“Look out,” Jom said, grabbing Kip tight before he could tumble back down the stairs. Kip clung to the Valon, the boy’s body firm against his own. He’d spent the previous night fantasizing about what it would be like to hold Jom so close, but now wasn’t the moment to make good on his dreams. The pair disengaged, scrambling up to their feet just as Leesa disappeared through the now open door.

“This way!”

They followed her as she tracked their location on the map, turning first one way and then another. Kip had no idea where they were heading but had little choice but to trust the woman as she led them down groaning passages, beneath pipes that had crashed through broken ceilings and over toppled equipment. Nwo slipped when navigating what looked like a vending machine, sucking in breath through his fronds as his foot caught in the twisted chassis. Kip and Jom helped him after that, his arms thrown around their necks as he half hobbled, half hopped after the attendant.

“Are you sure you know where you’re going?” Jom asked.

“No,” came the honest reply. “But if I’m reading this correctly we’re on deck six. There’s a shuttle bay three decks down, which I think we should be able to get to via a turbolift up ahead.”

“What good will a shuttle bay do us?” Kip asked.

Jom had worked it out. “If there’s a shuttle, we might be able to open the bay doors and escape.”

“If the doors aren’t underwater.”

“You’re a little ray of starlight, aren’t you?” Jom teased. Kip tried not to let the rebuke sting. “Even if they are, the shuttle should still be able to get us back up to the surface. We’ve got to try.”

He was right. They couldn’t go back and had no other way off this thing. Still, it seemed like a long shot.

“Here we are,” Leesa said as they reached the lift doors, the lights flickering on and off above them.

“I don’t think you’re supposed to use lifts in emergencies,” Kip said, slipping from beneath Nwo’s arm.

“I doubt it’s working,” Leesa admitted, flipping open an access panel to reveal a lever. She yanked down, the doors unlocking to reveal an empty shaft complete with a ladder and a bottomless drop.

“This thing has a light on it,” Leesa said, finding a control on the datapad. A tiny bulb flicked on, dazzling Kip for a moment as she tucked the unit, bulb-side out, into her belt.

“I’ll go first,” Jom said, swinging over to the ladder.

“What about Nwo?”

“I will manage,” the Quarren said in his own language, having picked up the meaning of Kip’s question. “You go first.”