Page 29 of The Lone Cyborg
“We know they were heading back to the entrance, which means the tunnel should be clear,” he said slowly. “Why don’t we go a little further and see if Sylvester shows any indication that he might have come in a different way?”
“Sounds like a good plan to me,” she agreed, and they continued on their way.
Sylvester chirped quietly a short time later and she looked around eagerly for any sign of daylight. Instead, they were at the entrance to one of the smaller caves that opened off the main tunnel.
“Wait a minute,” she whispered and Jeb paused, brightening the light a little so she could see the entire cave.
Nothing. She gave a disappointed sigh, but before they could resume their journey, Sylvester darted past her, then disappeared.
“Where did he go?” she asked frantically, but Jeb urged her into the cave as he examined the walls.
“Look. This isn’t a solid wall, even though it looks like one from the entrance.”
The rock jutting out from one corner of the cave concealed a narrow passage and he shook his head.
“I never would have found this. I was focused on tunnels, not caves.”
Sylvester flew back towards them and gave an impatient chirp. She laughed, excitement bubbling to the surface.
“I think he wants us to follow him.”
“Let’s give it a try. And hope that passage doesn’t get any narrower,” he added grimly.
It did, but it never became impassable, even for him, although he had to turn sideways several times to scrape through the narrower places.
At first she didn’t even realize that they’d reached the end of the tunnel but then the icy wind hit her and she shivered. They werein a small ravine, still surrounded by rock walls, but she could see the stars overhead.
“I can’t believe it’s already dark. We were down there all day?”
“Yes, love.” He pulled her close as she shivered again, surrounding her with his warmth. “And we may have to go back. We’re not prepared to spend the night outside.”
He urged her back into the mouth of the passageway, which at least helped to block the wind. She leaned against him, glad for the extra warmth, and he wrapped his arms around her.
“What should we do?”
“I think we’ll have to wait for the morning,” he said quietly, his hand on his broken weapon, and she could tell how much it cost him to say the words. “Unless they’re complete idiots, they’ll have someone standing guard and with the weapons they carry, they’d have us in seconds. Our best chance is to catch them by surprise, in the light of day.”
She bit her lips, considering their options.
“Maybe not. What about luring them underground? With your enhanced senses, you have an advantage over them in the tunnels.”
“Yes, but fighting in a confined space is always tricky.”
“I wasn’t thinking of a fight—I was thinking of a trap.”
The golden flecks in his eyes reflected the dim glow from his light as he gave her a questioning look.
“What kind of trap?”
She grinned at him.
“Ranger J-418, I am officially requesting permission to set off an explosion. In accordance with government regulations.”
“An explosion?”
“Yes. We know that those two are planning to follow the tracks deeper underground. I propose we have a surprise waiting for them.” She swallowed regretfully. “I think we need to set it up fairly close to the cavern. That way if the explosion doesn’t catch them, they still won’t have any way to escape.”
“Are you sure? It means we wouldn’t be able to return to the cavern.”
