He paused before an opening, a split in the hallway, as something red rolled past.
A tiny creature, seemingly made of painted steel; a Wanderer beastie, on three black wheels, that beeped and dragged a trash bin behind it.
“Sweeper droid,” Karr whispered, as Azariah lifted her palms before her as if she wanted to attack.“Nota threat.”
The droid beeped once more as it turned the corner, out of sight.
Duran wouldnotbe pleased, if he ever ran into one of them. It put a fleeting smile on Sonara’s lips as they moved on. They passed by closed door after closed door, the lights flickering every so often. Still, that incessant humming beneath Sonara’s feet.
Her curse lifted its head from inside its cage, sensing the hum… hungering for it. She could taste it, like electricity that mirrored the light-wall. But this was different, condensed and somehow stronger at the same time.
“It’s below us,” she whispered. “The source of the power.”
Azariah nodded, as if she, too, could sense it. “Electricity, like I have never felt before.”
They’d nearly reached the opposite end of the ship. It was too calm.Tooeasy.
They made their way through another arched door. Inside, a wide room with metal tables and chairs scattered about.
“Mess hall,” Karr explained.
They jogged silently past portholes on all sides, windows that offered small glimpses of the outside world. From here, the Deadlands felt distant. Like she was back in Soreia, staring out at a view that would never be the same again, without Soahm.
Through the mess hall, they journeyed, until they reached what Karr called anelevator.A small metal boxlike room held aloft by magnetics, it would lower them towards the ship’s engine room.
“It hasn’t been fixed in ages,” Karr said. “But it’s quick enough. Four levels to go down, and we’ll be at the storage bay. Easy as breathing.”
He waved his hand before the panel on its side, and the doors opened with a cool hiss.
The metal room stared back at the group. A cage, more like. Sonara went first, pressing her back against the cool metal wall, her left hand on Lazaris’ pommel. Markam stopped at her side, Karr and Azariah shuffling in next.
Karr pressed a button on a panel just inside the elevator. The doors slid shut.
Then the roomshook,lowering them.
Sonara drew Lazaris in an instant.
“It’s fine,” Karr said. His lips tugged into a smile. “Trust me.”
“Easier said than done,” Sonara said back.
“Four levels down, the doors will open, and the storage bay door is just right down the hall,” Karr said.
The elevator suddenly paused, only one level down.
“That’s… not right,” Karr said.
He pressed a button on the panel, his features twisting to a frown.
Anticipation, sweaty palms tightening over the handle of a metallic weapon.
The aura slammed against Sonara’s curse, warning her only a second before the doors slid open and a cluster of armed guards stood waiting, just beyond.
Chapter 30
Sonara
Enemies, filling the hall.
