The Dead Fleet (Juggernaut #3)

Thirteen

They ran.

Tila, always the fastest, took the lead. Malachi shouted directions from his datapad to her as they navigated the labyrinthine ship as fast as they could.

"Not this turning, the next one, then up the stairs."

Tila paused at the bottom of the stairs and held up a hand to quiet her friends while she listened for approaching pirates.

"Mal, anything on that communicator?"

"Nothing yet," said Malachi with a quick glance to where it was clipped to his belt.

"Okay, follow me."

"And then what?" said Ellie as they ran up the stairs. "Are we going back to Parador?" She and Malachi were already breathing harder. Tila seemed unaffected.

Tila paused at the next junction while Malachi checked the map again. "I don't know yet," she said.

"What if they ignore you again?" said Ellie. "Or steal it?"

"No-one's taking this away from me, Ellie." Tila crept around the next corner until she was satisfied the coast was clear then she beckoned the other to follow her. "We'll find someone else to tell. Someone we can trust."

"Like who?"

"I don't know, Ellie. Not yet anyway. I'm not giving up, that's all."

Ellie gave Tila's hand a quick squeeze. "Then neither am I. And neither is Malachi, right Mal?"

"I'm giving up as soon as we're off this ship!"

"I thought you wanted an adventure," said Tila.

"I've had one. They're overrated. Now I want to live!"

They ran on, following the same circuitous route they took on their arrival. Portholes and viewing platforms opened their view to the graveyard beyond their windows but the scale of the scenes outside only made their journey seem more claustrophobic by comparison.

Tila raced far ahead of them, checking each corridor they passed by to make sure the route was safe. Ellie and Malachi followed as quietly as they could.

Suddenly, up ahead, they saw Tila waving frantically to hide. She vanished into a side corridor as Ellie and Malachi retreated behind exposed pipework.

"Where did she go?" whispered Ellie. Malachi could only shake his head.

The sound of a weapon discharging echoed through the corridor, and they could hear the familiar grunts of Tila fighting. A weapon fired again, this time a white-green burst of light shot out of the corridor ahead and impacted harmlessly against the wall. Then a bang, as if something hard had hit a wall. Then silence.

Ellie dashed forward too quickly for Malachi to hold her back.

"Tila?!"

Tila stepped around the corner, massaging one shoulder. She ignored the reddening scrapes on her knuckles. "I'm okay, but this one was patrolling. They're looking for us."

"Do you think they know where we landed?" Ellie asked.

Malachi checked his datapad again. "I doubt it. There are dozens of airlocks on this ship, the chances of them finding it are small. We should keep going."

Tila shook her head. "No, we need to find a different way back."

"Why?" said Ellie. "This is the quickest route."

"Because if we take the most direct route back they can work out where we might be going, and that increases the chances of them finding our ships."

"Once Tila has stopped two or three it will be like an arrow pointing our direction," said Malachi.

"How will they know Tila's stopped one?"

Malachi poked the unconscious figure with his foot. "Because they will stop talking."

"We need a new way out Mal," said Tila.

"I'm working on it." Malachi tapped his datapad, and studied it for alternate routes back to their ships. He moved forward then took a left without looking up. "This way."

He headed down the new corridor and led them deeper into the bowels of the Solar Forge.