THE RUINS OF KATAUN: A SCI FI ADVENTURE by Schreiber Lou

Author:Schreiber, Lou
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-09-27T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

The Gauntlet

As the doors of the airlock opened, they all began running. Erin took a sharp left and made her way into the caves, while Torvel took the lead to get to another exit that was connected to the cavern with a large metal gateway. Hattinger followed him. For him, running was easy. The suit took over most of the muscle work. Had it not, he would probably have had a hard time keeping up with the much younger man as he darted towards the gateway and up. Wearing only the mask, Hattinger heard his heavy breathing already when they reached the corridor, and he knew that the man running the whole distance with a breathing mask on would be a challenge in itself.

They took a sharp left and Hattinger looked around, barely seeing a thing with the helmet light waving around wildly. He decided to concentrate on the two tasks at hand. Light his way so he didn’t fall or stumble, and follow Torvel. The man moved with the certainty of a man who had spent months down here, each step finding the right spot. This wasn’t the smooth chitin corridors. The ground was rocky, with sharp edges sometimes rising from below.

They passed something that looked like a giant drill to their left and then Torvel took another turn and they now stood in front of another shaft. Going three hundred feet down, it was covered with a framework of platforms and gangways. This was the old mine. Hattinger deduced that they had buried their computer core deep in its structure or had used the mine’s old one. Torvel stepped on a narrow path along the wall. Not wearing a bulky combat suit had its advantages, Hattinger realized. But hesitation would mean their certain death.

“Air?” he asked.

“I’m okay,” Torvel answered.

“What’s your air?” Hattinger insisted.

“Twenty minutes,” he answered. They hadn’t been on their way for ten minutes yet. He was using up his air too fast. Hattinger looked at his side and the canister he had attached to his belt already showed an orange-colored warning on the display.

Concentrating on not falling, Hattinger kept on moving, with Torvel now getting a head start. As Hattinger reached the end of the narrow path, he was already running down a corridor, leading into the depth.

“It is at the end of this path!” Torvel yelled, breathing heavily. Hattinger picked up speed to catch up, and thanks to the suit, he easily passed the man and took his pistol from the belt. At the end of this path, two robots awaited them and he knew it would be his task to take them out.

The number eighteen appeared in his viewscreen on the upper right corner and the weapon was declared armed.

Hattinger felt stupid. Charging into battle, like some hero from a tale of old. But he knew their entire mission depended on his effectiveness.

“Erin here, I am at the gate,” Erin said over comm. Torvel had no radio as far he knew, so only Hattinger would have this information.

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