Page 34 of Alien Devil's Wrath
The rage had crystallized during the hours of observation. No longer hot fury but focused determination. I would take her back, and everyone between us would simply cease to be a problem.
The perimeter fence stretched below, floodlights creating pools of harsh white against the shadows. Guards walked their routes in predictable patterns—every twelve minutes at the north gate, every eight at the south. Slade ran a tight operation, but routine bred complacency.
Bronwen had been right about the ravine crossing. The fence struggled to span the natural gap, sensors spread thin to avoid the constant false alarms from local wildlife. From my position, I could see where they’d had to extend the detection grid, creating gaps a body could slip through if it moved at the right angle.
The night sounds covered my movement—insects, distant creature calls, the hum of the compound’s generators. I counted guard rotations, memorized the sweep of searchlights, noted which sections went dark between patrols.
Then I noticed movement—a guard near the south wall speaking rapidly into his radio, gesturing at the ventilationsystem. “Clicking sounds,” I heard him say. “Coming from inside.”
I knew that sound. She was already working, already turning their prison into her laboratory.
Time to move.
The descent to the ravine took patience. Every footstep had to be silent, every movement deliberate. The moon was new, leaving only starlight, but my vision turned the darkness into gradients of grey.
I reached the fence where it spanned the gap. The sensors created a detection field, but Bronwen had been right—it was calibrated for larger movement. A human might trigger it. A Vinduthi moving slowly enough could ghost through.
I wrapped my hands in torn fabric from my shirt, then gripped the chain link. The metal was cold, slick from condensation. I pulled myself up slowly, matching my movement to the wind that made the fence sway naturally.
At the top, I paused. The sensor beam passed two feet below, cycling every three seconds. I waited for the cycle, then rolled over in the gap, dropping to the ground on the other side in absolute silence.
Inside.
The outer courtyard was mostly storage—equipment sheds, vehicle bays, supply containers. Cover I could use. I moved between shadows, following the path she’d identified during shift change. The guards were lazy here, assuming the fence and sensors were enough.
The first guard never saw me coming.
He was young, human, walking his route while checking a handheld display. I came up behind him, one hand over his mouth, the other driving a piece of sharpened fence wire between his ribs. He dropped without a sound, and I dragged his body behind a storage container.
His keycard went into my pocket. His rifle I left—too loud for what I needed to do.
The second guard was a Poraki, taking advantage of the compound’s humidity to moisturize his drying skin behind the motor pool. I came around the corner fast, hand crushing his more delicate windpipe before he could scream. He clawed at my fingers briefly before going limp.
Two down. The outer courtyard was mine.
I crouched beside an access terminal, using the stolen keycard. The system accepted it, showing me internal schematics. Detention level was three floors down, north wing. Maximum security. She’d be there.
The main entrance was impossible—too many guards, too many checkpoints. But the maintenance tunnels ran throughout the complex.
I found what I needed—a maintenance hatch near the electrical substation. The infrastructure had to run somewhere, and nobody paid attention to the power conduits.
The maintenance tunnel was a tight fit for someone my size, but I’d crawled through worse. The hum of electrical systems masked any sound I made, and the electromagnetic fields would interfere with most tracking systems.
I moved through the conduit tunnel, counting junction boxes, matching them to the schematic I’d memorized. The detention level was directly above. I just needed the right access point.
Voices echoed through a grate overhead. Guards discussing shift assignments. I waited until they moved on, then pushed up slowly. The grate lifted free, and I pulled myself into a utility corridor.
Dim fluorescent lighting here, flickering occasionally from the aged fixtures. I could hear activity ahead—they wereincreasing security around the detention cells. She was still there, still alive, still causing them problems.
I took the third guard in the corridor junction, coming up from his blind spot. The fourth saw me, mouth opening to shout, but I crossed the distance faster than his brain could process. My hand closed around his throat—a Nerath, his four arms flailing uselessly—lifting him off the ground, watching his eyes bulge as oxygen failed to reach his brain.
The detention level door required higher clearance than I had. But the guard I’d just dropped had a supervisor’s badge. I pressed his cooling hand to the scanner, and the door cycled open.
The corridor beyond was white, sterile, lined with cells. At the far end, a larger reinforced door—the interrogation section. Two guards flanked it, rifles ready.
They saw me immediately.
“Intruder! Detention level!”
