‘Leader, this is six. I’m in the classroom, checking on that humidifier alarm. Listen, the whole room’s flooded, and the water’s electrified.’
There’s a moment’s silence, and I can only imagine the questions the Pirate is firing at her down the line.What did you say?Probably followed closely byHow are you alive? Am I speaking to a ghost right now?
‘I’m standing on a desk. It’s nonconductive. Look, that’s not what’s important.’
Another pause. I’m guessing:You don’t think being trapped by a tiny electrified lake is important? How are we supposed to get you out of there?
‘Listen, I’d appreciate it if someone figured that out, but we have bigger issues. The wires that hit the water came down out of the ventilation shaft. And I only had a moment to look, but I’m absolutely sure I saw movement up there.’
Fear sweeps through me in a wave. I’m frozen in place, and behind me I hear the softest intake of breath from Hunter. Neither of us moves.Shit, those blue sparks in her eyeswerevision augments.
‘Ican’tshoot,’ Blue Braid says. ‘I don’t know what that vent’s made of. I don’t want anything ricocheting back on me. Not while I’m stuck on this damn desk. But you might want to figure out where this vent ends up, because whatever the evac logs said, I don’t think we’re alone here.’
My body’s locked in place, my muscles aching from clenching so hard. This isn’t fight or flight – this is the other option they forget to tell you about,freeze. It’s like I’m trapped inside myself, screaming that I need to move, I need to run, but I don’t know how. I can’t even make my little finger move.
Then Hunter’s hand closes gently around my ankle one more time, and it’s like Icanfeel the warmth of his skin through my suit – like it races up my leg, and somehow thaws me.
I begin to move again, shuffling back slowly and quietly – I don’t want to give her a sound that will confirm what she already believes.
But in my mind, I’m ten steps ahead, my old instincts pushing up from below the surface.
It’s time to do what I always end up doing.
It’s time to run.
12.
HUNTER
5 HOURS, 38 MINUTES REMAINING
ISCRAMBLE FRANTICALLY TOWARDthe junction, shoving myself backward through the ventilation pipe. Then I drop down through the duct, feet-first, praying there’s nobody waiting for me.
The storage room is empty, and I stumble back when I hit the floor, colliding with a packing crate as Cleo jumps down after me, arms windmilling for balance.
The second she’s on her feet I spin toward the door that leads to the greenhouse, but Cleo grabs for my arm, yanking me back.
‘More hallways this way,’ she raps out, tilting her head toward the opposite door. ‘More places to lose them.’
‘But we know the route this way,’ I argue, pointing back at the door we came through.
She studies me for a long second, then lets go of her grip onmy arm and simply turns to smack the release beside her door panel and disappear through it at a run.
Cursing under my breath, I do exactly what she’s betting on, and run after her.
She leads me through a series of storage rooms, all linked together, all piled high with boxes and leftover materials. On Mars, they never throwanythingout – after all, you have to either ship it in or manufacture it here, if you end up wishing later that you hadn’t got rid of it.
Neither of us speaks – the only soundtrack is the soft, steady thud of our footsteps, and the rasp of our breath. My senses are hyperalert, straining for the smallest sign that someone’s on our tail, or up ahead, or about to burst through a door.
Ahead of me, Cleo ducks past a sheet of plastic that’s hanging to separate a half-renovated room and grabs a support column to swing herself around toward a door.
Did she get this good running from debt collectors? No wonder she calls merich boy. It’s all anyone sees when they look at me, I do know that. But for Cleo, it must be so unimaginably different from her life. It must seem like I can fly.
Since Dad died and my life imploded, I’ve been furious that I’ve got everything anyone could want, except the one thingIwant. Surrounded by riches but shut out by my family.
Watching the way Cleo instantly takes flight, seeing the way it’s an instinct for her, I’m realizing there are worse things than being rich but alone. I could just be alone.
We break out into a hallway, and it must be the huge ring corridor that circles the base – it has the same long, slowcurve, the same lights set into the ceiling. I stumble after her, throwing a hand out to drag along the wall, trying to stop myself from falling. Running in low gravity is like constantly falling forward – fast, as long as you don’t need to change direction or stop.
