Chapter 18

Once out of the blocked maintenance tunnel, Nik lead the two men through the station, back to the shuttle. Again, they had to double back and take detours to get around the damage caused by the explosions. After their path was blocked for the third time, Nik paused to think about possible routes. This high in the station there was only one option left; the one path she didn't want to take.

"What's wrong?" Holden asked seeing her frown. They were back within the containment zone and had their visors up.

"All the ways out of this area are blocked except one."

"What's wrong with it?" Amos asked.

"It's a climb straight down an abandoned elevator shaft for almost the entire length of the station."

"You're not afraid of a climb like that," he replied, "not after that stunt you pulled with that boy above the docking bay."

"So, you saw that?"

"Hell, Kitten, everybody in the docks saw you hanging upside down by your toes up there."

"Humph," she snorted, then answered his question, "the shaft has been depressurized, so we'll be suited up for the climb. And I can't guarantee it won't be blocked either."

"Is there any other option?" Holden frowned.

"Na, none that I can think of."

"Then lead the way."

They had passed the containment barrier that led to an access panel to the shaft twice while she was trying to find an alternate way out, so the route back to it was clear. Reaching it, Nik popped the cover off the control panel, pulled three wires, and rerouted two of them.

Looking over her shoulder at the others, she told them, "you'll want to put your visors on now and hold on to something."

Snapping her own visor into place, she turned back to panel and connect the last wire to its new termination. The barrier's light flashed a warning then slid open. The decompression of their area was immediate and violent. Nik almost lost her grip on the control panel as the air around them was sucked out through the opening.

Once their area was depressurized, they were able to let go and continue forward. Just a few meters past the barrier was an access panel to the shaft. Nik pulled it off and set it aside.

"There's no way Amos and I can fit through that," Holden said over the comm link.

"Good thing we still have that torch, ya?" she said stepping aside for Amos.

It didn't take him long to cut through the wall and enlarge the hole. Taking care not to snag her suit on the newly cut edges, Nik leaned into the opening and looked up and down. It seemed clear, but it was hard to tell since there were no lights.

"You got a chem light?" she asked.

"Yeah," Amos answered and handed one to her.

She snapped it to bring it to life and dropped it down the shaft. The light fell at a slight angle to the shaft, indicating the new axis of rotation for the station and bounced of the wall several levels down, but it didn't stop falling. Once she was satisfied the way was clear at least as far as they needed to go, she pulled herself into the shaft, wincing at the discomfort it caused her injured shoulder. She was going to pay for this later, she was sure.

Lowering herself until she was clear of the opening, she called back to the others, "I'm clear. Your turn."

Holden crawled awkwardly in first and moved out of the way. Despite making the opening bigger, Amos still came close to not being able to squeeze through. Nik giggled at his struggle to free himself.

"You need to lose weight, Inner, you're too fat!"

His annoyed grunt was the only answer she got.

The three of them were finally in the shaft and Nik started down. It was tricky, finding foot holds among the cables and pipes that lined the wall of the shaft, so her weight was borne mostly by her arms and hands. After a few levels, tears leaked from her eyes at the pain in her shoulder, but she didn't stop or complain. This was the only way out.

For long minutes they climbed in silence. Nik's bad hand was weakening and slipped off the cable she was holding a couple of times. Since she was below them, neither Holden nor Amos noticed her struggle. The third time it slipped, her other hand was in mid reach. She dropped almost a meter before she was able to find a purchase and stop her fall. She clung to the pipe she had grabbed and panted.

"You okay?" Amos asked.

She tried to raise her bad arm to nod with her fist, but it hurt too bad.

"Hold on, I'm coming down to you."

Gritting her teeth, she keyed her comm link, "I'm okay. Just hit a slick spot, is all."

"Bullshit," he replied. "I forgot about that shoulder. Hold on, I'll come get you."

"No!" she snapped. She didn't need him saving her again. "No, I'm okay. We're halfway there already, let's go."

With that, she sucked in a breath and started back down trying to find foot holds more often to take her weight.

She had stretched her estimate a bit; they weren't quite halfway, but she didn't want him to know that.

After a while, Holden came over the comm link, "I thought we were halfway back there."

"Inners always so impatient," she muttered not caring if they heard. "Look down. See those cables across the shaft? That's our stop."

"Good to hear."

What she didn't tell them was that they were on the wrong side of the shaft. They needed to get to the other side and the only way to get across was on those cables. The ones she hated crossing when she was healthy and strong. Now, she was hurt and tired. To make matters worse, her suit just flashed a warning at her. She was getting close to the limit of her air. Before long, her readout would be in the orange.

For a few more minutes, the only sound she heard was her own breath and heartbeat as she climbed towards the cables. Once there, she leveraged herself into the tunnel the cables came out of and tried to catch her breath while she waited on them.

When both men were in the tunnel, Holden started down it.

"No, not that way," she stopped him.

"What?" he stopped. "I thought you said this were we were going."

"No," she said slowly, "it's where we stop climbing." She pointed with her good hand, "that's where we're going."

The shaft was a little under three meters across. Amos crawled to the opening and looked out.

"We're crossing on those cables?"

"Unless you can fly, Inner."

Another grunt was her answer.

Reaching up, he grabbed one of the thicker cables with both hands and put his weight on it to test it. It flexed some, but not enough to be alarming, so he hung his legs over the edge of the tunnel and slowly lowered himself until he was suspended by just his hands around the cable. Hand over hand, he made his way across the shaft with almost the same ease as Lucky or Hopper had. On the other side he pulled himself up into the tunnel and turned back to her and Holden.

"No problem, come on, Kitten."

"Quit calling me that, asshole," she murmured.

"What was that? I didn't catch it."

"Holden," she said, ignoring him, "you're next."

He looked like he was going to argue, and she raised a hand, "I need more time for my shoulder to recover, so just go. Now." She even gave him a little push towards the opening.

"Okay, quit pushing me," he swatted at her hand. "I'm going."

He sounded so much like one of the boys that she grinned in her helmet. For an Inner, he wasn't half bad. Too bad Amos was such a pain in the ass. She might could like them if it wasn't for him.

Holden wasn't as graceful as Amos had been. He chose to wrap his arms and legs around the entire cable bundle and pull himself across upside-down. Soon it was Nik's turn. She had been contemplating how to get across while the others crossed. She remembered a game she used to play when she was younger. It would be risky, but it was the only way across with her shoulder hurting like it was.

Crawling to the opening she pulled herself up using one arm and stood on the lip. Bracing herself, she stepped up on the cable bundle with one foot, then the other and leaned back against the cables and pipes behind her until she had her balance. The bundle was thick, about as big around as Amos' arm, but from where she stood, it looked impossibly narrow.

"You have to be kidding me," Amos said. "Just stay there and I'll come back across to get you."

"No, I got this. I do this all the time," she lied. It had been years.

Amos reached out to grab the bundle.

"Stop, or you're going to make me lose my balance," she snapped. Taking a deep breath, she held her arms out to the side for balance and started across before she lost her nerve. The skill came back to her easily as she placed one foot carefully in front of the other with a minimum of wobble.

Amos didn't retreat into the tunnel, he stayed where he was and watched her intently as she crossed. She tried not to look at him, but her eyes kept flickering towards him of their own accord. Halfway across, one of her feet slipped and she struggled to regain her balance, flailing wildly. Getting her foot back on the bundle, she took a moment to calm her racing heart before continuing.

Reaching the other side, she straddled the bundle and allowed herself a moment of triumph before swinging off and crawling into the tunnel with the men.

"You do have a death wish, Kitten," Amos told her with a shake of his head.

She almost told him not to call her that again, but realized it was probably futile, so she chose to ignore him and started down the tunnel.