Rachel heard a noise to her right. She turned, hearing a door opening, and held her impact pistol out in front of her. She pulled her weapon up at the last moment as Alice Penning stepped out into the corridor ahead.
'What's going on?' Alice said, her ponytail swishing behind her head. Dark shadows hung beneath her eyes as she glanced at the dead guard lying on the floor. Her gaze slid across to the second guard who was crawling away down the corridor, leaving a trail of blood behind him. 'What happened to them?' she said.
'They tried to kill me.'
Alice's eyes opened wide. 'Here? In the towers? How many traitors can there be? Rachel, what is happening to this place?'
Rachel shrugged, and then remembered the wound in her shoulder. The pain made her hiss between her teeth.
'You're hurt,' Alice said, walking towards her.
Rachel shook her head. 'I'm okay.' She took a step towards Alice but turned when she heard a strange noise coming from the Air Route.
'What's that?' Alice said.
'I don't know.'
They both watched the Air Route booth but it didn't open.
Rachel could hear strange noises coming from deep inside the wall. 'Get back in your quarters,' Rachel said.
Alice looked at her with tired eyes. 'What are you talking about?' she said. 'I'm staying here with you.'
'Get back in your quarters, now!'
'No,' Alice said. 'I'm not leaving you. Whatever's happening, we'll face it together.'
Rachel jumped as the Air Route exploded, spewing metal and broken masonry across the floor. Smoke billowed out into the corridor and rose up towards the ceiling. Rachel remembered the soldiers who had died trying to protect her at the tech factory. She didn't want anyone else to suffer because of her. There was so little time. She ran towards Alice and used her good arm to push her back, sliding her along the smooth stone floor. Alice struggled to break loose, but Rachel wrapped her arms around her waist and continued pushing her away from the Air Route.
'What are you doing?' Alice said as she stumbled backwards, trying not to fall.
Rachel didn't give her any time to regain her balance. She ignored the pain in her shoulder and put her weight into pushing Alice further down the corridor. When they reached the door to Alice's quarters, Rachel span around and pushed Alice through the open doorway. Alice yelped and fell backwards into her living room. She landed on her backside with her hands spread out behind her. She stared up at Rachel with a mixture of confusion and hurt feelings.
'Rachel,' she said. 'What the hell are you doing? Can't you see I'm trying to help.'
'I'm sorry,' Rachel said. She hated seeing Alice look so lost, but she knew that she had no other choice. 'There's no other way. Stay here. See if you can get through to Drefnig on your console. Get us some backup, but don't come out until I tell you it's safe.'
Alice gave Rachel a pained expression and started climbing to her feet.
Rachel shook her head. 'I can't see another friend die because of me.'
Alice blinked as Rachel tapped the door locking mechanism on the inside wall and jumped back into the corridor outside. The door slid shut a few centimetres in front of her face. She let her mind slip into the wall and wrapped her thoughts around the locking mechanism, squeezing it tight. At first nothing happened. After a few seconds she heard something pop inside the wall.
'Hey!' Alice called from inside her quarters. 'I can't open the door. Rachel? What are you doing?'
Distant laughter echoed from the gaping hole in the Air Route behind her. Rachel swung around to her right. She stepped away from Alice's door and moved slowly down the corridor, heading towards the shattered Air Route entrance. She lifted her impact pistol and configured it for maximum dispersal. Her stomach felt tighter than ever.
'Who's there?' she said, approaching the Air Route from the opposite side of the corridor. There was no answer. She hesitated, stepping over rubble as she peered into the dark hole where the Air Route had once been. It was too dark in the hole. It was as though the light of the corridor couldn't penetrate the blackness below. Klaxons still rang out all around her. Rachel leant closer to the hole, listening for any sounds. She could hear a soft scraping noise coming from below.
'Who's there?' she said, stepping sideways across the corridor to get a better view. She held her impact pistol out in front of her, and tried not to think about how heavy her arm had become. She could feel blood trickling down her arm onto the floor.
Something moved in the darkness. Rachel fired twice. The shots hit nothing but dangling pipes at the back of the Air Route. There had been something in there. Rachel stared into the shadows, trying to hear anything other than the sound of the klaxons. She strained, leaning closer to the hole. The scraping noise was there again, closer this time. She didn't like it. She wished that she could turn and run. She wanted to be as far away from this place as possible, but she couldn't leave Alice alone in her room. She wasn't going to abandon her now. So many doubts flew though her mind. She wished that she had listened to Lord Hades. She wished that she had listened to Willow too. Maybe she wouldn't feel so alone if she had listened to anyone but herself.
Rachel pressed her back against the wall, breathing deeply as she stared into the darkness of the Air Route. A tingling sensation ran across the back of her mind. She could feel icy fingers probing her thoughts. She had a sudden urge to turn and run, but she already knew that it was too late. Lord Hades had told her that the war lords would come to get her. She hadn't believed him, even though she had seen the signs for herself. The Lasrecon had given her away. Now they were frightened. Rachel was frightened too. She had grown accustomed to fighting the Kamari, but her heart sank when she realised she would have to face a very different kind of foe. Her life seemed suddenly more fragile than she had ever imagined. An awful image sprang to mind - Lisa waiting for her to come home, but Rachel never returned.
Rachel held onto her swirling emotions. She saw something moving in the corner of her eye. She turned, but was too late to block the guard's swinging fist. It caught her square on the chin, making her head spin. She stumbled sideways and struggled to avoid falling onto the floor. When she turned, she saw him standing with his weight balanced on one leg. His ruined hand was wrapped in a bloody white cloth. Rachel cursed herself. Why hadn't she noticed him returning? She had been too lost in her own thoughts to notice what was going on around her.
The guard stared into the broken Air Route and laughed out loud. 'I did good, didn't I? I did better than all of them.'