Page 108 of Stealing Mercury
The instant she completed her cut, Samantha rocketed to her feet. She grabbed the bolt-hammer, positioned it, stepped on the anchor points, and leaned her weight into it. She pulled the trigger. The recoil, as the preloaded bolt drilled into the walkway, reverberated through her muscles and nearly threw her off her feet. She shoved aside the heavy piece of equipment and took the rope and gloves Knock pushed into her hands.
She dropped to her ass and started rigging the rope to the bolt. Time seemed to crawl. She was sure the guards would be on them any minute, but experience told her they’d managed the whole process in under ninety seconds. She’d cut into dozens of hulls in her day and the rest hadn’t been much different than setting up a freight tie down, something they’d both done a hundred times. The rope had come out of the bag connected to an auto-repel, so setting that up took no time at all.
She kicked out, sending the cut section of the barrier tumbling to the ground below. She had one foot over the edge when Knock grabbed her arm. He handed her a small handheld stunner and the cutting torch, which she shoved in her pockets.
“You might need it,” he said with a shrug. “I have a med-services transport on the verge between the arena and the public transport station outside the main entrance. I’ll meet you there.”
She leaned forward, kissed his cheek, then went over the side and down the wall.
Chapter Thirty-Six
RomaRexArena,Roma
EarthAllianceBeta Sector
2210.185
Samantha hit the sand with a heavy thud. Okay, so maybe the automatic part of the auto-repel wasn’t ideal. She was in one piece and that was really all that mattered.
She pulled the stunner out and strapped it to her hand, then turned and jogged toward the mini-war being waged between Arena Dogs and guards. She spotted Saber, first. The tall man was surrounded by uniformed men but holding his own. A small figure in white flashed in and out of view—Chelle. Together, they must have freed every Dog in the staging area.
She wove through the pockets of fighting until she saw them. Mercury and Lo, still chained together, steadily worked their way back toward the tunnel.
She lifted her arm and shouted. “Mercury! Lo!”
They looked over and saw her. They were both battered and bleeding, but they were alive and they were hers and she was theirs.
“Over here!” She turned to lead them back to the rope, but someone snatched her off her feet. Lo and Mercury ran toward her, their eyes promising swift death for the person who’d dared to grab her, but before they could get to her a group of guards swarmed them.
Samantha’s captor had grabbed her from behind and lifted her off her feet. She kicked back toward his shins, wishing for her boots. She swung her head back, hoping to break his nose. He squealed and dropped her.Bingo!
Most of the group of men that had charged Mercury and Lo lay at their feet unmoving.
A wave of dizziness slowed her down when she tried to get to her feet. She’d nearly forgotten she had a head injury. She knew she should stay down and think of the child she should be protecting, but the baby wasn’t real to her, yet, and Mercury and Lo needed her. Despite her drive to get to them, the pain kept her down. She curled into a ball until the dizziness passed then forced herself up again. Mercury and Lo were still fighting, working their way toward her. A guard came around the corner right next to them.
Samantha shouted out a warning, but it was too late.
The guard jabbed Lo with a stun-stick. Lo’s body jerked, but he managed to slash bloody gouges into the guard’s shoulder before Mercury tossed the man aside. And then he was there kneeling in front of her. “Courra?”
“I’m okay.” She dug the cutter out of her pocket. “Let me get that restraint off you.”
He and Lo knelt together letting her work as they remained alert. Saber and Chelle and the other dogs managed to run interference for them long enough for her to free them.
Mercury lifted her into his arms, folding himself around her to protect her.
“We have to get up into the stands,” she mumbled against his neck. “There’s a rope.”
“The stands,” he repeated. He looked down the length of the wall and found the gap she’d created. “Wrap your arms around me,” he urged. He barked then took off toward the rope.
His hand slid under her bottom to support her and she slid her legs over his hips. “What about Lo?”
“I’m here, little Sam.” He shouted it from a few meters away.
Every Dog that could disengage was following, then running ahead. Samantha twisted to see them forming a living launching pad. Mercury never slowed. He launched them toward the other Dogs. The next thing she knew they were flying through the air. She didn’t know how Mercury did it, but they came down solidly on the walkway.
He set her aside and hunched down near the edge.
Snarls and shouts still rumbled below them, but on the walkway all was quiet. Most of the visitors in the section surrounding them had already fled.
