Page 64 of Warrior’s Mate

There. A pumping junction three kilometers west. And beyond it, a surface outlet near the abandoned Yaran orchards.

"We have a route."

The words traveled through the group, changing posture before anyone consciously smiled.

Hope was dangerous because people mistook it for safety. Maelis had watched that happen all day. A transport appeared, and everyone believed they were saved. A road opened, and people stopped considering how it might close. A military officer arrived, and civilians surrendered decisions they were still capable of making.

She would not do that to them.

"It is three kilometers," she said. "Possibly more if the pumping junction is blocked. We stay together. We conserve water. No one moves ahead of security. If I say stop, you stop. If Lieutenant Haren says run, you run."

The group nodded. They started west.

The first kilometer was slow but uneventful. The second was worse. One injured man became dizzy, forcing them to stop twice. The pregnant woman's contractions strengthened. Their lamps began losing charge. Somewhere overhead, explosions came as distant tremors through the rock.

Maelis checked her comm every few minutes even though it remained useless. She wondered if Kaiven was still on the ridge. Then she corrected herself.

She believed he was. The distinction mattered. They reached the pumping junction to find the main door sealed by an automated contamination lock.

Lieutenant Haren stared at it. "Can you override it?"

"Probably."

"How long?"

"If you ask me that one more time, I may become violent."

He smiled despite the fatigue around his eyes. "Understood." Maelis opened the maintenance panel.

The lock had failed safe. Without network authentication, it would not accept her Exchange credentials. She could bypass the control board, but doing so would trigger the flood isolation system and seal two secondary gates behind them.

The return route was gone, but that was not necessarily a problem; it had already ceased to exist as a usable option. She began working.

Halfway through the bypass, Haren's scanner chirped. Everyone froze.

"Movement," he said.

"Where?"

"Behind us. Channel level. Multiple."

The movement could belong to Sargans or survivors. After Junction Seven, Maelis no longer gave uncertainty the benefit of the doubt when hundreds of lives had already been taken.

"How long until they reach us?"

"Five minutes. Maybe less."

Maelis looked at the control board. She needed ten.

"Can you hold this corridor?"

"For five minutes."

"I need ten."

"Then work quickly."

She almost laughed.