Chapter 145

Chapter One Hundred Forty-Five

When Connor finally reached the sled, it seemed to hang lower in the air than it had before. He also thought the golden glow around it was dimmer.

Elise barely managed a nod from the back seat.

He set Selen down on the front seat and squeezed in beside her, wrapping an arm around her waist to give her support. Even without the amulet, he still could sense the way she’d shrunk, as if the alien power’s possession had been consuming her as much as empowering her.

Maybe that was the nature of such things—to consume while using their host.

“Take us back to the surface entry.”

For a moment, the sled merely hovered, then just as Connor decided it must have been a casualty of the system corruption, the air cooled and took on a fresher scent, and the welcome sound of the soft hum filled the narrow avenue.

The acceleration pushed Connor back, but he didn’t let go of Selen. Even if she died, he wouldn’t let go of her.

From the rear, Elise tapped his shoulder. “Over?”

He rolled that question around in his head: Was it over? Had the threat been stopped?

Finally, he smiled back at her. “For now.”

It wasn’t quite a lie as much as a selected telling of the truth.

The prison was stable once again, but it was compromised. It would hold the prisoner for a while longer, but only for a while longer. Everything had been weakened, and collapse was now inevitable.

Now it was up to him—and Toshiko—to find a way to get the attention of human leaders and to begin the fight to preserve all life.

Was that even possible?

His shoulders sank at the prospect.

There was the technological gap to be bridged. There were political and personal agendas to overcome.

Who would champion throwing resources into this race for survival, especially when those resources would necessarily come from the wealthy?

It all seemed hopeless.

He turned his attention to the world outside the protective bubble. Dark halls sped past, now mostly littered with rubble. The path seemed different, probably a necessary change after the seismic shaking he’d felt.

Elise poked him again. “Mosiah?”

Connor shook his head. “He’s dying. The struggle to get out and fight for maybe a few more days of life wasn’t worth it to him.”

And Connor could now understand that reasoning.

Life was precious, but there had to be joy to it, otherwise it was just living.

He rubbed his aching, wounded legs.

Mosiah had taken on responsibility for what he and his comrades had done. Even if he felt he’d found redemption, the reality was their greed had unleashed something terrible—an existential threat.

Could the old man find forgiveness for himself?

He had to. He’d given his life to break the inhuman prisoner’s connection with Selen.

How many lives had that saved? Billions.

Even more importantly, it might have saved Selen’s life.

If it had, now she had a chance at a redemption of her own.

The sled slowed and turned up a ramp that Connor thought might be the last one. Before it reached the top, a green glow appeared inside the golden bubble.

It was one of the reptilian K’luuta. “Greetings human representatives.”

Connor didn’t have the strength to argue. “Problems?”

“The creature you wounded in the prison gateway has come through to this dimension.”

“You let it through?”

“The prison has a very specific design intent. That functionality is nearly back to full operation.”

“And this other thing doesn’t map to what you’re protecting against, so it slipped through?”

“The creature now navigates the ancient halls.”

Of course it was coming for him, and he didn’t have his Asp. Without the amulet, he wouldn’t stand a chance with his swords.

But he could keep it from pursuing the others.

He pulled out his pocket computer. The display was blurry now that the amulet wasn’t connecting him with a different level of perception.

That meant using the uncertain audio interface. “Call Vicente.”

Nothing happened.

“Call Kalpana.”

Nothing happened.

Had the device failed?

“Call Lem.”

The familiar, soft chime of a connection attempt barely rose over the vehicle’s soft hum.

“Lieutenant?” Lem sounded anxious, or at least as anxious as an android could sound.

“We’re on our way out, Lem. Is the winch working?”

The connection had nothing but static for several seconds, then Lem was back. “It appears operational.” Gunfire almost drowned him out.

“Call Yemi in. We’re going to need to evac fast.”

More gunfire filled the channel. “I will call him—”

The rest was lost to more gunfire.

“Lem?”

“Yes, Lieutenant?”

“Do we have any explosives up there?”

“Unfortunately, we used the last of the improvised grenades driving off the main scorpion charge.”

“Then tell Yemi to double-time it. I’ll need the explosives we took from the Lucky Sevens.”

The connection died before Connor had a chance to ask about the others.

He could only hope things were better aboveground than they sounded.

It felt like the sled was decelerating, then a few seconds later, it stopped, and the golden light faded.

There was a passageway opening just ahead.

With clumsy scraping steps, Elise clambered out of the back.

Connor got out, carefully scooped Selen from her seat, and followed the shambling archaeologist.

He wanted to run or at least jog. There was a terrible, deadly giant thing somehow squeezing itself through passageways and doors not meant for something of its size.

At least it wouldn’t be able to fly through most of the underground. That would slow it some.

Elise led them through another passageway, sometimes slowing to lean against the walls, other times stopping completely.

Finally, they came to the huge chamber where the tentacled flying things had attacked. It wasn’t quite as cool as before, and their death stench clung to everything.

The archaeologist took him by the elbow and led him to the winch.

Connor helped her into the harness, then secured the harness belt around Selen’s waist. “Just hold her across the ribs.”

Elise nodded, and he activated the winch with his computer.

And from somewhere close came the maddened howls of a creature he recalled all too well.