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2
The sudden lossof acceleration threw me to the floor hard enough that it drew a cry. It took me a moment before I pushed myself up.
What happened?
I’d heard a loud sound, and then the transport stopped. A glance around showed the wall the Grays had fiddled with was now a twisted heap of metal. As for those Grays, they pried at the doors, wrenching them open by force.
Scree.Metal moved and protested the whole way. The slit proved wide enough for them to slip through.
“On your knees!” I heard a yell and horrible, loud popping sounds, followed by screams that forced me to cover my ears. I shut my eyes against the noise, but it vibrated my very body.
An acrid smell irritated my nose. Similar to smoke. Was there a fire? The terrifying thought galvanized me into action.
A shove of my hands against the floor brought me to my feet to peek out the door, ignoring the wrecked metal.
We weren’t in a place I’d ever seen. For one, there were pipes all over, big and small, some of them leaking steam from their joints. Movement showed me people in gray fleeing. Something red drew my gaze. The bright scarlet wasn’t just the uniforms of the Enforcers prone on the ground, but a spreading puddle of blood. The Reds appeared severely injured. Perhaps they were already dead. I just didn’t understand how it had happened.
As I took it all in, motion caught my eye. The man with the blue eyes emerged from behind a tall pipe and aimed the object in his hand.
Bang.
A scream followed.
Bang.
The scream stopped.
I blinked and held my breath because I had no doubt I’d just seen Blue Eyes kill someone, a Gray using an Enforcer’s weapon.
Why? Why would he do that? And he’d murdered an Enforcer!
This was dissension on a level I’d never imagined, with deadly consequences. It wasn’t just Enforcers bleeding out on the ground. I saw the first Gray boarder lying to the left of the transport, eyes wide open, his mouth slack, the hole in his head bleeding very little, but not likely fixable.
What had I stumbled into?
Distant shouting and the thump of boots on the ground indicated more Enforcers arrived. They came from everywhere and spread out in a line.
The sharp cracking noises started again.
Since I didn’t want a hole in my head, or any part of my body, I threw myself back into the transport. Inside, I didn’t know what to do other than tuck myself against a wall out of sight. I wanted to be anywhere but here—at work, in bed, even being shocked because I’d stomped my foot in frustration.
Hands over my ears barely blocked the distant explosions. Eyes closed, I hummed and rocked.
Even when things got quiet, I didn’t stop, not until someone touched me.
I raised my chin to see an Enforcer in full armor, the red so deep to almost be black, his features hidden by a helmet that made me wonder if there was even a person inside the metal.
“Who are you? What are you doing here?” he barked, the words emerging with a tinny hollowness.
“I’m J891. I’m supposed to go to the Consulate.”
“Why? Are you planning something? Are you armed?” He dragged me to my feet and spun me, inspecting me.
It snapped me out of my stupor. “What are you doing? I’ve done nothing wrong. I was told to proceed to the Consulate, and then some Grays boarded the transport and did something to make it stop. And—”
“You saw those who boarded?”
I nodded.
