A few turns later, she was proved right when she spotted the small belladonna flower etched into the bottom right of a container.
Trite as it was, she’d adopted the belladonna flower as her symbol.Her own way of marking the territory that belonged to her.Usually, its presence was subtle.An actual plant grown somewhere in the vicinity.More often, it was an etching like the one in front of her.
Technically, Gus had three such symbols at her disposal.Belladonna, oleander and ba-bane, a particularly toxic plant from House Danai’s homeworld.Though belladonna was by far the most common.The last two were usually reserved for those that Gus considered essential.
It was rare for anyone to earn the mark of an oleander.Ba-bane was even rarer.Only ever used when things were not only considered essential to her survival but had also become something she cherished.
To date, she’d only used ba-bane once.
“Why did we stop?”Anandra panted, coming up behind her.
The boy looked tired.His features were pale with exhaustion.Gus didn’t think he could go much further.The food she’d given him had only done the bare minimum in restoring his energy levels.
Caius wasn’t faring much better.He was running on fumes and the energy the choko tree had bestowed to him.
If they carried on like this, they might collapse.
Good thing they’d arrived at their destination.
Gus crouched, pressing her thumb against a petal of the belladonna.After a moment there was a faint hiss and the outline of a door appeared next to her.
Gus rose.“We’re here.”
The door gave way easily when Gus pushed against it, allowing her entrance into a container that at first, second, and third glance would be indistinguishable from pretty much every other container sitting on Titan’s docks.Perhaps a little emptier than most but nothing a raid by one of the pirate clans dominating the station couldn’t explain.
Anandra and Caius hovered by the entrance as Gus walked over to a set of crates stacked haphazardly in the corner.Spotting the one with a belladonna flower stamped on its front, Gus reached around to its back, searching for the lever she knew was there.
After a moment of fumbling, her fingers brushed against something hard.She grabbed it and pulled.
The ground rumbled.
Gus hurriedly stepped back as the stack of crates started to move.Caius and Anandra joined her as they slid to the side to reveal the hole waiting beneath.And a ladder conveniently leading down into the gaping maw.
“No wonder you weren’t worried about the ship,” Caius remarked, taking in her escape hatch.“Very clever.”
“I’ll go first,” Gus volunteered, wanting to put a little distance between her and the commander right now.
“You’re quite good at that.”When Gus looked at him, Caius elaborated.“Running away.”
“If I wasn’t, you and the boy would have already been recaptured,” Gus pointed out, maneuvering her way onto the ladder.
“Prickly, prickly—just like a cute, harmlessefji,” Caius murmured.
Gus pretended not to hear that as she started her descent.
Theefji, like its cousin thetijit, was part of the rodent family.Only unlike thetijit, it possessed no natural defenses.It relied on foraging for sustenance and was known for its lack of fear or sense, scolding predators much larger than themselves whenever they ventured too close to their burrows or food reserves.
By comparing her to one, Caius was saying Gus was someone who talked big but didn’t know her own capabilities.
He was awfully mouthy for someone who’d been saved by her not just once but twice.Where did he get off comparing her to anefji?She wasn’t the one who’d gotten captured by pirates.
Mentally grumbling to herself, Gus descended the ladder a little faster than necessary, reaching the bottom in no time.Anandra was next on the ladder as Gus took stock of the tunnel.
Big enough for the three of them to stand side by side, it had large pipes running overhead and along the sides.Algae had grown across the walls and ceiling.A product of the moisture that had accumulated on the surfaces.Something was also growing over the metal grates of the floor, a moss of some kind that provided a carpet of green and yellow for them to walk over.
The only source of light was the dim glow provided by the motion triggered emergency lighting lining the walls.
“What is this place?”Caius asked, looking around as he joined Gus.
