His heart gave a kick. He turned toward the door. “Let’s go.”
They snuck out the bottom hatch of theInfinitas. Using the hull of the ship for cover, they crept toward the area where their study of Darc’s map had shown an entrance to the sewer system.
“There it is.” Zayn crouched and pulled out a tiny gray box. He held it over the heavy metal grate and activated the mini-magna lift. The grate flew up and hit the magnet with a clunk. Zayn maneuvered it out of the way. “Ladies first.”
“Yeah, thanks.” Ria peered into the hole, then gripped the sides and lowered herself in.
He followed. He was surprised to find the place didn’t reek. Ria flicked on an ion light on her mini-Sync.
The tunnel wasn’t quite tall enough for them to stand up in. It was also dry. No sewage.
“It’s not being used anymore,” he said.
“It’s probably been upgraded.” Ria’s face looked different in the shadows. Less like Vik’s. “Let’s just hope they haven’t blocked the system off.” She glanced at the map on her wrist. “This way.”
They started down the twists and turns. They moved to the end of the tunnel and saw it was blocked by a vertical metal grate.
“Shit.” Zayn tested the bars. They were welded on.
“No problem.” Ria pulled a slim device off her belt and fired up a small laser torch. It took her a few minutes to remove two bars. Enough for them to slide through.
In the next tunnel, a small river of sludge moved through the tunnel. It had a vague fluorescent green tinge to it.
Zayn frowned. “Doesn’t look good.”
Ria was frowning too. “It doesn’t smell though.” She crouched and snatched up a tiny bit of dislodged concrete. She tossed it into the sludge.
The fragment hissed and sizzled as it hit. It slowly dissolved away.
“Shit,” he said. “Pun intended.”
“Will the suits hold up?”
“Yeah. For a while as least.”
“Then we’d better be fast, flyboy.”
“I like to go fast. Let me go first.” He waded out into the sludge, waiting to see if he was about to lose a limb. “Come on in, the water’s fine.”
She grinned, her teeth white in the darkness. “Let’s go steal some blueprints.”
They made their way through the tunnels, wading through muck that was, at times, waist deep. Zayn wondered if he imagined the heat growing on his suit.
“I think this is it.” Ria pointed.
A small arched doorway was set into the wall. They climbed out of the sewage and flanked the door. When he turned the handle, he was shocked to find it unlocked. “Finally, some good luck.”
She took one step forward. “I don’t believe in good luck. Usually when things are too good to be true, something’s about to bite you in the ass.”
He eyed her face. Vik’s face. “Yeah.”
They waited the few seconds it took for their enviro suits to self-clean, then they entered the Tekton base.
They were in a plush hallway lined with what looked like real wood—a rare commodity in this part of the quadrant.
Ria scanned the map. “Let’s find the library. We need to go right.”
They headed down the hall. Zayn was impressed. The woman moved without a sound, with a liquid grace that was damned sexy and, he knew, harder than it looked. Vik had moved with a brisk stride, like she was always in a rush.
