Other links:
Sapphire Angel, Superheroine (Book 1)
Power Play (Book 2)
Deconstruction (this book - Book 3)
Once outside the room, Sapphire Angel took off in a mad dash down the hallway in front of her. As she ran, she surveyed the maze of hallways and realized she had no idea where to go. And even if she knew the way, she was naked and powerless, with no way to activate the fingerprint sensor at the elevator. But she had to try to escape.
Her bare feet pounded and smacked on the floor, her legs churning as the walls whizzed past her. Yells sounded from behind her as the pursuit began, but she didn't dare look back. Sapphire Angel came to an intersection, with a hallway heading to her left and right. Without slowing, she turned right.
She sprinted ahead, reaching another intersection just as a guard turned the corner in front of her, his eyes hidden behind his high-tech helmet. The handcuffed woman didn't slow, leaping and driving her foot into the surprised man’s chest. As he flipped back and crashed to the floor, she was already sprinting down the hallway to her left. Behind her, she heard the man grunt, and a moment later his footfalls sounded as he took up the chase.
She came to another intersection, and another guard came into view ahead of her, but beyond the intersection and further down the hall. She skidded to the right, down a different hallway, before he broke into a sprint and ran toward her.
And on she went, running until her lungs burned. She heard footfalls behind her, in front of her, and to both sides, like a net closing in around her. She approached intersections and ran down halls, getting no closer to an escape. On two more occasions she came to intersections and spotted men in one direction, as she rushed in the other.
This was looking hopeless, as she was reaching the point where she couldn't run any further. As the weight of despair descended upon her, she flew around a corner and slammed into a guard. They fell in a tangle of limbs, and she tried to extricate herself. Before she could slip away, he lunged out, grabbing her arm.
The exhausted heroine jerked her arm free and reared her cuffed hands back, ready to strike, when the man's voice cried out.
"Beth!" The voice was familiar, and she paused. The man ripped off his helmet, and her eyes settled on his face. It was Conner, wearing the uniform of one of WarTech's guards.
"Conner? How?" she asked, her jaw dropping.
"I'll explain later! We have to get out of here!"
"But Eric might be here! And they have my necklace and costume!"
"There's nothing we can do for Eric right now! And they'll have more than your costume if we don't get moving! Let's go!"
He jumped up and pulled her to her feet, just as the sound of footsteps drew closer, and three men rounded the corner thirty yards away. It was the guard she had kneed in the groin, along with Gregor and Valik. Even from this distance, Gregor's silver teeth glinted in the light as he eyed her with an evil grin.
That was all the incentive she needed. With a pang of regret gripping her at the thought she might be leaving Eric behind, she raced off after Conner, heading away from the approaching men. As they ran, Conner glanced down at a map on his phone.
They weaved through the halls, turning left and right, until they came to an elevator. Conner pounded the button, and the elevator door opened. They darted in and whirled to see Gregor, Valik, and the guard racing down the hall toward them. Conner hammered at the button to close the door as the men got closer. But it didn’t close.
“Ah, shit, I almost forgot,” Conner said, and rummaged in one of his pockets. "You probably don't want to see this."
He pulled a short, stubby object from his pocket. One end of it was covered in blood. She nearly gagged when she realized what it was. A human finger.
Conner held the finger up to the fingerprint sensor. Their pursuers rushed forward, and the doors began to close — too slowly for her liking. Just before the men reached the elevators, the doors closed, and the car started its descent. She exhaled.
"Now to hope they don't have a key or some way to override this thing," he said, his voice grim.
Beth turned to Conner. "How did you find me?"
"Long story," he said. "Here, take this." He unbuttoned the uniform shirt he wore, leaving him wearing a white t-shirt. She took the garment, blushing as she remembered her naked condition, and slipped into it. The shirt came near the top of her legs, barely covering her, but it was better than nothing.
"Thanks. How are we getting out of here? I'm sure the people upstairs have radioed or called ahead. Somebody will be waiting for us when these doors open."
"I took care of that. If things go as planned, nobody down here will get a whisper of what's going on until we're out of here. Just stay behind me and run like hell when the doors open."
Moments later, the doors opened. Conner flicked the emergency stop switch on the elevator, causing a bell to ring, and peered out.
"Let's go," he said, and darted out. Beth hurried behind him. They were in the long hall on the ground floor, which she had seen on her tour. The hall was dimly lit and quiet, suggesting it was nighttime, but she had lost any sense of time while in captivity.
Conner ran down the hall, and Beth followed. When they reached the door to the outside, he slowed and pushed it open. Just as he did, she heard a door at the opposite end of the hall clatter open. She turned to see Valik, Gregor, and the guard spill out. They had taken the stairs.
"Go!" she exclaimed.
Conner didn't need any urging. They burst through the door, her adrenaline helping her shrug off the cold night air. He led her to a WarTech SUV parked just outside the door. It was adorned like a police vehicle, with sirens on the roof and a crash bar on the front.
"Jump in the back!" he said.
She hesitated for a moment, looking back at the building, which might be Eric's prison. But there was nothing she could do. She was helpless without her powers, which she had also lost in the building. She opened the car door and scampered in. Conner was already in the driver's seat and starting the engine when she shut her door. He stomped on the gas pedal and the vehicle shot forward.
"Did they leave the keys in the ignition?" she asked.
"Nope," he answered. "I got them from the same guy who misplaced his finger."
"I don't want to know," she murmured as the car headed toward the front gate.
"We have to play it cool so they'll open the front gate," Conner said, his teeth gritted.
Conner kept the SUV at a reasonable speed. Beth glanced out the back window and spotted their pursuers running after them. The men would never catch the car, but they didn't need to. They just needed to alert the guards at the front gate before the vehicle reached it.
Conner sped up, just slightly, as the gate drew closer. It was a rolling metal gate on wheels, with two sections meeting in the middle. A guard stood inside a guard shack and gave a casual nod as the SUV approached. Both sections of the gate started to slide apart.
"Get down and out of sight," Conner said.
Beth stole one last glance out the back window, and at the opening gate, before ducking down behind the front seat. There might now be enough room for the SUV to fit through the gate, but it was going to be close.
"Shit," Conner muttered from the front seat.
"What?" Beth asked, unable to see what was happening.
"The gate is closing."
Beth's stomach lurched, and at the same moment the engine roared and the SUV shot ahead. The sound of gunshots filled the air. Her curiosity got the best of her, and she peaked her head up in time to see the gate closing, and the guard standing with his handgun in front of him, firing at their vehicle. Conner crouched low behind the steering wheel as the vehicle burst forward.
There was no way. The opening was almost too narrow for the SUV to pass, and they weren't there yet. Still Conner didn't stop. They reached the gate, hurtling into the breach as both sides of the gate crunched into the sides of the vehicle, like pincers grabbing its prey. The screech and groan of metal surrounded them and the SUV struggled forward.
"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Conner yelled.
With a final crash, the vehicle broke free from the grip of the gate, and shot out onto the drive beyond. Conner remained crouched behind the wheel, turning hard right onto the intersecting road. Gunshots sounded behind them. He accelerated, and they drove off into the night.
Other links:
Sapphire Angel, Superheroine (Book 1)
Power Play (Book 2)
Deconstruction (this book - Book 3)
Ha! I KNEW Conner was going to have some part in rescuing her! He had to.....he was there from the beginning when Sapphire first breached WarTech! Some part of me is aIso wondering how the heck he managed to take one of the guards down, steaI their uniform, AND cut off another finger, aII whiIe steaIing their ignition keys, but......yeah, Iike Sapphire was saying, it'd probabIy be better the Iess we knew about that.
So, uhhh.....we have Sapphire, but we don't have Eric Stump nor the costume. VaIik and Gregor aren't going to be happy about this.....maybe the costume wiII stiII seII for a bit? Though that admittedly wasn't the deaI. This whoIe scene was honestIy so good and action-packed, but it didn't reaIIy feeI Iike a compIete victory in a Iot of ways. Maybe WarTech wiII take its frustration out on Eric Stump? HaIf of me was wishing that Sapphire wouId regain her costume and powers at some point during the chase and turn the tabIes on her pursuers, but the other haIf kind of feIt that it was necessary for her not to do so, in order to give Conner some spotIight and reIevance, too.
Ross and Jack are getting reaI comfortabIe, sitting this one out. But regardIess, we escaped......though VaIik and Gregor definiteIy know someone eIse is aIigned with Sapphire now. Combine the fact that she shared her secret with him earIier in the noveI......oh, boy. Who's to say WarTech won't switch targets now for a potentiaI advantage? I don't know if VaIik and the others heard Conner bIurt Sapphire's reaI name in the haIIway when the two of them first coIIided, but if they did, then that wouId certainIy give them an idea on what to do next. Given that VaIik's great at science and anaIysis and aII that, I wouIdn't put it past him to be abIe to determine everything eIse from there.
Next time, on Thursday, we figure out what to do next! We have Sapphire, but WarTech stiII has Eric Stump, her costume (and by proxy her superpowers), aII of the bIood they took from her, and possibIy her reaI name, aIong with the knowIedge that Conner is working with her. I'm starting to wonder if we reaIIy came out on top here.....