When thousands of lives were at stake, or billions of credits of merchandise could get blown sky-high if a single piece of the ship wasn’t working properly, you ran tests every chance you got.
One such test was ensuring the shutters were all closed immediately before liftoff. They were left open in case of a sudden emergency landing on the runway. It was the only way in before the ship would take off.
I gauged the distance I had to run and jump over. It wasn’t too far—but even a yard was a long way when a fall meant making a concrete dive a hundred feet below.
The security capsules’ flashing lights spun and their sirens wailed.
I had run out of time. I had to jump now.
So I did.
The wind struck me the moment I leaped from my shuttlecraft. It was strong—caused by the powerful anti-gravity forces of the giant ships’ thrusters. I landed on the passenger ship. I lost my footing and skidded along the floor as the wind caught me again.
I didn’t get to my feet. The wind was too strong. I crawled along the floor and didn’t feel the press of the wind’s force remove itself from me until I was covered by the ship’s outer shell. I got to my feet and ran toward the flaps that hung open until immediately before takeoff.
I was inside.
Now all I had to do was find Bianca.
And avoid the ship’s security teams, of course.
I wound through the halls formed by stacks of restrained luggage cubes that filled every inch of the enormous cargo hold.
Intuitively, I sensed I needed to keep pushing forward until I reached the back of the room. The thrusters hummed as they held the passenger ship in place, ready to take off at the next available opportunity.
The good news was they wouldn’t take off while I was on board.
The bad news was they would do everything they could to get me off.
I turned and slipped down a particularly narrow section and then ran at full speed through the wider sections.
A protruding corner of luggage caught my shoulder and spun me to one side. I hissed through my teeth and checked I wasn’t seriously hurt. It stung, but thankfully I was okay.
Thump.
Thump. Thump.
Three sets of boots landed on the hard floor of the cargo hold up ahead somewhere.
The security teams were closing in.
Maybe if I explained the situation to them, they would listen to me…
Yeah, sure. They would be very open to the potential of losing their jobs just because I was in love and didn’t want her to leave.
But maybe they would wake her up and take her off the ship? That was at least an outside possibility, wasn’t it? Yes. But they wouldn’t do it for just any reason. I could tell them she forgot to take her medication. She would die in the pod without it. They would have to let her out then, wouldn’t they?
Maybe. I put the plan on the backburner. I wouldn’t use it unless I got caught.
I crouched and listened carefully to the sound of scuffling boots and hissed whispers as they communicated with each other.
There were only three of them. They couldn’t search every luggage hallway. If I could slip past, I would have a head start to reach the passenger decks.
But first I had to ensure I snuck past them.
But how?
The solution struck me as I peered at the latticework of cords that restrained the luggage, locking it down and holding it firmly in place.
It was also easy to climb…
I just needed to identify the shortest one I could find.
I moved along the alley I stood on. With security getting closer by the second, and as they hadn’t seen me yet, it seemed a good idea to choose one of the stacks along the row I was stood on.
I peered up at them, attempting to gauge their height. It wasn’t easy. Some grazed the ceiling of the enormous room—I was guaranteed never to reach that height even if security didn’t catch me while I was halfway up it—which they would.
I thought I spotted the shortest one. It was located halfway along the row, on the left. I grabbed the cords and scaled up it, ensuring to keep one foot and one hand in a hold at a time.
The cords swayed beneath me and it was all I could do to keep it from making too much noise.
The boots thumped louder from below. I looked down to locate them and realized my mistake too late.
Never look down.
The blood drained from my face and I let out a held breath.
I thought of Bianca locked away in her pod somewhere on the upper decks, and it gave me the strength I needed to keep going.
I reached the top and lay there, gently panting, staring up at the ceiling and the towering columns of luggage on either side.
I heard the heavy boots below but resisted the urge to peer over the side.
It didn’t matter where they were, I told myself. The only thing that mattered was they weren’t where I was.
Lucky bastards.
I listened until the boots began to head away, back the way I came.
I had to move.
I checked over the side in case one or more of them had opted to stay behind. They hadn’t, so far as I could tell. Not on this row, anyway.
I threw my legs over the side and climbed down. Then I stepped into the next room and continued through the luggage jungle, slow at first, and then picking up speed as I got further and further from security.
I ran into the opposite end before I saw it. My shoulder complained when it barked against the hard wall. I peered along it and spotted what I was looking for about thirty feet above me on the far end.
Harsh light illuminated a set of steps floating in darkness.
The
