The door to the mess hall was shut, for the first time Shi could remember. There were a few people standing in front of the doors, but no one was looking in their direction. One was pressing buttons on a panel next to the doors while another was trying to pry at them using the manual holds sunk into the door panels. Ducking back around the corner, Shi waited impatiently for Elis to finish whatever he was doing, watching the corridors and nervously anticipating when someone would show up.
"That should keep them busy," Elis muttered, shoving the wires and circuits off his lap. He stood quickly, then wobbled, losing his balance. Shi quickly steadied him, worried all over again, but Elis shook him off. "Come on, stop lollygagging."
"Yes, princess," Shi said, the familiar refrain rolling off his tongue before he could stop it. Elis smiled faintly, but only started down the hallway.
Elis led him down a few more twists and turns, circling back a few times before finally slipping into a restroom a few sections away from the mess hall. Shi followed him in, locking the door behind them. They'd managed to avoid running into anyone, though it had been a near thing a few times, and Shi really hoped Elis' escape plan became more about escaping and less about running in circles soon.
Elis climbed up on top of the sanitation sink, steadying himself with a hand on the wall. Shi leaned against the door to the bathroom, watching as Elis pulled out his flat piece of metal. He levered it between two tiles in the ceiling, prying one of them loose, and kept going until he had four of them down. There was a crawl space in the ceiling, Shi realized, wondering how Elis knew about all of this. Elis quickly tossed the four tiles down behind the toilet, shoddily hiding them.
"Someone will notice that," Shi couldn't help but say, and Elis rolled his eyes.
"That's the point. Back out, now," Elis said, gesturing to the door behind him. "Quickly, Shi, we don't have a lot of time."
"Right," Shi said, deciding to try and keep his mouth shut until they were relatively safe. Shi flipped the unlock button, then palmed the opening mechanism for the door. He froze, startled, when he came face to face with a security goon. The guard hesitated, obviously just as surprised, and Shi moved, slamming his fist into the goon's nose before he could do more than blink.
The man dropped like a rock, and Shi winced, shaking his hand out. He'd forgotten how much punching someone hurt. Shi glanced up and down the hallway, but it looked like goon was alone.
"Drag him in here," Elis said, backing up so Shi could do so. Shi grabbed the goon's ankles, pulling him into the tiny restroom, then pilfered the man's stun gun.
"Tablet?" Shi asked, holding up the tablet he was still carrying. He wanted one hand free, and the stun gun would probably prove more useful. Elis' gaze focused on the tablet, and he snatched it from Shi, a familiar pleased smile lighting up his face.
"Oh, this will be useful," Elis breathed, tapping a few keys before shaking his head. He tucked the tablet loosely into his waistband, then gestured for Shi to lead the way. "He won't be out long."
"I could stun him," Shi suggested, but he moved toward the door anyway.
"Left," Elis said, and Shi followed the direction, jogging down the corridor ahead of Elis. They went down three decks and across enough sections that Shi wasn't sure where they were, only that they were heading deeper into the ship.
Elis seemed to have some sort of sixth sense for knowing where to go to avoid people. They only ran into two more people—a pair of security guards that Shi quickly stunned before they could remove their stun guns from their holsters—before Elis pulled him into what looked like a cargo area. Elis headed towards the back wall, pausing to study the crates stacked there for a long moment.
"Help me move these," Elis said, gesturing to the set of crates in front of them. "Away from the wall about a foot and a half."
Shi nodded, setting to work. Elis helped, but he was obviously not up to the task. Shi didn't try to dissuade him from helping though, relatively sure that whatever Elis was planning, they didn't have time for an argument on whether Elis was physically capable.
"Slide the top ones back," Elis said, gesturing to the top row of boxes. Shi frowned, confused, but did what Elis said. Elis stepped back when they were done, studying the crates intently. "It'll do. Crawl in there." When Shi gave him an incredulous look, Elis shoved him towards the opening created by the crates. "I'll follow."
"Fine, fine," Shi muttered, dropping down to his knees and crawling into the little cubby created by the crates. It was barely wide enough for him to fit, but he managed, wiggling around in the dark cubby so that he was face up, back propped against the crate behind him. It wasn't the most comfortable position, but it would do.
Elis, true to his word, crawled in after Shi, fidgeting around until the opening at the far end was mostly blocked. Then he shuffled backwards, clipping Shi's shin with his elbow. Elis stopped moving, and Shi scowled into the darkness, wishing he could see better.
"What now?" Shi asked quietly. The dark, hidden nature of the cubby seemed to call for quiet, though Shi knew there wasn't anyone else in the cargo hold with them.
"We wait," Elis said, his voice quiet as well. "They'll be on high alert for the next few hours. They'll also be searching. If we can avoid detection and wait a few hours, security should drop their guard enough that we can surprise them."
"And do what?" Shi asked. "We can't get the drop on all of them."
"No, just the ones around the hangar. They'll increase guards there, because that's the only real way for us to get off the ship, but give it a few hours and they'll be tired and bored and we'll be able to steal a ship and leave," Elis said, as though it would be as simple as that.
"You better know how to fly a spaceship," Shi grumbled, well aware he was mostly useless for this escape. He could help keep Elis safe, though, and that wasn't a complete waste.
"I do," Elis said distractedly. Shi's tablet flared with light, highlighting his face. He bent over it, and Shi bit his lip. Elis' cheeks looked sunken in the pale light, the shadows it cast making him appear more gaunt than before. "You should try to get some rest. I don't know when we'll next have the chance."
"I think you need rest more than I do," Shi retorted, knowing he couldn't sleep if he tried. He was too keyed up to even think about sleeping, not to mention he was used to sleeping through the afternoon and late evening because of his third-shift.
"If you can reprogram this tablet to hack into the ship's controls so we can open the hangar doors, then sure, I'll rest," Elis said snappishly, his fingers not pausing as they flew over the tablet's controls.
Shi didn't reply to that—there wasn't really anything he could say, after all. Escaping with their lives was a little more important than making sure Elis wasn't overdoing it. He watched Elis in the semi-dark, wishing he could ask all the questions that had plagued him since he'd accepted this job. He wanted to know if Elis had meant to walk away from their relationship or if he'd had no choice in the matter. He wanted to know if Elis still wanted him, if he was still allowed to hold Elis, or if he was relegated to looking and not touching.
Stifling a sigh, Shi glanced around the little cubby, but it was small and dark and didn't have any answers for him. Shi shifted slightly, trying to get more comfortable. He jarred Elis' knee, but Elis didn't even look up, sliding himself out of Shi's way without even a sideways glance. He ended up sitting closer to Shi, though, and Shi couldn't protest that.
He wasn't sure how long they sat there, Elis' fingers jabbing at Shi's tablet, doing whatever it was he had to do in order to make it a hacking device. It couldn't have been very long—maybe half an hour or an hour—before Elis made a quiet noise of triumph. He pressed a few more keys on the tablet, and the screen went dark.
"Good?" Shi asked, though he knew the answer already. Elis wouldn't have shut the tablet down if he hadn't finished.
"Yeah," Elis said, punctuating it with a yawn. He shifted deeper into the hidden cubby, worming his way up next to Shi, which was quite a
feat in the narrow confines. Shi pressed back against the wall, giving Elis more room to squirm in close. He dropped an arm around Elis' too narrow shoulders, smiling faintly when Elis rested his head against Shi's shoulder.
It was a familiar embrace, as it was often how they ended up when they spent the evening watching vids together. Elis usually ended up passing out on Shi's shoulder, snoring quietly until the movie ended. He seemed to have the same idea here, and Shi didn't protest, happy just to have Elis close, even if he was still uncertain where it would end.
"Wake me in two hours, if I don't wake before then," Elis ordered quietly, leaning into Shi and resting a hand against Shi's stomach.
"Will do," Shi said, stealing the tablet from Elis to check the time. Its light flared briefly through the cubby, and Shi frowned to realize it was nearly 0700. "You really want to try to break out at 0900? That's the ship's busiest time."
"It'll be fine," Elis said, and Shi bit back further protest. Elis was the expert, after all. Elis relaxed after a moment, and his breathing evened out quickly as he dropped into sleep.
Shi frowned, worried all over again. Still, Elis was part of the infamous Team Bakala, the most highly trained special ops team in the military. If he said leaving at 0900 would work, it would work. It wasn't as though they had many other choices—they'd be found out eventually if they stayed where they were. The hidden cubby would work for a little while, but eventually they'd have to eat, or Volkov's people would search the cargo bay from top to bottom.
So they'd steal a ship and escape to the nearest planet. Shi ran his thumb over the gold ring on his finger, hoping Elis had considered how far out into space they might be. Any ship stored on the flagship—even as large as it was—would still have to be small, and have a limited range for flying.
Shi debated briefly turning the tablet back on, seeing if he could connect to anything to sort out any useful information. There was no guarantee he'd find anything, though, and Elis' plans would be irrevocably mucked up if he drained the rest of the power cell in the tablet with his attempts. He hadn't charged the tablet in a day and a half, so he should reserve whatever power remained for Elis.
Which left him with waiting and hoping that Elis' plan worked, and that this wasn't the last time he'd get to hold Elis.
*~*~*
Elis woke about fifteen minutes before he requested Shi wake him. He jerked awake suddenly, tensing in Shi's hold before abruptly relaxing. He didn't move for a long moment, and Shi started to think he'd fallen asleep again when Elis spoke.
"Did I miss anything?"
"A search party," Shi said, following Elis' lead and not moving. "They did a half-assed search and then left, about half an hour ago."
Elis nodded, then shifted, sliding away from Shi. Shi let him go, anxiety churning to the surface again. The search party hadn't seemed particularly intent on finding them, but he had no doubt their faces were plastered across the ship. How in the world were they going to make it to the hangar without being caught when the ship was the busiest and most crowded it ever was?
Light poured into the cubby as Elis kicked the box blocking the end out of place. He slid out, and Shi followed, climbing awkwardly to his feet when he was free. Stretching out sore, cramped muscles, Shi glanced at Elis, frowning when he realized Elis had taken the tablet from him at some point. Shi usually noticed when Elis lifted things from him. He must really be distracted.
"Can you jam the door?" Elis asked, not looking up as his fingers flew over the tablet. "Ah-hah." Elis grinned, taking a few steps to his left. He looked down at the floor, then up at Shi. "Do you know how?"
"Yeah, sure," Shi said, leaving Elis to his inspection of the floor. He jogged across the cargo bay, his boots ringing on the metal tiles. The door was large, to accommodate the larger crates that were stored in the bay, so it wouldn't be easily blocked physically. He didn't know where the door mechanisms were in the frame, which left the most rudimentary means.
Prying off the top panel on the door control, Shi tossed it aside, studying the wires for a moment. The configuration was completely foreign to him, but he hadn't expected anything else. Drawing his stun gun, Shi wedged it in under the circuitry and fired a blast. Sparks flew from the control panel, and the doors shuddered in their tracks, shuddering open a few inches and then slamming shut.
Tucking the gun back into the waistband of his pants, Shi tried pressing the remnants of the control panel. The door didn't so much as twitch. Turning, he glanced at Ellis, but Elis was prying up floor panels. Leaving him to it, Shi started moving crates, creating a nice, thick barrier in front of the door in case someone got the bright idea to manually pull the doors open. That done, Shi returned to Elis' side, staring at the hole Elis had created in the floor.
"Our escape route, I assume?" Shi asked, watching as Elis shoved wires and thin, flexible piping out of the way. The space beneath the flooring was about two feet thick, and Elis had managed to find the perfect spot to pull up the floor tiles. There were support beams running alongside the opening, but not through it. There wasn't very much in the way of wires and piping in the way, and Shi could see light through the tiles lining the bottom of the space.
"That's the hangar, down there," Elis said, pointing. He flashed Shi a grin, looking inordinately pleased with himself. "We just have to knock the tiles out, jump in a ship, and go."
"Oh, only that?" Shi said, rolling his eyes. "How are we getting down? The hangar has to be very tall. Dropping from the ceiling to the floor will end with broken bones."
"I'm working on that," Elis said, glancing around the cargo bay thoughtfully. "What do you suppose is in those crates?"
"Drugs," Shi guessed, squinting at the nearest crate. It was completely unmarked, with not even customs seals or the planetary origins stamped on the box. Glancing back down into the hole Elis had made, Shi gestured to the piping. "What do you suppose runs through there?"
"Don't know," Elis said, leaning over to reach for the pipe. He pulled it out, the pipe coming with little resistance. It was clear, which meant either recycled water or coolant. Hopefully the former, since the latter would cause some rather nasty chemical burns. Elis studied it for a moment, then shrugged and picked up his flat metal bit. He set a curl of the pipe down on the floor, then dug a corner of the metal bit into the pipe.
It gave with some pressure, and liquid spilled out onto the floor. Shi edged closer, but the acrid smell of coolant was conspicuously missing. A water pipe, then.
"That'll work," Elis said, and they both jumped when something banged loudly on the cargo bay door. "Here, you work that apart, I'll see how much length I can get."
Shi nodded, dropping to his knees. He started twisting and turning the plastic piping, working the split in it bigger. His fingers kept slipping, the steady flow of water making the pipe slick and hard to maneuver. The steady pounding on the door continued, and Shi glared at the door when the pipe slid from his fingers once more.
Giving up on getting it apart with his fingers, Shi lifted the pipe to his mouth and bit it. The water in the pipe was definitely recycled, Shi noted, wrinkling his nose as the metallic taste of it washed through his mouth. The pipe came finally came apart, and Shi tossed the split pieces down, spitting out the nasty water.
"What?" Shi asked, crossing his arms at the amused look Elis was giving him. "It worked, didn't it?"
"I didn't say anything." Elis leaned over the hole to swiftly wrap the pipe around a support beam. He'd gotten a good length, and Shi swallowed, not sure he liked the idea of rappelling down into who knew what. "Get your gun out. Follow my lead."
Shi nodded, glancing at the cargo bay door as the noise suddenly increased. The door was open a fraction, and he could hear shouted commands now, though they made little sense through the barrier of crates. Elis was working on prying up the panels that made up the ceiling of the hangar, and Shi hoped no one looked up until it was too late.
Elis tossed the last panel behind him. It clattered loudl
y, and Shi barely registered the noise as Elis dropped the length of pipe down through the hole. The hangar below was brightly lit, but that was all Shi had time to notice as Elis threw himself down the pipe, his hands wrapped around it. Shi followed suit, realizing he was disregarding Elis' command to get his gun out, but in the next second he was glad for it. The pipe was slippery, and he needed both hands to slow his descent.
The pipe ended a good four feet above the ground, and Shi's hands slipped off it before he realized what was happening. He landed hard, falling to his knees. Elis was already moving though, and Shi pulled his stun gun, forcing himself to move despite the pain radiating up through his knees. He shot one man who tried to rush them, then sprinted after Elis, who was darting through the hangar like his ass was on fire.
Shouts and the sound of stun gun fire rang through the hangar, echoing through the enclosure and making everything seem much more chaotic. Shi took down another security goon, even as Elis dropped two more goons without a stun gun. Shi didn't have time to be envious of Elis' skills or to worry if Elis could keep it up, as another goon rushed towards him. A stunner blast grazed Shi's left arm, leaving it numb, and he grimaced, leveling his own stun gun at the man and firing off a blast. It hit the man square in the chest… but the man didn't drop and Shi cursed, throwing the gun at the man before he could recover.
The gun clipped the goon's shoulder, startling him and giving Shi enough time to close the distance between them. Shi gave the man a solid punch to the face, grimacing as his knuckles—already sore from hitting the security goon earlier—split under the new assault. The goon stumbled, tripped, and Shi shoved him, knocking him down. He grabbed the stun gun in the man's hand, wrestling it free after a moment and a knee to the man's stomach, and then stumbled free and shot the bastard before he could try to get up again.
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