Chapter 17

It's an intruder alarm! Jake translated as a monotonous Kelbrid voice was broadcast over the tannoys. Tobias! Get Mendy to tell Groof to prepare for a quick recovery.

Okay, Jake, he replied from very far off.

Marco, can you get out of that room?

I sprang up on strong Kelbrid legs and sprinted for the door. I pressed a hand to the cold metal and, with painfully necessary restraint, inched it open. There came no response or flash of a trigger-happy Kelbrid ready to blast me from the other side. I stepped out and discovered that I was alone in the empty passageway. I was sure that it wouldn't be empty for long.

I'm out!

Head left. I'm in the same room as before, and it's the one right at the end.

I bolted left down the orange-lit passage as instructed and through the blaring alarm that continued to alert whatever security the unfinished base held. I turned my head as I ran, paranoid that they would come pouring from the doors that I passed. I expected the three-star to jump me at any moment, but that moment never came.

Somebody did appear, but the frightened office workers weren't sticking around for a fight, and they scurried past without a hint of suspicion, yapping and shouting at each other in a panicked state. I arrived at the door they had come from just as a third sprang through and hurried off to chase the others. It must have been another sleeper.

I entered the office and found one Kelbrid looking anxious in the center. The lack of any clothing was a good sign. Jake saw me and called me over with a hand gesture.

Got him! he called to Tobias and Santorelli. Where are you guys?

We had to push further in, Santorelli replied. Lots of workers rushing around. We're in that tunnel just up from you.

Keep out of sight, Jake ordered. We stick out like a sore thumb in this place. We're coming up towards you.

Roger that, boss.

I followed Jake when he jogged back to the office entrance. We cautiously poked our heads around the door. When we decided it was clear, we ascended the shallow stairs, keeping as close to the shadows of the walls as possible. The area was dark, and that was perfect.

We could be fine here, I told him. I can't see the details of your face.

It's not faces we should be worried about, he countered. Then, he pounded at his naked chest. We're the only Kelbrids here without uniforms.

Think they'd see those in the dark?

He sighed. The uniform is luminescent.

Ah.

From ahead, there was a glowing, pulsating light. It instantly faded. I recalled the workers from before cutting through the ground with lasers. They must still have been working.

They might notice us, Jake considered. Stick to the left and try not to knock anything. We'll sneak past.

I had a different idea, and it solidified quickly in my head. Wait. They have uniforms, right? Orange ones.

Jake stopped in his tracks just as we tip-toed up the last few steps. The workers were almost within view, and we could hear their tools humming beneath the ongoing alarm. He paused and looked directly at me. Then he peered forward and around the corner.

Risky… Those are big lasers.

Yeah. Totally massive lasers, I agreed. Real big lasers that'll make real big holes in the ground.

He grinned. Sarge, Tobias, move down the tunnel. There are workers with lasers down at the bottom working on the tunnel system. We take them down, take their clothing and tools. We have to be quick.

Gotcha, boss! Santorelli cheered. You need a little firepower?

We stay Kelbrid, he decided. As soon as you can, put on the orange uniform. The last time we counted, there were six. We jump them, hope to take them by surprise.

Four inexperienced Kelbrids against six armed with enormous lasers. I was starting to regret the suggestion, but Jake was running with it. He crept further up the steps with me close behind, and we managed to see past the corner to the workers who had remained undeterred by the alarms. We could see five from where we stood, huddled in the shadows of the wall.

Our path pushed us outwards, giving us a better but more distant angle to see them. None of the five still working was looking our way .

Damn it! Jake hissed.

He bumped back against me, forcing me in the reverse direction. I almost tripped over a hunk of metal, but any sound caused by that was superfluous. The damage was already done.

Lookout! Jake clarified.

I could hear the alerted sixth Kelbrid speaking. Then, he rushed forward and out of the corner he'd hidden behind. He could see us clearly enough to know that we weren't welcome.

"Ookrah!" he cried into the back of his hand. "Ookrah yi reggerrun hie!"

Of course, that alerted the five workers. They turned and faced us. Our chances of taking them by surprise had vanished.

Sarge! Tobias! Jake shouted. We've been spotted! Jump straight in when you get here!

Jump stra- I stuttered. With no time to argue, Jake surged forward.

Disarm them! he ordered. Get rid of the lasers first!

You're a fucking madman! I retorted, but my legs instinctively mimicked his, knowing full well that doing so was practically suicide. I just couldn't let him go alone.

The lookout was now screaming into his hand, doing what he could to alert security to our position. His obnoxiousness was his downfall; Jake turned his attention to him as the workers hesitated to react.

By that point, Jake was only partially Kelbrid. I could see bulging muscles running down his limbs and torso that I swear didn't belong to a Kelbrid. Whatever they were, they were enough to smack the lookout so hard that his feet left the ground.

I didn't have such a skill. My morphing was nowhere near as accomplished as his. I would have to rely on pure Kelbrid strength and Human intellect. Intellect, or sheer persistence. Either would do.

The workers had gotten past their confusion and spread out across the tunnel, lasers prepped and aimed. Jake was causing enough distraction to draw the focus of two of them but was using the lookout's unconscious body as a shield. I didn't have such a luxury.

I was going too fast to turn back. I aimed for the middlemost Kelbrid, determined to gain a shield of my own. I saw the barrel of his laser shine. I saw the perfectly black chamber heat and reveal the deathly glow of the oncoming fire.