N-12: Pressure
The damn light kept swinging when the freight trains went by.
He'd learned after a few hours to block out the blaring warning horns and floor-shaking rumbling that followed them. But the swinging light was the worst. It was the difference between a right and a wrong wire. That unsettled him. His fingers trembled as he unscrewed a connector pin, and he swore and dropped it. His heart pounded in sheer terror for a split second before the realisation he was still alive sunk in again.
He took the time to shake it out and wipe the sweat that stung his eyes. He was a professional, dammit.
Rolling his shoulders, he felt the ache blooming between his shoulder blades. He went back in and extricated the connector pin with his fingers, removing his hands in slow motion. His heart rate returned to a normal level, and he realised for the first time all day – or night, or whatever – how hungry he was. He was distantly aware of a full bladder, too.
He reached behind him for his long-since discarded armour; found his belt and removed a ration pack. He'd have time for a proper meal when he was sure his head wasn't going to blow off. He flexed his fingers and chewed on the tasteless cube. The rumbling started again; the light trembled.
He heard the angry horn and bit back a groan; the train screamed past and the swinging started again, throwing the whole room into a nauseating shadow dance.
One of the partially disassembled parts of the shell fell from the table and he grabbed for it just in time. He froze, convinced for a moment that he was dead, and then - some kind of disappointed relief. His whole body was stiff and bruised from lying on the floor for so long, the tips of his fingers rubbed raw. Death breathed down his neck.
He was more alive because of it.
It was a constant ride of adrenaline rushes and primal fear; moments of relief that broke the smooth surface of his concentration. The corners of the stained and gritty walls were thrown into shadow by the light, and the darkness in his peripherals reminded him too much of his nightmares. He could feel something hiding there.
Like a surgeon working in the body cavity of a patient, he twisted metal and wires out of shape and pulled them apart with a practised dexterity. Above him, thousands of people would never know that they were putting their lives in his broken hands. His heart rate had acclimatised to a constant quick thumping that would have made him vomit if he'd been paying any attention to it.
A red light hidden in its bowels broke the dull yellow light with an urgent flashing. Bile rose in his throat in a moment of unbridled panic, which he clamped down on and ran through all possibilities in his mind at lightning speed. He calculated he had mere minutes.
Minutes would be enough.
His neck muscles ached, his body was drenched in sweat. Minutes. He had minutes. He pulled at wires and circuits, the floor covered in parts, running through procedure in the same speed he could flick the pages of the manual. He felt wild elation for a moment when he found the switch, then reached for the wire cutters-
They weren't there.
Another horn screeched close by and the train thundered past. The light swung, more violently this time, so much he felt the room was roiling and turning. He scrambled blind with his fear-numbed fingers, and they closed around a grip.
The red flashing stopped.
He felt for the right wire and cut it.
Minutes.
Minutes later he was walking along the same street he'd been under, a heavy bag slung over his shoulder and dressed as another inconspicuous civvie. The people he passed didn't even glance at him, their minds on other things. Not that they had almost died with him in a glorious fireball.
The thanks of a grateful Republic.
The scent of fresh pastries caught his attention, and he stopped at a capcaf window. Manda, it had been a close one. He shabla deserved it.
He heard a freight train's horn blow in the distance and flinched.
His reflection laughed at him.
Finis
Three down, three to go. Coming up next will be either Jaing or Ordo, so keep an eye out. :) Hope you enjoyed! Please let me know what you thought. :) Half way there... ;)
~Light