Page 29 of Alien Devil's Prey
TALON
We ran through corridors filled with chaos. The station was dying around us, secondary explosions from failing power conduits echoing in the distance.
“Bastard must have had a kill switch,” I grumbled. “If he went down, he was mad enough to take the entire place down with him.”
"Emergency exit this way," Tamsin said as we reached the service lift, checking the tablet she’d pried from Kelloch’s control panels.
As we descended toward the industrial levels, alarms continued to wail. But the immediate threat was lessening—many of Kelloch's lieutenants were more concerned with securing their own escape routes than hunting us down.
"Too many of them ahead," I grunted, slamming a fresh charge into my rifle behind the cover of a bulkhead. "We need to break their formation."
"The power grid is unstable," Tamsin said, her eyes fixed on her data pad. "If I can overload the junction in the next sector, I can cause a localized blackout. It will kill their comms and sow confusion."
"Do it."
She worked for a frantic ten seconds, her fingers a blur on the screen. A green light flashed on her pad. "Now!"
We sprinted into the next corridor just as the lights flickered and died, plunging the area into absolute darkness. Figures shouted in confusion, their shots going wide in the disorienting blackness. We moved through them like ghosts, using the chaos as cover.
"Service lift ahead," Tamsin called out as we cleared the blackout zone. "Two levels down to the industrial sector."
We ran through corridors that grew darker and more utilitarian as we descended. The polished executive sections gave way to cramped passages and the mechanical guts of the station. The air carried the sharp, clean smell of coolant and the deafening hum of heavy machinery.
"It's really over," Tamsin said as we reached another junction, wonder in her voice. "Kelloch's dead. His network is collapsing. After eighteen years..."
"For Kelloch, yes." I found her hand, intertwining our fingers as we paused to check our route. "For us, it's just beginning."
She squeezed my hand, and I felt her trust, her growing certainty that we had a future worth fighting for. But we weren't clear yet.
We emerged into the industrial sector, a cavernous space filled with the deafening hum of heavy machinery. The docking bay was two levels down. We were almost there. The air tasted of freedom.
"Cargo lift," Tamsin said, pointing toward a heavy door marked with hazard symbols. "It's our best shot. It's slow, but it's designed for heavy freight, so they can't lock it down remotely."
We were halfway across the open space, sprinting from the cover of one massive piece of machinery to the next, when a power conduit on the ceiling directly over our path, stressed beyond its limits, finally gave way.
I heard the high-pitched whine of failing capacitors a split second before it blew. There was no time to think, only to act. I shoved Tamsin forward, hard, trying to get her clear of the blast zone. "Down!"
It was too late.
The conduit exploded.
The world erupted in a flash of white light and a sound that felt like the universe tearing itself apart. The shockwave slammed into me, lifting me from my feet. I twisted in midair, trying to shield Tamsin with my own body, and then we hit the deck hard as a rain of molten metal and debris came down around us.
My senses returned in fragments: the high-pitched whine of failing systems, the acrid smell of ozone, and the spots dancing in my vision. I saw Tamsin. She was motionless on the floor a few feet away, a dark stain spreading across the fabric of her jumpsuit at her side.
"Tamsin!" My voice was a raw shout. I crawled to her side, my own body screaming in protest. The shockwave had hit me like a battering ram, and I could feel the deep, crushing pain of internal injuries. Shrapnel had torn through my side, and even with my advanced healing, the wounds were bleeding freely.
My hands checked her for injuries, my training taking over. A deep gash ran along her side, pulsing with every weak beat of her heart. Her breathing was shallow, a ragged, hitching sound in the sudden, ringing silence.
We had to get out. Now.
I scooped her into my arms, ignoring the fire that lanced through my own body. She was lighter than I expected, a fragile weight against my chest. I ran, adrenaline and fear giving me strength I didn't know I had.
The cargo lift was still operational, its heavy doors open. I stumbled inside and hit the controls, and the lift began itsslow, agonizing descent toward the docking bay, toward theWandering Star, toward our only chance of survival.
TAMSIN
My first sensation was the jarring shudder of the cargo lift grinding to a halt. The world came back in a painful rush—the shriek of distant alarms, the acrid smell of burning electronics, and a deep, throbbing pain in my side. I was leaning against Talon's chest, his arms a steel cage around me.
