"I can't see," she whispered back. "Can you?"
"No, but I can echolocate."
He clicked his tongue a few times. He wasfarbetter at this in orca form; as a human, he only had the palest shadow of his orca abilities, as he lacked the specialized structures in his brain and head to help with it. The only reason he could do it at all as a human was long years of practice as an orca, so his brain knew how to interpret the echoes from the clicks.
He leaned against Mira, touching his lips to her ear. "All clear ahead of us. I think they're against the wall. Stay left, toward the railing."
"That's one heck of a fall if we go over the edge," she whispered. "I'd rather be against the wall, too."
But she went the indicated direction. Dane rested a hand lightly against her back to keep track of her in the dark.
There was absolute chaos going on below them, roars and yells and the occasional sparks of a rattle of gunfire. The imprisoned shifters had wasted absolutely no time in turning on their captors. Dane wished it was possible to help them more, but they were on their own now. He hoped enough of them retained their human minds to be able to steal a boat or helicopter and escape from this place.
Speaking of escape, this was now his first priority. Guiding Mira with gentle touches to her back, he pointed her back toward the stairs. The noise from below meant that they didn't have to be too quiet, but there was still an intense, uncomfortable awareness that somewhere near them were three or four armed men who would shoot them on contact.
And who could also turn into predators who could track by smell. Dane shoved Mira into the stairwell, closed the door behind them, and felt on the inside of it for a lock. There was none. Speed had to be their priority now.
"What next?" Mira whispered.
"Time to find one of those helicopters and get the heck out of—"
He stumbled against Mira. The sound had started up again. He was wrong, knowing what it was didn't make it easier to deal with. It filled his entire head, agonizing and overwhelming. He was blind, deaf, and disoriented. The only real thing in the world was Mira, and he clung to her.
He could feel her moving, though he couldn't tell what she was doing until abruptly the earplugs were pressed into his ears. Dane fumbled with her hands, trying to help her.
The noise was reduced from agonizing to just-bearable levels, but now he realized there was a new problem. They were still in the dark, in danger of being hunted by scent. He couldn't echolocate, and they couldn't communicate with each other at all.
MIRA
Mira realizedwhat was happening when Dane stumbled into her, followed by the same dizzying pressure on her eardrums as earlier. After she helped Dane get the earplugs in, there was a moment in which they just stood there, neither moving, with Dane holding on to her.
"Are you all right?" she whispered and then realized that he couldn't hear her.
He can't hear me, and I don't know my way around.
As if reading her mind, Dane said quietly, "Keep going up."
Of course, she thought, Dane was no fool. He knew that she needed directions. She wished now that she had thought to look for a flashlight on one of the incapacitated guards, but everything had happened so fast.
As they reached the top of the stairs, she heard a door bang open below. She gripped Dane's arm, opened her mouth, and had to once again remind herself that she had no way to warn him. They just had to move fast.
When she opened the door at the top of the stairs, there was a welcome surprise: emergency lighting in the corridor ahead. It was, however, a very mixed blessing, because the flash of light would have alerted their pursuers to their location. She heard boots pounding on the stairs as she let the door bang shut, no longer bothering with stealth.
Dane wasn't either. "Go!" he said sharply, pushing her forward.
They ran down the corridor. Mira was startled to open the door at the far end and find a sharp, salt-tainted wind blowing in her face. She hadn't realized they were so close to the helipad.
It was dark here as well, but she glimpsed dancing flashlights and people moving around. Dane pulled on her arm, and the two of them ducked out of the door and hurried along the wall, behind some crates and fuel barrels.
Mira's eyes were adjusting to the poor light. It wasn't completely dark out here, between the flashlights and the light of a crescent moon. There were two helicopters on the helipad, the big one they'd come in and a small one that she immediately oriented on. She'd flown that model before, and it would be easier to maneuver than the big one, and more likely to be refueled and ready to go than a machine that had recently come back from a long flight. She touched Dane's arm and pointed at the little one.
Dane nodded. Then he leaned close. "I'll distract them," he said. Mira winced; without being able to hear himself, he wasn't that quiet, but at least there was enough of a babble of voices out on the helipad that he didn't seem to be overheard. "Join you in a minute."
"Wait—Dane—" But he couldn't hear her, and he had already withdrawn from touching distance, vanishing behind the fuel barrels.
Mira swallowed her fear. She had to trust Dane to do his part, and it was up to her to do hers.
She gauged the distance from herself to the helicopter. There were a lot of people out there, but in the dark, she thought she might make it.
