Riley Vance's Arc

Chapter 3 of 5

Riley hit the dirt behind the cart. Mendez rolled beside her. The panel skittered from his hand and cracked against a rail. Its blue light died. Above them, Commander Urig's tail sliced the air where their heads had been a second before. "Gun's gone," Mendez said. He patted his belt like it might reappear. It didn't. The scouts had taken her makeshift piece the day they were caged. She had built it herself. She had listed every screw. Now it sat somewhere inside the mine and she had her hands. She looked around. Ore rails ran past them into the dark mouth of the tunnel. Chunks of broken stone lay along the tracks. A length of splintered timber leaned against the cart, cracked at one end. "Rocks," she whispered. "Get a rock. I'll take the wood." Mendez grabbed a fist-sized stone in each hand. Riley pulled the timber free. It was heavier than it looked. Urig came around the cart low, antenna twitching, tail curled. Mendez threw. The first rock hit Urig's shoulder plate and bounced. The second caught the side of his head. Urig hissed and lunged. Riley swung the timber two-handed at his knee. It connected. Urig staggered. She swung again and the wood split against his ribs. His claw came down and raked her arm. Blood ran fast to her elbow. She stumbled back. Mendez charged in with the last rock and drove it into Urig's jaw. Urig's head snapped sideways. "Together," Riley said. She lifted the broken timber. Mendez raised his fists. They rushed him at the same time, one high, one low. Urig's tail whipped. It caught Riley across the stomach and threw her ten feet. She landed on her back in the dirt. The air left her. She couldn't move her legs. She turned her head. Mendez was still up. He had both hands locked around Urig's wrist. He was shouting something, teeth bared, boots dug in. Urig lifted him off the ground like he weighed nothing. "Mendez," Riley said. It came out as almost nothing. Urig's other claw drove clean through Mendez's chest. Mendez's shout stopped. His hands slid off Urig's wrist. Urig let him drop. Mendez fell in a heap on the rails and did not move again. Riley couldn't breathe. She stared at his boot, still twitching, then still. She had built the gun for both of them. He was supposed to be with her when they walked out. Urig turned his yellow eyes on her. Shouts rose from the yard. More prisoners were breaking through the fence gap. A scout screamed. Urig's antenna flicked toward the noise. He looked at Riley, then at the running prisoners, then back. He chose the crowd. His tail dragged a line in the dirt as he ran. Riley rolled onto her side. She crawled to Mendez. She put her hand on his chest. Nothing moved under it. She took the panel from the ground beside him, tucked it into her waistband, and dragged herself toward the tunnel mouth.