Natta lay on the floor, and for a horrible moment she thought he was dead.
There was blood on the ground near his head and his hands were restrained. He was perfectly still.
A quick glance told her there was no one else in the room. A small desk with a couple of boxes on it sat in the middle of the space, with a shelf against the wall to the side.
She crouched beside Natta, and as her hand brushed his neck, he jerked, eyes opening wide.
“Shh. It’s me.” She closed her eyes for a moment, let the relief of him being alive run through her. Then she snapped them open. “Can you stand?”
She helped him sit up. His skin lost color as he got upright.
“Might throw up,” he said, turning to the side.
“Breathe through it. We need to go.” She left him for a moment, moving back to the door. “Got him. Coming down,” she called to Trayla.
“Good.” There was strain in Trayla’s voice, and Fee guessed she was getting as edgy as Fee was about how much time they had left before someone came to see what the hell was going on in here.
When she turned back, Natta had managed to get himself to his feet. He was leaning on the desk for support and swaying slightly.
“You know where the keys are for those?” she asked, nodding at his restraints.
“Some Balcoan has them.” Natta shuffled forward, and she went in front of him, unable to get under his arm to help support him with his hands bound together.
“Check your guy for the key to Natta’s restraints,” she called down to Trayla, and then ran down the stairs.
She turned the corner, found Trayla snatching them from her prisoner. She tossed them at Fee, who caught them and ran back up to Natta.
As soon as they were off, she slid under his arm, and they moved faster.
“What are we going to do with him?” Trayla asked, tilting her head at the Balcoan.
“Shoot him on low,” Fee said.
“Yay.” Trayla wasted no time, and then got on Natta’s other side. “Let’s hustle.”
Fee caught sight of a woman lying still, a shockgun near her, down a row of stacks to the left of the office door, and realized she must have been the one to shoot at Fee earlier.
She’d almost forgotten about that.
They moved around the Balcoan with the broken arm, still out from Trayla’s stun, and the man she’d hit with the silver rod as they’d stepped into the warehouse, who was still unconscious.
Fee studied him as they shuffled around him, and was relieved to see his chest was moving.
He was alive.
When they got through into the office, the receptionist was stirring a little.
“Damn, Paxe wanted me to see if that was his laser cannon that was used against us.” Fee glanced back.
They got Natta to the front door. Eazi had brought the runner around the front, she saw with relief.
“You get him in, I’ll run back in so Paxe can have a look.” Fee checked up and down the street. It was late afternoon, and there were people about. Some were looking around, as if they weren’t sure where the noise had come from.
“Hurry.” Trayla took all of Natta’s weight as Fee eased back, then she turned and ran back inside.
When she got past the front office and went into the warehouse, she saw the blackened stacks were still smoldering. The stink was awful and she jogged along the path of destruction to the far back.
No wonder the Balcoan had been looking back so nervously. He knew he needed to dive out of the way or be vaporized.
