Windswept Book One by Adam Rakunas

Author:Adam Rakunas [Rakunas, Adam]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780857664792
Publisher: Watkins Media
Published: 2015-07-19T16:00:00+00:00

EIGHTEEN

One-Eye had a good minute-and-a-half head start on us, but I had the benefit of being pissed off. I did my best breaststroke, always keeping the spatter from the glow marker in sight. Bloombeck must have sprung for a high-visibility job, because it was the only way that thing could have shed any light in the pitch black of the pipes. I didn’t have time to see what kind of line we’d jumped into, but the visibility was good enough for me to guess we were in a water main. At least the fluid wasn’t as chunky as it had been on the way in.

this is stupid, Banks texted me.

Who said I should have gone with Bloombeck in the first place? I replied.

damn

The toxic-piss glow of the paint spatter began to grow larger; it took me a second to realize that One-Eye had stopped and that we were gaining on her. I dug the heels of my gloves and boots into the walls; the crushed palm-crab shells had enough grip to slow us down. Banks bumped into me, and I told him to follow suit.

why stopping?

I don’t want her to know we’re here, I replied.

There was a muffled bang, then something zinged past my face.

think she knows.

Fuck it, I thought, and let go. A few more shots flew past, but I kept my belly low enough to the pipe’s bottom to dodge them. That didn’t keep me from getting a crack on my back from the butt of One-Eye’s submachine gun; even with the rebreather gear to soften the blow, it still hurt like hell. One-Eye jabbed again, but I spun my feet up and gave her a kick to the shins. Even with the rush of water, I could hear her howl. I managed another kick, this one up and into her chest, before she swung the business end of the gun into my face.

I bit the switch for my headlamp, and the sudden burst of light drove her back, but not so far that her boot couldn’t make contact with my chin. It was just a glancing blow, but it was enough to double me over. One-Eye brought the gun to my face, but all she got was the click-click from the empty magazine. She took another swing at me, but I was ready this time and launched off the bottom of the pipe and wrapped my arms around her midsection. We floated free, the current strong enough to bounce us around the inside of the pipe as we whaled away at each other.

I reached for her back, trying to unhook any hoses or lines, but her suit was self-contained. Mine, of course, wasn’t, so when she yanked the main feeder line for my rebreather out of its socket, I had no choice but to kick free and fix my air. I hadn’t done this kind of thing since EVA training back in B-school, but I kept my panic down, got the line back in place, and saw that my air supply was.

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