grabbed a contraption that would help him scale the guide rails, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath to center himself. After inhaling, he reached out and made the necessary leap to grab hold of one of the rails. He executed it flawlessly, both impressing and inspiring Zaeleth.
“Come on,” Johvad said to Zaeleth as he looked down and watched as the car continued making its way up. Zaeleth, a quick learner and ever eager to excel, made the jump to the rails opposite Johvad, executing it as well as Johvad was able to. “Keep going, if it gets up to us, just do your best to let it ease under you,” Johvad said as he began scaling up the rails. They did well to watch the car as they worked their way up. Zaeleth was moving quicker than Johvad but nonetheless it seemed inevitable that the car would catch up to both of them. Knowing this, Johvad began to focus only on transitioning to the top of the car, aiming to do it as quietly as possible, fearing it might already be carrying Faalcomana, and not just making its way to pick some up. Zaeleth began to realize the same thing, and watched as Johvad prepared to transfer.
Johvad clung to one pole and turned toward Zaeleth a bit, and did just as he told Zaeleth to do. He stepped out onto the car, giving way to it as much as possible and ultimately making a perfect transition onto the edge of the car. Zaeleth emulated Johvad, also achieving success. Now the two enjoyed the ride, focusing mainly on keeping their balance while standing very near the edge of the car. The car stopped just a few floors short of the top, and the two adjusted to resume climbing the rails.
They made it to the next floor before the car began heading back down, taking away a sense of security they had while climbing. They could see a faint crack of light coming from the rooftop access door to the elevator shaft. They both climbed the remainder of the shaft. Johvad carefully worked his way over and up into the doorway. Once there he secured himself into the doorway with a safety harness, put on a small headlamp and began to again use the wedge like tool designed to force the doors open. He gently eased the doors open immediately after he felt the doors pop past the point of resistance. He surveyed his immediate surroundings, then turned back to assist Zaeleth up. Up on the roof and managing to avoid any issues, they shared a satisfying sense of success, but both realized the worst was yet to come.
They took a few steps away from the doors and inhaled the fresh evening air. At that moment, a single Faalcomana walked from around the access room and spoke coarsely but calmly in the language of the two men, “there you are.”
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Space Legend: Resistance - Serial Story II: In With The Enemy Page 5