I nod once. “Lead the way.”
The halls outside are fire and screaming metal. I see two League grunts barreling around a corner just as Jav hurls something—a flash charge.It pops white-hot, and the corridor goes blinding. I blink, half-blind, but Jav doesn’t pause. He’s already there, disarming one, flooring the other with a bone-crunching kick.
He doesn’t kill them. Not yet.
He knows we’re on borrowed time.
Ben buries his face in my shoulder. “It’s loud,” he cries. “I don’t like this!”
“I know, baby. Hold on. Just hold on.”
We push forward, feet pounding over grated walkways. The sirens wail louder, shriller, like the whole place is screaming with us. Jav slices a security panel with his blade, hotwires it in seconds, and the door groans open into a tunnel so dark I can’t see the end.
He turns back, eyes scanning me. “You good?”
“No,” I pant. “But I’m here.”
He gives a grim nod. “That’s enough.”
Inside the tunnel, the silence is almost worse. Our footfalls echo like gunshots. The walls drip with condensation, and the air smells of rust and old breath. Pipes rattle overhead.
Ben’s breathing gets faster. “It’s like a cave,” he says.
“It’s okay,” I whisper. “We’re almost there.”
I hear Jav’s voice ahead of me. Low. Grounding. “There’s a ladder up three levels. Emergency shaft. Once we’re topside, it’s a straight sprint to the edge. You’ll see the drop beacon—Garkin’s running nav lights under cloak.”
“Are you sure?”
He glances over his shoulder. “I don’t deal in ‘sure.’ But I deal in promises. And I promised you both I’d get you out.”
The ladder’s slippery.My arms shake from carrying Ben, but I don’t let go. Jav reaches down from above and pulls me up by the forearm in one clean yank. His strength feels endless—like it’s pulled from somewhere deeper than muscle.
As soon as I clear the top, the wind hits.
We’re outside.
The cliff edge is jagged rock and sweeping night. Storm clouds churn above, dark against a greenish-black sky. Rain starts falling in fine misty sheets.
“Ship’s just past that ridge,” Jav shouts over the wind. “Go!”
We run.
The wind howls like a creature. The ground tilts and slides under my feet. My lungs burn. Ben is so quiet now, wrapped tight in my arms like he knows this is the part where we don’t stop, not even to scream.
Then I hear the roar behind us.
Engines.
Not friendly.
“Go, go!” Jav barks, pivoting on his heel, plasma pistol drawn.
He fires behind us—three bursts. One ship veers off. The other drops closer.
A spotlight slams down.
I shield Ben.
