The turbolift was pitch black, and with his sight gone, every little noise grew unnaturally loud in Eli's ear. The scraping as it moved closer. The quiet groan of stressed metal. His own erratic breathing. Eli pressed his lips together, holding his breath, only to find his heart thudding wildly in his chest.

What were they going to do? What was he going to do? Thrawn was still unconscious, and Eli was frozen to the spot. Even if he could see, he would have no idea what to try.

The scraping stopped. Everything fell deathly silent. The air in the lift pressed down on him, smothering him, slowly suffocating him in this metal coffin. His panic level increased again. Instinctively, he closed his eyes, focusing on taking a deep breath. In through the nose. Out through the mouth.

The turbolift car shuddered, and Eli squeaked in fear, automatically reaching out and grasping for a hold on Thrawn.

"Sir! Sir, please—!" he begged, his voice a harsh whisper. "Thrawn!"

But the lift did not fall. In fact, Eli had the strangest sensation that it had actually stabilized. And then he went cold.

Something was trying to open the doors. Just as he had feared.

A long shaft of light appeared across the lift, and Eli threw himself down alongside his prone companion. Perhaps if whoever it was thought they were both dead, he or she or it would leave them alone. His hand brushed against the holster at his side. If the first ruse didn't work, then maybe he could use his blaster to take out whoever was pushing his way inside. Then, with the doors open, he could grab Thrawn and get them out of there.

Unless, of course, there were multiple hostiles on the other side. Then they were as good as dead.

There was a terrible screech of metal, and Eli squeezed his eyes shut, struggling to control his breathing. He had to keep perfectly still in order for this to have any possibility of working. Even through his closed eyes, he could see the light spilling into the lift from the room or hallway beyond it.

Metal creaked and groaned, but it was not the lift this time. Eli could hear the sounds of servos and rusted joints moving, and a bone-chilling dread fell over him. Taking a risk, his opened his eyes just enough to peer upward through his lashes. His breath caught in his throat.

Filling the doorway was a large, bulky droid of a sort he could not recognize. There was a row of bright lights on its head, which it swiveled back and forth as it scanned the lift. That was the source of light he had seen through the door. From this angle, he could not tell if there were any other lights in the space beyond it.

The light then swept over the two of them lying on the floor and stopped. Eli held as still as possible and prayed desperately that Thrawn would not choose this as the time to wake up. A horrible sound suddenly filled the lift, almost like a static-filled comm signal with a voice trying to break through, and Eli winced reflexively. Thankfully the positioning of his face should have hidden the reaction from the droid.

What had that been? Had it come from the lift control panel?

The sound came again, and this time Eli realized it had come from the droid itself. He tensed. Was it going to attack? Should he snap up his blaster and see who could get in the first shot?

But before he could do anything, the droid moved away, making that terrible scraping sound again. With a small frown, Eli peered cautiously through his eyelashes again. Sure enough, the droid had backed into what Eli could now see was indeed a hallway, barely lit by a few scattered lights down its length. As the droid turned and moved out of sight, he lifted his head for a better look. Now was their best chance.

Moving as silently as possible, he crept across the lift to the open doorway, peeking carefully around the corner. The droid moved slowly toward the left-side wall where Eli could just make out the shape of a droid port embedded there. Lifting one of its arms, the droid extended a jack toward the port. Fully aware that time was of the essence and that the droid might be about to sound the alarm, Eli turned back and scurried over to Thrawn.

"Sir?"

Thrawn was still unconscious, and Eli couldn't help growing more worried. Take a deep breath, he positioned himself beside Thrawn. "I'm sorry, sir. I know you probably shouldn't be moved, but you're dead for sure if you stay here," he muttered under his breath. Then, drawing Thrawn's arms up and over his own shoulders, he hauled the Chiss' dead weight onto his back and slowly rose to his feet. He took a step and had to stop as Thrawn slid back. With a quiet huff, Eli turned around and wrapped his arms around Thrawn's back, hoping desperately that he wasn't aggravating a back injury as he shifted him back up so that his head lay on Eli's shoulder. "I know this is awkward, sir. I'm sorry." Turning his head enough to see behind him, he cautiously made his way back to the lift doors, checking to make sure the droid hadn't moved.

Its back was still toward them, the soft whirring of the port the only sound in the hallway. Eli bit his lip, searching the area close by for any sort of cover they could duck behind. Doors lined the hallway, and there were stacks of crates set against the wall beside some of the doors. The nearest door was right next to the droid, and based on the symbol by the door that Eli could see in the dim lighting, there was most likely a stairwell behind it. But there was no way he could get there without being seen. On the opposite wall was one of the stacks of crates. If he could move fast enough, he just might be able to get them on the other side before the droid was done with whatever it was doing.

Bracing himself, he made his move, grimacing as Thrawn's feet dragged along the ground. It wasn't loud, but the droid would have to be in some serious disrepair if it didn't pick up the sound on its sensors. However, given that it looked like it was as old and worn down as the rest of this place, it was a distinct possibility, and one that he would have to chance.

Eli had just finished propping Thrawn up against the wall on the far side of the crate when the droid straightened and turned its head as if it had heard something. Swallowing nervously, Eli glanced between the droid and the hallway now stretching out before them. If anyone else were to come down this way, Eli knew they would be in plain sight. Thankfully the light above them was out, so he was able to use the darkness to help hide them.

With a hideous grinding noise, the droid turned and moved toward the turbolift once more. Eli finally had a decent view of the thing and shuddered. It rolled forward on battered treads that didn't work quite right, resulting in the scraping sound he had heard at first. The body itself was boxy and dull with age, covered with patterned indentations that indicated numerous storage compartments. What for, Eli could only guess. The arms themselves were long and jointed, stretched out in front of it as if it were reaching for something. Eli's gaze shifted to the turbolift, and he could see now that a pair of massive magnetic clamps had been applied to the lift to keep it in place.

The droid suddenly stopped, its head turning again, this time in Eli's direction. With a startled gasp, Eli fell back behind the crate, his body shaking with terror as he heard the droid move again. The light from its head grew brighter as it lumbered closer. Eli's hand went immediately for his blaster. There was no question this time; he would have to use it if they were going to get away.

Setting a firm grip on the weapon, he leaned out again, crying out in both fear and fury as he saw that the droid was mere feet away. The quick flashes of the blaster bolts lit up the end of the hallway as they rained down on the sluggish but relentless machine. It was within reach of the crate now. Eli didn't even think to aim for any vital spots. He just wanted to stop the thing dead in its tracks.

In a shower of sparks and flying metal bits, it finally shuddered to a stop, its head and arms dropping slightly as one of the bolts finally penetrated deeply enough to strike the power cell. The lights on its head flickered out.

Eli found himself breathing hard, and he leaned against the crate, staring with a mixture of horror and revulsion at the twisted scrap poised to grab him.

"I...seem to have missed the action..."

Blinking in surprise and relief, Eli spun around to find a pair of narrow, glowing red eyes gazing back at him wearily.

"Thrawn!" He nearly tripped over his feet as he rushed to Thrawn's side. "I can't tell you how glad I am that you're awake. I was—" He paused, his mouth flattening into a grim line. "I was afraid you'd been hurt badly."

"Well, that still remains to be seen." Thrawn winced as he tried to sit up straighter, a quiet hiss escaping through his teeth. "Where are we?"

"Uh, good point. We actually need to get out of here now before anyone else comes." Holstering his blaster, Eli eyed Thrawn cautiously. "Do you think you can walk?"

Offering himself as support, he helped Thrawn try to regain his feet. Thrawn hissed again, immediately sinking back to the floor. "I fear something may be sprained, or even broken."

Eli glanced anxiously down the hall. The droid had done something at the port on the opposite wall, and he couldn't shake the feeling that others were now on their way. If this place had been in proper condition, he could imagine red flashing lights filling the corridor, along with the blaring of an alarm.

"Let's get somewhere safer, and then we can see about taking care of that, all right?" he asked, trying and not quite succeeding at covering his nervousness. Thrawn merely nodded, and that worried Eli even more. Offering his shoulder once more, he helped Thrawn up again. "Lean as much on me as you need to, sir," he said. He noticed Thrawn eyeing the deactivated droid, which still had its arms outstretched as if to grab them. Eli gave the thing a wide berth, unable to shake the irrational fear that it would suddenly come to life again just as they were in reach.

"I think there's a stairway over here, sir," he said, grunting softly as he half carried the lieutenant across the hall. "If we can get to another floor, that would be better. I hope." Again, Thrawn remained silent. Eli tried to shove down his growing fear.

Thankfully the door to the stairwell was not locked. Thrawn leaned against the wall as Eli pulled the heavy door open and held it so that Thrawn could go through first. On the other side, Eli gently eased the door closed again, avoiding as much extra noise as possible. Turning, he eyed the stairwell. It was slightly better lit than the hallway, for which he was extremely grateful. He did not want to navigate this in the dark. Now for the next decision: up or down?

"Well, we need to head back to the surface as it is," Eli whispered, once more standing as support for Thrawn. "We should probably go up." Thrawn nodded, his eyes closed. Eli grimaced, biting back an apology. There would be time for that later.

They had just set foot on the first stair when from somewhere above them came the distinct sound of a door opening and closing. Eli froze, tensing, holding his breath as he listened sharply. Several agonizing seconds later, another door opened and closed again, but he couldn't tell if it was closer or farther away.

"Okay, down it is," he whispered hastily. Thrawn followed his lead without a word. Eli swallowed painfully. This was bad. This was so very bad. With every second that passed, he felt certain he could feel eyes on them, watching each movement, waiting for the right moment to spring. They had only gone down one level, and he had to get out.

Silently, he tested the door, pushing it open just enough to peek into the hallway. It looked much the same as the previous one, but there were no crates here. Not knowing what else to do, and given that Thrawn needed to sit down somewhere soon, he pushed the door open further and helped Thrawn through it. Again, he closed the door as silently as possible.

They stayed close to the wall on their left, Eli's ears tuned for the sound of anyone or anything in the hall with them. It was silent. He hoped that was a good sign.

The first door they came to was also unlocked, and Eli breathed a silent prayer of thanks. As soon as he ushered Thrawn inside, he pulled the door closed, turning and leaning against it as he slid to the floor. Thrawn had likewise lowered himself to the floor and was leaning with his back to the wall. His head was tilted back and his eyes closed. Pale light shone from the far side of the room, but for the moment, Eli couldn't take his eyes off Thrawn. The Chiss was breathing hard, and his face was pinched with pain. He had never seen him with his guard down like this.

"It's bad, isn't it?" Eli murmured.

Thrawn nodded, but still he said nothing.

Eli resisted the urge to groan. Bad, and it was only bound to get worse. How were they possibly going to be able to get out of here alive with Thrawn injured and hardly able to move? He ran a hand over his face, taking deep breaths. One step at a time. That was how they would do this. Just focus on the next step. He had to find a way to help Thrawn.

Grunting, he pushed himself to his feet again, looking around at the room they had chosen for their temporary refuge. It looked like a lab of sorts, the walls lined with countertops and cabinets, interspersed with sinks and facets. Could there be medical supplies in here somewhere? What would be the odds of that?

Then his gaze fell on the source of light at the opposite end of the room, and he stiffened. The entire far wall had windows stretching across, and the light actually came from whatever was on the other side. He walked slowly, a growing sense of dread like a rock in the pit of his stomach. He stopped at the window, staring out disbelievingly.

"Uh, sir?" Eli could hear the waver in his voice. "This place is definitely not abandoned."