2318

NINE

The fighter landed on the single open hangar on the FLaw, and as Drew flew the jet, Devan and Ell prepared the weapons on the fighter. They took three rifles and four dozen grenades from the Colossus, and when they landed Devan peeked out of the fighter, but surprisingly there was no one.

"The hangar is... empty. I thought we'd need to fight our way in," Devan turned back and whispered.

"Don't put down our defenses. The Aksillet clearly know that we are coming, this would most probably be a trap. We'll run once we get down from this jet," Drew spoke from the cockpit, and Ell handed them a rifle and some grenades each, "There, just in case we run into some Aksillet soldiers."

The three Earthlings ran out of the fighter, and Ell whispered into her speaker in her headphone, "Which way do we go?"

"The third entrance from the left, it's a straight way to the Core, we just need a few passwords that we already gathered. But beware that you might have to pass through with armed personnel," Juan's voice buzzed from the other side.

"Okay, we'll remember that," Ell spoke into the speaker, and pointed at the entrance to a pathway to their extreme left, "There, that's the pathway to the Core."

They sprinted into the tunnel, and it was only a short run before they heard someone speaking coming from the other side of the wall. Ell paused and they halted their footsteps. Ell peeped over to the other side, and the tunnel ended there, and beyond it was a control room and only two people were there, their conversation was muffled.

"What do we do?" Drew whispered from behind them.

"We could make a run for it," Devan replied, "And gun down anyone that tries to chase us."

Ell trained her rifle at the two officers in the room while they sneaked past from behind. Then she unconsciously tripped over a cable on the floor, but when she slowly regained balance the two officers were already facing her, their pistols directed at her.

"Put down your rifle," One instructed, and she was about to do so when both were hit on their foreheads and collapsed in a heap of red. Ell turned and saw Devan and Drew at the doorway, their rifles smoking.

"Come and help us with the door, it's locked with a code," Drew spoke, and Ell hurried over. The door was inward swinging, but as far as she could see from outside, the door had a mechanism that barred it on all four corners and locked it from inside and it would be impossible to push it open by force.

Ell clicked on the tracker and spoke, "Juan?"

"Need any help?" Juan's voice buzzed into her ears.

"We need to unlock this door," Ell replied, "Its locked from inside and there is nothing we can do to open it from inside."

"Okay, I got your location," Juan said, "That door seems to be only able to open from the inside. I can't do anything about it from here. Do you have any weapons with you?"

"A couple rifles, and some grenades."

"You can try the grenades," Juan replied, "Hang it on the door's mechanism. Even though it is strong, I don't believe the grenades can't destroy it."

Devan, Drew, and Ell hung a dozen grenades on the mechanism, and they retreated a couple steps.

"Here we go," Devan whispered and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened for a split second, but immediately afterward everything in front of them exploded in a violent shudder of sparks. Devan squinted, and when he turned back, the mechanism was already broken, the steel rods hanging to each side, broken and burnt. Devan placed both hands on the door and pushed it, and slowly with a grunt, the door slid open. Behind it was a hall that was empty and beneath the door and a small balcony it was a shaft that slid far below into darkness. The top was a thin membrane that covered them from the vacuum of space, and the opposite side was a wide hall with a huge gate on the other side of the hall. A thin, long bridge connected them with the hall, and they soundlessly walked across it. Its width was only enough for two grown men to stand, but it had no railings and falling would mean certain death.