The Way It Is

finding - part 1

Britt just nods. He quickly slides down the ladder and, immediately on landing, brings up his fancy scan tool, or as Syndicate had called it, the Sonic GX-15 Scanner, and surveys the tunnel ahead.

A dim light softly glows straight down the middle of the ceiling for as far as I can see. When he's satisfied, Britt brings his weapon to the ready and starts walking at a steady pace, but leaving the scan tool active on his armband. I land softly behind him and quickly follow with my weapon, armed and ready.

"Do you know how far?"

"Not sure."

"Drone?"

He pauses for a moment. I can tell he is trying to decide if it is worth it.

Usually, that is my decision, and I would just do it. However, he has the new scanner and not me. Besides, this is a team effort, not a military march.

The tunnel is slowly being mapped out for him on his microband. As long as we don't go too fast, we will see what's ahead of us before we get there. A drone would probably just warn our enemies that we were coming.

Almost in unison, we both shake our heads. No drone. My mouth twitches. We have worked together too long.

I am not a claustrophobic person, but the tunnel feels small compared to the ample open space we just left.

It is maybe eight feet tall and only wide enough for three, maybe four people to stand side by side. Thankfully it is clean, bright and well lit. It makes it a little less creepy as long as you don't wonder why or how it exists.

Britt stops suddenly.

"We don't have to enter the black glass building. If I am right, we can take this next tunnel coming up on the right, and it should lead us to the first tunnel we discovered."

"Are you sure?"

"No. But it is either that or head straight for the building potentially full of Zu'Lar."

"Good point. We can waste a little time exploring before we tempt fate."

"Always seeing the bright side of things, Princess."

"You need to knock that shit off."

"Says you."

"Shut up, Britt."

"Yes, Marshal Zea."

I roll my eyes. He is enjoying screwing with me a little too much. But considering we aren't in the middle of an epic shoot-out with the Zu'Lar yet, maybe keeping things light is good.

"How far to the next tunnel then?"

"About fifty feet."

I follow Britt checking our rear every few feet. I doubt the Zu'Lar had seen where we went, but you just never know.

The bastards can pretty much teleport anywhere. We still don't understand how they do it. Or why they don't do onto our ships. It's bizarre when you think about it. It isn't like any tech Armada has ever seen. Not even in the Quantum region.

Britt stops abruptly again. I see his brow furrowing as he contemplates something. Whatever his scanner is showing him has him perplexed.

"Fill me in, Britt."

"I am just surprised. Sorry. People ahead. Not sure who. But a large number. Maybe thirty or more."

What the hell. Seriously? They better be fucking humans. I instantly switch to telepathic communication. You can never be too cautious.

"Do we investigate or just go down the tunnel?"

"Maybe it would be best if we explored the tunnel first. Who knows what will happen if we meet humans. If it's humans. Let's face it. It's most likely Zu'Lar or another search party looking for the human. How many are looking for this blazing person anyway?"

"Right. Sica did say there were several interested groups, didn't she? Bloody stars. Well, lead the way."

I can't help but wonder if Britt realizes how much more he speaks when we talk telepathically. He's like a regular chatterbox.

It's only a couple of feet then Britt stops looking over to the wall on our right. I don't see anything, but that doesn't mean there isn't a door somewhere.

Britt scans the wall, and I take a moment to check the floor. No hidden buttons on the floor this time. I look down the tunnel both ways to double-check we are still alone.

Britt gently runs his hand, palm flat, over the wall. He is feeling for something, but I have no idea what. Suddenly the wall falls slightly into itself, then slides to the side. I blink, a little dumbfounded.

"How did you do that?"

"It was a bio-thermal heat sensor. Your hand would have to be right over it to activate it, though."

Clever. The sensor had been high up on the wall. Not likely anyone would accidentally activate it seven feet from the floor. Britt and I are tall enough. There wasn't a lot of room between our heads and the top of the tunnel. It was pretty much eye level for us, but I still can't see what had detected his hand.

Thinking about most of the humans I had met, I have a hard time imagining most of them even being able to reach the sensor.

Britt scans the new tunnel behind the hidden door. He silently nods to me to proceed, letting me lead the way.

I guess he feels the most significant threat is behind us, in the tunnel we are leaving. Britt has a knack for putting himself between me and the largest threat in the area.

Looking back on our military career together, it all starts to make a lot of sense.

"How far?" I decide on some verbal communication now that we are out of danger of accidentally running into a group of people. Still not sure how I feel about all this telepathic communication. Regardless of the benefits.

"Not sure, can't see the end yet."

"Are you confident this is the right direction at least?"

Britt rolls his eyes in disgust at my lack of faith. "Yes."

We walk in silence for a few paces. Finally, I can't take it anymore.

"And now?"

"I think we can pick up the pace. It's pretty quiet down here. Half a click if we run."

Britt takes off at a steady jog. I keep pace beside him. It feels like only a minute or two, and we come to the end of the tunnel.

This time there is no mistaking the large, heavy metal door in front of us. Wherever this leads, we aren't getting in unless we can figure out how to get past the security components.

A security scanner is on the left side of the door. There is a retinal scanner and a DNA scanner. There is no hacking our way into this—bloody stars.

I groan as Britt looks at me with an eyebrow raised.

"What now?"