Riley Vance's Arc

Chapter 2 of 5

Riley worked the loose shackle until her wrist bled. The blue cuff flickered but held. She twisted, pulled, wedged her thumb flat against her palm, and yanked. Nothing. The metal caught on the joint of her hand and stayed there. "Stop," Mendez said. "You're going to break your hand." "Then I break it." She pulled again. The cuff cut deeper. She hissed and sat back against the wooden slats. Sweat ran down her neck. The cage frame hummed its low blue note. Across the yard, Vael scouts moved carts of ore in and out of the tunnel mouth. Her window was closing. It was almost dark. She was about to try once more when a horn blew from the tunnel. Commander Urig came out fast. His tail lashed the dirt. He barked clicks at the scouts, and one dropped its cart and scrambled to line up. Urig pointed east, toward the ridge where the sinkholes smoked at night. He barked again. Half the yard moved at once. Scouts grabbed spears and ran. Two of them nearly collided at the tunnel gate. "Something's wrong out there," Mendez whispered. "Something's right," Riley said. A scout closest to their cage fumbled its belt as it ran. A small humming panel slipped free and hit the dirt three feet from the bars. The scout didn't stop. It kept going with the others. Riley dropped flat. She reached her bound hands through the bars and stretched. The loose cuff gave her just enough slack. Her fingers closed on the panel. She pulled it in. The panel hummed against her palm. Little symbols glowed along one edge. She didn't know what any of them meant. She pressed the one closest to the lock's color. The panel chirped. Nothing changed. She pressed the next. Her shackles died in her lap. The blue light on the cage lock winked out. So did every other lock in the row. Mendez stared at her. "Riley." "Go." She shoved the door. It swung. Down the line, other prisoners were already spilling out. A scout turned and shrieked. Another prisoner tackled it. Ore carts tipped. Someone screamed in a language she didn't know. Riley grabbed Mendez by the sleeve and pulled him low along the cage wall. They kept the wooden frames between themselves and the yard. She could see the gap in the fence where the carts came through. Twenty feet. Ten. A shadow fell across them. Urig stood at the gap. His yellow eyes found her first. His antenna twitched. His tail curled behind him like a drawn whip. Riley stopped. Mendez raised the panel in his fist like it was a rock. "Down," she said, and shoved him sideways behind a cart as Urig's claw came up.