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"Will we have enough juice to get ho to go down fighting, another thing altogether to get stranded out in the Clear

"Gonna be tight, I think," Skyler said "You have this under control?"

She nodded, eyes glued to the hall beyond her barricade

"I’ll head back down then Retreat to the base"

"What about Jake?"

"Remind me to keep him on our side" With that, Skyler turned and ran to the subbasement

He followed the saht where he’d left her

"Did you reach Angus?"

"He’ll give us thirty y we can spare"

Tania studied the screen The readout indicated thirty-eight minutes left "I need er, on’t get hoh, then"

Skyler pulled a folded duffel bag froe a bit, won’t be far"

Despite concern in her beautiful face, she h the computer room From some of the cabinets near the back, which lacked power, he disconnected every cable he could find and tossed the Spare parts always found a buyer

From the front of the racks, he yanked out any reged theardless of condition Takai could sort the the sidewall He kept his distance fro to disrupt Tania’s work Froe wiring harnesses

Satisfied, he slung the heavy bag over his left shoulder and slipped the strap over his head, letting the strap run diagonally across his chest He returned to Tania

"You don’t fool around," she said

He turned so she could see just how full the duffel was "Pays my crew"

Tania frowned "It does a lot more than that"

"What do you mean?"

"The work you do, people like you, it’s the only reason anyone can survive in orbit"

In al, Skyler rarely went a ithout so simple, like a new bicycle chain, could make all the difference for someone trapped in the Aura Every person who claiers just added to the pressure

Tania’s words cracked that barricade She meant it with total sincerity, and Skyler knew in that moment that all of his work had been for her, and those like her People striving to do more in the world than just survive People who kept hope alive for a better future

He found it impossible to articulate any of this, so he looked away and mumbled his usual response "No offense, but we don’t do this for the greater good It pays--well, sometimes--and keeps me and my crew fed and sheltered, which isout, somewhere above their heads Not the sniper rifle, with its loud single cracks, but the booun

"Sam’s in trouble," Skyler said He checked his watch "Ten minutes still Son of a bitch"

"Go help her," Tania said Her fearful tone contradicted her words She was shaking

He grabbed her by her upper arht minutes, no more Got it?"

She nodded

"Can you find your way back to the stairs?"

Again she nodded

"Deep breath, Tania They won’t get past us, I proave her wrist a squeeze, using the opportunity to glance at the gauges mounted on her suit The air level read just above half Satisfied, Skyler ran for the stairs

At the door he almost ran into her

She backed up, and they stood side by side in the doorway at the bottom of the steps Six bodies had already piled up on the stairs, with a fresh one just tu to a stop halfway up

"Better position behind us," Skyler said "This is too close"

"Lead on," Samantha said

He closed the door to the stairwell--a nearly useless gesture since it didn’t have a lock--and retreated to the data vault entry door with the shoulder-highSkyler slammed the door behind thelass

Flipping the gun around, he pointed it through the space the glass had occupied, and waited

Sam reloaded her weapon at the saone, Skyler Never seen theet it"

The door to the stairwell burst open and Skyler answered with a spray of bullets With the aard angle, aim was out of the question, so he fired for effect

Another of the creatures dropped, skidding to a sickening halt, blood spilling fros

"I’ain, a short burst "We’re going to be trapped in here"

"Where’s the map?"

Skyler looked down at his jacket "Inside pocket!" he shouted, over the crackling sound of his gun Saet Tania," Skyler said "I’ll hold theo Look, below the co and Receiving’ A ramp leads out of it, back up to the surface"

She set the ainst the door Skyler studied it and let off another burst froh, a sloped road led fro lot some fifty meters distant "We’d be far from Jake, and outdoors," he said

"Yeah, but all the subs will be in here We can co"

He fired again through the ild yelp of pain ca toward the door It fell in a heap

"You’re assuh the floor"

"I’ll make one if I have to Beats the hell out of this"

Skyler led the way, s would carry hirowls of subhu to open the ed door