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As the briefing continued, Skyler worked his way through the crowded roo back, he stepped out of the tavern

In the hall beyond, he took a long thirty seconds to tie his boots Sure that no one noticed his exit, or cared at least, he walked away, up the gently curved hall, looking for a ghost

He had no plan other than to simply wander Make himself visible, and see if the so-called Ghost would try to ju any dae

Section B proved too crowded for Skyler’s needs Weaving his way around loitering groups of station staff, some of whom eyed him with open contempt, he took the first junction tunnel that led to Section C The bulkhead at the end of the tunnel had six guards, whohtcliff unifor He kept his pace steady, eyes forward, and turned left to walk down the vast curved hallway Once the junction guards passed out of view, their conversation faded and Skyler was totally alone

He slowed to a stop andnext to it The bottom half of the surface had a fine pattern of tiny holes Placing a hand over it, Skyler felt the slightest brush of cool air

Scanning the hall around him, he saw that every third section of wall had a siht from the station with Kelly, and the h with all its twists and turns Finding her noould be impossible, he knew Best to let her couards approached Skyler quickly stood and saluted

"Nuts to be out here alone, friend," one said

"Orders," Skylerand help out"

There were three of theed; the others Skyler judged to be just shy of twenty

"And he sent you to do this alone?" asked Tho to the na for a fight He’d heard it often enough He looked left and right,the rhetorical question "Apparently"

Thoetting un-suard on the left

Skyler rolled his eyes "I aative Never mind"

Thoth "You knohat I think, ant bastards don’t kno to take orders"

"No," Skyler said, "it’s just it doesn’t take three of us to handle a couple of wo over a shoulder Slow to bring ready, aard to fistfight with it hanging there Skyler felt he ht have a chance, if it came to blows--

The soldier on the left lurched backward, an arm around his neck He cried out in surprise as he was pulled into a panel that had opened on the wall behind hi and smashed his forehead into the nose of Thomas Blood exploded from the rabbed at the shattered ht the whole station would hear it

Skyler crouched, lowered his shoulder, and pushed off, throwing hi hiawked like an idiot at the space where his companion had been seconds before, had no tiht into hiht Skyler on the jaw The blow had no weight behind it, a punch of desperation Skyler ignored it and focused on the , the second of the young guards vanished through the air vent He screamed, a panicked, terrified sound From inside the vent Skyler heard a dull, wet thud, and the noise stopped

"Kelly, it’s un away froan to flail wildly as he realized death loo on to his back, blood strea from his nose Skyler kicked once, a powerful connection directly against the man’s shattered nose The man’s eyes rolled back and he dropped, li hard, clutching the gun He saw a shape in the vent, and then a face appeared

"Well, you idiot," Sa her faet the et the fuck away froht The curved hallway looked e Footsteps, a lot of theun across the floor to her and rolled into the vent

Kelly waited deeper inside, crouched over the bodies of the two guards that had disappeared She grinned at hiot to move" She pulled the vent cover back into place, as if it were second nature

"Lead the way," Kelly said "Hello again, Skyler"

He clasped hands with her "Good to see you"

"So you can handle a couple of woood looks"

Samantha chortled and crawled deeper into the ventilation shaft while Kelly pushed the guard into a corner

"The body in the hallway …," Skyler said

"His face," Kelly said, "will scare the hell out of them Adds to our reputation, and buys us ti to keep up Samantha’s movements were fluid, familiar She made no noise at all despite the hurry, and yet Skyler see the crawl space

She was coht on Skyler’s heels He tried to crawl faster, his back scraping the top of the tunnel Neither of the women said a word, so Skyler kept his silence

After nearly twocorners and intersections in stride, they entered a utility tunnel that see his previous escape

Skyler’s lungs ached for air, but no break was to be had Sah the dark hallway He followed her lead, ducking under obstacles he could barely see in the diht

"Sam," Skyler said

"Later," she replied She didn’t break stride Skyler realized he couldn’t hear Kelly behind them, and so he chanced a look back It was too dark to tell, but she didn’t see Don’t slon"

They ran and ran, then climbed A series of tiny panels lit the vertical shaft, and looking back Skyler saw Kelly enter the base of the tube, ten seconds behind

The shaft extended all the way to the central ring, but Samantha stopped at the halfway point and opened a recessed access door As Skyler followed her through, he noticed the locking mechanism had been covered with duct tape

"They tried to track us by the locks," Saravity tugged at two-thirds its north Skyler had to adjust his stride to keep fro Thick pipes and cable conduits lined the narrow passage

Samantha finally stopped For the first tied him She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and squeezed him until his arms ached

The fierce embrace made his entire journey hile

She pulled away abruptly "Can’t believe you fucking abandoned us," she said, the words pouring out through a confused

"Good to see you, too"

Her hands still gripped hius …"

The look on her face finished the sentence Tears welled into his eyes and he blinked the lifeless on the floor of that tavern, staring up at the ceiling with lifeless eyes, staring right at him Skyler tried and failed to shake the vision, to replace it with a happy moment Instead all he could envision was their dead stares, boring into hi and sorrowful

"So it’s just you and me now," he said, numb

Sa as she held back a wave of anguish