Chapter 20
How had he been so stupid? He led her right into a trap. Because that’s what this was. He may not have realized that at first, but now there was no denying it; those voices had pushed them toward this door. Led them, like lambs to the slaughter.
He watched the relief on Mimi’s face freeze. Her eyes widened with terror as she stared at him. “… What do you mean it’s a trap?” She asked in a whispered, desperate voice.
How could he have been so stupid? Mimi had been right; they should have concentrated on trying to form a ramp to get out of here. Now, they’d likely never get that chance again.
He turned on the spot, clamping a hand over his sweaty mouth.
The room was brilliantly lit. He wasn’t even sure where the light source was coming from, but it was so damn bright in here he could see everything, from the set of stairs leading down to their left, to the ever mounting fear crossing Mimi’s expression.
He still didn’t know what this place was, but now more than ever he was certain of one fact: it was dangerous.
Recently, he’d heard reports of Barbarians luring scavengers and fortune hunters into abandoned vessels. They’d capture them and try out some new weapon on live targets. There shouldn’t be any Barbarians in this sector, but that didn’t mean he could stop his imagination from obsessing over what the Barbarians could do to Mimi Chester.
“Josh, what’s going on?” She whispered.
He turned to look at her. Maybe it was the first time he’d ever really just looked at her. Up until now, he’d held a lot of preconceived notions about Miss Chester. A lot of hate, too.
Now, as he looked at those startling blue eyes filled with worry, he couldn’t help but feel that none of that mattered anymore. It was very damn likely they were both about to die.
Her eyes searched his. “Josh? What’s going on, what do we do? Should we head down those stairs? Shouldn’t we get away from these doors before whoever is out there manages to get in?”
If only he had a weapon. A gun, an electro whip, a frigging knife. Anything.
“Josh, what do we do?”
“Mim, it’s a trap,” he said bluntly. “We were pushed in here,” he acknowledged as he turned over his shoulder and stared warily toward the stairs.
It was obvious, or at least to him, that someone or something wanted them to continue down those stairs. What was down there, he didn’t know, but he could guarantee it wouldn’t be a party.
“How can you be sure it’s a trap?”
“The voices pushed us here. The door opened and closed mightily conveniently. It’s a trap.”
“… Or maybe… something is looking out for us. We don’t know what the ship is, but it could have certain security protocols in place. Maybe it can understand that we’re being chased, and it opened the door to help us,” she said hopefully.
He didn’t even bother replying. He’d never been one for wishful thinking.
Again he stared warily at the stairs. There was no way he was going to follow them and continue down into this building. He wasn’t an idiot.
Mimi took a step back and swiveled her head from the stairs to his face.
She took another step back and surveyed the door. “We can’t stay here, and we can’t go back out there.”
She didn’t get an opportunity to finish her sentence.
Suddenly, something struck the doors. They did not open, but they buckled. Close enough to Mimi that they pushed against her shoulder as something protruded through the metal.
She screamed.
He darted forward and pulled her back, one sweaty hand locked on her shoulder as his heart jumped into his mouth.
Just as the metal stopped groaning from the impact, it was struck again. The deafening blow rang out through their small room.
Without any options, Josh grabbed her and headed for the stairs.
The stairwell, like the room above, was well lit. Made of the same dark metal, it shone under the powerful lights.
Again he was reminded of how unusual the architecture of this ship was. And that wasn’t even taking into account the fact there was a massive jungle in the middle of it. It was the feeling, the strange sense that clawed up his spine as he hurled himself down those stairs, his footfall ringing against each step.
The stairwell kept heading downwards, looping around and around but never leading to another level. If his heart was in his mouth before, now it had jumped clean out of his body. With no level to exit on, there was nowhere to go but down. They were completely trapped.
Could it really end like this? His career, his life? Running through some mysterious ship with a woman he barely knew, but one he knew enough to loathe. Okay, not loathe, but close enough. Well, not even close, but the point was, he couldn’t believe it would end with Mimi Chester by his side. He’d always imagined he’d go out on some team mission, or alone in some abandoned cave full of Rebuilders. This just didn’t feel right.
He reminded himself quickly he couldn’t get ahead of himself; they weren’t dead yet. And maybe that’s why it didn’t feel right. It wasn’t time to feel surprised that this would be his ending; it was time to ensure it wouldn’t be.
Mimi was doing a good job of keeping up. Maybe it was sheer terror, or maybe she hadn’t forgotten all her training from the Academy.
They both hurtled down the stairs, and thankfully she didn’t trip once.
The more stairs they flew down, the more he found himself wondering just when this stairwell would end. How big was this ship? It would have to be truly massive to contain a veritable jungle and this deep building. While Coalition standard heavy cruisers were massive, they were never bigger than a kilometer or so square. By his estimation, they’d already walked double that, and there was no sign the ship would end anytime soon.
He longed for a scanner, something more sophisticated than the medical device he had latched on his belt. If he had some proper Coalition equipment, he’d be able to figure out exactly where they were and precisely what lay ahead of them.
Instead, he would just have to find out.