Alyssa and Paul took off for the hatch and dove inside. Paul secured it behind them.
“Two people just entered this section,” Clay said.
Alyssa and Paul huddled in the narrow conduit, motionless, afraid to make a noise. They heard the sounds of footsteps approach then recede.
“Okay, they’re gone,” Clay said.
“How are we going to get off this bloody boat?” Paul whispered, his voice tense.
“Working on it.” The clicking of Clay’s fingers typing furiously on his keyboard rang through Alyssa’s earpiece. “There is a tender garage all the way aft on deck two,” he said after a few moments.
“Tender garage?” Paul asked.
“A space where they keep their smaller boats to get people to shore, along with other toys,” Clay explained. “Based on the manifest, there is a speedboat. You get down there, nab that boat, and haul arse as fast and far away from this ship as you can.”
“I really like that last part,” Alyssa said.
“Deck two?” Paul said. “That’s five levels down. We should be able to make it.”
“Uh… There is one problem,” Clay said. “You also need to make it all the way to the rear of the ship, and they have security cameras in all the passageways. They’ll pick you up as soon as you stick your heads out into the corridor.”
“Can’t you take the cameras offline?” Alyssa asked.
“I could, one or two, but they’re going to suspect something is up if I overdo it. I’d rather not give away the one advantage you have.”
“Can you get us to the top of the ship?” Alyssa asked.
Paul looked at her quizzically.
“The hangar is aft. Remember the glass elevator?” she explained. “If we can get into the hangar—”
“Brilliant!” Clay exclaimed. “Based on the schematics, the VIP elevator from the hangar takes you directly down to the tender garage.”
“Can you open the hangar roof?”
“Let me check. Yes!”
“That’s our way out, then!” Alyssa said. “How do we get up there?”
“There’s a vertical service shaft that runs from the bottom of the hull to the glass superstructure. It’s accessible from the tween decks.” Clay paused. “Bugger! It looks like they’re stationing guards on all the deck exits.”
“Come on, Clay, there’s got to be something else,” Alyssa pleaded.
Clay’s fingers clicked on the keyboard again. “Okay, this could work, but it may get a bit dodgy.”
Sergeant Torin stood over the open floor hatch to the maintenance deck, jaw clenched in a vain attempt to control the twitching in his cheek.
“No sign of them down here, Sergeant,” one of the guards called up from below.
Claudia Tibaldi stalked up to him, lips compressed into bloodless lines as she surveyed the aftermath in the server room.
“Do you have any idea how troublesome these two have been for the Society?”
One of the guards lifted an object from the floor. “Here’s one of their trackers.”
“Where are they?” Tibaldi asked.
“It’s a huge ship, they could be anywhere,” the guard said. “But we have guards stationed on every deck. They—”
Torin’s arm shot out and grasped the man by the collar of his shirt. He brought him close to his face, lifting the smaller man to his toes.
“You will sweep the entire ship from bow to stern. Every deck, every cabin,” he whispered, barely able to contain his rage.
The man’s face turned crimson. “Yes, Sergeant,” he croaked.
Torin released the man, and he scampered away, barking orders. Torin faced Claudia Tibaldi.
“We will find them,” he said.
“I’m counting on that, Sergeant Torin,” she replied. “I have unfinished business with them.”
Alyssa’s knees and elbows throbbed from grinding against the coarse surface of the ventilation shaft. She tried not to dwell on what critters might call this dank place their home as she crawled through the narrow metal pipe in total darkness. She had turned off her phone flashlight a few minutes ago to save the battery.
“How much farther?” she asked Clay for the tenth time.
“You’re more than halfway there,” Clay responded patiently.
Paul sighed from behind Alyssa. “That’s what you said five minutes ago.”
“Just keep going. You’ve got this, mate. There are a lot of pipes and ducts converging at the vertical shaft. The closer you get to it, the worse the signal will be. But no worries, once you’re topside, the signal will come back. I’ll crack open the dome, take the hangar camera offline, and you’re as good as home.” Clay continued talking. Alyssa appreciated his attempt to keep their minds occupied and off their present misery.
As they pressed on, the static in her earpiece grew louder, drowning out some of Clay’s words. “That’ll probably be enough for them to rea…e that you’ve got outside… so you’d better… to the tender… and get off this…”
“Clay? Say again,” she said. “I didn’t get the last bit.”
“That… ounds… you go… farther…” Clay’s voice cut out completely.
“Clay?”
The static in her headset was the only response. The cramped tunnel seemed to constrict even further, squeezing Alyssa’s chest into a tight knot.
“I guess we’re on our own,” Paul whispered.
They continued snaking through the narrow pipe in silence. After what seemed like an eternity, she reached the opening into the vertical shaft.
Alyssa stuck out her head and inhaled deeply, tasting the salt in the air. She took out her phone and shined the flashlight into the six-foot-wide cylindrical shaft. The beam hit the ladder on the opposite side.
You’ve gotta be kidding.
She bit back a curse and shined the light down. The gaping hole yawned below her for at least thirty feet, way too high to risk jumping down.
She stretched her hand to the ladder. Nope. She shimmied out a bit more and tried again. She extended as far as she could, grunting with the effort, but was still a couple of feet short. She sighed, frustrated, and moved back into the pipe.
“There is a ladder on the far side of the shaft, but I can’t reach it.”
“How far?” Paul asked.
“About six feet.”
“Let me give it a try,” he said.
Alyssa flattened herself against the bottom of the pipe while Paul shimmied to the opening. Her breathing sped up when he moved over her legs, and his face pushed against her body.
“Sorry…” he mumbled awkwardly as he squeezed all the way through.
Well, that could have been exciting, Alyssa thought, if we both didn’t smell like bilge water.
Paul leaned out. “I see it,” he said. She felt him stretch out. “Still short.” He slid out a little more. “Hold on to my legs.”
Alyssa wrapped her arms around him and wedged her thighs and knees against the inside of the pipe.
Paul leaned out farther. “I think I’ve almost got it,” he said. “Just a little more.”
Alyssa felt him slip out of her hold.
“Wait,” she tried to adjust her grip.
Paul swung out for the ladder. “I’ve got it!” he yelled.
His body tensed as he briefly caught hold of a rung, then his hand slipped off and he began sliding out, dragging her with him.
“Pull me back! Pull me back!” he cried.
Alyssa clawed at his clothes. Finally, her fingers locked around his belt. She pressed her thighs and feet into the inside of the pipe hard enough to bruise. Somehow, she managed to stop them both from slipping out.
“Steady now…” Paul voice trembled as his entire upper body dangled out of the pipe.
Alyssa steadied herself and gently slithered back, towing Paul with her, inch after painful inch. As she pulled him all the way in, they both collapsed, her arms still wrapped around his legs, her heart pounding.
; “Thank you,” he whispered. “We’re going to have to try to find another way.”
“There may be no other way,” Alyssa replied.
She propped herself up and turned on her flashlight again, studying the pipe and shaft over Paul’s body.
“If I can manage to stand up on the edge of the pipe, I can jump to the ladder, but I’ll need you to hold my legs and keep me balanced until I’m ready to jump.”
“After what just almost happened?”
“I’m lighter. It’ll be easier for you to hold me. And it’s not that far. I can do it once I’m standing.”
Paul mulled this over. “Okay,” he finally said. He shimmied back down.
“Back for more?” Alyssa asked as his face passed hers.
Their gazes caught and stayed. She grinned, Paul replied with a worried smile.
“Hey,” she said. “I trust you. You won’t let me fall.”
“The only way you’re falling down is with my arms wrapped around you,” he said.
She melted into him, wanting to kiss him even more than she usually did. There will be time for this later, when we get out.
She wrapped her arms tightly around him one more time and moved to the opening.
“Hold on to my belt and feet.” She tapped on the flashlight and tucked her phone into her waist. “I’m going to try to scooch out as far as I can then put my feet down and stand up.”
Paul nodded and locked his grip around her waistband.
Alyssa’s heart raced as she slid out as far as she dared. The air hit her face and stirred her hair. She closed her eyes for one moment, clearing her mind.
“Okay,” she said. “Hold my left foot tight, I’m going to get my right foot to the edge.”
She maneuvered her right foot under her and pushed up. She stood, her body glued to the side of the vertical shaft. Paul held her legs tightly against him. She peered over her shoulder, gauging the distance to the ladder.
“You ready?” she asked.
“On you,” he replied.
“I go on three,” she said. “One… Two… Three!”
Paul let go at the exact time she pushed off and twisted. Her fingers found the rung, and she locked her fists around it and clung to the ladder.
“Ace!” Paul called out.
Alyssa waited for her breathing and heartbeat to slow down. “Okay, your turn.” She held on with her left to the ladder and extended her right to Paul. “Try to lean out and grab my hand.”
Paul shimmied out and reached for her. He missed. Still short.
He leaned out a few more inches and pushed himself out of the pipe, going for it all. Time slowed as she reached for him. An instant later their hands locked. Alyssa strained with the effort, but held on tight.
“We got this,” she grunted. “I’ll support you as you slide out.”
Her muscles strained as he shifted more and more weight onto her arm. The rung dug into her palm, and her left hand began to slip. She groaned.
“Paul, now!”
He wedged one of his legs against the edge of the pipe and pushed off. She swung him across, and he clasped his left hand around a rung. He let go of her and grasped the ladder on the right side, enfolding Alyssa.
They stood on the ladder, his body pressed against hers, trembling and breathing hard. After a few moments, Alyssa glanced up. “It’s a long climb,” she said and set off.
She counted the rungs subconsciously for the first fifty steps, then stopped. Better not to think about how high we’re going.
She kept moving, mechanically, one hand over the other. Eventually, her hand reached the top rung.
A large fan idled quietly in the center section of the transparent enclosure above the shaft. A glass access door with a round metal handwheel set in its center was located directly above the ladder.
Almost there.
Alyssa’s limbs trembled with exertion and fatigue, her fingers and palms raw from the climb. She hooked her left arm around the top rung and willed her right hand to let go of the ladder and reach up to the handwheel. She gripped it and twisted. The wheel didn’t budge.
She collapsed back onto the ladder.
“I can’t get it!” she moaned.
Paul climbed up behind Alyssa. He held on to the ladder on either side of her.
“Lean against me and use both hands.”
“Are you sure?” Alyssa’s stomach churned at the thought. “I know you’re just as exhausted—”
“Trust me.”
Alyssa leaned into Paul. “I do,” she whispered. She inhaled deeply through her nose and exhaled through her mouth, then released the ladder and locked both hands around the wheel. She tugged on it. The wheel budged then rotated.
“Yes!” she hollered. She pushed on the hatch. The ocean air whipped into her as the panel lifted up and swung open. She clambered out and sank onto the glass structure, facedown, inhaling the salty breath of the ocean, tasting it on her cracked lips. Paul collapsed next to her. He groaned and flipped on his back.
“Turn around,” he said, his voice choked.
“What?”
“Turn around.”
She rolled over. The glass structure of the ship gave way to the night sky. Countless stars dotted the jet-black canvas, the band of the Milky Way bridging the horizons. For an instant, Alyssa was caught between the vastness of sea and space, small and insignificant, yet more connected with the natural world than ever before. She reached for Paul’s hand, and his fingers melted into hers. He caressed the back of her hand with his thumb, the simple touch rousing feelings more intimate than any kiss. They lay in the warm breeze and gentle swaying, fingers intertwined, savoring their brief respite.
Her earpiece sizzled to life.
“Alyssa? Paul?” Clay’s voice broke through the static. “Do you copy?”
Alyssa reluctantly turned on her stomach, eyes crinkling.
“Want to steal a boat?”
9 The Valediction
Torin stood in the command center, arms folded across his chest, and followed the progress of the security sweep on the monitors before him. Decks one through eight have been cleared. So far, the two have proven resourceful enough to evade being captured, but it was only a question of time.
It is a big ship, but they will run out of places to hide, eventually.
One of the guards looked up and cleared his throat. “Sergeant?”
“What is it, Dawson?” Torin shot him a glance.
“Is one of our guests departing via helicopter?”
“What?”
“The helipad dome just opened. It looks like—”
“Close it! Now!”
“Yes, Sergeant!”
“Bring up the camera feed.”
Dawson tapped on the keyboard then scratched his head, vexed.
“Uh, Sergeant? The camera feed in the hangar seems to be down.”
“Get the patrols up there, stat!” Torin stormed out of the security room.
Are they trying to escape on the bird?
He sprinted along the passageway for the elevator to the hangar, his mind racing.
How the hell did they get into the hangar? And how have they been able to avoid all the guards? Unless… He stopped, realization striking.
His hand flew to the communicator.
“Dawson, come in!”
“Yes, Sergeant?”
“Shut down the power to the entire ship!”
“Sergeant, I’m not sure that we—”
“Do it now!”
So, you have somebody on the inside helping you dodge the sweep.
His lips twisted into a cold smile.
Let’s see how far you get without them.
Alyssa and Paul tore through the hangar as the glass roof above the helipad slid to a close.
“Get to the elevator,” Clay’s voice rang in her ears. “I will override any stops and send it directly to the tender bay. You are—Wait!” he warned. “Hide!”
They slid to a stop. Aly
ssa pushed Paul at a group of steel drums. They scrambled behind them.
“Two of them are moving toward the hangar. They’re almost—”
Clay’s voice went silent at the same instant the entire space plunged into darkness. A second later, the faint glow of emergency lights illuminated the hangar in a faint, eerie glow.
“Clay!” Alyssa whispered. “Clay, do you copy?”
“They figured it out,” Paul whispered.
The door to the hangar flew open.
“Come out! We know you’re here,” a voice barked. “You have no place to go!”
Alyssa scanned the room, weighing their options. “The lights,” she whispered.
“What about the lights?”
“Shoot them!”
“We won’t be able to see anything!”
“Trust me.”
Paul opened his mouth then tightened his lips and nodded. He aimed at the emergency light closest to them. The shot blasted through the hangar and cracked into the ceiling a few inches from the light.
“Damn it!” Paul hissed.
“Hold your fire!” a voice called out.
“You can do this,” Alyssa said.
He took aim again and fired. This time the light exploded in a flash of sparks.
“Nice! Now the far one!”
Paul took a breath and exhaled slowly then squeezed the trigger. Another blast then complete darkness.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” he said.
Alyssa closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She reached inside her mind, into the unknown, the part that scared her. Slowly, she became aware of the mechanics of her own body, her breathing, regular and soft. Her hearing more acute.
She opened her eyes. The pitch black was replaced by muted shades of gray. Paul’s face radiated with a deep glow in this strange new light that matched his scent. She took his hand.
“Follow me,” she whispered.
“I can’t see anything!” he whispered back.
“I can see for both of us. Stay close.”
Alyssa was aware of her muscles, the way they moved, sleekly, effortlessly, her strides graceful. She didn’t stumble, didn’t make unnecessary noise. Her feet seemed to find their own placement on the floor beneath her.
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