Page 23 of Chosen By the Alien King
“Understood,” Rain replied.“Give me a moment to track your mic’s location and scan the area with heat-sensing tech.”
I waited, fingers fidgeting nervously with the hem of my uniform, as Rain did her thing.Outside the door, I thought I heard footsteps, slow and even as they made their way down the hall.
“Got it,” Rain said finally.“I see a clear path for you to follow to the bunker’s brig.If Pete’s been caught, he’ll be in there, most likely.Do you see another door in the room you’re in?”
“No.”I shined my weakening light around, moving toward the center of the room.“Wait, yes.In the far corner.”
“Okay, that’s the barracks.There’s another hallway on the other side.According to the heat signatures inside, everyone’s asleep, or at least, not moving.”
“Or lying wide awake with insomnia propping open their eyeballs.Ask me how I know this.”
“I know,” she said, almost too softly that I couldn’t hear her.“If your light hasn’t already gone out, I would consider shutting it off before you go in.”
“Fuck me, Rain,” I hissed through gritted teeth.
“I’m afraid I can’t do that, Nera.”
“You know how I feel about the dark,” I said, tears springing to my eyes.“Youknowit.”
“I know.I’m sorry.”After a weighted pause, she said, “Would it help to know that the chances of Pete getting out of there safely have gone up to seventy-five percent?”
I narrowed my eyes at the door as I forced my feet toward it.“Are you bullshitting me right now?”
“It depends on if it’s helping you or not.”
“I haven’t decided.I’m putting an awful lot of faith in you right now that what you say is behind that door is the truth when I—“
“When you have no reason to.I know.I can only hope that someday you might trust me again.”
“Yeah, well…let’s just focus on one door at a time.”
Like a lunatic, I powered my flashlight off.The darkness pressed in, coiling down my throat and thickening my airway with its slimy, menacing presence.
Now it was only me and a cold-blooded killer in my ear.
I felt for the doorknob and pulled it open.
Chapter twelve
Maxx
Fuxx.
Fuxx.
Nera had twirled out of my seeking hand that was trying to pull her with us toward a room on the right.But she’d gone left, and now we were separated by a hall of footsteps and wind and no way to get to her without being seen.
We appeared to be in a large control room with holographic displays and a massive central command table.The walls were equipped with smart surfaces displaying real-time maps of rocky terrain and Faid positions, all of which were fake, according to Rain.
Just in case someone tried to enter and caught us here, I wedged a nearby chair underneath the doorknob.
“Y’know,” Mosely said, flexing his muscular arms as he sank down in front of a computer, “if this were a painting, I’d call itThe Futility of Sneaking Around.No offense, but we sounded like a herd of elephants coming in here.”
“More likeThe Absurdity of Possibly Getting Caught by Your Toxic Employer,“ Darc countered, her bright-pink hair contrasting sharply against the stark metal walls of the room.“Hurry, Mosely.Okay?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Mosely said, plugging the decrypter into the side of the computer.“Just some light hacking and general mayhem first.”
“Can you get to the classified documents?”I asked him.
