I jump to my feet. Water’s pouring through the door. It’s already up to my ankles. The room is huge, but not big enough to swallow the entire harbour.
I spot two staircases at the far end of the room. Wobbling slightly as the rushing water tugs at my balance, I run forward – and almost trip over something hidden by the flood.
“Ouch! What the—”
A blue light blinks. I stare at it and realise what it is just as it turns red.
I’ve run straight into one of the security gates. Which, even though it was ripped out of the human-side foyer by the flood, is apparently high quality drac-tech. Like the street lights in the city outside, it doesn’t need to be wired in to do its job.
And I have a weapon in my pocket.
An alarm rips through the air.
“Oh God damn it!” I shout, and run. The alarm is a klaxon so loud it’s like a physical force ramming into my skull.
“Ygdris! I tripped the alarm!”
Ygdris swears in my ear. I half-run, half-stumble through the floodwaters and just manage to make it to the stairs as another wave almost sweeps me off my feet. The water’s up to my waist. I grab the railing and haul myself up. The water’s still rising rapidly behind me. There’s a door at the top of the stairs. It’s not locked, and I slam it behind myself.
How high up am I now? Above water level? Or do I need to go higher?
I push away from the door. “I’ve got to get out. If this alarm alerts the Protectorate – I’m sorry, Ygdris, mission over, they’ll be here any minute—”
“No!” Ygdris’ voice is heavy with command. Even through the comm link, it makes my legs freeze. Or maybe I just want it to. Maybe I’m just desperate for any of this not to be my fault. “No. You’re close, I can feel it.”
“Close?” I’m in a curving corridor lined with featureless doors. I pick a direction and run. “The only thing I’m close to is getting myself killed!”
“We had a deal, Tay!”
“Oh, a deal? Sure! I’ll just grab your treasure now, huh, will I? And then what? I don’t have any way out!”
I can’t get back out through the Parliament House door. I need to find another exit route.
Yeah. Another exit route from the famously impenetrable Spire.
The corridor ends suddenly. I swear, slamming my fists against the wall. There’re no windows. I fumble for the bladelight knife. I cut through the gate, maybe I can cut through—
KREEK! KREEK! KREEK!
The alarm slams into my skull, and another noise joins it. A low, bone-aching rumble like thunder.
A patrol transport.
“Oh God.” I slash at the wall, but it’s no use. The knife barely makes a dent. Whatever the wall’s made from, it’s tougher than the wards on the door.
“Tay.” Ygdris’ voice is urgent. “Tay, the transport lights just went on. They’re sending guards. There are no exits on the floor you’re on now, but if you find the stairs and go up – maybe three more levels—”
I shouldn’t trust him. I don’t trust him. But I don’t have any other options.
I race back along the corridor. Stairs. Where are the stairs?
Something’s happening to the lights. They’re red, pulsing on and off in a way that must be specifically designed to turn human stomachs. When I find the steps, I can hardly tell where one starts and another ends.
One floor. Two – or three? The alarm’s driving nails through my brain. I stop on the next landing, desperately trying to count back.
“Ygdris? Ygdris, are you there?”
There’s no response.