once again returned to their former wrecked state. Only a short section of the bridge remained, sticking out into the void.
“Everybody okay?” came Grayell’s voice at his side.
Ryann went to speak, but he was still overwhelmed by the chaos of events. He looked on in surprise as his father pushed his way past the team as though nothing had happened.
“Okay, let’s keep moving,” called Grayell. “We’ve still got a long way to the extraction point. “Garcia, any luck raising the Marianne on comms?”
“Still no luck sir,” replied the soldier.
“Well, keep trying,” replied Grayell. “Let’s see if we can get off this wreck before it manages to kill us.”
He stared pointedly towards Eve for a moment and then turned, stalking off down the darkened corridor.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
REVELATIONS
“More drones coming in through the south gate!”
Ryann loosed off shot after shot, sending the shambling group reeling. But, just as before, they quickly pulled themselves back to their feet and came on in greater numbers.
The drones had appeared out of nowhere. One moment, the team had been traversing some silent hall, and the next thing they knew, hordes of shapeless figures were pouring from the shadows.
They had fought their way back down the levels for almost twenty minutes now, two members of the team expertly pushing forward whilst remainder covered them. Ryann and Eve found themselves being ordered from one point of cover to the next amid a hail of deafening gunfire.
So far, the heavier weapons of the team had managed to keep the advancing drones at a distance. But as the corridors narrowed they found themselves pressed closer together.
“We’re nearly at the extraction point!” yelled Grayell as he pressed forward along a darkened corridor, momentarily lighting it up with sustained bursts of his rifle. The air was thick with ash as the drones fell to the floor before him. “Two floors down!”
They pushed on, a howl of noise at their backs as though the entire Luminal ship had come alive. As they passed an open doorway Ryann caught sight of movement in the shadows. He went to cry out a warning but he was too late. A group of around ten drones pushed forward, grabbing at Beck, who was heading up the team. He barely had chance to bring his gun to bear before he disappeared beneath a mass of bodies. Arcs of electricity flashed out from the drones, coruscating over Beck’s body and Ryann heard the soldier cry out in pain.
“Covering fire!” screamed Grayell, charging towards the group, firing shot after shot into them. In a moment, the nearest drones were blasted to ash, revealing Beck’s prone form slumped upon the floor.
Ryann ran forward and together they dragged him back along the corridor as streaks of gunfire from the team flew all about them, pushing back the remaining drones as they tried to follow.
“Hold on Beck, we’re nearly there!” called out Grayell as the man writhed in pain. His armour was blackened and melted from where the drones had touched him, and his visor was a web of cracks.
Somewhere in that blur of fighting they finally made it to the extraction point. It was a lofty shuttle hangar, empty apart from a couple of wrecked ships. But as they ran out of the corridor Grayell pulled up in shock.
“The doors to the the launch tunnel are shut,” breathed one of the soldiers in dismay. Grayell remained silent; he seemed to visibly deflate.
“What are we going to do?” called Ryann, gunning down a drone as it attempted to follow the team into the hangar. He looked around to see numerous corridors branching off from the hangar. A rising wail emanated from the doorways as more and more drones grew nearer. “Dad! We need to do something!”
Grayell looked up with a start as Ryann pulled at his shoulder.
“Garcia, get on that control station over there!” he called, pointing to a raised dais at the back of the hangar. “See if you can seal the corridors! We’ve got to stop these damn drones from getting in!”
The man nodded
