Page 24 of Rescued By The Alien Prince Pirate

I could hear her voice shouting back through Nix's headpiece. She sounded so afraid. I was astounded and amazed that they had an A.I. capable of showing so much emotion.

I tripped on one of the ladder rungs about halfway down. I caught my balance, but my hands were so sweaty from nervousness. I almost tumbled down, but I was able to keep my grip, miraculously. I managed to descend the rest of the way down without issue, but my stomach was doing somersaults after that close call.

Once on solid ground, I didn't have time to do much emotional recovery or catch my breath. I was worried sick about Nix. I glanced up, hoping that he would be there climbing down any second.

"Nix?" Cyburn asked. "Are you with us?"

"Climbing down now," Nix advised. "I just had to make sure to close the hatch door as quietly as possible. Whoever's footsteps we heard down the hallway didn't come this way."

I allowed myself to relax slightly. "Wonderful," I whispered under my breath.

"Which way now?" Cyburn asked. "According to this blueprint, we are supposed to head to the left. Is that right, Silver?"

"Affirmative," Silver said.

Cyburn pointed his flashlight down the hallway tunnel. "It looks like another dead end," he said, blowing out a grumbling sigh.

"Just follow it," Silver said. "If you get lost, I'll redirect you."

"I don't know that we can afford the extra time to time to get lost down here," Cyburn said with aggravation.

"What other options do you have?" Silver asked. She sounded slightly hysterical. "Do you really want to risk going back up to the surface to the threats you know are already up there waiting to destroy you? Give yourself a chance to get ahead of them and take them by surprise."

"No, I know, you're right. This is our only choice," Cyburn grumbled. He glanced at me and Nix. "Come on. We'll see what it looks like once we walk over there."

We made it down the tunnel a couple minutes later and at the end, there was no other options. We hit a wall— literally.

"Now what?" Cyburn said. "It's a dead end, just like I said."

"Look upward," Silver advised patiently.

All three of us aimed our heads upward, just as the A.I. directed.

Sure enough, there was another hatch door above us.

"Where does it lead?" Cyburn asked.

"To another secret tunnel, but it's in the direction of the command center," Silver said optimistically. You can only go right."

"Can you reach it?" I asked Cyburn, pointing toward the vent grate.

He stretched his arm out and pulled down on the hatch lever. It released, and as we peered inside, we saw another ladder. Cyburn pulled down on the ladder and it came down. We were lucky yet again.

"Alright, I'll go first, then Carmela, then Nix. I want Carmela in between us."

"Got it," I said.

I had no idea what would be waiting for us on the other side of this tunnel, but I hoped that just as Silver said, it would lead us one step closer to that command center we so desperately needed to infiltrate.

ChapterTen

CARMELA

The tunnel was extremely dark. It was cold too. A frigid chill rippled through my bones, but a lot of it had to do with the terror I felt inside.

It was difficult not to know what to expect. I kept waiting for droid's, robots, and cyborgs to dart out from every shadow and corner.

Cyburn was ahead of me on the narrow ladder. He was huge, acting as a barricade of protection for me with his massive body.

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