STEALTH and TRACK: BOOK ONE

C H A P T E R F O R T Y-E I G H T

"Have a little optimism!" I groaned, pushing him away. The last thing I wanted was Omega panicking.

"Okay!" he sprang. "I am positive you will perish if you don't find a method of escape!" 

I rolled my eyes and scanned our surroundings. "Crosshair's here with us. Find him." Omega possessed the only light source, and she gasped the moment the beam hit an unconscious clone. "Crosshair!" She scurried to his aid.

Of course... My conscious groaned. Of all the clones, we got stuck with him... We should just leave him. He deserves it after what he's done... My thoughts were uncharacteristically dark, and the moment I knelt down at his head, checking his pulse, I sighed in surrender. No... You can't leave him. That isn't you, Fern. Besides, you still haven't properly made him paid... He has no idea what was coming if we all survived this.

Crosshair was trapped underneath a thick, substantial, metal rafter. With the seawater level rising excessively, there wasn't much time until he would be completely submerged. "Half-Pint, if I can somehow lift the debris off of him, be ready to pull him out, got it?" Omega nodded in confirmation and mentally prepared myself before the task at hand. Digging my fingers underneath the rafter's sharp edges, I summoned all the strength I could muster to lift it, but the stupid scrap metal was unyielding. I attempted once more, straining my arm and leg muscles, which were below the water, to just inch it up. It was no use...

"Hunter, are you there?" The young girl beeped her comm device. "Tech? Echo? Is anyone there? Wrecker?"

"Yeah, kid..." I heard Hunter groan on the other side. "Are you okay? Is Fern there?"

"I'm here." I confirmed, giving up momentarily on lifting the rafter. "But it's not good on our side. The room is flooding rapidly. And Crosshair's trapped underneath some debris. We could have really used Wrecker about five minutes ago."

"Just hang on." Hunter said. "Wrecker is going to pry open the door. Stand clear."

"Omega, can you swim?" I asked her. She nodded and I glanced at the energy bow strapped to her back. "Switch weapons with me." I traded my vibro-knife for the bow. "Dive down and try prying the blade from this side. You don't have to be strong. Follow Wrecker's lead."

"Got it!"

Once she dove under the surface, I worked on getting in position to snap the rafter in half with the bow, wading until I was waist-deep. The water level was now over Crosshair's chest. A moment later, he groaned and woke up, dazed on what happened and where he was. "Greetings, CT-9904. You just survived the aerial bombardment but are now moments away from drowning."

"Yeah, thanks for the update, droid." I grunted, kicking him away.

"My name is AZI-345211—"

"I don't care! Make yourself useful and go help Omega!" I shouted in frustration. Crosshair's sudden struggling wasn't helping, either. "Get this off of me!"

"Working on it!" I snapped back. The water submerged the debris, so now I couldn't see at all. I grumbled at my only option to save the clone. "I'm going under. Don't kick me!" I sucked in a deep breath and dropped down, squinting my eyes open. Didn't help one bit in the murky water, so I had to rely on touch. I sprung up to the surface, which was inching shorter by the second. "Hang on, Crosshair, I got an idea." I struggled to gain my footing, gasping when I realized he only had a few moments before he submerged... Our eyes met and a wave of empathy washed over me; my aggressive tone viscerally softened into a breath of encouragement and reassurance... "Deep breaths, Crosshair. I'll get you out." He silently understood and I watched him disappeared underneath the lapping water.

I managed to retain my footing long enough to draw back the energy bow, its purple glow illuminated the waves, aim, and fire several rounds at one spot into the metal. At last, it snapped, and I reached down to haul the clone above the water. Once we both sputtered and regained our breath, he wrenched my hold off of him. I sneered and grumbled, "You're welcome." I then let him be -- there was no time for rest. I had to help Omega and the others with the door.

Or not... Abruptly, Crosshair and I were sucked into a whirlpool below the surface and spiraled through the slim opening of the door. I was caught mid-flight and the door was released, resealing itself. I coughed into whoever's arms were holding me. 

"You're okay now." Tech assured from behind in my waterlogged ear.

"Nice catch." I puffed with a small smile. Omega had been caught by Echo, while Crosshair slid right into Hunter's foot. The ungrateful clone stormed to his feet, sneering, "What, have you done?"

"The Empire opened fire on the city. We're weren't gonna leave you behind." the sergeant shot back.

"We don't have time for this." Tech released me and separated the two of them. I had to hand it to the intellectual clone... He knew how to take charge when stakes were this high. "We need to get topside before this entire structure submerges." 

I was prepared to bolt without him, but Hunter gave Crosshair one more choice. "If you want to stay here and die, that's your call."

Crosshair hesitated, but chose to escape with us, sprinting side by side with me.