Lunar Conspiracy

Escape

The clip-clopping hooves served as a more obvious reminder of Tava's thudding heart.  Their escape was barely underway, but Tava was already afraid it wouldn't result in any of them getting off this prison station.  The place was so heavily guarded.

She jumped when an alarm went off.  Kartk's fingers closed around her right shoulder and urged her on.  "Don't pay attention to those.  Just move."

She grit her teeth and hurried after the black alien leading them along.  There was little to no stops to wait for an all clear.  Li'Coby merely trotted on.

They came to H block and Tava frowned.  The door numbers were quickly going by, and each time she dared glance into the grating on the doors, she was met with gruesome images of macabre tools and devices.  Some of them still had people occupying the rooms, coping with pain in their own ways.

They were in the torture block.

Finally, they found the right door and Li'Coby produced a stolen pass key.  The door unlocked when the key was swiped across the pad and Tava pushed forward when the horned creature stepped back.  Inside was just as gruesome as she had feared.

Tava swallowed hard. Jornea was covered in orange blood and limply hanging from her wrists. She would have thought the young woman was dead except that her chest was rising and falling in gasping heaves.  Tava moved forward quickly, her remaining hand gently cupping Jornea's face and lifting it so she could see her better. Jornea flinched, her eyes snapping open as she jerked away.

Tava winced at Jornea's cry of pain and fear. Jornea's wide eyes fixed on Tava, filled with terror before recognition dawned. Her battered mouth turned up briefly. "Tava." Tava never knew just how much emotion could be crammed into her name.

Kartk reached up, working over Tava's head to release Jornea's wrists from the metal manacles. Jornea slowly looked up at him, then dropped her head again. She muttered something in a language Tava had never heard before. And Tava had heard a lot of languages. A glance at Kartk showed he didn't recognize the language either.

Tava held Jornea up while Kartk finished releasing her. Then Kartk was lifting the slight woman into his arms and holding her tight. Tava nodded and pulled out her heavy pistol. She nodded to the alien, prompting it to lead the way out of the room.  She followed Li'Coby out of the terrible room and down the hall with Kartk on her heels, weapon at the ready to defend them if need be.

The going was steady. Tava grew more and more paranoid the longer they went without meeting up with anyone. It was all much to easy.  She swallowed when Li'Coby hesitated at a corner, listening carefully before peeking around. She moved to peer around the corner and the alien and spotted the door. Beyond was the airlock and their ship.

She glanced back at Kartk to see if he was ready and found him staring at Jornea in stunned confusion. Her hand was lightly brushing his cheek, but as Tava watched, Jornea's hand fell and she passed out. Kartk hefted her to better his grip and focused on Tava. "We good?" Tava noted the shaky tone but didn't comment.

"Stick close."

They ran for the door and didn't stop until they were through.  She had barely finished muscling the hatch shut behind them when Kit's voice called over the com system.  "Welcome back aboard Captain."

Tava yelled back, not in the mood for banter or the Kitsune's mercurial mood shifts.  "Let's get outta here quick Kit! That escape was way too easy in my opinion.  And have Doc ready for us in the infirmary!"

She heard Kit chuckle and the engines came to life, making Athena purr as they pulled out. "It was easy because Quorra's been setting off all their alarms without rhyme or reason for the past two days. They've been running every diagnostic known to techs and even a few that I haven't seen in ages. They'll be-"  Kit cut off abruptly and his tone darkened.  "Who's hurt?!"