Page 20

Story: Secrecy

"They're hurting her," Morgan whispered, her voice tight with suppressed emotion.

I squeezed her hand, as much to steady myself as to reassure her. Hearing the evidence of Kronock brutality made the mission suddenly, painfully even more personal. This wasn't just about extracting my brother anymore. It was about saving all of us from suffering that same fate.

I took a moment to assess the plan. Did we continue to the dungeons to find Sasha and Deklyn? Or did we turn around and go after Ariana?

“Ariana would want us to get her sister,” Morgan said, even though I hadn’t voiced my conflict.

She was right. We needed to complete our mission before going after our friends. I gave a curt nod. “Then we need to move faster.”

Morgan pressed her lips together. “Let’s get this done and go home.”

I couldn’t have agreed more.

Chapter

Fourteen

Morgan

Ariana's second scream tore at me as if I was the one being tortured, but I harnessed my fear for my friend into determined rage. We were going to save her sister and then we were going to save her.

Hold on, Ariana. We’re coming.

Tivek's hand closed around my arm, pulling me into a darkened side corridor before we could descend any farther. His face was barely visible in the dim lighting, but I could read the tension in his features.

"They'll take them to the cells when they're done," he whispered, his breath warm against my ear. "The same cells where Sasha and my brother should be held. It might actually make the rescue easier."

“That means we wait?” The thought was horrible.

He flinched. “There are only two of us, so we need to do anything to even the odds.”

He was right, of course. The logical part of my brain knew that. But logic was a cold comfort when my friends were suffering.

I leaned against the wall, trying to clear my thoughts, to approach this as the strategist I was trained to be. Even so, doubt crept in. Our rescue party of five had already been facing tough odds. But a rescue party of two? Could we realistically extract five prisoners without being caught ourselves?

As I contemplated this, Tivek suddenly straightened, his attention caught by a panel embedded in the wall nearby. He moved toward it with purpose, fingers already reaching for the flickering display.

I followed, watching as he tapped rapidly on the flat screen, navigating through alien symbols with surprising confidence.

"You read Kronock that well?” I whispered, unable to hide my astonishment. Everyone at the academy learned basic Kronock, but the language was complex and difficult. Few could navigate it as swiftly as Tivek was doing now.

He nodded without looking up, his focus unwavering.

How many other skills did he possess that I knew nothing about? What other languages did he speak, what other secrets did he keep hidden beneath that carefully crafted facade of the unassuming adjunct? When we got out of this alive, I promised myself I would learn everything there was to know about the Drexian. At least as much as he was willing to tell.

After several tense minutes, a smile ghosted across his lips. "Sasha and Deklyn are logged into the system. Cell block D, lower level."

I mentally called up the schematics I'd memorized, my gaze drifting to a ramp at the far end of the corridor. "I think I know a shortcut."

Leading him on tiptoes down the ramp, I guided us toward a level where the air grew noticeably cooler and dank with moisture. We both kept our blasters ready, but the hallways remained eerily empty.

Too empty.

The silence was broken only by the occasional hiss of steam from unseen pipes and the plink of water onto metal. Something wasn't right. The back of my neck prickled with unease as we descended a winding ramp and approached a metal gate hanging open on damaged hinges.

Tivek pulled me back, taking the lead with his blaster raised. We entered a long row of cells, the light so dim I had to squint to make out details. One by one, we passed empty containment units, their iron gates open, their interiors empty.

Tivek cursed softly, lowering his weapon. "Where are they?"