Legacy 5 - Secrets by Melissa Scott & Jo Graham

Author:Melissa Scott & Jo Graham [Scott, Melissa & Graham, Jo]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction
ISBN: 9781905586592
Publisher: Fandemonium Books
Published: 2012-08-13T22:00:00+00:00

The lab was silent except for the distant alarms. Wind fell back to cover the door.

*Here,* Ashes said, and he seized a buffed steel box from one of the work tables, flipping it open. Within, a scepter surrounded by crystals glowed faintly. *This is it.*

*Bring it then,* Osprey said. There was a pedestal at the center of the room, lights shining on terminals around it. A thought came to her. *Would it not be a good idea to disable this somehow?*

Ashes had pulled out one of the drawers from the workstation and was grinding crystals beneath his heel, smashing months of work. *I have a better idea.* He entered a series of commands on the terminal, and from the pedestal rose a long red cylinder, faceted like stained glass, glowing brightly. The glow faded as Ashes pulled it from its holder. *Take the power source.* He shoved it into her hands.

The lights died. The alarms ceased. Here and there an emergency light flickered to life, but for the most part the underground corridors were plunged into night.

*Can we get out of here now?* Wind demanded. *The smoke isn’t going to fool them forever.*

*Yes,* Osprey said, dragging Ashes away from the console. Wind fired into it, sparks flying.

She tucked the power source under her arm and manhandled Ashes along with him still clutching the case. The corridors were pitch black, slick with fire suppression foam. Here and there they came upon bodies, many of them withered and dry, like corpses buried for months in deep caves, chests caved in around the puncture holes.

Life for death and death for life.

Gryphon was waiting at the hangar doors, five men with her. *Two groups have already dialed out,* she said. Beyond her, the bay doors were open to the night, swirling snow obscuring anything beyond them, even the Ring of the Ancestors and the podium before it. *You are the only ones left. We waited for you.*

Wind shifted his weapon. *They have a clear field of fire,* he said. There were guards in the docking control room. The glass windows had been blown out, and they covered the wide expanse of the bay to the open doors, a long distance of nothing but concrete. Osprey could see the barrels of their weapons, one, two, three… There was nothing to hide behind at all. *Can you distract them?* Wind asked.

*Maybe?* She was so tired. Her feet were leaden. She had held the illusion of smoke for so long, and Gryphon had fed so deep. *I will try,* she said. *It may only last a moment. So we must run.*

Smoke wreathing around them. Smoke filling the bay, obscuring their shots, clouding their sight. The entire bay was filled with smoke…

*Run!*

Gryphon in her white shift and bare feet, Ashes clutching the silver case, the dialing symbols burning in his mind…

*Run!*

The men sprinted into the fog ahead of her, smoke curling…

And the weapons opened up. Someone in the control room had sense. They could not see their targets, but they could shoot in the right direction.

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