Page 131 of Falling Princess

I don’t want to think about the risk of infection.

“Damn it, Zosh, I’m having a hard enough time here!”

“Sorry. One of those things is still alive.” Not alive. Functional. Whatever. We know to be careful going down the slope. “What’s the story?”

“He has a skull fracture.” She sits back on her heels. “I can attempt to drill a hole to relieve the pressure, or I can hope we don’t cause brain damage by waiting. I don’t know why Lorcan never cuts his damn hair; it’s getting matted with blood. I swear to Reila I’m going to shave his fucking head if we can get him to the Temple—”

Back the way we came from. Toward danger, with a badly wounded man. Despair settled into my already heavy heart.

“Princess!”

My head jerked up. “Raghnall, get down!”

He dropped just in time. The machine below blasted the rock again. Raghnall and his two companions crouched and slid down the path, out of sight of the malfunctioning Sentinel.

“Raghnall, what’s happening?”

“The Sentinels were hacked.” He shakes his head. “We had a break-in at the lab months ago. Sas thinks it happened then. We didn’t know what to look for. We don’t know how to stop them. Someone else is controlling them.”

His grief was palpable. As terrible as it is, I don’t have time to comfort him. I heard the buzz of dirt bikes in the distance, coming closer. Dawn has broken. We’re easy hunting for anyone with guns—which the pirates and Skía will have.

“Where is Saskaya?”

“At the Temple trying to find a way to shut them down remotely. We were out looking for you.” Raghnall knelt beside Lorcan’s prone form. “I see we found you just in time.”

He and Raina conferred. I unhooked Lorcan’s supply bag and carefully worked the strap out from under his body. Inside, I found a gun, which I set aside because I didn’t know how to use one, and palm-sized explosive devices. They appear to be straightforward—set the timer, depress the button, and run.

“I’m going to do it.” Raina unwrapped a roll of medical tools and pulled on fresh gloves. “It’s his best chance of survival.”

“What is?”

“Burr holes. Go find something useful to do, Zosh. You don’t want to watch.”

I’m not much use in this sense. But I can draw the enemy away from here, to buy time.

I took one of the smaller explosives and peeled off the backing to reveal a sticky section, which I attached to the rock. Then I crept down the hill a short distance, taking his bag with me.

It’s up to me, now. If I wait, they’ll try to stop me. We don’t have time for that. I don’t think anyone else has noticed the sound of dirt bike engines in the distance. They’ll never make it past the invaders if someone doesn’t cause a distraction.

There’s no one but me to do it.

Raghnall’s companions were busy setting up a makeshift stretcher—a piece of canvas with loops on each side, threaded with sticks. No one was watching me.

I put Lorcan’s bag over my shoulder so that now I have one hanging on either side. It’s heavy, but balanced. I can move well enough. I’ll need to be quick.

I took a practice shot at the Sentinel below. With a large stone in hand, I popped my head up long enough to get its attention before lobbing the missile at its eye. I missed, but not by much.

The second time, I used the rock with the adhesive explosive. I set the timer to five seconds. Same process: stand up, wait for it to focus on my head, throw and duck.

A satisfyingly massive explosion erupted from below.

“Fuck! A little warning next time?” Raina shouted. “I’m doing brain surgery here.”

“Sorry! You said I should make myself useful! That Sentinel won’t bother you anymore.”

“It wasn’t bothering me!”

“Well, it would have!” I shouted back. The robot’s tentacle claws had been scrabbling for purchase before I dropped another several tons of rock on top of it.

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