Page 79 of The Only Way Out Is Up

“What if they’re nothing special? Just lights hanging overhead, like we have down here.”

I frown. “I think the stars are a lot higher up than that. Hundreds of klicks, at least.”

“What good is a light that far away?”

I don’t have an answer to that. We walk in silence for a while.

“The thing about Hod,” she says thoughtfully, “is that everybody looks down, not up.”

“Why? To gloat about how wretched everybody else is?”

“More like because they’re afraid of joining you. It’s easy for families to fall from grace. They lose their wealth, their influence, and they get torn apart by their rivals. Everyone’s walking on a narrow beam, and the lower tiers are the spiked pit under our feet.”

I snort. “Forgive me if I don’t have a lot of sympathy.”

“I’m not asking for sympathy, just trying to explain. Everyone’s too busy holding on to what they’ve got to worry about what’s overhead.”

“Maybe being at the very bottom gives you better perspective,” I say. “Nowhere to look but up.” I come to a halt. “I think this is close enough.”

The mountain looms in front of us. I can see several tunnel entrances from here, and there must be more all over the slope.

“You’re good on the plan?”

“I remember the plan,” she says. “Still not sure I think it’s sane.”

“It’ll work.” Probably. Maybe. “Twisted are big and mean, but they aren’t smart. They don’t think, they just react to things. It makes them predictable.” Up to a point, anyway. “Just don’t wait too long.”

“Likewise.”

“And you’re sure you can make these work?” I hold up my leather satchel, which contains four of the new BLAST weapons. Ky has an identical pack.

“I’ve got it,” she says. We did a few tests of my creations on an abandoned junkpile near the bakery, which is now a distinctly different shape. Hopefully it will be enough to deal with Rotwurm.

“All right.” I pull my mask up for a few seconds, taking deep, calming breaths. “Follow me.”

I creep down a Twisted’s tunnel like I’ve done a hundred times before, except that this tunnel is wide enough to drive a cart through. The sides and floor are slippery-smooth, metal and concrete polished by Rotwurm’s comings and goings to a fine sheen. There are junctions and intersections, side passages curving up and down. I choose my route basically at random, trying to worm my way closer to the center of the mountain.

Star walks beside me, his gleaming new legs clicking with well-oiled grace. I’ve modified his body with bulbous hatches on the underside, making him look for all the world like he’s gravid with a clutch of eggs. It’s ugly, and it gives away what he’s hiding; the next version is going to conceal everything behind a smooth armored shell. But that’s for the future.

Ky glances nervously into every tunnel entrance. She has one hand on her sword, though I’m not sure what she thinks the weapon will accomplish against Rotwurm.

This is probably far enough. You’re ready?

[Assessment: I am ready. It is you I worry about.]

Don’t think I’m up to the challenge?

[Reassurance: it is not your fault. Flesh is simply inadequate.]

Laugh it up, bolt-bucket. Your next body is riding on making this work, you know.

[Agreement: hence my unflinching optimism. If you die, do you think Ky will take me in?]

Star gets most flippant when he’s nervous. I pat one of his arms with a clang and point down a side passage.

“Okay,” I say aloud. “You wait here with Star. Earmuffs on.”

“Earmuffs on,” Ky says.