Chapter 15

“Run!” Lobo shouted, starting down the ramp. Dagney and Chen kept up with him, the three of them bumping elbows as they ran. The truck followed, keeping a slow pace because of the tight turns of the ramp. They managed to stay just far enough ahead to avoid coming into view of the Orionans.

But we’ll run out of ramp pretty soon.

They reached the bottom. The Orionans were almost in view behind them.

“Stand back!” Lobo shouted. He waved his key at the last door and threw it open. The hairy, toothy creature from before charged out. It was at least eight feet tall, with long, sharp tusks. It had the large, floppy ears of an elephant, a short trunk, and the powerful body of a gorilla.

Half Bigfoot, half woolly mammoth, Lobo thought. All angry.

The creature looked at Dagney and Chen cowering against the wall. Then it saw the Orionan guards. It let out a big, bellowing trumpet noise and charged toward them, obviously considering them to be the greater enemy. The guards couldn’t turn the truck around quickly enough, so they leaped off and ran back up the ramp. The elephant-headed creature stomped after them.

“Glad that thing is on our side,” Dagney said with a sigh.

“For now,” Chen added.

Then they heard a human groan from behind the second-to-last door. Lobo unlocked the door to find Boris hunched against the back wall of cell. Dagney and Chen rushed in to help him up.

“I don’t think he can walk,” Chen said.

“Take him to the truck,” Lobo instructed. The three of them helped Boris to the truck, shoving the empty crate off the back and lowering him onto it. Chen crouched and held him.

Lobo heard chaos at the top of the ramp: growls and shrieks and stampeding feet. The creature they had released was getting its revenge.

But what about the others in these cells? Lobo wondered. Are any of them actually criminals? Or did they just get captured, like we did?

“The lever turns the truck left and right,” he told Dagney. “The left button is the brake and reverse; the right button is the accelerator. Drive to the top of the ramp.”

“Sure thing,” she said. She stood in the driver’s perch and stabbed at the accelerator button. The truck lurched forward, jerking everyone in it. Boris groaned and Dagney looked back at him sheepishly. She pressed the accelerator again, this time lightly resting her finger on it. The truck started to cruise.

Lobo ran alongside it, waving his key at every door. One after the other, they clicked open. Prisoners poured out, some running, some crawling, some oozing.

The gate at the top was still open, while several Orionans lay crumpled on the floor. Sirens wailed and lights flashed. Lobo unlocked the last door and leaped into the passenger side of the truck.

“Brake!” he shouted as they reached the guard station. Dagney found the brake button and brought the truck to a stop with a jolt. Lobo leaped off, grabbed a blaster from the counter, and leaped back on.

“That way! Go!” he shouted, pointing to the exit. Dagney turned the truck and headed for the exit. “Do you want to drive or defend?”

“Drive!” she answered. “I’m getting the hang of this thing.”

“Good, because the next part is pretty wild!”

Lobo looked back once and caught a final glimpse of the guard station. Something like a chicken crossed with a dinosaur was on the counter. A cow-sized hedgehog was crushing the door. The many-eyed black blob was oozing quietly along, absorbing everything into its body.

The sirens and lights continued in the hallway. Guard bots and armed aliens appeared on the edges, firing lasers at them. Lobo took them out with his blaster while Dagney steered. The stars blurred by as she passed the first set of windows. She took the twists and turns easily, even in the heavy truck. She went faster and faster as the hallway straightened out.

“You’re good at this!” Lobo shouted.

“I am a professional pilot!” She slowed as they came to passageway he called The Squid.

“That one,” he said, pointing out the path Spec said led to the control room and escape port. She sped up again.

Fifth achievement unlocked: Rescued team