Page 61 of Hope Forged
“Below ground, Maloid is colorful. Above, the constant and violent storms are in shades of gray and purple.” Illan took the last step onto the stone floor. Beside the open doorway sat a stack of capsules, the kind used for burials.
She frowned. Illan hadn’t mentioned killing anyone. Made sense though if whoever had lived here hadn’t been welcoming.
He peered inside the room beyond.
Her breath caught, tension slithered down her spine… Or was that sweat? She shuddered and took up position behind him. “Hear anything?”
He shook his head and slipped inside. She followed, making slow movements, just in case. The room was large, like a common with a table at its center. Against one wall was a counter that housed a rehydrator and replicator. They looked like recent additions as if the slab they sat on had been carved to fit them. She trailed her fingers over the messy grooves.
A wall of screens dominated the space, and various doors led off it.
“Where’s Brac?” she asked.
“Let us check each door, see where it heads?” He crossed to the first door on the left, inching it open. “Cleansing room.” Onto the next. “Barracks,” he said and entered.
She stayed on him, peering over her shoulder to ensure no one stalked them. All the doors gaped, making it easier to confirm the rooms were unoccupied.
“I don’t like this,” she said.
“Same,” he said.
She swept her gaze across the emptiness. “It feels deserted.”
“Do you think he was taken out of here?” Illan frowned. “No, I cannot imagine any species bold enough to kidnap an Etterian.”
Bold? That said much about his species.“And strong,” she added. “Unconscious, he’d be heavier.”
On to the third door they went, Illan going first, she guarding his back. That he trusted her to do this showed how far they’d come from their initial meeting. How much she’d changed, too.
Something clattered. She froze.
He gestured with his fingers from the direction he’d thought it had originated. They now stood in the passage. The floor dipped, angling down. He hurried, an urgency propelling him onward.
The air was hot, thick, almost unbreathable. She sucked in breaths as quietly as she could, swapping hands when the blaster became too heavy or the grip too slick with sweat. A length of windows on the left revealed an odd device beyond them.
Illan paused, his eyes widening.
“What is it?” she asked, angling her head to see better.
“I cannot say. Some sort of energy pulser?”
His frown worried her. She nibbled her lip, debating whether to bother him with more questions.
“How is it powered?” spilled from her. She gritted her teeth.
“With those tanks, I suspect.” He pointed at the base of the cavern and continued on. “Maybe sol?”
She kept quiet, glancing over her shoulder to be sure they were alone. The air became denser like a sodden blanket. She pushed through it, wiping her brow, which only made her fingers wetter.Why did Illan seem unbothered?
“Aren’t you hot?” she snapped.
He grinned. “Regulate your suit.”
“My what?”
He chuckled, tapped her O.D.I., and in an instant, her body cooled.
“Holy Elorach,” she moaned.
