Ixchel’s scream stops me in my tracks. I can’t help it; neither can Priya. There’s something terrifying about hearing a scream from a dark hole ahead of you—a dark hole into which you know you’ve got to crawl.
“Ixchel … you okay? Ixchel, answer me!”
There’s no answer. I hear Priya pick up the pace again. She’s less than a yard away from me now. I keep moving up, steeling myself for something nasty. A few seconds later I reach an opening in the wall. It’s not exactly a way out—more an alternative route. I’d rather keep going up—at least we’re bound to run out of ground to be under.
But with Ixchel gone, disappeared into the gap in the side of the chimney, I can’t see any choice. I can’t just abandon her. So I step into the darkness.
Then I scream too.
It’s the unexpectedness of it. Just when you expect your foot to touch ground, there’s nothing. The fall isn’t entirely vertical—more of a wickedly steep slope. This time the limestone is smooth, bowl-shaped, as though worn away by a huge bubble. I land and start feeling for openings in the wall. I can’t see my hands on the ground—it’s that dark. A hand grabs my shoulder. I hear Ixchel’s voice as she pulls me to my feet. “Don’t speak!”
She pulls me next to her. We stand rigid, trying to hold our breath—tough, given how scared we are.
We hear Priya land just inches away. She gets to her feet instantly, grabs her flashlight from where it’s fallen. She stands with her back to us and flashes it into a tunnel that leads away from the “bubble” chamber.
I push myself off the wall and crouch, preparing a high kick. Then I hear it—the last sound I wanted to hear. The sound of another person sliding down the side of the bubble chamber.
Priya wasn’t the only one slim enough to fit into that chimney.
This guard lands almost gracefully, right next to me. Priya swings around. She shines the flashlight on my face. With her light in my eyes, I can’t see their faces.
Yet I recognize the voice. Hearing it stuns me like an electric shock.
“Hello, Josh. I do hope you’re not thinking of trying any of your martial art thingies. Priya here is a sixth dan in tae kwon do.”
Ollie.
26
Behind me, Ixchel tenses. I don’t know how far she’s looked down the tunnel. I bet that for a split second, she thinks of running. I wouldn’t be far behind her. But with Priya and Ollie right on top of us, I doubt the chase would last long.
There’s something else too. What do Ollie and Priya think they can do with us? They don’t seem to be armed. Are they going to physically force us to go back down that chimney?
Or maybe they know another way out of here.
Priya lobs her flashlight to Ollie and takes up a martial arts stance. She’s slim, slightly shorter than I am. I glance at her feet—she’s wearing some kind of suede sneakers. I can just see large, dark eyes behind her gas mask.
I’ve never had tae kwon do used against me. Unlike capoeira, it’s actually designed to be a combat sport. I have no idea how I’ll match up against a sixth dan.
But Priya has a disadvantage—the mask. If I can take that, the bio-defense on the Adapter will do the rest. Priya will die horribly, just like the NRO agents who touched the Ix Codex.
It would be brutal. Even thinking about it makes me queasy. Until Priya launches her first attacking kick. I hardly even see it coming.
She’s so fast.
She lands a hefty blow to my shoulder, then rains kicks and punches down on me. I parry and dodge as well as I can but she gets most of them in. I’ve never done capoeira at such speed. The first few seconds of our fight belong entirely to her.
How can a girl hit so hard … ?
And then I start to get the hang of it. Instead of thinking about which move to use, I just let things flow. I react instinctively. Without the music, it’s tough, so I let myself hear the music in my head. A fast song, with a pounding rhythm.
I’m amazed at my own memory for defensive moves, and at how well they work against Priya’s tae kwon do. I’m flipping, rolling, spinning, blocking, bouncing into handsprings. Once in a while I even get an attack in. I only make good contact once, when I land a tesoura de frente—a scissors takedown.
Every so often one of her blows lands on a fresh bruise. Each time, I lurch in pain.
Priya steps back for a second, guarding herself.
Then, for the first time, she speaks. She sounds young, like Ollie.
“You’ve got no chance, okay? Obviously you’re talented. But no match for me. I’m not allowed to kill you, boy, but I can hurt you pretty bad. Save yourself the pain—give up now.”