She was almost to the top when the hatch slid shut blocking her way. Crying out in dismay, River stared in horror at the closed hatch. There would be no opening it. She would have to go back down and around. It would take her longer and there was no way she would get to the shuttle bay in time. She almost sobbed. They had made a pact. If one of them weren’t there by the time they were ready to leave in the shuttle they would go anyway. They could not take a chance of losing their only means of escape due to one of them. River quickly climbed back down the rings to the vent below. It was filling with smoke fast. If she didn’t get out of there she would most likely die from smoke inhalation.
Running as fast as she could, she pulled her shirt over her nose and mouth trying to keep as much of the smoke out of her lungs as she could. She felt tears wet her cheeks at the thought that this was how her parents had died. Moving toward the left she went down another level before following the ventilation system to another upward tube. She was growing tired from all the running and climbing combined with the smoke and stress. She grabbed the ring and pulled herself up to the next level rolling onto her back to catch her breath. She was now at least four levels below the shuttle bay. Depending on what other obstacles she encountered, she would be more than an hour behind the others.
Rolling to her hands and knees, she pushed herself up and began jogging. She had to make two more detours, including having to move out of the ventilation system at one point to get to the access she needed. She had surprised two Tearnats during her time out of the ducts and had barely had time to kill them before they sounded an alarm. By the time she made it to the shuttle bay vent she was almost three hours late.
Crawling as close to the opening as she could, she peeked down at the shuttle bay area. With a sinking heart, she saw it was full of activity. She noticed a large group of Tearnats in one section including the huge creature that had killed the one man. Lowering her head she shook as silent tears flowed down her cheeks. She had to know if Jo and Star had escaped. If they had been caught she would have to do what she could to rescue them. If they had been killed…, she didn’t even want to think about what she would do. River ran her wet cheeks against the sleeve of her shirt smearing dirt and soot from the fires across them. Taking a deep breath she pulled herself out of the vent and dropped down to the catwalk. She stayed in the shadows and moved silently down the piping along the wall until she was close enough to drop down on a set of crates. Laying flat for a moment to make sure she hadn’t been seen, she rolled to drop down to the next one before sliding down between two others. She was small enough to get between them. None of the Tearnats would be able to fit. It was also dark enough no one would be able to see her. Crouching down, she walked slowly towards a group of Tearnats standing near the crates. Hopefully they would be talking about what happened.
“The prisoners have been secured for transport?” An especially large Tearnat said. River frowned. She didn’t remember seeing him in all her travels through the vents in the last three weeks or more. Looking closely around at some of the others, her heart sank even further when she realized these were not the same ones she had seen before. It was only then she noticed additional men coming onto the ship from what looked like tubes opening off to the side of the shuttle bay. Biting down on her knuckles she leaned against one of the crates. Re-enforcements, she thought in despair.
She pulled further back into the shadows trying to think. The Tearnat said something about prisoners and getting them ready for transport which could only mean Jo and Star hadn’t made it off the ship. They had been caught. Shaking uncontrollably from fear, stress, and despair River struggled to get control of her emotions. Her going to pieces wouldn’t help the situation. She took several deep breaths before pulling her swords out. She would do what she had to do looking with determination out the narrow opening.
Torak paced back and forth coming to a stop when he saw one of his men approaching. “Have they found anything yet?” He waited impatiently for Kev Mul Kar, his Captain of the Guard, to answer.
“Nothing, My Lord. The men have been searching the vents around the engine room but the fire closed the hatches. If the female did not make it out there is a strong possibility she is dead. The vents are filled with thick smoke from the fire.” The man replied softly. He had been one of the men she had saved from the grisly death Progit had planned and sincerely hoped the female would be found alive.
None of the men could believe what the females had accomplished in so short a time. The one named Jo had shorted out all the lifts above the cell block level preventing any of the Tearnats in the upper levels from getting down to them. The one named Star had sealed all the emergency tubes large enough to handle the Tearnats’ large bodies by blowing the hatches forcing them to seal while the one named River had taken out the engine room to prevent the Tearnats from following them should they escape in one of the shuttles.