Page 34 of Only Rogue Actions
Jeffrey spun toward them.He tried to dart out of the way, but his red jacket snagged on a switch sticking out of the control panel, pinning him in place.
Asterin and Siya roared again and rammed the table into his stomach, practically folding the technician in half.Jeffrey let out a high-pitched scream, although the noise rapidly trailed off into a raspy gurgle.
Asterin and Siya shuffled back, still holding the table between them, and set it down.I sprinted into the control room and aimed my blaster at Jeffrey, but his eyes rolled up into the back of his head, and he toppled to the floor.
“It’s about time you got here,” Asterin said.“I thought Siya and I were going to have to rescue ourselves.”
I grinned at my friend’s dark humor.“Looks to me like the two of you were doing a pretty good job of it.Now, hold still and turn your head away.”
Asterin did as I asked, and I used the blaster to shoot her chain free from the table.Then I went around and did the same thing to Siya’s chain.
“Thanks for the assist, Vesper.”Siya nodded at me.
I lifted the blaster to my forehead in a mock salute.“Anytime.”
Still wearing the cuffs, Siya jogged past me and headed out into the hallway.She crouched down and rifled through the pockets of a dead Hammer’s jacket.She let out a cry of triumph and pulled out a set of keys, which she used to open the cuffs on her wrists.
Siya jogged back into the control room with the key and opened Asterin’s cuffs.
“What happened?”I asked.
“We were watching the holograms of you and Kyrion when the four Hammers came into the control room,” Siya replied.“They claimed they wanted to watch you two go through the maze since Kyrion was an Arrow, so we all gathered around the table.The second Asterin and I turned our backs, the Hammers overpowered us, took our weapons, and slapped cuffs on our wrists.”Her nostrils flared with disgust.“Roderick didn’t even have the balls to come here and fight us himself.”
Asterin flinched at the venom in Siya’s voice, but she didn’t chime in.
“And then?”I asked.
“And then Jeffrey sicced that Black Scarab on you and gave Roderick the all clear to enter the maze and start hunting Kyrion,” Siya replied.“You know the rest.”
I went over and crouched down beside Jeffrey.The technician’s eyes were closed, but his chest moved up and down in a steady rhythm.I slapped him across the face a few times, just in case he was faking, but he was out cold.
Frustration surged through me, but I stepped over Jeffrey and took his place at the control panel.Two holograms hovered in the air—Roderick, in his red armor, and Kyrion, who bore a small blackXon his right forearm, the same spot where I’d felt that telltale sting earlier.But the injury didn’t seem to be bothering Kyrion, who was facing off with Roderick.
The hologram of Kyrion waved his hand, using his telekinesis to lift some object I couldn’t see.An instant later, a blaster bolt streaked through the air toward him.
“No!”I yelled, and flung my hand out, as though I could stop the bolt, even though I wasn’t in the maze.
The sticky cobweb of Kyrion exploded with pain.A white-hot spike rammed through my left hand, and I hissed and recoiled in shock.In an instant, my skin turned a bright, vivid red like I had just grabbed a steaming brewmaker with my bare hand.The pain of the injury throbbed through my entire body, keeping time to the frantic, worried beat of my heart.If the injury was this painful for me, it must be devastating for Kyrion.
I gritted my teeth and ignored the psionic echoes of Kyrion’s pain as best I could.I focused on the control panel again, looking at the embedded holoscreens and the knobs and levers.I started to hit a blue button, then abruptly stopped.I didn’t know what the button controlled, and I might unleash some trap or obstacle that would further injure Kyrion.
I growled with frustration and paced back and forth in front of the control panel.I stopped long enough to kick Jeffrey in the ribs, but the technician remained unconscious.
Siya scooped up her war hammer from a table in the back, and the lunarium weapon lit up with the bright green flare of her magic.
“Now what?”Asterin asked, grabbing a small silver blaster from the same table.
Siya twirled her hammer around in her hand.“Now we see if any more of these bastards are in the facility.”She looked at me and frowned.“Vesper?Why aren’t you taking control of the maze?”
Anger and frustration simmered through my veins.“Because I can’t figure out what all these blasted buttons do, and I don’t want to hit the wrong one and make things worse for Kyrion.”
My anger drained away, replaced by a cold fist of dread that squeezed my heart.“I have to get back to the maze.I have to help Kyrion.”
I moved away from the panel, but Siya stepped forward, blocking my path.
“You’ll never make it in time,” she said, her voice not unkind.“The maze is huge, and Kyrion went in on the far side of the facility.”
Asterin nodded.“Siya is right.We’ll clear this level, then head down to the maze.You stay here and keep working on the controls.You can figure it out, Vesper.I know you can.”
