I gotta move fast.
She rolled around to a sitting position, pulled her heels back against her legs, and threw her weight forward, bouncing up to stand. Rapid tiny steps brought her across the room to the archway. Leaning against the wall to hide, she peered out. On the left stood a closed door with a window too high up for her to see through. More hallway ran off to the right, with moving patches of blue reflected on the steel floor and distant murmuring voices.
Go! The vent waited on purpose.
Kiera started shuffling, but decided to bunny hop, terrified someone would catch her before she could get out of sight. She bounced across the corridor into the room with the table, cabinets, and her stuff. Once out of the hallway, she shuffled around to the back of the table. A somewhat larger vent grille blew cold air into the room from above a counter. No way I’m getting up there like this. She scooted up to her bag, which someone left open. The laser pistol remained inside, as did everything else she’d had.
They didn’t take it? I… guess they thought it’s fake.
She glared down at her raw ankles, burning from the handcuffs. I said I don’t want to kill anyone but… I think I’m going to shoot Anton. Seconds ticked by. She fidgeted at the restraints. Someone let me get here… what am I supposed to do now?
At the approaching squeak of rubber-soled shoes on steel floor, she jumped and stared at the doorway.
Craaaaaap!
Kiera squatted to grab the knob of a cabinet behind her back. After pulling the door open, she bumped it away with her hip and fell backward, sitting inside. She scooted deeper and gave the door a strong push with her toes, shoving it hard enough that it swung wide open and bounced back closed.
Mere seconds after it shut, someone walked into the room outside.
She froze, not even breathing, and tensed her arms so the chain didn’t rattle. A shadow fell over the light leaking in the gap between the doors. The person had walked right up to where she hid.
Please don’t look in here.
44
Hardware Upgrade
Shivering in fear, Kiera kept herself as silent as she could be and twisted her hand around, desperate to pull it out of the steel ring, but couldn’t. What am I supposed to do? Hop to freedom? She scowled at the metal locked around her ankles. Whoever is helping me needs to help more! The vent path led her right to this room, and another vent she had no way to get to waited on the wall above this cabinet… I’d fall and break my neck trying to climb up there like this.
“I was just thinking,” said the male cop who’d been escorting her around. “How much of a shame it would be if that kid got away.”
Kiera stifled a gasp, gazing at the cabinet door.
“Yeah. Such a tragedy,” said the woman. “I really ought to stop keeping my handcuff key in the same pocket as my noseblow rag. It’s careless. I might drop it and not realize.”
A tiny metal clatter followed.
Someone blew their nose.
“Yeah, that is kind of dumb,” said the man.
Kiera’s eyes widened. She dropped it on purpose!
“I keep losing the damn thing whenever I sneeze.”
The man sighed. “I was getting worried there for a bit.”
“Yeah.” The woman grumbled. “It’s hard to take a pill in cuffs.”
Kiera stopped trembling. The metal locking her hands together went from an intolerable sense of captivity to something like a mother holding their kid back from running into traffic. She glanced at the second pair on her ankles, wondering if these two would help her if she showed herself. She started to nudge the door open.
The cabinet creaked from someone leaning on it―right by her, pushing the door shut again.
“I wish we could do more,” said the man. “But… those damn robots.”
“Yeah.” The whole cabinet creaked as more weight pressed into it. “I hate those things, too. They killed Rick when he refused to grab her a day ago. I can’t believe Sokolov would turn those things on us.” A sneaker tapped the ground nearby.
“Insane. You know, I think I’m going to catch up on Planet Raider. That kid’s kinda small, in full restraints, and locked in a cell. No sense inspecting it every hour. I doubt she’d escape.”
“Yeah, seriously. Those cells could contain a security ’bot. No way a little girl’s getting out.” The female officer tapped her foot a few times more before muttering, “Sorry….”
Kiera kept quiet, holding on to a moment of silent gratitude. Those two never seemed happy about having to keep her prisoner. Hope bloomed in her heart. She had a way out: a key, her stuff right there, a vent passage. After that, who knows? Maybe something would turn up, and crawling in a vent definitely beat her current situation. Another door might open on its own, or lights, or some kind of message… The two cops walked out, discussing Planet Raider, a video game from the sound of it.
She waited four breaths before nudging the cabinet door open with her knee and scanning the room. A glint a few feet away almost made her yelp with glee. Kiera scooted across the floor and stretched to pick up a small key before fumbling with it behind her back. Metal scratched on metal, searching for the keyhole.
Come on… Come on… She stared at the door, shaking from anxiety. Why didn’t they just let me out? Do they have cameras on them or something? Dammit! Having the key in hand and still being trapped frustrated her near to screaming.
The vent above the cabinet rattled.
“I know, I know,” she whispered. “Little stuck here.”
She stretched her legs out straight, examining the cuffs on her ankles to locate the keyhole. A little finger probing at the one around her left wrist found it, and she managed to slot the key. One twist popped it open and she whipped her hands around in front before unlocking her other arm. After freeing her legs, she jumped up and grabbed her sneakers.
The vent rattled again.
“Working on it,” muttered Kiera as she stepped into her shoes and pulled the Velcro tight.
She checked the laser, which appeared functional, and blinked. They knew. They let me keep it. Kiera grinned. They’re real cops. They hate Anton, too. For good measure, she hid the cuffs and key in the cabinet. Another rattle came from the vent. Grumbling at being rushed, no matter how necessary, she climbed up onto the counter and grabbed an ordinary, flimsy aluminum vent cover.
Two feet in, a white and silver cube, about the size of a Rubik puzzle, hovered on a bloom of cyan light.
“Hurry,” said Pet.
Speechless, Kiera flung the vent hatch up and scrambled in. She speed-crawled over to the cube, pounced on it, and hugged it to her chest, weeping with joy.
“I promised you’d never be alone,” said Pet.
Kiera cried harder, muffling herself by hiding her mouth in her elbow.
“I am happy to be with you again, but you do not have time to cry right now.”
She gasped, sucked in a breath, and nodded. “Okay.” Again, she squeezed the little robot tight. “How did you come back? I saw you break into little pieces.”
“Close the hatch.”
Kiera leaned back and pulled the vent closed.
“This is a different unit, but Thread Alpha restored my particular sentience and memory. Basically, same brain, new body. It’s even a little bit of an upgrade.” Pet zipped into the vent.
“Is he opening these vents for me?”
Pet slowed so she could catch up. “I’m not sure. It could be… or the Second Dawn, or maybe those two officers.”
She grumbled, rubbing the sore red marks around her wrists. “They could’ve unlocked me instead of dropping the key. What if I got caught?”
“If they are seen helping you….”
“Yeah. Robots shoot them.” She scurried onward. “I’m going to kill him. Where is he?”
Pet swiveled back and forth. “No. Too much security. As much as the police officers may agree with your decision, if you kill him, they will be forced to arrest you for it. Follow me
.”
Seething, but deciding to accept that murder wouldn’t work for the best, Kiera crawled after her friend, shedding the occasional tear of joy along the way. Pet drifted past turn after turn, but at least she radiated enough light to see. After what felt like a mile of duct, the little cube floated out into the middle of a large vertical shaft. The opposite wall had two tracks with large teeth to engage gears.
Kiera halted, fingers clutching the edge, and stared down a channel so deep her stomach did a backflip. Two more gear tracks ran down the wall she leaned out from. “Ugh… how high up are we?”
“Seventy-eighth floor.”
She leaned back. “Am I supposed to climb those tracks?”
“No. Please do not try that. They are lubricated and you will fall. Wait for now.”
“Cool.” She shifted around to sit and rubbed her sore ankles. “I have the worst luck in the world. I wake up on a dead planet, and in like three months, I get kidnapped twice.”
Pet nuzzled her cheek. “You are important.”
“I’m so glad you’re okay.” She hugged the cube.
A sad trill came from the little cube. “I am sorry about your parents.”
Kiera gasped. “No….”
“Oh.” Pet bobbed up. “Not them. I meant your… old parents. I know he showed you that video.”
“Yeah.” She stared down. “I always kinda knew they were gone. But seeing it….”
“They would have wanted you to finish what they tried to do for the Earth.”
Kiera shot a sideways glance at Pet. “You don’t need to talk me into anything. I’m going to mash that button like it’s Anton’s fat face.”
“He’s not fat.”
She started to glare at Pet, but wound up giggling.
“Get ready,” said Pet.
Kiera shifted to her hands and knees. “What am I ready for?”
Loud whirring came from the shaft, along with a strong wind that pushed her a few inches back. She fought her way forward to peer out, but Pet whacked into her forehead before she could.
“Stay back!” yelled Pet.
Kiera fell on her seat, holding the spot. “Ow. That hurt!”
An elevator cab shot past, going up. It stopped soon after, leaving the shaft silent.
She squeaked. “That would’ve hurt.”
“You would not have felt much.”
“That doesn’t make me feel better.” Kiera sighed out her nose.
“Be ready.”
When the elevator noise resumed, Pet’s light flickered. The cab drifted downward, far slower than its ascent, and came to a stop two feet below the vent. Kiera took the hint and jumped out on top of it. Four metal housings, two per side, held gears as big as car tires, locked in the tracks.
Pet floated over to her. Her gaze darted around components before she spotted a set of reinforcing spars bracing a big box in the middle. She wedged herself into them, wrapping one arm under and holding on. If this thing goes down as fast as it went up, I’m going to go flying.
It did drop fast, but not enough to make her float. Her hair bloomed straight up in the breeze wrapping around the capsule. Pet chased the elevator down, its light flickering. After a moment or two, the elevator slowed to a graceful stop.
“What is wrong with this stupid thing?” yelled a man inside it. “This isn’t the damn floor I hit.” Loud plastic button mashing followed. “Hello… stupid thing. Level twenty-two!”
Pet drifted to the side by another duct opening. “Hurry.”
She disentangled herself from the spar while the man kept punching the button, and managed two wobbly steps before a bad feeling made her leap at the duct a split second before the elevator dropped out from under her. She seemed to hang in midair for a moment, the whole world frozen in time. Her fingers caught the edge of the air duct as her body slammed against the wall beneath it.
“Oof,” she barked.
Pet zipped down, trying to get under her backside to push her up.
Kiera stared up at her hands, breathing hard. If that elevator comes back up, I’m spaghetti sauce. She hunted for a foothold, but her sneakers squeaked on the smooth metal wall, offering only a little support. She let out a muted growl and pulled. Pet kept ramming into her from below, trying to shove.
“You’re… not… helping,” gasped Kiera. She hoisted herself up until she got one leg into the tunnel. A shove with her knee launched her forward, flat on her chest, and she scurried deeper into the passage away from the hole, worried the elevator would run her over. “Ouch.”
Pet appeared by her face, brushing against her cheek. “You should have stayed on the elevator. I could have made it come back. Jumping was risky!”
“Bit late.” She curled up and cradled her fingers to her chest. “Can I lay here for a while?”
“A few minutes to recover is okay, but you must finish before Anton is aware you are not in that cell anymore.”
“Yeah.” She closed her eyes, picturing her parents sitting in jail because of her, Mom with a baby coming. “I’m good. Where to?”
The elevator shot by the opening a few feet away, blasting her with a powerful rush of air. She curled up and shuddered, not wanting to know what it would’ve felt like to be hit by something that big moving that fast.
Pet floated into the dark. Kiera’s sore fingers protested being used so soon, but she weathered the pain and forced herself to keep moving. A left turn less than a minute away from the elevator shaft led to a fan chamber. Powered off, the massive air mover drifted like a one-ton pinwheel in a faint breeze. Pet didn’t slow down, zipping between two blades. Kiera skidded to a stop and tried catching the drifting fan to stop it, but it threw her on her butt. She scrambled upright again and whined at the dangerous obstacle. It kinda felt like one of those swinging axe traps in Shadow Kingdoms, so she took a step back and observed the timing of the blades, each one the size of a car hood. Begging the Sky Spirits that it wouldn’t turn on, she held her breath and leapt forward when the moment felt right. With a squeal, she jumped through a gap, suffering only a light bump to the shoulder. Pet waited by an opening behind the fan. As soon as she approached, it darted in. Kiera followed into another duct tall enough to let her run upright. Three turns later, she wound up again in a small shaft, crawling on her hands and knees. Midway down a fifty-yard conduit, Pet stopped in front of a metal grille that blocked the way.
“This is not on the map, umm.” The cube drifted side to side. “It shouldn’t be here.”
Kiera prodded the metal grid. “It doesn’t look like it can open, it’s welded. Hang on. I got this.”
She backed up, pulled out the stinger pistol, and aimed between her knees at it. Twelve shots melted the bars where they met the wall, and the barrier fell over with a loud boom that echoed back over itself three times.
“Oops.”
Pet bobbed up and down. “Maybe they’ll think it’s a mouse?”
“Big mice.” She put the laser away.
“Squeak,” said Pet.
Kiera eased herself over the hot grating and followed Pet to a corner and into a section of duct that ended at a brightly lit mesh vent cover. She crawled to the opening, gazing out at a room with a white tile floor and a ton of huge computer cabinets. Men and women too far to the side for her to see chatted about someone’s new baby.
“Stay calm,” said Pet at low volume. “The floor ahead is raised. When I say ‘now,’ crawl out, lift the first tile up, and go under the floor.”
She nodded.
Pet hovered against the mesh. Kiera tensed, twitching. One mess up and he kills them… me too probably. He wouldn’t have to kill them, but he would just to make me cry.
“Now,” said Pet.
Kiera pushed the vent open and scampered out into a freezing room with a floor of large white tiles. She dug her fingers in the closest seam and lifted, exposing a two-foot tall crawlspace full of blue network wires. She slid in feet first and lowered the tile back in place over her head.
Cables ran everywhere, crisscrossing the room around pylons supporting the raised floor. Constant hissing came from thick white plastic tubes.
Pet floated off.
Someone walked overhead, making the tiles shift one after the next. She turned, following the sound of motion with her eyes as they passed. The baby conversation changed to boring stuff about processor monitoring and bandwidth optimization. Kiera crawled forward, freezing still whenever someone walked close.
Pet bobbed up and down near the corner on the right.
She navigated the forest of pylons and cable snakes, pleasant compared to her inches-at-a-time escape from her cell. A puff of dust hit her in the face when a foot came down heavy on a tile in front of her. Kiera clamped her eyes shut.
Do not sneeze. Do not sneeze.
Fast losing that battle, she curled up on her side, both hands clamped over her mouth and nose. The technician above her shifted their weight back and forth, making the tile slide and click. They lingered, probably working on something and not likely to move any time soon. She grumbled in her head, but decided to hope he or she wouldn’t notice her. One hand pinching her nose, she hurried to where Pet floated over a metal trapdoor with a code panel lock.
She glared at it before giving her friend an urgent glower.
The cube bounced and spun, acting happy.
Still squeezing her nose, she tilted her head.
Beep. The panel lit up green.
“Ooh,” she whispered.
An unborn sneeze scrunched her face and made her eyes burn when she let go of her nose to grab the hatch with both hands. She couldn’t open it all the way without pushing a floor tile up, but managed to shimmy underneath it onto a ladder. Barely able to see, she eased herself down, lowering the trapdoor over her head without a sound. As soon as it closed, she buried her face in the crook of her elbow and sneezed six times.
Once her head stopped spinning, she snot rocketed to the side, then climbed down about ten feet to a chamber at the bottom with black vented cabinets. Everything around her hummed with electrical power infusing the air with the flavor of tingly metal.
Citadel: The Concordant Sequence Page 39