A noise bounced off the walls.
Caoimhe turned.
A little drone flew into view.The soft buzzing of the motor echoed off the walls.
"It's a drone," Caoimhe said just as it blew up.The echo made her jump.
The pieces fell to the metal floor, pinging as they hit.
She turned to Freya, who lowered her weapon."I hate those things."
"I didn't know you were such a good shot," Caoimhe said.
"Everyone gets lucky once in a while."
Caoimhe picked up the blaster."How did it get in here?"she wondered out loud.
"Probably the same way we did.Through the air venting."She held the blaster."Come on, I'll show you."
"I don't know how we didn't hear it.Everything is so loud in here," Caoimhe said as they headed toward the access point that Freya mentioned.It wasn't in the proper chamber, but outside, in a side door that she'd never noticed before.Probably because Bahran had brought her in and taken her right over to the door she'd gone to rest in.
Or the fact that the older ships visually blocked the entry point from line of sight.
They headed through the back door, and sure enough, Caoimhe realized that there was a perfectly clear ventilation shaft that headed up and out of the building, large enough that a Terran, or a Rhimodian, could walk through.
"It must be the main line out, do you think?"Caoimhe said.
Freya shook her head."Not likely.It's an exhaust tunnel for the fumes from the ships coming in and out.The older ships out there, they required a lot of exhaust, and this was the venting to let it escape the underground."
"Didn't realize that was a problem."
She shrugged."That's what Kian told me."
"Well, he lives here.He probably knows."
"Yeah, he knows things."Freya looked down, and her cheeks flushed.
"Does he know a lot of things?"
Freya nodded."He does.A lot of them.What about Bahran?Does he know things?"
"He is a great kisser," Caoimhe said.
They both started to giggle, and she was so glad her friend had found her.The hug from Freya was everything to her--knowing that her friend was alive, and that meant they all could be out there.Caoimhe had clung to the idea that they all were fine, and she was the only one lost, but knowing that each one had a Rhimodian guardian protecting her, well, she hoped they all were getting along with theirs as well as she and Bahran were getting along.
Or Freya and Kian.
After a moment, they both came to their senses.
"We can giggle about this as we work," Caoimhe said."We need to find a way to block this access panel."
"But do we want to?Because if we do start one of those older ships out there, the venting won't have any place to go."
"True," Caoimhe said."What about an alarm?"she glanced around."Some way to alert us if someone comes in the door?"
"There are no terminals here that I can see."
Caoimhe saw something."But what about just noise?"
"What do you have in mind?"
"Remember how we used to lock out Bianca when we were kids?"
Freya grinned."I like where you're going with this."
