Page 59 of Kryxis

Words couldn’t describe the terrible thoughts running through her head.

This was all beyond fucked up. How could Nadine and the other heads decide the fate of X110 so quickly without even waiting to have her give a report so they could make a clear decision? It was insane.

This world could be saved. They could rebuild. Dammit, that was the whole point of what they were doing!

And yet, they deemed it a loss. They wanted it gone. Did they know already what Marityne had been doing? Or did they see the threats and decide it was just too dangerous?

What was worse, Kryxis was still out there, now wounded, and he had no idea. Once they were gone, a demolition team would come to take their place. They’d set the bombs that would wipe the city off the map and there would be nothing left.

No. No, she couldn’t let that happen.

But even now, the demolition team was getting ready. Even if she could get a meeting with the heads as soon as she got back to the mother ship, she might not be able to stop them in time.

Still, she had to try something.

She secured her helmet after wiping Kryxis’ blood off her face, then grabbed a few things from her locker, including a canteen of water. “Myrell, I need you to make a call to Nadine. Try to get them to stop the demolition team.”

“I’ll do my best,” Myrell said.

“I’ll go with her and try to reason with them too,” said Tom. “I agree this place should be studied first. There’s a lot more here of value than they know.”

Lex stepped up as she closed her locker. “We’ll keep an eye on security and try to stall them as best we can.”

“I could turn the ship power off,” Morse suggested. “So, we can’t leave. Make them think something else went wrong.”

“I will break something!” Phen added.

“Hopefully it won’t come to that,” Dani said.

Sheek came around to her other side. “Let me come with you. You can’t go out there alone. And I have some fight in me yet.”

She thought to say no at first but considered that Sheek was right. “Okay,” she said.

“Here.” Myrell gave her the ISpad with the map. “Don’t get lost.”

“I won’t. I know where he is.” Or at least she was fairly certain.

Myrell put a hand on her shoulder. “Come back,” she said.

“I will.”

“Good luck, Dani,” the others called as she picked up the medkit at her feet and followed Sheek out of the locker room and to the engine room. From there they went out through a hatch behind the ship, where the soldiers didn’t see.

Even with the compression wrap and pain meds, she still couldn’t run very well, so they were forced to take it slow. She jogged at times, straining her muscles, while Sheek kept close beside her even when she could have done laps around her already. They weaved through the buildings and below bridges, stopping every so often to check the map.

The entertainment sector was just a little ways past housing and then the medical district. They found their way to the drain canal and followed it onward. The water had risen even more, flowing faster into the sewer tunnels.

As she jogged and sometimes hobbled, she worried that they wouldn’t make it in time. She hadn’t seen how badly wounded Kryxis was, but it had been bad enough to make him flee.

When they started to pass through the medical sector, Sheek called out, putting out an arm to stop her. Then she pointed over to one wall underneath a small bridge.

There was blue-black blood smeared across, along with a handprint.

“Keep going,” Dani said, her voice shaking slightly. She pushed herself a little faster, ignoring the ache in her ankle.

When they finally made it to the bridge of the entertainment sector, they slowed. It had been dark when Kryxis brought her, but she was certain she could remember which building.

Swiftly, they crossed the bridge. They had been lucky enough not to encounter anything else yet, though a few times her garometer had gone off. When she’d checked, the levels were all over the place, some even as high as twelve.

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