Chapter 25 - Milioc
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The sun was bright over Milioc Primary; the colour a sharp yellow that cast across the clear sky and shone down on the dry sandy ground. A faint breeze lifted some of the coarse sand up into the air, grazing it against any bared skin and wearing down anything in its way, gradually, patiently and easily.
Life did grow here, but only in well-kept tended soil or in the protection of the mountains. The many settlements spread across the planet were mainly located near the coastline or in the shadow of the mountains were the soil was at its richest. Most of the planet's wealth came from its sea though, from fish and the thick nutritious weeds that grew along the shore, but technology was as barren here as the sandy soil.
Which was one of the reasons why Iketani had selected this world.
It would be begin to change though, now that the system was within Alliance territory, but Iketani had been using this world for many years. It had been almost seven annual cycles since she had established her bunker here, using it as a storage place for weapons and technology, and a place to work away from the eyes of the Alliance. No one there knew of her involvement on this world, and now she would ensure that would always be the case.
She had been the first Elite face these farming and coastal communities had ever seen; she was practically a Goddess to them in this outlying settlement. There had been no fear of the Alliance's new rule on Milioc Primary, because of her. None of Kolya's fear mongering spies had been seen here, or if they had then they had not been successful. Her presence here over the years had made sure Milioc would lie down and beg for Alliance dominance, and even now, her status dissolved down to dust in the Alliance, here she was the Goddess she had always been.
However, Milioc was now within Alliance territory and no longer a viable place for her to stay; in fact, it was her last stop before she left Alliance territory for good. She would one day return of course, when the time was eventually ripe, when everything was just right for her. Kolya and his associates would work their underground terror work, assisting the weakening Alliance to break apart under its own ill-managed weight, and then, when the pile of rotting mess was ready, she would return with the power she would acquire well beyond the border.
She could be patient; she had always been patient.
Though a bitter threatening anger still seeped into her thoughts of late, she was satisfied enough with the turmoil and damage she had left in her wake as she left Alliance space. Time would pass and she would disappear from Alliance minds, like a ghost slipping away unseen, and they would likely foolishly believe that she had died or dried up somewhere without power or care.
Instead, she would establish far more power than before, far away from Alliance space and thoughts.
The breeze stirred again, lifting the sand around her boots, grazing it up against her exposed cheek and chin. The other side of her face, though protected, was just as uncomfortable, for her cheek sweated under the extra thick layer of her mask. Her skin itched beneath it, but she ignored the sensation. However, deep down inside her, the anger threatened to wrestle free from her cool control before she reined it back in. She was always patient, always in control.
She had lost control of herself at the start of her recovery; she had destroyed a lot of things. Burning anger and frustration at her initially limiting injuries had mixed with the disgust at her own distorted face. Yet, time and the residue affects of the Wraith's life gift had healed up her wounds enough that she was able to function as well as before. However, the scars had remained. The bullet wound scars were hidden beneath concealing powder for now, and a small skin graft was healing over the scar on her shoulder.
Her face, however, was irreparable.
The cut had been extremely deep, having likely damaged her skull with it, but the Wraith's life force had repaired that, but little more of her flesh. The surgeon she had employed had done the best he could without the healing techniques and equipment that would have been available to the Elite. She had screamed her rage at the surgeon at first, but once recovered, she had rewarded him handsomely. So handsomely that he had turned his allegiance from his former employer and was currently setting up a new clinic on one of the planets she would be retiring to, far across the galaxy from Alliance territory. She had chosen its location carefully, needing to ensure the least likelihood of accidental contact with Alliance troops, Wraith, or even those new troublemakers in Atlantis. With Kolya's organisation spread quite widely, she would have enough contacts to serve some of her needs and she had the means to set up the rest for herself.
She smiled in the heat as she thought of Kolya. She had no doubt that he would have left Dreamstation as soon as she had. She wondered if he would try to have her killed now. She almost hoped so, for then she would have something to punish him for the next time she wished to see him. He was a very useful man. His plans were perhaps somewhat foolish, for he truly believed he would one day rule the Genii confederation again. She had no doubt that he had the means and intellect to help disable the already crumbling Alliance, but he would have no chance against the Alliance military's focus if they targeted him, let alone if the Elite knew of him. Kolya's only saving protection was that most in the Alliance didn't know his name or of his involvement in the riots and protests beginning just outside the expanding Alliance territory. The Genii had done an excellent job in convincing everyone that Kolya was dead, and those who knew otherwise were either in his pocket or were silently terrified he would one day return to kill them. He would be most useful to her again in the future.
He had also been an excellent lover. She would miss their sensual dangerous game and his lover's skill. She looked forward to when they would meet again.
For now though, she was almost ready to leave Alliance territory. The bunker was being emptied of everything within it, except the bare minimum to be left behind in case she may one day be in need of it. Slaves worked around her, bringing out packed crates from the bunker and stacking them together, ready to be loaded onto the approaching cart. There were two carts working back and forth down the long road that turned close to the bunker, and the latest cart was currently rolling to a stop. She watched as the slaves began loading it with crates. There was little else to be packed up inside the bunker, which meant that within an hour everything would be out.
She had acquired a shuttle a year ago and, when not using it for small missions, she had kept it hidden here on Milioc Primary. Today it was being loaded with the majority of the bunker's contents, which she would then fly away from Milioc and out of Alliance territory. Anything extra from the bunker that did not fit into the shuttle she would have the slaves taken through the Portal system. She would also send other slaves to her last two smaller secret bunkers elsewhere in Alliance territory, and once they were emptied, everything would be complete. She still had one room in Dreamstation, and another on a mining moon close by, to empty, but slaves could easily accomplish that task. She would instead take the shuttle away from here and be long gone, away from the weak crumbling Alliance and on to her new start, one which she had been carefully planning for some time. She smiled to herself at her cleverness.
The cart had been loaded, the slaves sliding the last crate onto the high-sided wooden bay, and they turned towards her for permission. She nodded her approval and so they climbed up onto the cart themselves, and, with a crack of the reins, the large lumbering beast at the front began pulling the cart forward again. She watched the cart make a wide turn until it was back on the main dust roadway that led away from the settlement sat to the right of the bunker. As the cart rumbled away in the distance, the next one was already approaching, empty and ready to be reloaded.
Pleased that the procedure was going well, Iketani turned her attention away from the road and on to the closest edge of the settlement, where one family's farming houses lined the village. The family there had dedicated themselves to her long ago, their eldest daughter already one of her prized slaves, for many years ago Iketani had saved the entire family from the Wraith during a culling. She had specifically selected them to save, due to the fact that their farming land overlooked the area where she selected to dig her bunker. Killing Wraith was as easy as breathing for her, and when perfectly timed, the skill could be used to gain her almost anything she chose.
The family had served their purpose now though, and she looked away, boredom growing slightly. The empty cart had arrived and was being loaded, so she turned away and moved back toward the open hatch that was the bunker's main entrance. She had twenty-three slaves working for her throughout the bunker, all working to empty every cupboard and leave everything clean and ready for use in the future if needed.
She made her way down the small flight of steps that led into the cool shade of the bunker. Three slaves were closing the last of the weapons crates, hammering the primitive crates closed securely. They all bowed their heads to her.
"The next cart is here, ensure everything is stacked up above for loading," she instructed them as she passed by and they bowed again.
It was likely that most of them would not consider themselves 'slaves', but they had dedicated themselves to her and they did everything she commanded them. A large proportion of them were small time criminals, on wanted lists and lost by themselves, leaving them happy to follow her due to the protection she could provide them. A few more where Elite worshippers, as she called them, and they would do anything for someone with an Elite tattoo. They were the easiest to handle.
She paused to watch two male slaves carrying crates up the steps into the sunlight outside, enjoying the display of male muscle. She had insisted that they did not need to wear shirts in this hot weather.
Amusement satisfied, she turned and walked on, following the main central corridor of the bunker. To the right, she reached the doorway to the kitchen area. Two slaves were packing away the last of the perishable goods, whilst another male slave was wiping clean the cupboards. Iketani moved on, her boots silent on the chiselled stone floor.
A sharp bleep from ahead caught her attention and she quickened her pace. Just as she neared the open doorway to the security room, a slave peered out.
"Mistress, there was a burst of hyperspace energy," she reported.
Iketani brushed past her into the room and leant down over the crowded table of mismatched monitors and electronic pads. She frowned at the readings and pressed some buttons. She was limited in how much she could detect from here, though she had established a sensing station part way up the closest mountainside last year, which had improved things. She triggered the sensor station again, seeking out the signal once more, but, as she had suspected, the reading was gone.
"There are two more expected shipments today," the slave said, looking up from a sheet of paper on a clipboard. "The Alliance is sending in supplies and the military representative."
"When are they due?" Iketani asked.
"No one knew the precise time at the meeting hall, but the next supply vessel was expected to follow soon after the supply ship you arrived on. The second load following close on the first," the slave reported. She was a very capable woman, but somewhat too intelligent for Iketani' to consider keeping her close. Iketani would send her to empty out one of the other bunkers and then would reconsider her position for the future, but for now, she was very useful and competent at her work.
Iketani triggered a full spectrum scan of the surrounding area and stood up tall and straight. It was most likely that the hyperspace reading had been one of the supply ships arriving, but the sensing station had been unable to detect anything other than a brief snapshot of a reading. It was extremely sensitive equipment, but as she had been forced to hide herself and her safe houses, it meant that she was limited in how much she could detect of space above the planet.
"Send someone to the meeting hall to wait for confirmation that it is the supplies vessel," she ordered.
"Yes, Mistress," the woman replied and turned to the small communications station where she set about sending out Iketani' order.
"Inform me as soon as you know anything," Iketani added.
There was nothing to do but wait for confirmation of the ship's identity, so Iketani left the security room and continued down the central corridor. She passed slaves as she did, many of them reporting that the bunker was almost entirely empty. Good.
The door to her own private quarters stood open and Iketani moved through it to find two slaves packing up her clothing for her. They bowed deeply to her as soon as they noticed her and she watched them seal up the last box. She selected which slave she wanted.
"Take those out and help with the transport," she ordered the other one.
"Yes, Mistress," he replied and she saw the faint scowl he sent towards the other man.
She waited for him to move the two crates out into the corridor and then the last two smaller boxes. Iketani watched him, enjoying the display of strength, but once he was out of the door, she triggered it closed.
She turned to the remaining slave. "You have served me well so far," she told him, gracing him with a smile. "You may have a reward."
He smiled as he immediately began unbuttoning the waistband of his trousers, his expression intense and excited. She crossed to the stool by her bed and parted her long skirt to reveal the tight leggings beneath, which she pulled open by the closing that ran between her legs. Cool air of the room met her flesh as she set one foot up on the stool. The slave knew his place and was already on his knees, crawling closer so he that was hunched right beneath her. She parted her legs a little further and he touched his skilful mouth up to her.
Across the small room, she heard the radio activate and a slave report that he was at the local meeting hall.
She closed her eyes and formed in her mind a detailed image of Kolya, putting him in the place of the slave knelt below her, and that the enthusiasm to please her was his and not that of a simple slave. Kolya had resisted her dominance, attempting instead to assert his own over her. She would see him on his knees though, and, on that occasion, she would remain standing over him the entire time.
"More," she ordered, and the slave included his fingers, heightening her pleasure further.
The radio activated again; the next cartful had been successfully stored in the shuttle, though there were concerns as to how much more storage space there was available. She gripped the slave's head and rubbed herself against him, working her pleasure higher and he moaned against her. She eyed the stool and pulled herself from him. She pointed to the stool and he got up from the floor and sat upon it, straining up for her. She lowered herself onto him and rocked harshly.
The next cartload was reported as having reached the shuttle, and there were further complaints about space over the radio.
If the ship that had arrived out of hyperspace had been a supply vessel the local settlement's meeting hall should know soon from the central Milioc Primary meeting hall, and the slave would report in.
The slave under her grunted and all but begged for his release. She instead worked for her own and as it crested through her, burning heat under her mask and flooding her with satisfaction, she gave him permission.
The radio barked out that the next empty cart was at the bunker and loading had begun.
Panting out the last of her release, Iketani stood, closed her leggings and lowered her skirts back into place. She turned and left the room, the slave all but forgotten as she headed along the corridor back towards the main exit. She paused outside the security room and the female slave looked up from the monitors.
"Nothing reported back yet, Mistress," she reported.
Iketani didn't reply or nod, she simply continued towards the light of the exit. The crates from the kitchen were gone as were those previously stacked up just inside the bunker's entrance. She climbed the steps up into the sunlight and found the last of the crates were all neatly stacked up here as she had ordered. Eleven slaves stood out here with her, all working together to load the latest cart. One slave broke away and approached her respectfully.
"Mistress, there is some concern about remaining space for these inside the vessel," he told her quietly.
"Once this load is aboard, if any more remain, they will go through the Portal," she informed him.
"Yes, Mistress," he replied and returned to the loading.
The high sides of the cart allowed many crates to be loaded, but only so many could be risked being stacked inside at any one time. She estimated that this would be the last load that would fit into the shuttle, but she would see. The cart full, three slaves climbed back aboard and steered the beast of burden once more back onto the road out to the shuttle. She would go with the next load, see the shuttle space for herself.
She moved back inside the bunker and retrieved her sword from where she had set it out of the sunlight. She had more than enough weaponry on her at any one time, but her sword meant more to her, and its return to her hand had been most satisfying, especially from under the nose of Massa. He truly had turned out to be such a weak man. It was a shame that such prime male had been so easily broken. She again imagined his impotent rage when he had discovered that she had been in his quarters. She glanced at the timepiece built into her bracelet; she estimated he would have returned to his quarters several hours ago now and would no doubt be in a foul mood to realise that she had bested him. She slid her hand around the hilt of her sword as she settled it into his home at her hip. It felt right to have it there once more.
She climbed back out into the sunlight and saw that the returning cart was approaching; somewhat delayed from all the bitching about space. She stood and watched it approach, fighting boredom once more.
The sun had lost a touch of its heat in the last half hour; the close of the day would only be a few hours away, but she would be long gone by then. The Portal was less than an hour's trek, which meant the remaining crates would be taken through the Portal by cart, and that would be the end of her time on Milioc Primary. It really was the dullest and driest of worlds, though it had served her well, and she would not miss the dry itchy sand and the weakling inhabitants.
The cart had almost reached the bunker, and she found her gaze drawn to the single slave at the reins. Why was there only one? He was sat tall, his spine rigid, and as the cart neared, she could see his eyes were wide.
She watched him carefully, and his eyes found her, close enough now for her to see more of his expression.
"Mistress, careful!" He shouted, but a burst of stun energy engulfed him halfway through warning. As he dropped sideways off the cart to the sand, stunner fire blasted out from the high sides of the cart and immediately two slaves dropped to the sand close by her.
Stunner already in her hand, and shouted instructions pouring from her lips, Iketani returned fire, but there was little to target while the cart protected those concealed inside.
A handful of slaves poured out of the bunker, surrounding her as she reached the shelter of the bunker's entrance. The stunner fire took half of them down immediately, and Iketani' felt a frisson of concern as she registered the pitch of the stunners and the accuracy of the shots…
Pushing a slave in front of her for protection, Iketani peered back out of the entrance to get an improved look at what was going on outside. Stunner fire blasted back and forth through the air between the cart and where her slaves were crouched behind the stacked crates. The cart had stopped, turned sideways on, and she could now see the faint shadows of legs hiding behind the shelter of the cart's wheels. Whoever had been in the cart was now out of it and sheltering behind it. The beast of burden that pulled the cart stood still, clearly uncaring about the stunner fire close by, but Iketani saw thick human legs moving behind the creature. She fired a blast of stunner fire towards the person hiding behind the creature.
Shouting from the right heralded the arrival of more assistance for her; the farmers working close to the settlement had seen that their Goddess was under attack. Good.
"Mistress!" The female slave in the security room shouted down the corridor. "I am detecting two small vessels moving down towards us from orbit."
A slither of concern rose again in Iketani' throat as she moved further into the bunker, leaving two slaves to keep firing out of the entrance.
"Where are they headed?" She demanded of the female slave. Only a few organisations had shuttles – primarily the Military and the Elite.
"There are two of them," the woman repeated and Iketani could hear the fear in her voice, clearly she was not used to dangerous situations; it was another negative mark in Iketani' book at keeping this slave.
The air pressured shifted abruptly and overhead there began a deep rumble, which answered part of Iketani' question. One of the shuttles was flying low over the bunker. A thin layer of rock dust drifted down from the ceiling as the corridor vibrated with the pressure of the ship passing so close overhead.
"I think they are landing," the slave shouted over the rumble that was already lessening, but Iketani had already surmised that herself. "One is touching down at the mountainside exit of the bunker," she shouted, more from shock now for the loud vibration of the shuttle had passed.
Outside Iketani could hear slaves coughing in the rush of sand the vessel had lifted as it had passed. More stunner fire blazed close by, but the angry shouting of the farmers was louder. They had no weapons other than farming implements, but they would slow down Iketani' attackers.
"The other shuttle is moving towards the dunes exit; they are trapping us in," the slave continued. "Mistress…I'm…these are Elite signatures," the woman reported, disbelief clear in her voice.
Iketani bit back the curse on her lips, but it was confirmation of what she had already concluded herself. Only Elite would have found her this quickly and to be attacking so skilfully and directly. In no time, they would stun all the farmers and her slaves, and the bunker's exits, which they would have detected from orbit, were already being blocked.
How had they found her?
One of the slaves in the bunker's entrance let out a cry and slumped forward, stunner fire dancing over him and the step under him. The roar of angry farmers was still loud outside, but far less than before, but it was one single voice that rang out over them that drew Iketani' full attention. Only one Elite male warrior had a voice that deep and full of inherent power. Si was out there.
Iketani turned away from the entrance and scanned the small area around her in hopes that some of the weapons crates had been left inside, possibly containing some grenades, but everything was now outside. Curse the slaves for being so competent.
"There are Elite at the two exits," the slave shouted again from the security room, and Iketani did not miss the change in the woman's voice; she had no doubt worked out that Iketani was no longer in favour with the Elite.
Ignoring all the shouting, stunner fire, and a new automatic weapons sound from outside, Iketani mentally cursed the Elite again. The hyperspace signature must have been an Elite vessel, which meant that either the Sythus or Hastos Son was in orbit.
"Our people are under fire at all exits," the slave continued with her narration of events.
Iketani resisted the urge to punch the stone wall closest to her, but she held onto her patience. She had her way out of here; she just had to time it perfectly.
"I will assist the others at the mountainside exit," the slave added, her voice nervous and panicked beneath projected calm. Iketani caught a glimpse of the slave rushing out of the security room and disappearing down the central corridor. Iketani had no doubt the woman would be surrendering herself as soon as she saw an Elite, probably begging forgiveness for serving Iketani all this time.
It did not matter, for Iketani needed no assistance getting out of the bunker. She was already moving away from the entrance, through which the farmers' cries were already lessening further. A slave tried to follow her away from the entrance, but she ordered him back with a strike to his shoulder. She needed to be alone to make her escape; no one must see where she went. She had relied on another too much before. Getting out of the bunker would be easy, getting off Milioc Primary would be more complicated. The Elite had her shuttle in their hands.
Cursing loudly to herself now she was by herself, she strode along the side corridor, which ran away from the entrance to loop round and to run parallel to the central corridor. The Elite would be able to detect every life sign in this bunker from orbit and by now they would guess that she would be the only one moving around inside. Which was exactly what she wanted them to think.
Shouts and stunner fire faded behind her as she followed the side corridor.
Had it been Creass who had betrayed her? No, he knew nothing of her work here, let alone the details of her bunker. Kolya? Never, he would have slunk away from Dreamstation without being detected by anyone and he too did not know of this bunker. Someone inside the Alliance then, perhaps it was Massa leading them out there. She had been careless perhaps in staying on one ship out of Alliance territory once she had retrieved her sword. Someone must have recognised her somehow along the way. She was not sure how, but it did not change the fact that the Elite were here now. Curse them, but they would not stop her. Once she was out of Alliance territory for good, they would never be able to find her again.
She reached the turn of the corridor and stopped, turning to face the wall. She ran her fingers along the natural fault lines of the stone, seeking out her escape. There had been only one man who had designed this hidden exit for her, and he had selected workers from off world to help dig out her escape. They had not survived the celebratory drinks at completion of the tunnel, and neither had the architect who had designed this exit to it. No one other than her knew of its position and it's secret.
She found the right line of stone and followed it down to where it seemed to pass through the floor. She pressed her fingers in and lifted. With a faint click, she felt the hidden door shift. It took almost all her strength to get the slab of stone moving backwards, but it slowly swung open to reveal the tunnel.
Water dripped down before her, channelled down from above. The secret of her tunnel and how it would help her was one of the unknown secrets of Milioc Primary. This world was so dry because of this very stone – blue stone they called it, for the inhabitants said that it created water itself. Instead, Iketani knew that it was merely a stone that was porous enough to collect water so easily that it drained much of the landscape of Milioc of all rain that fell. It channelled water underground, creating hidden streams and the deep wells that kept the settlements of this planet alive.
However, it had another secret, one known only by a select few – blue stone masked life signals. It was this fault line, where blue stone met a more standard local rock, which had drawn Iketani to this area of the settlement's surrounding landscape. Her bunker sat on the very edge of the blue stone, so that the main bunker had been dug out from the standard rock, whilst this doorway and the tunnel beyond had been dug through blue stone. A tunnel through which her life sign would be completely hidden as she made her escape.
She reached into the tunnel through the open doorway, but did not step through it yet. A small alcove had been cut into the wall of the tunnel, just within arm's reach from the entrance, and in the alcove there was a metal box. She slipped it open with her fingers, feeling moisture had found its way inside. Everything inside the tunnel was slick from the water that was constantly dripping from above, the water cold over her arm as she reached into the box and pulled out two of the small devices from inside. She clipped one to her waist and lifted the other.
Holding the device inside the tunnel, she pressed two buttons on the side, which slid open a tiny panel revealing the trigger. Under the protection of the tunnel's blue stone, she activated the trigger and a small light began to flash on the side. She closed the small panel on the metallic device, its spherical shape warming in her hand as she turned carefully. Back down the tunnel she had come, she could here movement and the absence of any stunner fire. The Elite were doubtless inside the bunker now.
She smiled as she stepped into the tunnel at the same time that she threw the ball out down the corridor. It hit the floor in a rolling tumble and continued on down the sleek floor, away from her.
Pleased, she turned her attention to getting a grip on the blue stone door and pushing it closed. It took a lot of effort, despite its clever design to minimise its weight, and with the slick wetness and some sort of goo that had gathered on the inside of the door, it took her far longer than she liked to get the door closed. But, it had to be closed for her plan to succeed.
As the door slid back into place, it shut out all sound from inside the bunker, even the little that had been bouncing down the corridor towards her. She was now left in complete darkness and silence. Water dripped onto her head and shoulders and her hands were wet with water and the slick goo from the door. She wiped her hands on her thighs absently as she turned away from the door. She reached down to her waist and activated the small light she had clipped to her belt. The glow shone out around her, the light seeming misty as it met the damp environment of the tunnel.
She moved forward through the narrow tunnel as quickly as she could, but the light only illuminated a metre or so ahead of her. All was dark ahead of that and behind her, and the air felt thin and smelt dank.
She pushed on, aware of a strange discomfort at the back of her neck that suggested that the walls were about to cave in on her. Foolish. She kept moving forward as quickly as she could, and eventually the floor began to drop down slightly, or so she thought, for it was difficult to understand where she was without any external reference other than the dark walls close around her.
Water was seeping from the walls as well as from the ceiling of blue stone over her, and it was forming a shallow pool of water at her feet before it seeped down further through the stone. The pool was a few inches deep though, and after a short time she noticed that it was running ahead of her, confirming that she was indeed moving downwards through the stone of Milioc Primary. If she remembered the tunnel architect's plan correctly, the tunnel would have to in order to meet the caves that were it's target. She had only walked through the completed tunnel once with the architect, that strange uncomfortable feeling at being so deep underground having made her uncharacteristically cautious. She guessed it was human nature to fear being buried alive. And she knew what it was like to die.
Her hair and her shoulders were drenched with water now, the water constantly dripping on her from above, and some of it had found its way under her mask. Her skin felt damp and sticky under the mask, but she refused to pull the mask away. Its presence would not win over her control, even if it its removal would make her feel more comfortable.
After an undetermined stretch of time, which likely was not all that long, she felt a change in the air, just a subtle change, but it called out in triumph to her. The air felt cooler, fresher. She smiled to herself as she moved forward faster, splashing her way through the flowing puddles around her feet.
A new sound began to grow in the distance head of her, nothing definite, but enough for her to quicken her pace further. The constant rain falling from the ceiling above obscured much ahead of her, her small source of light misting through it, but she could see that there was more light ahead now. It was dull, but it seemed like natural light. As it grew, so did a new sound, which she recognised as the ocean in the far distance. She was almost to the caves.
The air tasted better now, more so with each step, and she drew it in with a relief she hadn't realised she had sought. Her head felt clearer and the dank smell that had filled the tunnel lifted.
Once she reached the caves, she only had to unmoor the small boat she kept hidden there, and she could head out and along the coast. There was a change of clothes in the boat which would allow her to disguise herself as a local as she rowed her way along the coast to the next settlement. There she would find somewhere to stay, and since she even had an occasional lover there, she would bide her time comfortably. The Elite could not watch the Portal for all the coming days and months. She may have to delay her retreat from Alliance space, but she would still leave soon enough. If needed, she could keep rowing further along the coast, perhaps staying in an entirely unknown settlement would be best. Oh, yes, escape was hers. She was almost there.
The light ahead was increasing, reaching down the tunnel towards her, drawing her onwards. The sound of distant waves increased and the walls of the tunnel began to widen, and, suddenly ahead of her, the wide-open space of the caves filled her view.
An echo of sound vibrated against the walls behind her though and she froze, turning back to look into the heavy gloom.
Had she heard something behind her in the tunnel?
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TBC