Page 11 of Alien Guardian's Vow
"Do you realize what you've done?" The question emerged before I could fully restrain it, my voice lower than intended, rough with dust and controlled anger. "The danger you put not only yourself in, but potentially the entire settlement?"
Her jaw tightened, and she pushed away from the wall, meeting my gaze defiantly. "I was trying to understand the source of the tremors," she shot back. "Tohelp."
"By ignoring every warning sign? By activating ancient, unstable technology you don't understand?" I took a step closer, frustrated by her inability to comprehend the consequences of her impulsive actions.
"I understand more than you think," she retorted, though she didn't back down from my proximity. "My markings react to the energy signatures here. They were guiding me toward the diagnostic panel."
"And they nearly got you killed," I countered flatly.And trapped us both.I turned away from her again, forcing my focus back to survival. Arguing was pointless now. "We have to find another way out."
"That's the first sensible thing you've said," she muttered. Relief warred with annoyance in her tone. She moved to the opposite wall, activating her scanner again, sweeping it across the stone. "There should be maintenance tunnels or emergency exits somewhere. This facility wasn't built without escape routes."
I ignored her scanner, trusting my own senses over damaged human technology. I moved along the eastern wall, placing my palm flat against the cool stone, feeling for subtle temperature variations, listening intently for the sound of moving air or water beyond the rock. My tail remained still, aiding my concentration. Nyxari had survived the Great Division by learning to read the ruins themselves, not by relying on the fallible machines that had caused the catastrophe.
"What are you doing?" she asked, exasperation clear in her voice.
"Finding us a way out," I replied without turning, focusing on a faint coolness radiating from one section of the wall.
"With your ear? Seriously?" She snorted. "I've got energy readings and structural analysis mapping the entire complex right here." She waved her scanner vaguely. "There's a corridor showing active power signatures about thirty meters that way, behind that damaged section."
I continued my assessment, ignoring her commentary. She stumbled again—loud, ungraceful, human. But I found myself listening for it. Not to correct her. To track her. Like some part of me had started needing to know she was close. The coolness persisted here, accompanied by the faintest scent of damp earth carried on a subtle airflow only my senses could detect.
"You're wasting time," she said, moving toward the far corner where her scanner indicated a potential access point behind a buckled wall panel. "My scanner shows a likely passage behind this." She wedged her fingers into a crack, trying to pry the panel loose. It didn't budge. "A little help here would be nice, you know. Since we'retrapped together."
"The structural integrity of that section is compromised." I pointed with my chin toward the hairline cracks spiderwebbing across the ceiling directly above the panel she struggled with. "Your scanner missed that."
She glanced up, her efforts ceasing immediately, then looked quickly back at her device's display. "It's reading as stable."
"Your scanner is wrong." My certainty was absolute, based on the subtle groans I'd heard from that section earlier.
"And your nose is right?" She rolled her eyes, letting go of the panel. "Look, I appreciate the whole primitive warrior survival skills thing, but technology exists for a reason."
"The same technology," I said, turning finally to face her, letting my gaze rest on her defiantly set jaw, "that trapped us here?"
Her mouth opened, then closed. She glanced at her scanner again, then up at the cracked ceiling. A flicker of doubt crossed her features. "Fine," she conceded grudgingly. "Where's your mysterious water source?"
I led her to the eastern wall, placing my palm against the section that felt subtly cooler. "Here."
"There's nothing on the readings?—"
A low rumble interrupted her, the floor vibrating beneath our feet, stronger this time. Dust sifted from above. Her eyes widened as she checked her scanner frantically. "That's not possible. It didn't detect any significant seismic activity."
"Your scanner missed that unstable ceiling, too," I said dryly, turning my attention back to the cool section of wall. "We need to find that water source, that potential exit, before the next tremor brings this whole chamber down on our heads."
"Your 'listening' won't detect the radiation leak my scannerispicking up just beyond that wall!" She pointed to the fluctuating rad levels on the display. "There's an energy spike building in whatever corridor lies beyond."
"Then we go quickly," I replied, dismissing the radiation warning—a potential future threat—as secondary to the immediate structural danger. Survival priorities.
I pressed against the wall section, feeling for weakness. Finding a slight give near the floor, I braced myself and pushed harder, using my shoulder for leverage. The ancient material groaned in protest, then gave way with a scraping sound, revealing a narrow, dark passage beyond.
Cool, damp air rushed out, carrying the scent of wet earth and minerals. I glanced back at Rivera. She stood watching, her expression a mixture of frustration at my methods and reluctant acknowledgment that they had worked.
"After you," she muttered, gesturing toward the opening with a distinct lack of enthusiasm.
The passage was narrow, forcing me to turn sideways to fit my broad shoulders through. She followed close behind, her breathing quick and shallow in the confined, dark space. The walls gleamed with moisture, confirming my assessment about water. My lifelines tingled faintly, responding to residual energy in the ancient structure, a low-level hum beneath my skin.
"The radiation levels are increasing," she whispered behind me, her scanner confirming the readings. "We should move faster."
"The ceiling here is unstable," I reminded her without turning back, my voice muffled slightly by the narrow passage. I carefully tested each step before committing my full weight. "Speed will kill us faster than radiation."
