I can only hope the others have found some sign of where we were going before we started into these tunnels. Up ahead I note a V in the path and my stomach does a dizzying flip. It must be a maze down here. One a person could easily get lost in.
Thinking quickly, I rip off a button from my prison uniform. It’s not much, but I can’t just do nothing. I glance back as surreptitiously as possible. Felix’s eyes are wild with adrenaline and the aftereffects of the sickness. He doesn’t notice when I let the button fall from my hand. It lands on the softly packed earth with barely a sound.
Find me, Theron. Please.
I’ve never needed—or wanted—anyone to rescue me as much as I want him.
I’ve always been the woman who handles her own business. Too proud—or stupid—to ask for help.
But now I’m asking, begging, for the universe to grant me this break.
Please let him find me.
If there’s anyone stubborn enough not to quit until he does, it’s Theron.
Felix nudges me to the right-hand side of the V, and we continue on. We encounter three more with the same routine. He nudges me left, right, then left again and at each turn, I rip a button from my suit and drop it in the tunnel. We don’t speak and he doesn’t touch me for more than a second to guide me through the labyrinthine passages.
Maybe The Rades burned the hate and meanness out of him.
I nearly snort.
Not likely.
That kind of depravity, the kind that infiltrates the authoritarian echelon that is the culture of Earth II, is marrow deep. A stain no amount of fever could burn away.
The simple truth is, he has bigger things on his mind than raping a defenseless woman. Which scares me even more. What sort of horrors does he have planned?
I don’t want to find out.
The farther we travel, the more the apprehension builds in my stomach. I can feel it getting heavier and heavier until it hinders my movement. Felix notices and jabs me forward with a heavy fist.
“Keep moving. We’re almost there.”
“Where is there?”
I don’t think he’ll answer me, but even talking to him is better than focusing on the terrible fates I’m imagining.
He doesn’t need to answer because a couple dozen yards in front of us, there’s a gradual brightening in the darkness. A beacon in the gloom. He shoves me along and orders me to move faster. I pass the time imagining how satisfying it will be to fillet and roast him on a spit like a pig. Maybe we’ll feed him to Lyric’s armworms for fun once this is all said and done.
The tunnel spills out into a larger cavern, except it’s not a cavern. The rivets in the walls are too uniform to be carved by nature—they are manmade. Human made. Earth II made. I blink slowly, trying to decipher the scene in front of me.
Vehicles.
Probably dozens of them.
If not more.
Vehicles of all kinds. I swear, I even see a boat among them.
Some sort of land rovers, a couple of ATV-like encapsulated cruisers. Something that looks like it has the ability to burrow underground like an armworm. Maybe that’s what built the tunnels.
Felix grabs my bruised arm, causing me to yelp, and drags me to one of the ATVs. It’s larger than the four-wheelers or go carts I remember from history class and is completely enclosed. Without finesse, he shoves me into one and, using a wire he retrieves from the glove compartment, ties me to the door handle.
“Wouldn’t want my hostage to escape,” he comments with a smile, though he sounds slightly out of breath. The comment amuses him because he huffs out a laugh before rounding the vehicle and climbing in the driver’s seat.
Except I’m the one who’s laughing.
Because I’d dropped another button at the entrance to the cavern, then another by the ATV.
My little breadcrumbs for my favorite captain.
The one who is hunting for me right this very moment.
He has to be.
I can almost feel my blood calling out to him like a siren.
Find me. Find me. Find me.
Whatever alchemy draws humans and morts together, ours is strong. So strong it can withstand this.
I will get back to him.
I will tell him I love him.
And then I won’t ever let him go.
“Where are we going?” I ask as he punches a control button and a panel in the side of the rock cracks open, revealing a door built right into the mountain.
The mountain.
I know where we are.
Relief inflates my lungs. I know where we are.
Theron isn’t far away.
If by some miracle he’s in his ship, he can find me.
A thought hits me.
What if he doesn’t know which way to look?
This planet is vast, and he could be afraid of going in the wrong direction.
So, I have to help him out. Give him a bigger sign than the buttons. A plan begins to form in my mind. One that, if I’m successful, may be my only chance to survive. But first, I need to find out what Felix is up to. He knew where the cavern with the vehicles was located and he took this ATV for a reason. I have to know what it is. He could be leading me to something that will help us against Earth II or other vital supplies.