Page 23 of Galactic Search and Rescue
Rylando wished he could read people as effectively as Taz could. He couldn’t guess what Pelvannor was thinking.
He dropped his head and turned it side to side to stretch his aching neck. A familiar shape in one of the parts bins caught his eye. He slid himself back farther, then pulled the parts bins back, as if giving her more room to maneuver.
As she set the cutter down, he pulled the bin even closer and palmed an earwire, then rubbed his hand down his thigh to help slide the earwire up his sleeve. The magic trick he’d learned as a child had turned out to be surprisingly useful in his adult life.
Pelvannor grabbed four of the better-filtered masks and handed one to him.
After he took it, he held it up by the bottom. “It seals better if you tilt it up from your chin, then pull the web over your head.” He flexed his wrist to demonstrate the motion. “Lift it up if you’re going to sneeze. It’s hard to get snot off the faceplate.”
She put hers on as instructed, then turned to pick up the cutter.
He used both hands to place his mask so he could slip the earwire onto his face and tap it for always-on. The mask covered it as he stretched the web up and over. The burned spot on his face felt like a bee sting.
When she gestured for him to follow, he rose to his feet and meekly complied.
Interestingly, Pelvannor didn’t provide wearing instructions when she handed the mask to Po and said nothing when he put it on wrong. Equally interestingly, Stramlo pulled his mask on with professional ease, barely disarranging his perfect wavy hair.
A tone sounded in his earwire. “Silver Team, report now, or I’m dumping my passengers and coming after you.” Hatya’s welcome voice sounded professionally calm but held a thread of worry.
Rylando bent over slowly to pick up a shovel and subvocalized as fast as he could. “Protocol TX Delta. Lift lobby, both exits blocked. Four lifesigns including me. Two hostages, including me. Taz last seen headed toward the deep basement with another lifesign and most of my team. Building unstable.”
He walked to the rubble pile and started digging again. Every time he turned his back on Po and Pelvannor, he subvocalized more details to Hatya.
“Ah, hell, Rylando, you two have been having fun without me. I’m five minutes from the ERC. After that, I’m bringing the shuttle for scans. Keep talking when you can.”
A hand waved in front of his face. When he looked up, masked Stramlo leaned close and shouted. “Po wants you.”
Rylando dropped the shovel and crossed to where irritable Po stood, awkwardly holding the cutter. Pelvannor was back to her stoic self.
Po thrust the cutter into Rylando’s arms. “Drill the goddamn air pipe.”
Unsurprisingly, Pelvannor followed to watch him closely as he used the cutter’s densometer to zero in on a thin spot, then set the tripod legs and turned on the cutter. As the debris lasers burned through the rubble, the printer extruded pipe into the deepening hole. Five minutes later, the lasers hit open air and shut down. He extruded the pipe several centimeters longer before turning off the printer and powering down the cutter.
As he folded the tripod legs, he realized they’d still be sucking increasingly stale air if Taz hadn’t salvaged the cutter from the regular military trash heap for repair. She’d even cleverly etched the GSAR logo over the cutter’s serial number in case someone asked. When, not if, he saw her again, he’d thank her.
Po eyed Rylando with suspicion. “Why didn’t you tell us it had a laser? We could have been cutting our way out.”
Unexpectedly, Stramlo answered. “It’s not a beam, it’s a pinpoint array. It’d take half a day to cut enough holes to make a one-meter slice.”
Po threw his hands up and stomped toward his perch. “Fine. Get back to digging.”
Rylando got Pelvannor’s attention, then pointed first to the cutter, then to the airsled. When she nodded, he carried it back inside and stowed it in its case.
He took the opportunity to subvocalize to Hatya. “If you have a choice, get Taz out first. Being trapped underground will be hard on her. And if there really are explosives, she’s in danger.”
“Working on it. I know she’s important to you.”
Hatya’s half-teasing lilt gave him an out, but the words cut through his defenses. He couldn’t lie to himself any longer. “Yes, she is.”
* * *
Shen sat down in front of the sixty-fourth Kem-X packet and barked twice, then barked twice again.
“Good job,” said Taz as she approached. She and the dog had worked out a steady rhythm, marching up and down the aisles, decommissioning every timer. Seventy-five minutes later, per her suit’s chronometer, here they were.
“Jhidelle,” she said, letting her suit do the amplifying. “Last one. Any outliers?”
“Moyo and Lerox say no.” Between the dog’s fantastic nose and the weasel’s fearless sense of curiosity, they would have uncovered anything interesting, especially with Jhidelle guiding them. “The cats found a door. It’s marked exit, but it’s heavy and coded.”
