Page 70 of Shadow's Chosen

"Who are you?" Elise asked.

"Talk later. Follow me." The flashlight directed over to a large vent opening, and the shape of a woman crouched down and vanished inside. Elise hesitated uncertainly. She looked back at where the door must be and knew if she tried to leave, someone would find her. Not feeling threatened, she judged following the woman was her best option and so crouched at the vent entrance and slipped inside.

They crawled for some length, Elise shuffling on her elbows, her arms beginning to burn from the strain. Eventually, the woman stopped in front of a wide vent entrance and popped open a grate. She slipped out, and Elise followed. Beyond, a soft light from a cracked lantern bathed a small inner room in a warm yellow. Elise shifted through the vent and dropped out onto the ground. When she sat up, she saw the room was filled with equipment she didn't recognize. Seated by a monitor was the smallest drogin she'd ever seen. She thought for a moment it was a child but when it looked back at her, she could see it had the matured traits of an adult with large all-knowing eyes like Modella's.

"Come, girl, close up the vent," said the woman beside her. Elise twisted around and fixed the grate back into the wall. When she turned to the room, she saw the woman bending down to study her closer. She was older, with short gray hair and laugh lines around her mouth, though she didn't look like the type who laughed much. Her thin lips tightened as her eyes narrowed. "So, you supposed to be one of the rescue team? Ha." The woman straightened. "How far did you get before they caught you?"

Elise glanced around then stared at the drogin, who was back to watching the monitor, before saying, "They caught most of us at the first gate. I...got taken when I tried to sneak inside."

The woman grunted. "Well, at least there was an attempt. I didn't know if Grayhart would send anyone or not." She turned and set the flashlight down to sift through a duffel bag.

Elise shifted over, observing the room curiously then turned her gaze back to the woman. "Are you the one who got away? Are you Meg?"

"Yes. That's me. So the others told you." Meg looked around at her. "Are they all together then?"

Elise nodded. "They are keeping everyone in one room."

"How are they faring?"

"They are malnourished but surviving," Elise replied. Then, after a pause, she continued with, "You should know the Red Blades plan to ship them out soon. Along with my team."

"So, it's as we feared." Meg turned back to searching the bag. "We will have to work quickly then." She took out a pair of metal cutters. Gesturing for Elise to raise her arms, she cut into the binds on Elise’s wrists, breaking them and letting them fall to the ground. "I was wondering if anyone else would get away. Though the power outages don't last long, I always hoped it would give someone enough time."

Elise stared at her, wide-eyed. "You did that?"

Meg laughed. "No, not I." She pointed to the drogin. "That's all Lo."

Elise watched the drogin working at the computer. There was a strange cylinder-shaped device plugged into the console that pulsed blue and several other machines that blinked on and off.

"How?" Elise said, shaking her head.

"Oh, Lo is one smart gal. Took her a while to acquire all the parts needed for an electromagnetic generator but once she got things going, she's been working on getting that damn reactor to turn down. Unfortunately, so far, she's only been able to cause short blackouts."

"She's the one the soldiers mentioned," Elise whispered. She quickly stood and crept over to kneel by Lo's side. "How long have you been here?" she asked.

Lo paused in her work to glance at her with a timid expression.

"Oh, she can't talk. Been mute since she was a kid." Meg crouched to Lo's other side as the drogin made gestures. "She says she's been here for several cycles. So, about five months give or take. The Red Blades brought her here some time ago to force her to help improve their shields and their tech. She worked in one of the high-end security sectors before that. Right, Lo?"

Lo tapped at her nose and returned to keying in short codes into the computer.

"She found a way to sneak out of her holdings, likely through one of the smaller vents since she's so tiny," Meg continued. "And she's been hiding since. She found me in one of the empty storage rooms and brought me here to help." Meg sighed and shifted over to set her back against the wall. "Too bad though. Was hoping that last surge would be enough to turn off the reactor and, in doing so, the shields, but no such luck. Looks like it's on to plan B."

Elise sat there for a moment in a daze. All the hopelessness she felt before started to dissolve away, replaced with hardened determination. Yes, this was it. This was the fight she needed.

They still had a chance.

"How can I help?" she asked.

Meg looked over at her and smiled. "You're a soldier, correct?"

"Yes."

"Now that the generator is too weak to work, we—or more so, Lo—had the idea of using an electromagnetic bomb. We got all the parts ready to be activated. The only issue is the bombs’ radius isn't so large that it can be set off from here. It needs to be placed right near to the reactor, and it’s safe to say there are Red Blades who watch and guard the chamber it lies in all day and night. Me and Lo would get our asses handed to us if caught, and honestly, I'm not that brave. But if we had someone to keep them out, maybe as a distraction..."

Elise nodded her head, and for the first time since being brought to the deposit, she smiled. "I can do that."

Twenty-four

---