Page 66 of Sol Survivor

Tiny squeaked.“Don’t harm…anyone.”

“Especially Dieter?”Vic teased, tossing her a glance.

Tiny’s cheeks darkened.“No,” she pursed her lips, “go ahead.Kick his ass.”

“What the farg?”Vic opened her mouth to ask then snapped it shut.“You’re coming with us.Pack what you need.”

Tiny gaped.“But—”

“Do you want to stay on theMula Pesadaif it’s true, Tiny?Wouldn’t that make you complicit in whatever the hell Nikko’s up to?”

Tiny slumped and placed the clippers in the bowl.“No, you’re right.I’ll be ready.”

Vic squeezed past the males and hurried along the passages, keeping to the least used.Alerting Nikko or Leah of their presence meant killing them, something she wasn’t opposed to, but until they knew how to communicate with the facility, Drafe needed them alive.

The lighting dwindled to a minimum the deeper and lower they traveled.They forewent elevators and used ladders instead.She had her ears pricked for any approaching footsteps, finding the lack of activity alarming.Where was Dieter?After all, the engine room was his domain.Sweat drenched her tank and slicked her palm gripping the blaster when she, at last, stopped before a solid airtight door.Using her cybernetic arm, she tried to turn the hatch’s lever.It creaked when she bent the metal bar, and still, the door didn’t open.

She frowned at Drafe, who threw up his hands with a husky chuckle.“I am not trying.”

Nenn squeezed her arm.“Foq, Vic, I need to take a look at you when we return toAroagni.”

She snatched her limb back and glared at the ceiling.“Computer, unlock this door.”

The door clunked open.

Drafe and Caah dragged on the inches-thick submarine-like hatch.

The heat hit her, like a wet blanket of stale air poured over her.She bolted forward, trailing Drafe as he sprinted down the passages, checking each door he passed.Upon peering through the forth porthole, he halted.

She expected the worst.

He spun the dial and yanked on the door.His expression darkened.Stacked high and deep were red Carne-stamped pods, confirming her worst fears.

“Find the prisoners,” she rasped.

Nenn and Caah hurried along the passage.A ‘found them’ echoed in her ears via the neck device, she suspected.She stumbled after Drafe, unwilling to believe it.Standing on the tips of her toes, she peered over the edge of the porthole at the many faces staring back.

“Farg,” she moaned, dropping onto her heels.

Caah unlatched the door and swung it outward.

“Who are you?”someone called from the darkness of the room.

“Victorious?”a woman gasped, staggering forward to grab Vic’s hand.“Did Carne send you to save us?”The Carne logo on the right sleeve of the red-and-yellow bedraggled uniform announced her as a combatant.

“Carne?”Vic shook her head.

She sat cross-legged on the dirty floor to explain what was going on, what triggered their discovery, and what the plan was to set them free.Faces, some sort of familiar, appeared out of the dark and gathered around her as she revealed their dire circumstances.The acrid stench of urine and unwashed bodies coiled nausea in her stomach, but she held firm, willing to suffer to save these people.

“Pods?Explosions?”A man limped closer.As he approached, Drafe shifted from foot to foot.

Vic smiled and squeezed his fingers, hoping to assure him that there was no threat here.“Yes.We located the medical facility they’re taking you to.Computer, patch me through to Tiny.”

“Patched through.”

Vic raised her chin as if it brought her voice closer to the mic, wherever it was.“Tiny, we found them.”

“Tiny can’t help you, bitch,” Leah spat.“Now I’ll get the chance to kill you.Jettisoning was too soft for what I wanted to do to you.”

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