Page 130 (1/2)

“Bull!” Verbinski shouted “Watch your six!”

Bull tried to swivel in the netic feet creaked and lost their grip, and he was floating The world all around began to shiold and blue as his consciousness slipped away He are distantly of a hand on his shoulder, slowing his fall, and he saw Nao bubble of blood clinging to her skin He tried to turn and failed That was right No spine He should have remembered that

“What?” he said

“They cut us off from the drum,” Naomi said and turned him so that his mech’s feet could touch deck The air was a debris field Twists ofand growing larger like planets for out of dust Electricity arced frolass floated in the tiny play of lightning Two of the people in power are to the transition point One held a rifle by the barrel as a club, the other had pistols with the trigger guard snapped off in either hand A third was flailing in the air just above the et purchase on so across the deck toward them, itsoff into the air

“Elevator shaft airlock,” Bull said “Fall back”

“Everyone,” Nao back to the elevator shaft on o Go!”

Naomi pulled him around, then attached herself to his back in rescue hold and juli Saw the gri out of her I’ht

The wall of the elevator shaft airlock loo on the bulkhead with the grace of a woh the space, Martian nized the man called Juarez and the woman naan to collapse Just as the opening seeeant Verbinski and a man from Bull’s side of the security force schis He felt like he’d just run twenty ether less to com himself back to awareness

“That shaft’s in vacuuet suited up Lockers are over there Let’s see e’ve got to ith” A ht want to hurry,” he said

“You aren’t going to fit,” Verbinski said “Not with that contraption”

“Yeah,” Bull said “Okay”

“Coet you out of that”

No, Bull wanted to say I’ht But Juarez and the otherhim out of his brace, then out of the ain That wasn’t true He’d been crippled ever since the catastrophe Now he just had one fewer tool

He’d worked with less