Transformation Space - Marianne de Pierres [36]
He concentrated on his breathing, keeping it light and quiet. On Dowl station he, Bethany and Petalu Mau had escaped the notice of the Saqr for a few minutes by keeping low, crawling until they’d reached a service lift.
Quiet. Still. Pray. Jo-Jo imagined Randall spitting the words out in that order.
Maybe not pray. She hadn’t shown belief in anything much, other than her own ability. Even when things were bad in the Extro ship, he’d never heard Randall call for any god’s help.
The sweet scent grew stronger; the scraping sounded right above them. A single Saqr? More? Don’t move. Don’t!
Jo-Jo’s muscles twitched with an uncontrollable desire to spring up at the creature. Attack it before it could find him, surprise and aggression as his weapon. Not crouch here, shitting his pants, waiting for its maw to open and the bone-piercing stamen to extend down and skewer his skull.
Jo-Jo remembered how it was: ’esque bodies flung across the floor of the food court on Dowl, Saqr gorging on their body fluids. The adrenaline that had poured through him then now threatened to overcome his self-control, but Randall kept steady pressure on his head, pressing so hard that the pain across the bridge of his nose began to overshadow his fear.
She’s breakin’ my nose!
How long did they stay in that position? The only thing Jo-Jo registered clearly was when the pressure suddenly eased and the acute pain across the bridge of his nose faded. He turned his head sideways. Randall’s breath was warm and slightly rancid in his face.
‘We go quiet and quick,’ she whispered. ‘Straight home while they’re inside here.’
‘What if there’re more out there?’ he whispered back.
‘We’re fucked.’ Then she added, ‘But we’re fucked if we stay in here. If there’s more, split up. They’re slow to make decisions. But once they have, they move real quick.’
He heard her quiet intake of breath as she bunched up and leapt lightly up the stairs. He followed, his movements as quick and agile as he could make them, controlling his breath so that he didn’t gasp.
Outside, he could see better. One of the moons was beginning to rise, its soft glow bringing form and feature to the dark. But the wind was a buffeting torrent of heat.
Randall sped off, sure-footed, to the bare rock, then dropped to her arse and began to slide. He copied her movements, shuffling over the hot dry surface as fast as his limbs would allow.
He didn’t look back until they were once more under the overhang of their own building.
Randall barrelled inside, but Jo-Jo paused to look back. As he did, the moon cracked the horizon and bathed the whole of Mount Pell in bright light. It was a harsh and eerie sight.
‘Get in here!’ Randall whispered fiercely.
Jo-Jo dropped to his hands and knees and backed up. When the door was closed, Randall hauled him to his feet.
‘What the fuck do you think you’re doing? Sightseeing? Who told you to stop?’
Jo-Jo stared at her. He couldn’t see much in the gloom, just the outline of her figure and the blunt edge of her features.
‘I—’
‘You just wanted to bring them right here. Fuckin’ Crux!’
‘What is it, Capo?’ Catchut limped down the stairs.
‘This fuckin’ idiot decided to stand in the moonlight and wave to the Saqr,’ said Randall. She grabbed his arm. ‘Give me a single reason not to break your neck.’
Jo-Jo’s face burned even hotter than the night winds had made it. He fumbled inside his pocket and pulled out the flat pack he’d found in the basement. Shaking off her grip, he thrust it at her.
She snatched it from him without a word and snapped the cover open. Inside were a pair of field binoculars, a nav aid and a friction light.
Her grin showed pale teeth. ‘Well, that’s a start,’ she said.
‘Might be we can scope out the right place. Save us stumbling around all over the mountain,’ said Jo-Jo.
She nodded. ‘Next time, though, you don’t stop anywhere unless I tell you to. Got it?’
He could have argued, but she was right. He’d made a mistake that could’ve gotten them killed. Could still get them killed. He glanced back at the door.
‘Go get some sleep,’ Randall