No Man's Land (Poor Man's Fight Book 6) by Elliott Kay

Author:Elliott Kay [Kay, Elliott]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-10-09T16:00:00+00:00

Championship gymnastics made Alicia an expert in falling. The war taught her about many other kinds of pain. She knew how much a body could survive.

The ledge descended in curving terraces, one after another, all the way down. Tanner had gone limp, which helped more than seizing up in untrained panic—if he was still alive. The heads-up display flashed his name in yellow letters. His helmet, coat, and suit pads could take a lot.

If. Help. Could.

Her heart pounded. She tucked and rolled, grunted and sucked up every bounce. One arm stayed out to create drag and control her descent, while the other kept her rifle across her chest. More than once, she had to somersault over her weapon. Some moves had to be learned in the moment.

Vinson shouted after her over the team link. She paid no attention at first, and then interference from the stone took care of the rest.

Three tiers. Four. Sixty meters, at least. Tanner missed every twist or catch that could arrest his descent. It didn’t help that he managed to slide and catch air going off almost every ledge.

His journey ended at the bottom of the chasm, flopping face-down in a gutter. The glowing moss wasn’t bright enough here for real illumination, only an eerie violet aura. The space seemed narrow and dark, like a forgotten corner of the great chamber.

“Helmet assist, medical, Malone.” Sliding down the last tier and landing on her feet, Alicia didn’t even come to a stop. She rushed to his side and hesitated only long enough to scan the text projected into her view: severe concussion warning, loss of consciousness, irregular breathing—nothing about neck or spinal injury so far. Alicia gambled and rolled him over, out of the foot-wide trickle of water.

“Helmet assist, environmental check.” His helmet would have to come off; that was a given. Green bars on the display gave some relief. Feeling under his chin, Alicia found the manual release and racked back his faceplate. Fabric seals covering his neck loosened and let her pull the helmet away, right before that thought for environmental safety caught up with her.

Flickering, brightening colors all around her brought up a gasp that died in her throat. Alicia swept her rifle up and spun, cursing herself for not checking her surroundings before all else. Rapid glances confirmed their solitude, at least at ground level. The light came from above. Her weapon and her eyes snapped upward.

Magenta descended in soft colors and silence, wings curled inward as space narrowed. “Alicia, are you hurt?” asked the steady and calm voice from her holocom. “I worried.”

“I’m fine. It’s Tanner.” She tugged the release on Haavik’s aid pack and let it unfurl on the wet floor. She needed a probe strip on his forehead to assess the concussion, probably cereperin to counter swelling—No, no, that’s getting ahead of yourself. Focus. Steps. Alicia set the strip and ran her finger over the activator. A tiny holographic screen appeared with a little hourglass icon to plead for time.

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