It was clear she could not keep the pace.
She had been weak and sick when they had taken over the wrecker ship and her strength had come back to her slowly—too slowly. On top of that, he had given her an implant that had, no doubt, sapped her strength as well.
Not even thinking about it, he swung her up in his arms and then over his shoulder. Her head bumped against the long curve of his spine and her diaphragm rested on his strong shoulder. He pulled one arm up and over her, holding her waist and her arms went around his waist as she cried out, “I’m okay! Just go!”
He did. He raced along behind the others as they came out under a building whose upper floors hung out so far over the lowers that it provided a sort of shelter. Jessica leaned against the wall, breathing hard. They all took a moment to catch their breath and Marik lowered Jenny to her feet. How long they had been running he did not know, but there were a soreness and a tightness in his arm that he had had curled over her body during the run.
Jessica wiped her face with one sleeve and said, “We have to go down into the tunnels. You will not like this.”
Talon groaned. “No, we won’t. Is there no other way?”
One of the crew members who had been nearest the back panted out, “No. I saw at least three dozen of them coming. And I heard more.”
They all stood there, their hands on their knees and inhaling as much of the tainted air as they could get into their lungs. Marik’s ears, more finely tuned than that of humans, caught the rattle and beat of a great many footsteps. His eyes met Talon’s. Talon nodded. Marik said, “I hear at least fifty, or maybe even sixty.”
Jessica panted out, “I really need your guys’ hearing. It doesn’t matter even if I don’t have it, I guess. I do know that we’re pretty well screwed if we don’t do something, and now. The tunnels are our only chance. They either won’t know about them, or they won’t risk them.”
Marik had no idea why the tunnels were so terrible but if they were so terrible that a Rover would not risk them, he was pretty sure that taking the tunnels would be no less lethal than the Rovers.
Either way, they were facing death.
They probably stood little to no chance against the Rovers and more of a chance in the tunnels.
