“He’s right,” TenSix said. “I will draw the Mayir scum away and the rest of you flee.”
“TenSix, no!” I shook my head.
“I’m only a bot.”
“I’ll do it,” I said. “I’ll draw him away while you get out of here. Once you’re clear, I’ll lead him to you and you ambush him.”
“That actually might work,” Grannt said. “We can rendezvous at the exit.”
I could tell he was impressed.
“I’ll go with Jannigan Beck,” TenSix said. “I can help him navigate an alternate route back.”
A volley of blaster fire lit up the tunnel again. Our attacker knew he had pinned us down, and now he was moving in for the kill.
“What about my husband?” Biella asked.
“I can carry him,” Grannt said. “There were some sleds near the entrance. Can’t be more than a few hundred meters away. I’ll get him there.”
“Approximately three hundred and eighteen meters,” TenSix said.
“Not a problem,” Grannt said.
“If we’re going to do this thing, we need a diversion,” Kira said. “Otherwise he’ll just pick us off.”
“Give me your scatterblaster,” Grannt said.
Kira handed the weapon over. “What are you doing?”
“Overloading it. Everyone get ready to move.”
I’m not going to lie; I had no idea you could overload a scatterblaster.
But Grannt methodically fiddled with the weapon for fifteen seconds and then handed it to Kira. “Don’t let go of the trigger.”
“Got it.”
“You’re going to throw it down the tunnel at the hostile. Once it leaves your hand we’ll have maybe seven seconds before it goes boom. Beck, you need to cross the tunnel and start shooting from around the corner. Make sure he knows where those shots are coming from.”
“Will do.”
“Good luck, everyone,” Kira said. Then she planted a kiss on my lips. “Especially you. Come back to me, okay?”
“I will. I promise.”
We locked eyes and then I smiled at her.
Grannt effortlessly slung Thastus up over his shoulder as if the older man weighed no more than a child. “Ready.”
“Here goes.” Kira released the trigger, grabbed the scatterblaster by its muzzle, and then flung it down the tunnel towards our attacker.
I heard the weapon clatter against the metal surface of the tunnel, and then…nothing.
Uh oh. Did Grannt mess up? I looked over at him, but didn’t see any doubt in his eyes. Just grim determination.
And then the scattergun blew, filling the corridor with bolts of energy that careened at all sorts of random angles.
Grannt held his hand up, signaling that we should wait.
Then the scattergun made a sharp popping sound and the corridor began to fill with dark black smoke. The acrid scent of burnt ozone filled my nostrils and made me gag, but I didn’t have time to dwell on my discomfort.
“Now!” Grannt hissed. “Move!”
TenSix and I raced across the four-way intersection to the northwest passage amidst a shower of blaster bolts which lit up the smoke-filled air with an eerie glow. Thankfully, we made it over safely. I hoped the rest of the team escaped as well.
“Scout up ahead!” I instructed TenSix. Then I darted around the corner and fired up the tunnel. I exaggerated the angle of my shots so it would be clear where they were coming from. I also made sure to fire a few rounds from my pistol, hopefully creating the illusion that there were more than one of us in this corridor.
I was rewarded—if you could call it that—with some blaster bolts aimed towards my position in the side tunnel.
Good. Our hunter was buying the decoy.
Fishing through my belt pack, I grabbed a handful of electro-caltrops that we had found in the guard hut. I wasn’t sure how effective these things were, but they couldn’t hurt. During a break in the blaster fire, I leaned around the corner and hurled them up the tunnel. Then I sprinted away to the northwest.
The next four-way junction was a hundred meters away. TenSix signaled me to follow him to the left.
“This corridor runs perpendicular to the route Dr. Lark and the others are taking,” he said.
I nodded. “Perfect. But I need to make sure he sticks with us. You go up ahead. Keep scouting.”
As TenSix ambled away, I ducked behind a bulkhead and let loose a bunch of blaster bolts towards the intersection. I had no idea whether or not the Mayir was still following me, but I hoped to Dynark that he was.
I glanced around the tunnel, making sure that there wasn’t a side corridor in this section. The last thing I needed was for the Mayir to double back and catch me from the other side.
Fortunately, the corridor was a straight shot to the next four-way intersection, which was another hundred meters to the southwest. The only thing that might be a concern was a section halfway towards the junction where the tunnel narrowed. Maybe it was one of those flood control channels. I could faintly hear the rush of water from somewhere beyond the walls.
I looked back up from the direction I had come. Where the hell was the Mayir? He had to know I was down here.
I fired another bolt at the junction, just for good measure—and then crouched down, expecting—and hoping—that my opponent would return fire.
But there was nothing.
The tunnel was silent except for the sound of my own breathing and the barely-audible sound of water.
This was not good. Not good at all.
Should I return to the intersection and look down the southeast tunnel? Maybe I had actually managed to take the Mayir out. He could be sprawled out on the ground for all I knew.
Or he could be waiting for me, playing a game of cat and mouse.
I decided not to fall into that particular trap. And, besides, I had a better idea.
I waved for TenSix and he dutifully joined me at my end of the corridor.
“Can you scan down the southeast passage?” I asked.
“The way we came?”
“Yes.”
“I can scan roughly twenty-five meters in every direction. A bit less through heavy plating and—”
“I get it. Twenty-five meters is better than nothing. Please go up to the junction
