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Behind her, Soren talked to the ground operators, his voice loud and confident, like he knew everything about everything.
Through her rain-pelted visor, she saw Hovercraft looming all around her, sleek and silent. Even with Roar and Perry at her sides, she felt exposed. Like the huge ships were an audience, watching her as she walked by.
The Guardian suit was water-repellent, but sweat rolled down her spine and over her stomach, causing the uniform to cling to her anyway.
With every step, the Komodo seemed to grow larger. So large that she questioned how it could ever be mobile. As she neared, she glimpsed massive, spiked wheels—each one several feet high. She’d been thinking of it as a snake because of its coiled structure, but now she thought centipede.
Two Guardians stood beneath a small overhang, manning the entrance. They wore weapons like the ones that had put a hole in her arm and in Jupiter’s leg. To either side of the entrance, she saw black-tinted windows.
Was anyone watching them? Hess? Sable? How well could they see through the pouring rain?
Soren brushed past her and jogged up the ramp, past the Guardians, and into the Komodo without breaking his stride. The men at the door barely nodded in acknowledgment as Aria, Perry, and Roar followed.
Inside, a steel corridor stretched to the left and right, hardly wide enough for two people to stand shoulder to shoulder. Aria’s breath came in gasps as they jogged right, Soren leading the way.
Ten minutes ago he’d almost compromised the entire mission; now he was in charge, following a schematic of the layout on his Smarteye.
Aria grabbed Perry’s arm, slowing him. Slowing them all. They were too noisy. Too obvious. Perry, Roar, and Soren had substantial builds. She was probably running with five hundred pounds at her sides at least, and the Komodo felt it. They were creating a small earthquake in the corridor, the floor shaking, reminding her this wasn’t a fixed structure.
They passed two doors. Three. Five.
Soren led them into the next one—an equipment room. Rows of flight suits like theirs lined the far end. Helmets. Weapons in narrow storage lockers.
Soren ran to a locker and rifled through it. He came up with a small, stubby black gun with a thick barrel. “Grenade launcher,” he said. “For the loud plan. ”
They left their flight helmets, taking fresh weapons. Perry pulled a length of rope across his shoulder, and they filed back out to the corridor, Soren leading the way once ag
ain. He set a quick pace, just short of breaking into a run as he navigated through the twisting corridors.
Aria worried that every turn they made now was a turn they’d have to make again in order to get out of there.
Voices carried to her ears, coming from somewhere behind her. Aria locked eyes with Roar, who’d also heard. Someone was approaching. They’d avoided other people so far, but their luck had run out.
Roar whistled softly. Up ahead, Perry spun, reacting instantly. Together they moved toward the voices, so swift and close that Aria felt a rush of air as they passed her; then they turned the corner and disappeared.
Aria forced herself to keep going with Soren—to reach the central corridor—despite the desperate pull to go after them.
She picked up the pace, glancing back once more, and ran right into Soren’s chest. Aria bounced away, stunned.
Soren stood with his arms crossed, a smile on his face. “Intense, isn’t it?”
“Why are you stopping?” she asked, dread knotting inside her. He was enjoying this.
“We’re here. ” Soren tipped his head toward a heavy door with a darkened access panel at its side. “This is it. ”
The door itself was unmarked and not at all like what she’d expected of the gateway to the most secure areas of the Komodo.
Then it hit her. Behind that door, she’d find Cinder.
And Hess.
And Sable.
Soren knelt in front of the panel. He cracked his knuckles and coaxed it to life with a tap, then expertly moved through screen after screen of security interfaces.
Watching him, she was reminded of Ag 6. Of the night he’d done this months ago. In a flash she remembered Soren’s hand, crushing her throat. Aria shook away the memory and listened for footsteps in the corridor—or for Roar and Perry. She heard only the soft buzz of the overhead lights.
“Hurry, Soren,” she whispered.
