Chapter 47
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
Familiar walls
Garrison
FOR THE second time in as many months, I was marched to a cell at blaster point.
This time, I was on my own.
We’d had no choice other than surrender. But before the guards had gotten to us, me positioned in front of Airida, the other shaa’ith had melted away into the shadows.
It better be because they had a plan B and not because they were saving their own skins.
As we walked through the red stone passageways, I was too busy berating myself to pay much attention to my surroundings. I’d failed Shohari and her brother.
And us. I’d fucked up the only way we could have had an ‘us.’
“Stop there.” The guard punctuated his words with a blaster jab to my back.
I glanced into the bare stone room, and any thought I’d had of fighting fled. Paiata and Muzati slouched against the back wall, raising their heads as we approached.
I let myself get pushed inside and watched the purple forcefield seal behind me.
“You too?” I said, the weight of the words hanging heavy in the air. “We were so close to getting back to the ship. They took Airida.”
“Not your fault,” Paiata said.
“We weren’t expecting armed guards.”
“We were at least expecting to get some refreshments.” Muzati pushed off the wall and shook her head, headspines fanning out around her. “We went to the kitchen for some food and got seized straight away.” She huffed as she paced the small room. “I’m hungry.”
I slumped on the floor, more uncertain than I’d been on the Reserve ship. At least there, we’d all been together. Where had they taken Airida? Was Shohari okay?
I traced patterns in the dust with my boot. “Did they say what they were planning?”
“No.”
I knew why I was here, but why had they taken the crew straight away?
Bitter failure needled at me. I didn’t punch the wall. I didn’t roar my frustration. I didn’t let any of it show on my face, though my jaw ached with how tight I clenched it.
My fists ground into my forehead until I surged upwards with the need to move, as if by pacing the small cage of a room I’d feel like I could do something.
Seven paces from side to side. Four from the back wall to the translucent purple holo-door. Five if I’d gone right up to it, but I’d seen Paiata’s spines twitching whenever I got close.
Left to right it was, then.
I stopped after a few hundred steps, tracing the far wall for any sign of escape.
“Wouldn’t bother.”
I jerked my head back at Paiata. “I’ve got to do something.” My eyes flicked to the doorway. “What’s this made of, anyway?”
I took a couple of steps, reaching out towards the glowing purple forcefield trapping us in, but Paiata yanked me away.
“Kri’s hairy arse, are you looking to get hurt? Can’t you feel the heat?” he said.
There was nothing but the tingle of cold plasma whenever I got close to it. “What heat? If anything, it’s a bit cold.”
“That’s impossible,” Muzati said. “It’s always hot. It’s a warning—if we touch it, we burn.”
Burns. First Aid. Medbay.
Medbay. The scanner was cold.
“You might,” I said, all out of fucks to give, my words escaping in throaty laughter. We hadn’t gotten this far only to be holed up in Shohari’s dismal family estate, then doomed to goodness knew what. “I have to test this. I promise I don’t think I’ll get burned.”
“Have you lost your mind?” Paiata’s grip on my upper arm was hard enough to bruise. “Plasma burns are excruciating. Cap will kill us if we let anything happen to you.”
“And this plasma feels like a hot stove to you, but not me. That has to mean something.”
I reached out with the knuckle on my little finger, edging it closer to the glowing barrier as far as Paiata’s grip would let me. “Still not hot. Trust me. Let me go.”
With more than a little grumbling, he did. Muzati crept as close as she dared, eyes wide in rapt curiosity.
Taking a breath, I darted in with my fingertips before immediately pulling away. “Nothing.”
Bolstered by the lack of crispy skin, I put my whole hand through and back again before anyone could stop me. The two kri’ith watched me with open mouths.
A grin spread across my face, and my crewmates followed suit. “Looks like I’m part of the rescue party again. Let’s get us out of here.”
I stepped through the portal.
My hands roved over my face and body, as if needing to check what my brain already knew.
“That’s a neat trick,” Muzati said.
I supposed it was. “Right, there’s a control panel here. What do I do?”
“What does it say?”
Damn. “I can’t read alien, remember.”
Muzati let out a mock growl. “You’re the alien, ulthbrain. Just shoot it.”
I glanced at the panel, then back to her. Really?
“Our weapons must be around here somewhere,” she said.
True. I crept down the corridor, empty but for the cell and another door. Readying myself to run if the room beyond was occupied, I pressed the door release.
Jackpot. The chamber was much like the cell, except for the addition of metal shelves across the walls. And there, stashed on a low one to the left, was all our gear. I strapped on my armour and wrist-comm—funny how I’d gotten so used to the weight of it on my arm.
Backpack. Blaster. And a second, bigger one from the wall because hell yeah.
As I picked up the others’ gear, my ears caught the faint tread of booted feet.
Damn. At least I was armed now.
I crouched to the side of the doorway, ready to spring, then shook my head. If all the guards were coming, having a bigger blaster wasn’t enough to even the odds.
I ran. Dived back into the cell before the guards rounded the corner.
As the footsteps got louder, I realised they weren’t the light pad of Orithian footwear but the heavy clomp of station boots, and I grinned as two figures came into view.
Through the purple forcefield, Tokki and Daiytak looked us up and down. “Need some help?”
I couldn’t resist. “Yes, but not as much as you might think.” The portal shimmered as I walked through it to join them.
Tokki’s smile wasn’t something I’d seen often, but his mouth spread wide. “I was not expecting that.” His nod was the closest to praise I’d get from him, so I took it.
He’d already turned away, inspecting the control panel. “What’s the code likely to be?”
“Just shoot it,” Muzati said.
“What?”
“If Garrison got through, it’s basic one-phase plasma. Stupid Orithians. It’s not volatile like proper ones. Just blast it.”
Daiytak raised a brow and bared her teeth. “Stand back.”
The noise was deafening in the small space. Sparks flew, smoke seeped into the cell, and the the field winked out of existence.
With more time to search the storage room, we found Shohari’s wrist-comm, bloodied knife, and miniature blaster.
Fuck.
A fresh deluge of worry swallowed any relief I’d felt at getting free.
“Take this.” Tokki threw a rifle at me, then offered the spare to Paiata.
The pilot shook his head and picked up a blaster instead. “Save it for the cap.”
A low, insistent bleep came from Tokki’s tac-tablet.
“Someone’s coming,” he murmured. “Must have heard us blow the control panel.”
Adrenaline burned away my worry. “Time to leave.”