Mera

MERA

"Tell me you know a way out of here." Kovas's warm hand rested on my shoulder. "Anything that you know. All information is useful."

I swallowed hard, glancing around the small empty room he'd pulled me into after we left that terrible bedroom.

We were out of the cell. Garlku was dead. And Kovas…

I stole a look at him from the corner of my eye.

Well, he still wasn't looking hundred percent, but obviously he was more than capable of taking care of himself. And me.

"The only places I was taken before today were the infirmary and the room where I met Garlku for dinner." I tried to think of anything else useful. "The infirmary is on the same level of the cells, but we used the lift to get to the dining room."

Kovas nodded. "Was it on the same level we're on now?"

I looked down the corridor, wishing for the first time that Conii's gang had splashed out a little more for interior decoration.

"I don't know," I finally admitted with a sigh. "This all looks kind of the same to me."

Kovas's fingers twitched, the tiniest of motion made all the more noticeable in contrast with his usual stillness.

"The maintenance tunnels. Up or down?" he finally asked, as much to himself as to me.

That really was the problem.

In the topsy-turvy world of the Thodos III, you couldn't always be certain how close you were to the central areas.

If we assumed that Conii's fortress was built above the maintenance shafts, the winding conduits and endless pathways the Uune builders had left in their wake, it would make sense for us to go down.

But if instead we were in some hidden nook of the station's design, it could just as easily be that the level we needed to reach in order to escape was at the top of this building.

"We can't stay here much longer, but we can't just pick a random direction. There's got to be something we're missing."

I racked my memory, desperate for a clue.

Finally, something came to mind, but it was such a small thing, nothing more than a fleeting impression.

"What?" Kovas watched me closely. "I can tell you've thought of something."

"I don't know if it's anything. But sometimes, I almost felt like the floor of our cell vibrated. Not much, just a tiny bit."

Kovas frowned and I hung my head. "I know it's not much. Probably doesn't mean anything really."

"No," he said hastily. "It's something that I should have noticed myself."

I reached out, squeezed his hand.

"You were kind of occupied with that whole not-dying business."

"A motor, an engine, a pump. Anything like that might give us access to other parts of the station."

I nodded. "It's the best chance we've got. And so far, the only clue we have."

Kovas took out the yellow card and tapped it against the wall.

"But if that is the way out, it won't be unguarded." He handed me a blaster, and I stared at the lump of dark gray plastic, its ugly jagged lines almost physically repellant.

I wrapped my fingers around it anyway.

This wasn't the time to get all precious about morals.

"I will protect you, I swear." Kovas's hand wrapped around mine. "But we do not know their numbers." He left the rest unsaid.

"I trust you," I said, trying to keep my voice steady.

I'd been so afraid before. I hadn't thought past getting out of the cell, breaking free of Garlku's lecherous desires.

But now there was an entirely new thing to be scared about.

Fabulous.

"We should go before anyone comes to check on him."

As we flitted through the corridor back to the lift, I watched Kovas, his movements so smoothly controlled, so silent to be almost unnatural.

"Hey, you guys didn't come to Earth a long time ago, mess around with ancient humans just to give them nightmares or something, did you?"

Really, it would make sense. Wasn't there always rumors of ancient aliens coming to help build the pyramids or something? Maybe the real ancient aliens were the vampires.

He turned to look at me, brows drawn together in confusion.

"I have no knowledge of such a thing. If you want, we can discuss it more once we're out of here."

I kicked myself as we moved on.

Of course, now wasn't the right time for a joke.

I was just too scared to be sensible. I didn't want to think about the guards waiting for us ahead.

But at least on this level, we found no one.

"Weren't there any guards here at all?" I whispered.

Kovas didn't bother to turn around this time. "There were. I moved them after I was done so they wouldn't bother you."

Oh. I blinked, trying to think of the best way to respond to that.

"That was very considerate of you," I finally managed. "Thank you."

"Of course."

When we got to the left the indicator light showed it was in motion. Dammit.

"We don't know if they're stopping here. Let's go back, hide in one of the empty rooms," I suggested.

"If they do not stop here, it will not be a problem," he said calmly, taking up his station on the other side of the door. "But if they are, this will be the fastest method."

Heart in my throat, I peeked at the indicator light.

Keep going. Keep going.

No such luck.

As the doors began to open, Kovas frowned slightly.

"Close your eyes. This might be upsetting."

What?

I didn't even have time to argue that there was no point in giving me a gun if he didn't want me to help.

Four Nazoks emerged from the lift, their grumbles and jokes the same as I'd heard for weeks now.

And then Kovas moved like death itself, a shadow that slipped between them, his blades so fast that the throat of the fourth guard had been cut before the first had even fallen.

Like a dancer, he pulled me into his embrace and then together we were inside the car of the lift before I could even comprehend what had happened.

"You should not have had to see that," he said grimly as he swiped the access card against the control panel, jabbing at the buttons that would take us back down.

His back was turned towards me, and I realized he was shielding me from the door.

I pulled myself together.

"What I saw or not isn't important." Gently, I put my hand on the small of his back, rubbing in small circles. "You protected me. Again."

Even through the fabric of his borrowed shirt, I felt the texture of the bandages.

He'd barely had a chance to heal before fighting.

How much longer could he go on?

The question stuck in my throat.

Did it matter? There was no stopping now. No going back.

The lift stopped at the bottom, and cautiously Kovas stuck his head out. Holding the door open, he pulled back inside the car, nostrils flaring.

"This is the level of the cells."

I frowned, double checking the control panel. "It can't be," I said, mind turning in circles. "I'm sure I felt something beneath us." My heart sank.

"Maybe this elevator doesn't go to the level below."

I hadn't even thought about that possibility. "Then what do we do? Do we need to search the facility for another way down?"

Kovas shook his head. "There is no reason for us to complicate matters until we know it is necessary." His eyes narrowed, searching over the battled metal panels that lined the lift car. "The guards from earlier smelled fresh. They didn't come from the dungeon level."

I gnawed my lower lip, thinking. "Maybe they have a dorm somewhere else in here? Or..."

Kovas stopped me. "There's a lot of maybes. But we're here now. Let's see what we can find."

I took a breath, trying to calm myself.

He was right. We were here now.

It would be stupid to rush around blindly when we hadn't properly searched here first.

A faint popping sound pulled me from my thoughts.

That was one way to search.

One by one, Kovas stripped off the metal panels, revealing the framework hidden behind.

So far nothing.

I tapped at the control panel.

"Can you do this one next? It would make most sense."

"Of course."

But there was nothing there, no secret button that would whisk us away to safety.

Except...

"Where do these wires go?"

A pair of pale blue threads trailed away from the tangled nest of wiring.

Kovas followed where I pointed.

"It may simply control the door opening and closing." He flashed a grin. "But perhaps it's something more."

With surprising delicacy, he peeled off the framework that edged the sliding door to the lift.

I leaned around Kovas's broad back to watch.

"That looks interesting, doesn't it?"

One of the panels came off in two pieces instead of one long continuous strip.

And where the break in the metal sat was a thin, almost unnoticeable card slot.

"Let's try this again," Kovas said as he slid the access key inside.

But nothing happened.

"Try the other card," I suggested. "It's the only other thing Garlku had on him that would work, right?"

I held my breath as Kovas retrieved the blank yellow card from the bag, slipping it into the slot.

And silently, the lift descended once more.