Read Aloud

Read Aloud — Below Omicron-9

The hatch slams shut above you. The firefight becomes a muffled vibration in the metal.

Knee-deep coolant moves through the tunnel in warm, chemical-smelling waves. Emergency strips blink along the walls, one red segment at a time, carrying the lockdown deeper into the mine.

Vanya catches herself against a pipe. A blue point of light appears beneath the skin at the base of her throat. Another answers beneath Kaelen’s jaw.

“The collars aren’t gone,” she says. “Only the parts you could see.”

Far down the conduit, metal claws begin striking the deck.