Page 43 of Scion

“And?”

Her gaze flicks to Verity. “And nothing. We… should keep running. You don’t want to… fight this one.” More to say, clearly, but not in present company.

I open my mouth, then shut it again. “This one?”

Jasa doesn’t answer.

Silence from the maze of concrete behind us, more ominous by the second. We reach a heavy steel door; Verity punches an anxiety-inducingly long combination into the keypad, waits a few more seconds for a DNA verification, and then we’re through. Fluorescents flicker to life ahead, illuminating an uncomfortably narrow maintenance tunnel that has pipes and wires running along its roof, not far above head height. The door seals behind us.

Jasa heaves a relieved sigh, leaning against the wall. Seconds later, a heavy, determined sound thuds and echoes along the corridor, making us all flinch. Again. Again.

There’s the slightest hint of deformation in the thick steel door.

I scowl pointedly at Jasa, then motion her and Verity back into a run.

“Where does this lead?” I lope alongside Verity, who, sensibly, has abandoned her high heels.

“Transport. Old, but still licensed. The three of us will fit.”

“Are these tunnels on-map?” I slow, allowing for Jasa to catch up a little. She’s dragging herself forward at a surprisingly reasonable rate, all things considered.

“Maybe some ancient DeGov archive, but you only arrived yesterday. No one has the resources to do a search of that—”

Behind us, the screeching and tearing of metal makes it increasingly likely whatever’s after us is breaking through. “What about the Keres?”

“The…” Verity considers me, those lovely green eyes flickering from confusion to anger to concern in moments. “Oh, Azure. Sweetheart.” Her disappointment is thick.

“Yes or no, Verity.”

“Maybe.” She casts a glance at Jasa, this one far more openly curious than previously, but says nothing more.

And then puts a little more pace into her step.

I allow myself to fall back in line with Jasa, lowering my voice. “Alright. What’s after us?”

“Now… is not the time… Azure,” she wheezes. “Please just… trust me.”

“Now is absolutely the damned time!” I stare at her. My revs let me see the flicker of what looks like genuine fear in her eyes. She really doesn’t want to tell me. “What the hell did you make for them?”

She’s saved from answering by our arrival at a short ladder; Verity is up it quickly, sliding aside a square covering and clambering out. I use my revs to toss Jasa up through the opening—there definitely isn’t any petulance in the decision, nor, of course, do I take any pleasure from her surprised screech—and leap after her, not bothering with the rungs.

Verity glances at me, then nods as she sees my recognition of our surrounds. “Walk exactly where I walk.”

“Where are we?” Jasa asks the question after she finishes scrambling to her feet and glaring at me, which she does for the entire duration of my sliding the metal hatch into place, fastening it, and then hammering the mechanism until it’s thoroughly misshapen. Probably only a few seconds of net benefit, if whatever monster’s chasing us broke through that first steel door, but I’ll take it.

“Themis warehouse.” I glance around. We’re in the midst of a massive grid of shelves, amongst which thousands of drones whizz, some moving at speeds which make them near imperceptible even to my rev-enhanced vision. It’s a constant tornado of whining motors and disconcerting displacement of air, every pass feeling uncomfortably close to our heads. “There are kilometres of underground storage down here. Mostly Basic food and DeGov materials.” I grab her shoulders and start marching her after Verity.

“Won’t there be people around? Sensors?” She’s annoyed at the physical handling, but doesn’t resist, apparently remembering what’s coming behind us.

Ahead, Verity chuckles, barely audible over the cacophony of passing drones.

“DeGov built most of these places from reconstituted tech,” I add by way of explanation. “It slowed down the system too much, having to check for people. They have sensors on the entryways for the anti-theft systems, but that’s about it.” At least, that used to be the case. I haven’t been in one of these since Oceanus.

“So these drones. If we get in the way…”

“Don’t get in the way.”

In front of me, she shrugs my grip from her shoulders, and begins walking exactly where Verity walks.