Cress

Chapter 48

After   passing   through  the dank  cellar, was    glad   to    discover   that
the  escape  tunnel  was, well, fit   for   an   emperor.  The floor was tilted and
the   walls   were  smooth   concrete   with dim   lightbulbs   set every   twenty
  steps.  They could   walk  without  fear  of  Thorne  tripping  on  jagged  rocks.
     Nevertheless,  they  were  making   painfully   slow progress,   and more
  than once Cinder considers  leaving   them   behind.  Thorne did a decent
  job of keeping up, but Dr. errand's age combined with  his  short  legs  made
his pace feel like an agonizing crawl. If she didn't  think  it   would   offend
him, she would  have offered him a piggyback ride.
She kept reminding herself that they had planned for this.  They   were
  right on schedule.
  It would all be fine.
    She told herself again and again.
Eventually  she began  to  notice  signs that they were  approaching  the
palace. Stockrooms   filled with nonperishable   goods and   jugs   of water 
and  rice wine. Power   generators   that   sat    silent   and unused.   Large
rooms, empty but for enormous round tables and   uncomfortable-looking
chairs,    black     netscreens   and  switch panels   and processors—not state
of  the  art, but new enough   that it was  clear  these  escape  tunnels  would
be ready  for  use  if  they  were  ever  needed. Should  the  royal   family   ever
need to go into hiding, they would  be able to stay down  here  for  a  long
time.
    And  not  just  the   royal family, Cinder realized as   they trudged   on,
  passing more stockrooms and hallways  that   branched in every  direction.
This  was  a  labyrinth. It   seemed that there   was   enough   space for
  the entire government  to come live down here for  at  least  everyone  who
worked in the palace.
     "We're almost there," she said, tracking their position  through satellite
  navigation and the map on her retina display.
      "Wait, where are we going again?  It's  been   so long    since we   left   the
ship, I can't remember."
   "Very  funny, Thorne."  She   glanced   back.   Thorne   was   walking    with
one palm on  the wall, and  Dr. Erland  was  using his cane.  She wondered
  how long it had  been since Thorne had  given  it to   him,  and  how long it
had been since  the   doctor's  breathless  wheezing had   begun   in earnest.
      She'd   hardly noticed   it, too preoccupied with  the  plan  that  filled  up  her
    head.
    Now, seeing beads of sweat on the doctor's brow,  dressing down  from
  the brim of his hat, she paused. "Are you all right?"
        "Dreamy,"  he  breathed,   his   head lowered.  "Just  holding  on ...  to  a
    comet's tail. Stardust and sand  dunes   and ... why  is  it  so  ... blasted  hot  in
     here?"
Cinder rubbed the back of   her neck. "Right.  Um.  We  made  good  time,"
      she lied. "Maybe we should res for a minute?"
            The doctor shook  his head. "No—my  Crescent  Moon is    up   there.  We
    stick  to the plan."
        Thorne inched toward them, looking equally perplexed. "Isn't it a full
     moon tonight?"
            "Doctor, you're not having hallucinations, are you?"
           Dr. Erland narrowed his blue eyes   at   her. "Go. I'm right behind.   I'm ...
I'm better already."
          Part of her wanted to argue, but she couldn't deny that there wasn't a
whole lot of time to waste even if he wanted to. "Fine. Thorne?"
        He shrugged and swung his hand toward her. "Lead the way."