The congealed blood, thick on Ana's arm, dragged against her skin. She thought of
that old Torfus phrase. How sensual it was, to bleed for you lover. She had forgotten
how good it felt with Human women.
"That was..." Ana said.
"I know," Elizabeth said, handing Ana her armour.
"What now?"
"We escape, I guess."
She kissed Ana again, then rolled off her.
Elizabeth walked further into the damp shadows. With both of their bracelets in
smithereens, there was no torch to guide them. Instead they felt their way, hands
gripping cold rocks. The distance caught her eye. Dim, distorted droplets of light. It
was leaking in from somewhere.
The roof of the cavern sloped down. There was another blockage, a single boulder.
Light seeped in through a crescent. Elizabeth pushed, but her hand only scraped up
the rough surface, scratching a layer of skin off her palm. Wincing, she charged at
the rock with her shoulder and bounced off.
"Come here," Ana said.
She took Elizabeth's skinned hand and opened it up slowly. Elizabeth seethed as skin
stretched. Ana removed a glass vial of salve from her armour and gently massaged
it into Elizabeth's skin.
"Those pockets are for bullets, you know," Elizabeth said.
"I'm a doctor, remember? You do the killing. I heal."
A strange kind of cold burn. The pain floated away. Ana took a coil of bandage from
another slot and wrapped layers around Elizabeth's hand. The first sheet of thin
fabric drank up the salve. The next pulled the bandage taut and bound the injury.
"We still need to figure out how we're going to move this rock," Elizabeth said.
"I've got an idea," Ana said.
She sat on the floor with her back to the boulder and strained. It eked forward half
an inch.
"It's working! Help me!"
Her hand fluttered like an excited moth, gesturing for Elizabeth to join her.
She sat down and pressed her back straight against the boulder.
Ana timed them in.
"One, two three!"
The huge stone scraped and light started to flow.
Suddenly the rock fell away completely. It tipped and landed with a metal crash.
Elizabeth leaned out over the edge. There was an iron staircase grafted onto the
rock beneath them. Each step dented with a bang as the boulder rolled down. Her
eyes climbed the staircase. A set of doors. Uhkira. It had to be. They had stumbled
onto his secret entrance.
YOU ARE READING
Black Hole Heartbeat
Science FictionBlack Hole Heartbeat is Star Wars if the stormtroopers didn't miss all the time. Like Cowboy Bebop meets Butch and Sundance, or Guardians of the Galaxy in the style of Pulp Fiction. Self confessed thief of ill repute, Elizabeth Ranger, runs head fi...
