Honor Among Thieves (The Honors #1)(88)

“What are you doing?” I asked Beatriz over the comm.

“Screwing up all his systems,” she said. “Distracting him. If he focuses too much . . .”

My mother used to say, mention the devil and the devil will rise, and just then, Typhon decided to cut to the chase and try to get his nav back. I felt the crushing weight of his attention and knew he was seconds from changing the course again.

Not if I lock him out.

Bea wasn’t the only one with bright ideas. I dove under the console and fired the stunner directly into the weak point—the power conduit, the same one that Typhon had blocked on Nadim. It shorted out the console completely. Now we were even. It’d take time to repair that, the course was locked and he’d have a hell of a time unlocking it, his Honors were down, and Nadim was struggling with everything he had to break free. Typhon was fighting too many battles.

I was frightened for Nadim, though. If he kept that up, he might tear himself apart trying to save us.

“Head for the docking bay.” Bea still had the intercom. “By the time you get there, I’ll find a way to release the tow the Elder’s got on Nadim. See if you can raise him on the Hopper.”

“We should go together,” I said.

But she couldn’t hear me. All around us, Typhon roared like a mad beast, shuddering so hard that it seemed he might split at the seams. It must be maddening for him to be locked on autopilot, but he’d override the Earth tech or his Honors would work free and perform repairs. Otherwise, he couldn’t stop until he reached the destination I’d selected, a dead planet on the other side of a distant system.

That would take time. I’d tied Marko and Chao-Xing up pretty damn well. On my way to docking, I grabbed a knife from the commissary and dropped it at the end of the corridor. It would take a while for them to inch down that way; they were awake and glaring when I raced by, but I didn’t pause to talk. No instructions either. With sufficient time and effort, they could grab the blade and free each other, hopefully not soon enough to let Typhon catch up.

Defense mechanisms kicked in that I didn’t even know Leviathan had. He unleashed drones first. They zoomed after me, shooting with grim precision. Laser fire spattered the walls and floor, singeing Typhon’s interior. Running like hell, I dodged and rolled until my lungs burned with exhaustion. Can’t keep this up.

I didn’t know if my stunners could fry the electrical components, but I whirled and fired. Time to find out. The drone sizzled and sparked, but it didn’t drop, so I took aim again. This time, the electric burst shorted it out and it smashed to the floor. By the noise in the distance, I could tell that more were on the way. I couldn’t linger.

As I rounded the corner, I took a glancing shot across the back of my arm. Damn, not a stunner. Typhon was no longer inclined to play. On the plus side, the laser burn cauterized my nerve endings, so it didn’t hurt after that first white-hot burst.

I must be getting close to the docking bay.

Abruptly, the floor dropped out from under me, plunging me into the sublevel. The hard landing knocked all the wind out of me, and I wheezed on my side for a few seconds. They probably thought that would contain me, but I’d likely memorized more Leviathan physiology than they expected. It was dark as hell, but the drones couldn’t get to me either. I’d crawled through worse with Derry, but not being able to see did screw with my head. My own breathing sounded extra loud, echoed by my heartbeat.

It would be so easy to get lost. I made a few wrong turns, stumbled into walls, and into a pile of . . . I didn’t know what. Something broken that Typhon had hidden. I sliced my fingers on the metal scraps and ended up pulling a piece loose to use to feel my way forward. No more face-plants, no more smashing my nose into walls. Like that, I crept through the dark, trying to keep my bearings. If I’m right, then . . .

Here.

I felt around for the catch and breathed a word of thanks when I found it. Crawling on all fours, I came out into the hallway to hear sounds of combat in the distance. Were the drones targeting Bea? I had to trust that she could handle herself and would meet me as promised. Still have to get there.

Outside the docking doors, I found a patrol bot waiting for me. It hadn’t spotted me yet, so I took a knee, aimed, and fired. The stunner shot bounced off its shielding, and I spat a curse. Tranq darts would be useless too, and I wasn’t strong enough to beat this thing into pieces with my bare hands. As it unloaded on me, I tucked and rolled, the heat stinging my skinsuit while I took cover. Smoke rose from my feet and legs, though the smart-clothing saved me from more serious injury.

All or nothing, I told myself.

While its energy cells cooled and cycled, a failsafe to prevent overheating, I charged with everything I had and jammed the metal shard into its power core. The resultant shock blew me backward, slamming me into the wall so hard I saw stars, but the bot was worse off, juddering and frying with blue sparks and dark smoke. When the thing cooled enough, I crawled toward it and ripped out its manual command input panel. I might not be as good as Bea, but I could use the bot’s security codes to override the docking door.

They’re sending more drones. Hurry.

A minute later, the doors disengaged and I limped into the docking area. Shakily I keyed the bay shut and locked it just as something exploded against the metal blast door. Too close. It took the last of my strength to hobble to the Hopper. I hadn’t been running for my life on Nadim like I had in the Zone, and the last thing I’d eaten had been those greasy bites of meatloaf. How long ago was that?