SWRC: Hidden Pasts (Book 2)

Chapter 16 Returning.

It didn't take Neeran long to reach the surrounding barren perimeter of the grasslands around the base of the walls for at least several hundred metres. The book was still resting under her arm as she dropped her back onto the ground and put it in.

Neeran had noted the sky becoming darker and potentially stormy as she'd come closer to the military base she'd dreaded for over 2 years, particularly in the last month.

After several  minutes of noting the sentry pattern being used, checking her watch for the time and discovering it was 1:18:34 in the afternoon, Neeran knew it was time to make her move. The watch was to change in two minutes but the current guards, bored with their considered meaningless assignment, seemed to be distracted by something happening in the courtyard below where Neeran had been 'killed' about a month previous and had begun to move down towards there to either watch or relieve their shift early.

Neeran broke from the tree cover and sprinted for her life for the base of the wall.

She was running as fast as she possibly could, hoping against hope, that the guards wouldn't return too quickly.

Finally, she reached the wall and sank greatfully against it before looking up at her next chanllenge: climbing a 20ft wall.

"Damn climbing tall walls," cursed Neeran, as she searched for hand and footholds on the wall.

Momnets later, she cursed see that there were none before digging through her bag for something to use as a makeshift rope.
"When did that get in here?" asked Neeran to herself when she pulled out exactly what she needed. "I didn't have a grappling hook before."

Deciding not to take it for granted, Neeran whirled the rope around a few times and then tossed it up into the air towards the walls edge. It soared over the edge and Neeran felt it resist her tugging before scaling up the wall as quickly and quietly as possible. Several minutes after climbing hard and fast up the wall, she lept over the ledge and collapsed against the rampart, gasping hard for air to get into her lungs and calm her down whilst listening to the approaching ferocious sounding storm.

"I hate walls," grunted Neeran, as she forced herself to stand back up and hauled the rope over the ramparts and back into a coil to be replaced into her bag.

Neeran flinched slightly as her heart lept into her throat and glanced up at the sky as another round of thunder cracked through the surrounding countryside and echoed off the valley walls.

"Better get this done before that storm sets in," muttered Neeran, shoving the rope untidily into her bag and setting out into the base.

Neeran dodged more patrols than she thought were possibly necessary for the base and was glad for her several months in hiding to have learnt all of the secret passages through the vent shafts and narrow corridors.

"Why are there so many patrols Theta?" whispered Neeran.

"I'm being locked out of the database, Neeran," replied Theta. "I can't quite tell what's wrong, but it has something to do with a group of people who- god damn it!"

"What's wrong?" asked Neeran.

"Locked out again," groaned Theta as he logged off to try and break through to the bases database of information.

"Keep trying," whispered Neeran back as she continued through the maze of vent shafts until she finally came to the room she wanted.

"At last," groaned Neeran, dropping to the floor from the shaft above. "That took longer than I thought it would."